Lunenburg English

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Lunenburg English is a dialect of English, spoken in the Lunenburg-Bridgewater towns in the province of Nova Scotia. It is sometimes called the "Bridgewater Accent" by much of the local men as well as those in the surrounding areas in Nova Scotia.

The accent can be linked to the ethnicity of the area's citizens. The majority of the population consists of people of German, Swiss, French from the Montbeliard region, as well as British origins, descendants of late 18th century Protestant settlers in this planned city. These immigrants have greatly impacted the English that is now heard today.

This part of Canada is said to have the only non-rhotic accent in the whole country, and this is due to the nations isolation from the rest of Canada. Example:

  • farm is "fahm"
  • cord is "cahd" (like cod as in fish)
  • world is "weld"

Many homynyms not found in other English dialects are found in Lunenburg. For example:

  • couch and coach
  • mouse and moose
  • pouch and pooch

Words like these are all pronounced the same:

German words are also prevalent but are losing their idioms due to media from Canada, and rhoticity seems to be gaining ground in the some of the youth population while non-rhotic speech is spoken by the aged.

Dialects and Accents of the English language in Canada
West British Columbian English | Chinook Jargon | Canadian Prairies English
Ontario Southwestern Ontario English | Central Ontario English | Ottawa Valley Twang | Eastern Ontario English | Toronto English | Northern Ontario English
Quebec Quebec English
Atlantic Maritimer English | Newfoundland English | Cape Breton accent | Lunenburg English