Maritimer English

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maritimer English quirks include the removal of pre-consonantal [ɹ] sounds, and a faster speech tempo. It is heavily influenced by both British and Irish English.

An example of typical Maritime English might be the pronunciation of the letter t. The flapping of intervocalic /t/ and /d/ to alveolar tap [ɾ] between vowels, as well as pronouncing it as a glottal stop [ʔ], is less common in the Maritimes. So, battery is pronounced as [bætɹi] instead of with a glottal stop.

Especially among the older generation, /w/ and /ʍ/ are not merged; that is, the beginning sound of why, white, and which is different from that of witch, with, wear.

Also seen is the replacement of [aʊ] with [oʊ]; for example, rhyming "couch" with "poach", instead of "pouch".

Although dialects vary from region to region, especially based on the rural/ urban divide, there are some other commonalities. For example, there is heavy rhoticism on vowels preceding /r/ sounds. Also, low front vowels seem to be lengthened and sometimes tensed, which in some regions can result in raising, and even a very slight rounding of the higher vowels and diphthongs. These phonetic differences are not all systematic: some lexical items do not apply to these rules, so perhaps it the vowel system is in a process of shift, or there could be interference from other, more urban dialects and the media.

While the interrogative "Eh?" is used more often in the Maritimes than in most dialects in the U.S., it is actually relatively uncommon compared to Ontario. Alternatively, one might hear the interrogative "Right?" which is in turn used as an adverb (e.g.: "It was right foggy today!") as well. "Some" is used as an adverb as well, by some people (e.g.: "This cake is some good!"). Such expressions tend to be widely used in the rural maritimes, but are less common in urban areas.

Terms of British origin are very much still a part of Maritime English, although slowly fading away in favour of American or Western terms. Chesterfield and front room are examples of this. Cape Breton Island has a distinct dialect due to settlement by speakers of Acadian French and Scottish Gaelic.

	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