The dialect of Acadian French spoken around Clare, Nova Scotia is like other dialects of Acadian French in many ways, but has some distinguishing features.
| Standard French | Saint Mary's Bay | Meaning | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoneme | Example | Phoneme | Example | |
| /ɑ̃/ | longtemps | /æɔ̃/ | longteaon | long (time) |
| /ʒ/ | jamais /ʒaˈmɛ/ | /x/ | jama's /xaˈmɑ/ | never |
| /ɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | /ɑj/ | soleil /sɔˈlɑj/ | sun |
| /ɛʁ/ | terre /tɛʁ/ | /ɑɾ/ | tarre /tɑɾ/ | land |
| /ɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | /ʌn/ | main /mʌn/ | hand |
| /tʲ/ | tien /tʲɛ̃/ | /tɕ/ | tien /tɕʌn/ | yours |
| /ʃʲ/ | chien /ʃʲɛ̃/ | /ɕ/ | chien /ɕʌn/ | dog |
Most of the vocabulary is like other dialects of Acadian French.
(you can also find a similar 'jamais' in part of Îles-de-la-Madeleine as /xaˈmɑ/ or similar)
Grand Dérangement's song "L'homme à point d'accent" (from the album Dérangé) is sung in this dialect of French