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Monday 2 May 2016

Language Lesson

While Canada is a bilingual country with English and French, many of us cannot speak the second language, including my husband and me. However, we are bilingual; we speak Newfinese and English.

There is a Dictionary of Newfoundland English by Kirwin, Story and Widdowson, which details many of the words and phrases used in our home province. While Newfoundland has been a province of Canada since 1949, its isolation meant the language and accent of the original settlers were preserved over the centuries. Many of the small villages stretched around the Newfoundland coast have unique words and sayings which came from the ancestral countries and counties. For us, it is difficult to eliminate the language and accent from our speech or memory, even if we try.

Phrases like, "Yes, Maid," are common in Newfoundland. I say it to our granddaughters, wanting to expose them to Newfinese. Our granddaughter, Sylvie, only knows a maid as a servant who cleans in a hotel room. When I first used the term with her, she said, "Nanny, I am not a maid."

 

Maid in Newfoundland means girl, which I explained to Sylvie. During their last visit, Sylvie said to her sister, Caitlin, "You can't do that, maid."

I smiled!


22 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Makes sense: maid as in maiden in older English.

DJan said...

I remember visiting Montreal once long ago, and I was snubbed rather completely in a restaurant because I didn't speak French. We finally got up and left. I'd love to visit Newfoundland and have a young maid serve me dinner! :-)

Joanne Noragon said...

Do you notice television leveling the regional accent, or does the accent supersede what the children hear?

Debra She Who Seeks said...

So cute! And wonderful to know your lesson took hold!

The Furry Gnome said...

Marie, thanks for your comments on my 'Seeking Adventures' post. You can read about our oldest son, who was a water bomber pilot, under the tab for 'William' on my blog. He was following his dreams, and having lots of adventures, so one of our main reactions has been to decide we will have as many adventures as we can handle for the rest of our lives! You have to find some kind of positive response to carry on. And learning 'Newfinese' sounds like it could be fun!

Anonymous said...

How sweet they are. Quebec is the only place where anyone pronounces my name (Dianne) correctly.

Marie Smith said...

Exactly!

Marie Smith said...

You wouldn't be snubbed in Newfoundland for not speaking Newfinese.

Marie Smith said...

I think the accent persists!

Marie Smith said...

She's a fast learner, as is her sister.

Marie Smith said...

Newfinese would be lots of fun.

Marie Smith said...

Quebec is unique and beautiful.

ann @ studiohyde said...

That is good to preserve the phrases used for so long. We say maid here e.g. "little maid".

Marie Smith said...

It is probably from your part of the UK. Lots of our ancestors were from the west coast.

Barbara said...

I have never heard Maid used that way before. Makes perfect sense though. So cute.

Marie Smith said...

It isn't used this way elsewhere in North America I suspect.

ADRIAN said...

It would be interesting to compare Canadian French with French French but then the language in France varies geographically.

Ginnie Hart said...

What a FABULOUS anecdote, Marie, of the nuance of your own language/dialect. So precious...as is also the accompanying image!

Marie Smith said...

It is very different from Parisian French.

Marie Smith said...

Thank you, Ginnie maid!

Tomoko said...

Your granddaughters are very adorable!
Learning another language is a struggling one. Memorizing words is hard, but understanding the different grammar is more difficult!

Marie Smith said...

Our granddaughters are the joy of our lives, Tomoko.