Everything about Maritimer English totally explained
Maritimer English is a
dialect of
English spoken in the
Maritime provinces of
Canada. Quirks include the removal of pre-consonantal [ɹ] (
IPA) 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.
Like most varieties of
Canadian English, Maritimer English contains a feature known as
Canadian rise: Diphthongs are "raised" before voiceless consonants. For example, IPA /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ become [ʌɪ] and [ʌʊ], respectively, before [p], [t], [k], [s], [f].
Although dialects vary from region to region, especially based on the
rural/
urban divide, there are some other commonalities. For example, there's 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 don't 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 of
Canadian English, it's actually relatively uncommon compared to
Ontario. Alternatively, one might hear the interrogative "Right?" (often pronounced "rate") which is in turn used as an
adverb (for example: "It was right foggy today!") as well. "Some" is used as an adverb as well, by some people (for example: "This cake is some good!"). Such expressions tend to be widely used in the rural maritimes, but are less common in urban areas.
Due to the relatively quick way of speaking, there's a lot of repetition in the typical Maritimer speech pattern. Rather than ask "Did you go to town today?", a more common phrasing would be, "Wazye tah town, wazye?" or, rather than "She will be in town today," it would more likely be phrased, "She'll be tah town today, she will.". Words such as "fine", "right" and "fearful" are frequent intensifiers, as in, "That's a fine mess!", "Oh, it'll be a right mess by the time they gets done!" and "That girl is a fearful fool!" (implying that the girl is extremely foolish).
Articles are frequently left out of speech. "I'm goin' down road" would be more common than "I am going down the road." If the speaker is to visit a friend, they'd likely say, "I'll be down Amy's." rather than "I will be down at Amy's."
Terminal hard consonants are often dropped from pronunciation when found in sentences. "Ol'" rather than "old", "col'" rather than "cold", "tha'" rather than "that", "suppose'" rather than "supposed." (with the -s pronounced softly, rather than as a -z). When it's pronounced it's softly, almost imperceptably. "Ain't" is also frequently heard in rural parts of the Maritimes, particularly southern New Brunswick.
"Fellar" is a frequent term for an anonymous man of 18 - 35 years of age. Post-35, he becomes an "ol' fella'". "I ain't see' tha' ol' fella' for a while now. I wonder if 'e ain't dead. I' seems to me that 'e was ill," would be a reasonable exchange to hear on the lips of an older gentleman in the Maritimes.
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. Also, some terms are unique to the Maritimes. "Playing hooky" is usually referred to as "jigging" especially in south-eastern New Brunswick.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Maritimer English'.
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