The Speech of Nations

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique
• Main Author: Hewson, John
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1983
• Subjects: Linguistics and Language; Language and Linguistics; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0008413100010033; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0008413100010033

Having lived in both Quebec and Newfoundland, without being native to either, I often note the similarities between the two that transcend linguistic boundaries: ancient settlement, isolation, survival, the sense of tribe, la nostalgie des Vieux Pays, the wealth of folk song and folklore, the strength of the family, the proud sense of identity with a place and with a history. This paper, then, starts with a reverberating comment from Jean-Paul Vinay, another CFA (a come-from-away, Newfoundland term for one who is not native-born) who was born across the Channel from me, and whose early training as an angliciste corresponds to mine in French language and linguistics. JPV wrote (1979:60): De même que les Québécois gardent encore une grande nostalgie de la terre, ils conservent en leur cœur un coin préférentiel pour la parlure des aïeux. Il n’est donc pas étonnant de constater que la dialectologie a été adoptée de bonne heure par nos étudiants, curieux de voir comment le nouvel outil descriptif que nous leur mettions entre les mains pouvait s’appliquer au parler de leur village natal.