Celebrating 30 years of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English:
Newfoundland and Labrador English Symposium
8:00-9:00
9:00-9:30
9:30-10:00
10:00-10:30
10:30-11:00
11:00-11:30
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Memorial University
A1046
Program
Set-up/Welcome
Beginnings of the DNE, toponomy and onomastics
Chair: Robert Hollett
Writing the DNE, 1954-1982
Jeff Webb- Associate Professor, History
This talk will give a brief account of the impetus and the evolution of the
Dictionary of Newfoundland English. Particular attention will be paid to the
contribution of the three authors, George Story, William Kirwin and John
Widdowson and how their varied backgrounds led to the DNE.
Toponymy in Newfoundland: Some history and links to Folklore
Shamus MacDonald, PhD Candidate, Folklore
This paper provides an overview of place name research in Newfoundland. It
illustrates the important ties that exist between toponymy, history and folklore in
the province.
Newfoundland and Labrador Family Name Changes in the Twentieth
Century
Philip Hiscock, Associate Professor, Folklore
In the twentieth century, thousands of Newfoundlanders engaged in a kind of
identity management through the phonic re-construction of their surnames, in an
attempt to bring their family name in line with their contemporary desires for
controlled connotations. This paper examines cases of this surname re-modelling.
Coffee break
Language variation in Newfoundland
Chair: Gerard Van Herk
Phonetic creativity and the (he)art of storytelling
Paul De Decker, Assistant Professor, Linguistics
In this presentation I will show how the use of verbs of quotation by
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians has changed over the past 60 years. While
newer forms like those found in cases such "She was like, 'I LOVES it!'" might be
11:30-12:00
12:00-12:30
12:30-2:00
2:00-2:30
2:30-3:00
seen as leading to the loss of a distinctive Newfoundland dialect, I argue that these
verbs enable young Newfoundlanders to create dynamic stories, employing
traditional dialect features in creative and unique ways - pronunciations they might
not otherwise use in their day to day speech.
Stop and go (away): Linguistic consequences of non-local aspirations among
small-town Newfoundland youth
Sarah Knee, PhD Candidate, Linguistics
This study investigates the role of local affiliation and social aspiration by
examining the production of ‘th’ sounds among twelve adolescents in New-WesValley. Informants share social characteristics and community, but differ in sex
and aspiration: some intend to remain in the community, while others plan to leave
at the earliest opportunity. We found that youth with local aspirations were
significantly more likely to produce ‘th’ as ‘t’ or ‘d’ than youth with non-local
aspirations.
Mapping regional diversity: Introducing the Online Dialect Atlas of
Newfoundland and Labrador English
Sandra Clarke, Professor Emerita, University Research Professor, Linguistics
To date, there has been no thorough investigation of regional language variation
throughout the province. This talk introduces the Dialect Atlas of Newfoundland
and Labrador, designed to fill this gap. The atlas is grounded in data assembled by
linguist Harold Paddock in the 1970s and 1980s, and represents the speech of over
200 older residents of the province, from 90 different coastal communities. Online
and interactive, the atlas is now almost fully completed, under the direction of
faculty members affiliated with Memorial University’s English Language Research
Centre, in conjunction with DELTS and C & C Webworks. This talk demonstrates
the features of the atlas, and shows how patterns of regional variation provide
insights into our linguistic and settlement history.
Lunch/ELRC tour
Fieldwork in Newfoundland and Labrador
Chair: Robert Hollett
In the field with Dr. John Widdowson
Suzanne Power, M. A. Candidate, Linguistics
This presentation is a collage of fieldwork stories from DNE editor Dr. John
Widdowson. These stories come from an interview recorded at the English
Language Research Centre in August 2012 and are accompanied by photographs
from the ELRC files dating back to the 1960s.
“Our Little Townie”: Observing and performing in Ferryland
Rachel Deal, M. A. Candidate, Linguistics
Thanks to a local thespian my fieldwork took me to Ferryland, where I observed
and partook in their dinner theatre. “Away with ya!” was locally written, produced,
and performed. This combination has been ideal for studying cultural identity and
authenticity across performance and interview speech. This talk will describe my
experience in Ferryland as well as some of my findings.
3:00-3:30
3:30-4:00
4:00-4:30
4:30-5:00
5:00-5:30
English in Labrador
Jennifer Thorburn, PhD Candidate Linguistics
Although there is a long history of studying English in Newfoundland, there is
relatively little work on English in Labrador, even though some scholars consider
the continental portion of this province to be “even more of a language museum”
than Newfoundland (Orkin 1970:100). In this talk, I provide an overview of
research on English in Labrador, beginning with a historical perspective and
culminating with my own experiences working in Nain, an Inuit community on
Labrador’s north coast.
Coffee break
Building Identity
Chair: Suzanne Power
You deal with what she brings: performances of masculinity in Newfoundland
offshore workers' narratives
Nicholas Hartmann, PhD Candidate, Folklore
The traditional notion of manhood in Newfoundland, long connected to the fishery,
faced a crisis following the 1992 cod moratorium. The rise of the offshore oil
industry brings up important questions regarding the role of the working man in
Newfoundland families. This paper examines, via the study of occupational
narrative, how tradition is maintained and adapted in the present era.
Enregister now! Salience, enregisterment, and Newfoundland English and
identity
Gerard Van Herk, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Regional
Language and Oral Text, Linguistics
This paper looks at how the commodification and enregisterment of Newfoundland
English – especially through comedy and advertising – leads to some linguistic
features becoming more socially important than others, and how that is reflected in
the choices speakers make.
Closing remarks