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Lunenburg English is a dialect of English, spoken in the town of Lunenburg and Lunenburg County in the province of Nova Scotia. It is sometimes called "Lunenburg Dutch" [1]. The dialect shows unique features in pronunciation, e.g. lack of rhoticity, in syntax and vocabulary, which portray the various sociohistorical influences.

History[edit]

Lunenburg was founded in 1753. Troops from Braunschweig-Lüneburg settled in Nova Scotia as well as many Germans, some Swiss and French (from Montbeliard).[2] [3] In addition, between 1759 and 1768 around 8000 New Englanders settled in Nova Scotia as well and also had a great influence upon the dialect in the county. [4] [5] [6]
Although German emigrants at this time were mostly from the Palatinate and Württemberg, the town Lüneburg where the name originates from was in the Electorate of Hanover.[7] [8] This might be due to some German veterans who had been in the King's service. [9] During the early years of the settlement German, French, and English were all spoken privately and in church. [10] [11] However, French died out first, while German prolonged longer. [12] [13] The majority of the Lunenburg settlers belonged either to the Lutheran Church or the Reformed Church.[14] Several Lutheran churches used German for the sermons and received German-speaking clergy from Germany or Pennsylvania until the end of the 19th century. [15] [16] Thus, the Lutheran church helped to preserve the language in public use.
German was more commonly used in the country side than in the town itself. Most families who used German in the town were engaged in farming or simple labor. Nowadays it is not spoken in the town anymore. [17] The ninth census of Canada in 1951 reveals that 15,531 out of 33,183 of the population in Lunenburg show a German ethnic background. [18] However, only 78 residents who presumably were all from the oldest generation listed German as their mother tongue. [19]

Pronunciation in Lunenburg county “is known to be the only mainland White Canadian community to be non-rhotic” [20]. This shibboleth, however, cannot be traced back to the German influence since German in the 18th century was highly rhotic. [21] [22] However, New England speech is /r/-less and one suggestion is that the New Englanders who have settled around 7 to 8 years after the non-English speaking Protestants have taught them English and thus they had such a great impact upon the dialect. [23] [24]

Pronunciation[edit]

There are several unique characteristics regarding the pronunciation. The most distinctive is the treatment of /r/ before consonants and in final position of a word. [25] [26] However, there are also some homonyms and some smaller particularities that are limited to the region.

Treatment of /r/ before consonants and after stressed vowels[edit]

The /r/ is lost after stressed syllables: [27]

  • after [a:]
farm --> [fa:m]
park --> [pa:k]
far --> [fa:]


  • after [ɪ:]
hear or 'here --> [hɪ:]
gear--> [gɪ:]


  • after [ɛ:]
air --> [ɛ:]
pair, pear or pare --> [pɛ:]


  • after [ɔ:]
sort (homonym of sought) --> [sɔ:t]
warm --> [wɔ:m]
oar, or, ore (homonym of awe) --> [ɔ:]


However, after [ɜ:] the members of the community were constantly rhotic, e.g. in words like first, work, or turn [28] and the <r> is realized as [r] before vowels, e.g. furry --> [fu'ri]. [29]

The /r/ becomes [ʌ][edit]

There are some incidents when the /r/ is pronounced [ʌ]: [30]

  • in unstressed syllables final er, or etc. is pronounced [ʌ]
butter --> [bʌtʌ]
  • if er is followed by a consonants, it will also become [ʌ]
  • after [ai] and [au] the /r/ will be pronounced [ʌ]
fire → [faiʌ]
hour → [auʌ]


Not all people in Lunenburg speak this way nowadays, especially younger people tend to use the /r/ more. [31] [32] This is due to the immigrants' influence who come from other parts of the province or people from Massachusetts. [33]

German Influence[edit]

While the non-rhoticity derives from the New England settlers, there also characteristics in pronunciation that probably come from the German settlers.

One example is the tendency to use [v] for w, hw and v which is particular to the Lunenburg County and probably rooted in German as in German a w is pronounced [v].[34]

Another example is the substitution of [d] and [t] for the English th sounds:[35] [36]

  • de for the
  • dose for those
  • dem for them


Syntax[edit]

The few syntactical characteristics that are following are becoming very rare or slowly went out of use already. [37] [38]

One example is the splitting of a verb which is very common in German and used in Lunenburg as well.[39] [40]

German: mitgehen ('to go with someone')
Examples: Will you go with? I am going with. Come on with!


German: Abwaschen ('to wash off')
Example: Wash your face off!


Thus, use, once, and with can be found in final position of a sentence. [41]

Vocabulary[edit]

Lots of vocabulary is from German stock, however, there are also extraordinary New England features that are rare or not used in the rest of southwest Nova Scotia. [42]

  • Make in the sense of to prepare (a meal) → make breafast (in German one 'macht' (makes) breakfast) [43]
  • get awake instead of wake up [44]
  • all in the sense of all gone (like in German) --> example: My money is all. [45] [46]
  • [frɛs] → 'fressen' is German for eating greedily [47]
  • raised doughnuts have the name [fasnak] which comes from the German word 'Fastnacht' [48] [49]
  • [æplsn ɪts] → slices of apple dried, [snɪt] (singular) derives from the German word 'Schnitte' [50] [51]
  • [lɛpɪʃ] means insipid and derives from the German 'läppisch' [52] [53]

See also[edit]


Canadian English
Canadian Maritime English
Pennsylvania German language
Rhotic and non-rhotic accents


References[edit]

  1. ^ Wilson, Harry Rex (1958). The Dialect of Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. Michigan: University of Michigan. p. 1.
  2. ^ Emeneau, M.B. (1935). "The Dialect of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia". Language. 11 (2): 140.
  3. ^ Wilson. p. 18. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ Boberg, Charles (2010). The English Language in Canada: Status, History, and Comparative Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 60.
  5. ^ Chambers, Jack K. (2010). "English in Canada" (pdf). p. 14. Retrieved 20.07.2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  6. ^ Trudgill, Peter (2000). "Sociohistorical linguistics and dialect survival: a note on another Nova Scotian enclave". In ed. Magnus Leung (ed.). Language Structure and Variation. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International. p. 199. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)
  7. ^ Emeneau. p. 140. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Wilson. p. 19. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^ Wilson. p. 19. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. ^ Emeneau. p. 141. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Orkin, Michael M. (1970). Speaking Canadian English. Toronto: General Publishing. p. 103.
  12. ^ Emeneau. p. 14. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ^ Orkin. p. 103. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ^ Wilson. p. 26. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ^ Emeneau. p. 141. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ^ Wilson. p. 27. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ Emeneau. p. 141. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  18. ^ Wilson. p. 24. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ^ Wilson. p. 29. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ^ Trudgill. p. 197. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ^ Trudgill. p. 197. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ^ Emeneau. p. 143. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  23. ^ Chambers. p. 14. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  24. ^ Trudgill. p. 199. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ^ Emeneau. p. 143. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ Kay-Raining Bird, Kiefte (2010). "Canadian Maritime English". In ed. Daniel Scheier, Peter Trudgill, Edgar W. Schneider, Jeffrey P. Williams (ed.). The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 67. ISBN 9780521710169. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  27. ^ Emeneau. p. 143. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  28. ^ Trudgill. p. 197. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  29. ^ Emeneau. p. 143. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  30. ^ Emeneau. p. 143. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  31. ^ Emeneau. p. 144. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. ^ Trudgill 197. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ Emeneau. p. 144. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  34. ^ Wilson. p. 109. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  35. ^ Wilson. p. 152. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  36. ^ Orkin. p. 104. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  37. ^ Wilson. p. 105. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  38. ^ Emeneau. p. 145. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  39. ^ Wilson. p. 105. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  40. ^ Emeneau. p. 145. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  41. ^ Wilson. p. 2. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  42. ^ Wilson. p. 84. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  43. ^ Emeneau. p. 146. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  44. ^ Wilson. p. 89. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  45. ^ Emeneau. p. 146. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  46. ^ Wilson. p. 3. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  47. ^ Emeneau. p. 146. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  48. ^ Emeneau. p. 146. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  49. ^ Wilson. p. 84. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  50. ^ Emeneau. p. 146. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  51. ^ Wilson. p. 52. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  52. ^ Orkin. p. 104. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  53. ^ Emeneau. p. 146. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)


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