MARITIME PROVINCES, The, also the Maritimes. The Atlantic provinces of mainland Canada: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia (which includes Cape Breton Island), and Prince Edward Island. When Newfoundland is added, the collective term is
the Atlantic Provinces. The regional accents of the Maritimes have features in common with New-foundland and differ considerably from usage to the west; the urban accents of Fredericton, Halifax, and other centres of population are similar to inland urban CanE. The territory is roughly the region called
Acadian by the French. It was also claimed by the English and settled by both in the 17c, changing hands several times until 1713, when it was ceded to Britain. A complex settlement history explains its variety of rural dialects, some of which were influenced by Acadian
FRENCH, some by
GERMAN (in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, settled in 1753), some by
GAELIC (Cape Breton, settled 1802–28 by 25,000 Highlanders during the Clearances in Scotland), as well as various dialects of England. In 1783, the arrival of Loyalists after the American War of Independence almost tripled the English-speaking population.
The main differences between standard Canadian and the Maritimes appear to arise from the earlier settlement of the Maritimes (from 1713) than Ontario (from 1783), but it has also been suggested that they arise from the localities from which the Loyalists migrated. Most of the new arrivals in the Maritimes were from New England, while those moving into central Canada were primarily from further west and were the first settlers there. A well-known
SHIBBOLETH of pronunciation is mentioned by a character in Margaret Atwood's
Lady Oracle (1977): ‘Being from the Maritimes, he said
ahnt…whereas I was from Ontario and said
ant’ (for
aunt). Regional grammar includes the use of
some,
right,
real as intensifiers:
It's some hot;
It's right hot;
It's real hot. Regional vocabulary shares some terms with Newfoundland and some with New England, and includes:
banking the storing of illegally trapped lobsters until the season opens;
bogan a backwater;
make,
make cod,
make fish to dry fish or cod;
malpeque a famous oyster, from Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island;
tern a three-masted schooner, See
DIALECT (CANADA).
