St. Marys Bay French () is a dialect of Acadian French spoken around St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia, specifically in the region of Clare, Nova Scotia. While sharing features with other dialects of Acadian French, it differs from these and other varieties of French in its morphology and phonology,Ryan 1981 and to a lesser extent its lexicon.Massignon 1962
Situation The speakers of St. Marys Bay French live mostly in Digby County, Nova Scotia, in the villages of Church Point, Comeauville, Corberie, Grosses Coques, Meteghan, St-Bernard, Rivière du Saumon, and Saulnierville.Massignon 1962, 27 French has been spoken by a minority in this region for some time; in 1941, the number of Acadian French speakers in Digby County numbered 9,560, out of a total of 19,472 residents.Massignon 1962, 27 By the mid 1970s, the number of residents of Digby County reporting their mother tongue as French was 7,730, or 38% of the population.Ryan 1981, 12
Comparison with other varieties of French
The phonemic inventory of Baie Sainte-Marie French is similar to the varieties of Acadian French spoken in Yarmouth County, to the south.Garner (1952), p. 172 However, it has idiosyncratic vowel phonemes, for example /i e o u y œ/ have various diphthongised realisations, as do several nasal vowel phonemes.Garner (1952), p. 172-173
+Phonological correspondencesParisian FrenchSaint Mary's BayMeaning Phoneme(s) Example Phoneme(s) Example /x~h/Ryan 1981, 125-127 , neversoleil soleil sunterre tarre landmain Ryan 1981, 92-94main handtien tien yourschien chien dogtemps this vowel is transcribed by Ryan 1981 (e.g. 98) as [æ̃͡ʷ] and by Garner 1952 (e.g. 173) as [ãũ]teaon time
A number of these correspondences are common outside of St. Marys Bay French and even Acadian French. A similar pronunciation of 'jamais' in part of Îles de la Madeleine occurs about as . In the Cajun French of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, is often realized as .
In popular culture Grand Dérangement's song "" (from the album Dérangé) is sung in St. Marys Bay French.
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References