Amritas quotes:

I wonder what David would think of this essay comparing Newfinese to Ebonics:

When I first left Newfoundland at the ripe old age of nineteen, it was an occasion and prime example of culture shock. Not because of a sheltered lifestyle, but because my use of my "home language" it was difficult for many to understand unless very familiar with it ...

... I became ashamed of my accent, my heritage, and at one point believed what other Canadians had always said ... [T]he term "Stupid Newfies". A language barrier between one province and the remainder of the country had given them the impression that we were stupid. A joke they say. Don't take offense. Well, I guess you'd have to live it to understand. When it came to the levels of education, ours were excellent and in keeping with the Canadian standards, but we can't seem to shake the barrier raised because of our "dialects". Canadians, and after last night, Americans too, see us as stupid because of our language.

This would most likely be the same sentiment felt by the African American population.

There's several different things going on here which I'll address.

First, "Newfie-speak" has two issues (if you care to call them that): the accent and the dialect.

I had a friend from England who came to Newfoundland for his honeymoon (Newfoundland is an exotic place if you come from Europe!). He's pretty good with languages and he said something that strikes me as quite true: there's no accent he heard in Newfoundland that doesn't exist somewhere in England. The Newfoundland accent is (accents are) fine. It's as good as any other accent, and perhaps better than some. Chicks dig the accent. Really. If it bothers you that much, a couple of small twists and you'll be mistaken for an Irishman. More than a few Newfoundlanders, for whatever reason, have made this jump.

The dialect is a different kettle of fish altogether. English has a reasonably well defined grammar and if you're going to drop out of it, I suggest that you know when and why you are doing it if you want to be taken seriously by other English speakers. Sorry, that's just the way it. I learned as an adult that the past tense of "beat" is not "bet" and you can too.

Next, there's the whole issue of being a "stupid newfie". This has nothing to with accent or dialect and a lot to with ignorance and/or bigotry. No person ever has to stand around and take shit from a stranger. However, I follow one of my prime directives here: "a fool takes offense where none was meant". If offense was meant, act accordingly; if it wasn't, make the correction^*.

Finally, the comparison of ebonics/blacks and newfie/newfies is apt, though not in the way the author of the quote above intends. There's been a movement that's been particularly strong in the last 10-15 years to change ourselves. To call ourselves "Newfoundlanders" rather than "Newfies", to shun events such as the "screeching in^**", and so forth.

To me, this movement is just internalizing the loathing of ignorant idiots. Rather than saying "f*ck off, mainlander", the members of this movement are saying "maybe they have a point, maybe if I change, maybe they'll like us then". Bah. The problem is with them, not with us.

^* They're mainlanders, they can't help being kind of stunned.
^** Reasonable description of screeching in here.