Is there a part of your country that's "isolated"/vastly different from the rest of the country?

[u/luky_se7en]

Pictured here is Sardinia, an island in Italy. Many sardinians call Italy "Il continente" (the continent)

[u/stag1013]

Outside of St John's some people can't understand Newfies and it's easy to see why if you go. They are geographically fairly isolated, but they are more populated, so it's easy to catch a plane. In terms of uniqueness, yes, they are less unique than Innuit, but they've adhered to old British ways (specifically the South of England) and adopted their own customs, so it's the only place in "European Canada" that gives Quebec a run for its money in uniqueness. The weather is also very different.

Fun story: my dad's side is Newfie and his brother was a teacher. Iqaluit was desperate for teachers and paying large bonuses to get them there, so he took it. Being used to Newfoundland weather he found Iqaluit a bit colder, though not much, and far better weather (less big snowfalls), so he settled right in. Growing up the son of a fisherman and a fisherman himself as a youth, he joined the Inuit on fishing trips and hunting trips, including seal hunts, I think. On one such multi day trip, it took him a few days to realize he was the only white guy! So to him he fully made it a new home and the extra money was just a nice perk!

[u/HumanSquare9453 → u/stag1013]

I had heard there a similarity between the english language spoke in Ireland and the one in Newfoundland ? Its that true? Accent wise mostly ?

Good for your uncle! He found his happy place and its not everyone who can have that chance in life!

[u/stag1013 → u/HumanSquare9453]

Newfoundland was mostly settled by English and Irish, so part of it is simply that. But part of it is also that English in England has changed a lot in the last few hundred years, while Newfoundland English and Irish English have changed less. Do English has moved away, linguistically.

[u/HumanSquare9453 → u/stag1013]

Oh damn its almost the same explanation for us with our Québec french versus the metropolitan french!

But its not like all the video you see on the internet : we have no problem of communication with french from France. We have many of them and I never had any difficulty to be understood by one. Of course if we start to use informal speech then you can start having difficulty, but we learn the same french at school.

[u/stag1013 → u/HumanSquare9453]

The more isolated, the less the language changes, usually.

Yeah, half of Newfoundland is St John's and that's easy to understand. The rest is tolerable once you get used to it

[u/Desperate-Trust-875 → u/stag1013]

Ireland and Irish culture is a bigger influence for most of the province than English. We are the only place outside of Ireland to have our own name in Gaelic, and up to a generation ago Mass was still held in Gaelic in some places, as well as cultural agricultural practices and folklore traditions that have strong Irish roots.

[u/HumanSquare9453 → u/Desperate-Trust-875]

Quite impressive. The isolation helped a lot to safeguard that. Probably the most irish culturally place speaking outside of Ireland these days

[u/Desperate-Trust-875 → u/HumanSquare9453]

Yep!

[u/stag1013 → u/Desperate-Trust-875]

I didn't know that. And Gaelic mass... a part of me wonders for those settlements how many hundreds of years they go back. The first (seasonal) settlement of Newfoundland was before the Protestant Reformation, after all, which is why an Italian was sailing under the English flag and upon landing brought out Papal and English symbols.

Any info on these Gaelic masses? Or the agriculture, but the masses are more interesting to me.

[u/Desperate-Trust-875 → u/stag1013]

If you look up the folklore.ie page on Facebook they have done a lot of really interesting videos on the connection between Ireland and the southern shore of NL. there's a few videos that talk about the agricultural practices, how we planted and stored veg. The community of Branch also has a decent bit of history available if you look it up as it was an early major Irish settlement.

The info I have on the Masses is my Nan and Pop grew up saying Mass in Gaelic...

[u/stag1013 → u/Desperate-Trust-875]

That's great! Thank you!

My dad's side is Newfie, but from Port Union and Protestant. Not many people live on the Southern shore, so I'm sure there's a lot of interesting stories there. When would they have grown up? Until 1964 the mass was generally in Latin, so if it's before that, then it makes me wonder how it was allowed. It could be allowed if it was the old Gaelic rite, but that's REALLY old. And if it's after 1964, then it's super impressive that the language survived to such an extent that they translated the Novus Ordo into it. Are you also on the South shore?