Newfoundland French or Newfoundland Peninsular French refers to the French spoken on the Port au Port Peninsula (part of the so-called “French Shore”) of Newfoundland. The francophones of the region are unique in Canada, tracing their origins to Continental French fisherman who settled in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and not to the Québécois or Acadians as in the rest of The Maritimes. For this reason, Newfoundland French was probably (at least in its early stages) most similar to the Norman- and Breton-influenced French of nearby St.-Pierre et Miquelon. Heavy contact with Acadian French and especially a near universal bilingualism with Newfoundland English has taken their toll, and the community is in decline.
The degree to which lexical features of Newfoundland French constitute a distinct dialect is not presently known. It is uncertain how many speakers survive — the dialect could be moribund. There is a provincial advocacy organisation Fédération des Francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador, representing both the Peninsular French and Acadian French communities.
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France contested ownership of Newfoundland from 1662 until 1713, when it ceded the island to Great Britain as part of the Treaty of Utrecht. During the Seven Years War France (and Spain) vied for control of Newfoundland and the valuable fisheries off its shores. Fighting ceased in 1763, with French fishing rights to the western coast enshrined in the Treaty of Paris. This period saw an influx of Breton, Norman and Basque fisherman to the region, though most of the activity was seasonal, and French settlement before the late 1800s was limited. In 1904 ownership of the region was transferred from France to the Colony of Newfoundland.
In 1940 the establishment of the American Air Force Base at Stephenville sounded the start of French Newfoundland’s decline. Newfoundland French and Acadian French speakers who had lived and worked their entire lives in relative francophone isolation now found themselves at the heart of an American, Canadian, British and Newfoundlander anglophone economic centre. Families were grateful for the economic opportunities brought by the base, but transmission of French amongst the generations dropped-off drastically.
Since 1949 when Newfoundland became a Canadian province the use of French on the island has been in decline. Newfoundland French is now only spoken by a handful of elderly residents. Other Franco-Newfoundlanders in Newfoundland now use Acadian French, rather than the Newfoundland dialect. Today, 15 000 descendants of French settlers live in the province and there is a movement to reestablish the Newfoundland dialect as the French language of education in the province. However, schoolchildren in the province are currently being introduced to either standard Canadian French, or an Acadian-influenced variety thereof.
Newfoundland French communities include Cap-St.-Georges, Petit jardin, Grand jardin, [[De Grau, Rousseau rouge, La Pointe à luc, Trois cailloux, La Grand’terre, L’Anse-aux-canards, Maisons-d’hiver and Lourdes.
There are also unrelated Acadian French communities in the Codroy Valley, Stephenville, and St George’s.
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   | French in Newfoundland - French Presence in Newfoundland: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage |
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