The Cape Breton accent describes variants of Canadian English spoken on Cape Breton Island, a small island off the north-eastern coast of the province of Nova Scotia in Canada. Most of the 100,000 inhabitants of European ancestry descend from people long resident on the island, and the community has had time to develop a local dialect. Much of the population is descended from Highland Scottish settlers fleeing the Highland Clearances. But there has long been a French-Acadian element on the island, as well as Irish, Italian and Eastern European influences. Jump to: navigation, search Canadian English is the form of English used in Canada, spoken as a first or second language by over 25 million Canadians (as recorded in the census of 2001). ... Jump to: navigation, search Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada Cape Breton Island (French: île du Cap-Breton, Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Cheap Breatuinn, Mikmaq: Unamakika), almost always just Cape Breton, is a large island on the Atlantic coast of North America. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article is about political regions. ... Jump to: navigation, search Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (One defends and the other conquers) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman Premier John Hamm (PC) Area 55,283 km² (12th) • Land 53,338 km² • Water 1,946 km² (3. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... A bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Highland Omnibuses Ltd. ... The Highland Clearances were part of a process of agricultural change throughout the United Kingdom, but the late timing, the abruptness of the change from the Clan System in the Scottish Highlands and the brutality of many of the evictions gave the Highland Clearances particular notoriety. ... The Acadians (French: Acadiens) are the original French settlers of parts of the northeastern region of North America comprising what is now the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. ...

The accents can be divided into three categories: the Western or Gaelic accent (Judique, Mabou, the Margarees), the Industrial accent (Sydney, Glace Bay) and the French acadian (Communities surrounding Cheticamp, L'Ardoise & Isle Madame).

Western Accent The primary influences on the accent are Scottish Gaelic and Scots. The rhythm of speech is generally quick-paced, with unstressed syllables often completely elided. Examples can be found with the speaking voices of some performance artists, ie/ the Rankins, Ashley MacIsaac & Natalie MacMaster. The Huey & Allen comedy duo are another example. Accents mark speakers as a member of a group by their pronunciation of the standard language. ... Jump to: navigation, search Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig; IPA: ) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... Jump to: navigation, search Scots (or Lallans, meaning Lowlands), often Lowland Scots to distinguish it from the Gaelic of the Highlands, is a language used in Scotland, as well as parts of Northern Ireland and border areas of the Republic of Ireland, where it is known in official circles as... In linguistics, stress is the emphasis given to some syllables (often no more than one in each word, but in many languages, long words have a secondary stress a few syllables away from the primary stress, as in the words cóunterfòil or còunterintélligence. ... Jump to: navigation, search This article discusses the unit of speech. ... Natalie MacMaster (born 1973) is an award-winning fiddler from the town of Troy, Nova Scotia, Canada. ...

Some characteristics:

• the s sound can be overstressed, almost approaching a soft th sound.
• the a sound can be shortened- the name John Allen can be pronounced jun nallen.

Industrial Accent This speech is heavily influenced by Irish settlers and is often the accent referred to as the Cape Breton accent. This accent has been popularized in by comedians coming out of the Rise and Follies theatre/recording series and Mary Morrison.

Some characteristics:

• the long a sound is often pronounced like the a sound in the word baa as in Baa, Baa, black sheep
• the oo can resemble a short u sound.
• the d and t sounds can be dropped from some words where they appear in the middle, ie/ metal sounds like me el, bottle like baa el. The t sound is even dropped from the Breton portion of Cape Breton.

French Acadian- not qualified to talk about this, but I do know that there are some preservations of older French expressions. Around Isle Madame, du lait (milk) is pronounced du lah unlike the standard French prounounciation of du lay.

Cape Breton also has some idiosyncratic expressions. One feature of Cape Breton dialect is common use of the term "boy", but is given the spelling "b'y" and pronounced "bye" as in 'good-bye', to address a person to whom one is speaking in lieu of use of the person's name or a more common term such as 'sir', 'mame','man','my son' or 'mate', originally when the addressee is male but now is used to refere to both genders. A plural form "b'ys" is used to address numerous people. The terms can also be used to refer to a person or people not being addressed. This feature of Cape Breton vernacular is also characteristic of Newfoundland English. Jump to: navigation, search Newfoundland English is a dialect of English specific to the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, distinct from Canadian English. ...