History
Lunenburg was founded in 1753. Troops from Braunschweig-Lüneburg settled in Nova Scotia as well as many Germans, some Swiss and French (from Montbéliard). In addition, between 1759 and 1768 around 8000 New Englanders settled in Nova Scotia as well and also had a great influence upon the dialect in the county.
Although German emigrants at this time were mostly from the Palatinate and Württemberg, the town Lüneburg where the name originates from was in the Electorate of Hanover. This might be due to some German veterans who had been in the King's service. During the early years of the settlement German, French, and English were all spoken privately and in church. However, French died out first, while German prolonged longer. The majority of the Lunenburg settlers belonged either to the Lutheran Church or the Reformed Church. Several Lutheran churches used German for the sermons and received German-speaking clergy from Germany or Pennsylvania until the end of the 19th century. Thus, the Lutheran church helped to preserve the language in public use.
German was more commonly used in the country side than in the town itself. Most families who used German in the town were engaged in farming or simple labor. Nowadays it is not spoken in the town anymore. The ninth census of Canada in 1951 reveals that 15,531 out of 33,183 of the population in Lunenburg show a German ethnic background. However, only 78 residents who presumably were all from the oldest generation listed German as their mother tongue.
Pronunciation in Lunenburg county “is known to be the only mainland White Canadian community to be non-rhotic”. This shibboleth, however, cannot be traced back to the German influence since German in the 18th century was highly rhotic. However, New England speech is /r/-less and one suggestion is that the New Englanders who have settled around 7 to 8 years after the non-English speaking Protestants have taught them English and thus they had such a great impact upon the dialect.
Read more about this topic: Lunenburg English
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