No. 24 (2013)

2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Dictionary of Newfoundland English (DNE). To celebrate this important landmark in the history of Memorial University and the province as a whole, the English Language Research Centre held a Newfoundland and Labrador English Symposium November 9-10, 2012 at Memorial University, consisting of an evening storytelling event and a day of presentations on Newfoundland and Labrador English. Storytellers were those who had been involved with the DNE or had worked closely with the editors, George Story, William Kirwin and John Widdowson. They included John Hewson, Robert Hollett, Gordon Jones, Sheila Lynch, Shane O'Dea (Master of Ceremonies), Harold Paddock and John Widdowson (via audio from an interview). The ELRC has preserved the audio from that evening and there are a number of photos on our blog (www.twignl.wordpress.com). We were fortunate that William Kirwin joined us for this event, receiving a standing ovation for his dedication to the study of Newfoundland English and his integral role in the DNE. Presentations were delivered by professors and students at Memorial University currently working on Newfoundland and Labrador English, from the departments of Folklore (Nic Hartmann, Philip Hiscock and Shamus MacDonald,), History (Jeff Webb) and Linguistics (Sandra Clarke, Paul De Decker, Rachel Deal, Sarah Knee, Suzanne Power, Jennifer Thorburn and Gerard Van Herk). RLS 24 presents selected papers from the Symposium, demonstrating that research on language in the province remains vibrant and varied.