1 v. — often belong to; Newfoundland
to be in the same family.
Type: 2. Preservation — The term belong is used to describe familial relations, or relation by kinship (see DNE, s.v. "belong" (1)). As noted by DNE, the term belong is a likely preservation from British English, defined in OED-3 as early as the 14th century (see OED-3, s.v. "belong" (v)(4a)). OED-3 defines belong as 'to be connected within various relations [...]' with an example of this appendage noted as 'to be a member of a family...' (see OED-3, s.v. "belong" (v)(4a)). A derivation from British English coincides with the province's settlement history, as Newfoundland was settled in part by people from southwest England in the 18th and 19th centuries (Clarke 2010b: 7). Although this particular sense of belong is marked as archaic (see W-3, s.v. "belong" (2)), its resonance in Newfoundland corresponds to the conservative nature of NLE in regards to the retention of older forms (Clarke 2010b: 103). However, a lack of written attestations for this particular sense of the term suggests that its other meaning (see meaning 2) is arguably more common.
See also COD-2, s.v. "belong" (4), which is marked "Cdn (Nfld)" and DNE, s.v. "belong" (1).
- The term belong is paired with the preposition "to" (see, for example, the 1891 quotation).
2 v. — often belong to.
to be from a place, region or country.
Type: 2. Preservation — The term belong can also be used to describe one's physical origin, or where someone is 'native' to (see DNE, s.v. "belong" (2)). For example, the writer in the 2006 quotation recounts the phrase "I belong to Newfoundland and Labrador". Note that this particular meaning is not defined in COD-2 (s.v. "belong" (4)). Similar to meaning 1, the term is listed as a preservation from British English. As stated in the 2004 quotation, the term is embedded in NLE and it is arguably more popular than meaning 1.
See also DNE, s.v. "belong" (2).