Aspects of Trinidadian Creole

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ASPECTS OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE

Mary M. B.A.,

Chin Pang

Boston U n i v e r s i t y , 1976

A THESIS SUBMITTED I N PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n t h e Department 0f

Languages, L i t e r a t u r e s and L i n g u i s t i c s

@

Mary M. Chin Pang 1981 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1981

All r i g h t s r e s e r v e d .

T h i s t h e s i s may n o t b e reproduced i n whole o r i n p a r t , by photocopy o r o t h e r means, w i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n of t h e a u t h o r .

APPROVAL

Name :

Mary M. Chin Pang

Degree:

M a s t e r of Arts

T i t l e of T h e s i s :

A s p e c t s of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e

Examining Committee: Chairman:

Thomas A. P e r r y

B r i a n E. Newton Senior Supervisor

%chard C. DeArmond

Lennart G r g Z r e n / External ~ x a m i n a d Associate Professor Department of N a t h e m a t i c s Simon P r a s e r U n i v e r s i t y

D a t e approved:

A U Y U S ~1 7 , 1 9 8 1

PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE

I h e r e b y g r a n t t o Simon F r a s e r U n i v e r s i t y t h e r i g h t t o l e n d my t h e s i s o r d i s s e r t a t i o n ( t h e t i t l e o f which i s shown below) t o u s e r s

of t b e Simon F r a s e r U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y , and t o make partial o r s i n g l e c o p i e s o n l y f o r s u c h u s e r s o r i n r e s p o n s e t o a r e q u e s t from t h e l i b r a r y o f a n y o t h e r u 3 i v e r s i t y , sr o t h e r e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n , on i t s own b e h a l f or f o r one of i t s u s e r s .

I f u r t h e r a g r e e t h a t permission f o r

m u l t i p l e c o p y i n g of t h i s t h e s i s for s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s may be g r a n t e d

b y m e or t h e Dean oP: G r a d u a t e S t u d i e s .

It: is u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g

or p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n shall n o t b e allowed w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n .

T i t l e o f Thesis / ~ i s s e r t a t j . o n: Aspects of T r i n i d a d i a n Creole.

(date )

iii

ABSTRACT ASPECTS OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE

T h i s t h e s i s examines t h e r e l a t i o n of T r i n i d a d i a n Creole t o t h e v a r i a n t of S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h spoken on t h e i s l a n d from t h e p o i n t of view of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l d i a s y s t e m l i n k i n g t h e two,

There i s a l s o

some r e f e r e n c e t o t h e r e l a t e d Tobagonian Creole d i a l e c t . An i n t r o d u c t o r y s e c t i o n o u t l i n e s t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s of c r e o l e s i n g e n e r a l and d i s c u s s e s t h e s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c a s p e c t s of t h e s e p a r t i c u l a r creoles within t h e i r l a r g e r l i n g u i s t i c contexts.

I n the

main body of t h e t h e s i s , an a t t e m p t i s made t o account f o r t h e a b i l i t y of c r e o l e s p e a k e r s t o s u c c e s s f u l l y s w i t c h codes between s t a n d a r d and c r e o l e v a r i e t i e s by d e t e r m i n i n g t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l r u l e s which r e l a t e t h e n t o one a n o t h e r ; t h e r e i s a l s o some d i s c u s s i o n of t h e n e c c e s s i t y of p o s t u l a t i n g e x t r i n s i c r u l e o r d e r . There a r e t h r e e main c o n c l u s i o n s .

The f i r s t c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t

t h e c r e o l e s i n q u e s t i o n may b e d e r i v e d from Standard E n g l i s h by p o s t u l a t i n g a b o u t one dozen o r d e r e d r u l e s ; t h e second c o n c l u s i o n i s t h a t code s w i t c h i n g may b e accounted f o r an t h e assumption t h a t t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s u n d e r l y i n g t h e c r e o l e s need n o t b e more a b s t r a c t t h a n ones similar t o t h e s u r f a c e forms of Standard Xngl.ish; t h e t h i r d conc l u s i o n i s t h a t r e f e r e n c e t o s t r i c t o r d e r i n g of r u l e s may b e e l i m i n a t e d o n l y i n t h e c a s e where t h e r u l e s have a ' b l e e d i n g ' r e l a t i o n s h i p o r where t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p i s of t h e ' f e e d i n g ' a c t u a l l y found i s

'feeding' .

t y p e , and where t h e o r d e r

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL

ii

AB STRACT

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS L I S T OF TABLES CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2

THE PHONEMIC SYSTEM OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE CHAPTER 3 THE PHONOLOGICAL RULES OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE Contraction Unrounding Shwa R o u n d i n g a n d r - L o s s Shwa L o w e r i n g Palatalization Labialization Velarization Develarization Occlusivization C l u s t e r Reduction and Metathesis CHAPTER 4 RULE ORDERING CONCLUSION L I S T OF REFERENCES

iv v

LIST OF TABLES

CHAPTER 1 Genetic Relationship between Creoles and Standard Languages

1.1 1.2 1.3

'

Population Content of Trinidad Pronominal System of Trinidadian Creole

CHAPTER 2 i

2.1

The Vowel Phonemes of STE and TC

2.2

The Correspondences between STE Lower Vowel Phonemes and their Equivalents in TC

2.3

The Consonant Phonemes of STE and TC

CHAPTER 4 4.1

The Rule Ordering Constraints of TC

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

The a i m of t h i s p a p e r i s t o compare t h e phonology of t h e E n g l i s h based T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e ( h e n c e f o r t h a l s o known a s TC) and Tobagonian C r e o l e (TBC), and p l a c e them i n a p e r s p e c t i v e by c o n t r a s t i n g them w i t h t h e phonology of S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h (STE), t h e l a t t e r b e i n g c l o s e r t o S t a n d a r d B r i t i s h E n g l i s h t h a n t o Standard American E n g l i s h . We a t t e m p t t o come t o g r i p s w i t h t h e s i t u a t i o n of two languages e x i s t i n g s i d e by s i d e w i t h i n t h e same community by g i v i n g a b r i e f o v e r a l l view of t h e h i s t o r i c a l , s o c i o l o g i c a l , and s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c f a c t o r s t h a t i n f l u e n c e d and culminated i n t h i s d i g l o s s i a ; and by s e t t i n g up a s y s t e m of phonemes a s w e l l as a system of g e n e r a l r u l e s t h a t a c c o u n t f o r

t h e p r e s e n t p h o n e t i c s t r u c t u r e of TC and TBC.

We a l s o propose a n

o r d e r i n g o f t h e s e r u l e s , s t a t i n g why we f e e l i t n e c c e s s a r y t o c r e a t e such an o r d e r . F i r s t of a l l , i n o r d e r t o understand what t h i s e n t a i l s , p e r h a p s we s h o u l d c l a r i f y as p r e c i s e l y as p o s s i b l e , what t h e term ' c r e o l e ' means, and what i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p i s t o ' p i d g i n s f , ' d i a l e c t s f , ' l i n g u a f r a n c a s f and ' s t a n d a r d languages'.

Furthermore, t o a l l o w g r e a t e r comprehension

of t h e s u b j e c t of t h i s t h e s i s , w e would a l s o l i k e t o show: ( a ) how TC and TBC have a n i n t r i c a t e and i n e x t r i c a b l e co-existence w i t h STE w i t h i n t h e West I n d i a n i s l a n d s of T r i n i d a d and Tobago; (b) t h e p o s i t i o n of t h i s c r e o l e w i t h i n t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of c r e o l e s of t h e Caribbean; i n d (c) t h e r e a s o n s why t h i s d i g l o s s i a s h o u l d b e a p p r e c i a t e d and understood. U n t i l t h e l a s t few decades, p i d g i n s and c r e o l e s have been r e g a r d e d

as deviant dialects of standard languages.

By standard languages, we

refer to those forms of recognized or 'world' languages which are generally understood by the native speakers of the language. This misconception was perhaps encouraged by the fact that creoles are based on standard languages; for instance, French Creole or creolized French, for example, Haitian Creole, is actually based on the standard form of French.

Creoles, and pidgins in particular, have also been

given innumerable misnomers. Max K. Adler (1977), gives a long list of these names

- argots, artificial languages, bastard

jargons, broken

English, makeshift languages, patois, langues mdlang&es, slave languages, speech mixtures, hybrid languages, mongrel lingo, folk speech, and others. As a result of the derogatory, patronizing and contemptuous overtones associated with these terms, pidgins and creoles are often mistakenly believed to be dialects which are lacking in structure and incoherent in form. The word 'pidgin' (as suggested in DeCamp (1971a)) may have come from the Chinese pronunciation of the English saying "That's my business".

DeCamp also explains that a pidgin is basically a dialect

created for interlingual communication and is the native language of neither community. uations.

This need for contact usually arises in trade sit-

Pidgins may also arise where two communities, speaking diff-

erent languages, are dominated by a society also having an alien native language, for example, the English in China, where many different Chinese dialects are spoken. Pidgins are usually extremely limited in inner form, the morphol-

o l o g y b e i n g e x c e p t i o n a l l y s p a r e , l a c k i n g p l u r a l i t y , t e n s e o r c a s e markers, f e a t u r e s which may b e redundant.

P i d g i n i z a t i o n i t s e l f i s a com-

p l e x p r o c e s s c o n s i s t i n g of s e v e r a l p h a s e s

-

simplification i n outer

form, r e d u c t i o n i n i n n e r form, and r e s t r i c t i o n i n r o l e .

Max K. Adler,

(1977), c a l l s p i d g i n s "a l i n g u i s t i c compromise" of "two f o s t e r parents". H e s t a t e s t h a t t h e language spoken by t h e dominant c l a s s of t h e s o c i e t y

p r o v i d e s t h e vocabulary f o r t h e p i d g i n , and t h i s i s adapted by t h e lower c l . a s s e s t o t h e p a t t e r n of t h e s y n t a x of t h e i r language.

The d i f f -

e r e n c e i n t h e phonology i s a r e s u l t of t h e d i f f e r e n t phonemes of t h e i r n a t i v e language.

There a r e two t y p e s of p i d g i n s : (1) r e s t r i c t e d pid-

g i n s which d i e o u t when t h e purpose f o r t h e i r e x i s t e n c e no l o n g e r e x i s t s , and (2) extended p i d g i n s , which develop i n t o c r e o l e s . The t e r m ' c r e o l e ' ,

a l s o e x p l a i n e d by Decamp i n t h e above ment-

i o n e d a r t i c l e , comes from t h e P o r t u g u e s e ' c r i o u l o ' , and French ' c r & o l e t .

Spanish ' c r i o l l o '

F i r s t used t o r e f e r t o p e o p l e of European an-

c e s t r y b o r n i n t h e c o l o n i e s , i t was l a t e r expanded t o mean s l a v e s of A f r i c a n d e s c e n t , and today, i t r e f e r s t o t h e language spoken by t h e p e o p l e who n o w - i n h a b i t t h e s e c o l o n i e s o r former c o l o n i e s .

These c r e o l e

l a n g u a g e s a r e based on e s t a b l i s h e d , European l a n g u a g e s , u s u a l l y Engl i s h , French, Spanish, P o r t u g u e s e and Dutch, t h e m a j o r i t y of which a r e spoken i n t h e Caribbean a r e a .

English-based

c r e o l e s a r e spoken i n

Jamaica, T r i n i d a d and Tobago, Barbados, A n t i g u a , numerous o t h e r isl a n d s of t h e L e s s e r A n t i l l e s which were f o r m e r l y , o r s t i l l a r e E n g l i s h C o l o n i e s , Surinam ( t h e c r e o l e c a l l e d Sranan) and i n Guyana.

French

c r e o l e s e x i s t i n H a i t i , M a r t i n i q u e , Guadeloupe, Grenada, t h e Grena-

d i n e s , D e s i r a d e , Marie G a l a n t e , Les S a i n t e s , S a i n t e ~ a r t h & l e m y ,Domini c a , S a i n t L u c i a , French Guyana, and even i n T r i n i d a d where i t is rapi d l y dying out.

Spanish p i d g i n i s spoken i n Venezuela and Colombia.

Papiamento,-which i s a Spanish c r e o l e based on a P o r t u g u e s e p i d g i n w i t h g r e a t l e x i c a l i n f l u e n c e from Dutch, i s spoken i n Curacao, B o n a i r e and Aruba.

Portuguese-based d i a l e c t s (Saramaccan and Matuwari) a r e spoken

i n Surinam, and a Dutch c r e o l e , now almost e x t i n c t , i n t h e V i r g i n Islands. According t o Adler, a l i n g u a f r a n c a i s a l a n g u a g e spoken w i t h i n an a r e a where t h e i n h a b i t a n t s speak d i f f e r e n t n a t i v e languages.

It i s

u s u a l l y t h e language spoken by most of t h e p e o p l e , and i t may b e a p i d g i n o r a s t a n d a r d language.

Lingua f r a n c a s a l s o e x i s t i n c e r t a i n

f i e l d s o f technology, f o r example, medicine, where s p e c i f i c Greek o r L a t i n t e r m s a r e understood by e x p e r t s i n t h a t p a r t i c u l a r f i e l d regardl e s s of t h e i r n a t i v e language. S e v e r a l t h e o r i e s have been proposed for t h e b i r t h and e v o l u t i o n of p i d g i n s from s t a n d a r d languages, and t h e i r s u b s e q u e n t development and e x p a n s i o n t o form c r e o l e s , e.g.

Hawaiian Creole.

The f i r s t o f

t h e s e t h e o r i e s , d i s c u s s e d by Decamp, i s t h a t p i d g i n s , and t h e r e f o r e c r e o l e s , were c r e a t e d by spontaneous g e n e r a t i o n , t h a t i s , t h e y were c r e a t e d i n a r a p i d and m a k e s h i f t manner i n c o n t a c t s i t u a t i o n s between communities speaking d i f f e r e n t n a t i v e languages, n e e d i n g t o communicate with one another. monogenesis.

Another h y p o t h e s i s t h a t i s w e l l known i s t h a t of

T h i s r e f e r s t o t h e b e l i e f t h a t a l l p i d g i n s come from one

m a s t e r p i d g i n , t h a t i s , a Portuguese v e r s i o n o f t h e l i n g u a f r a n c a of

t h e Levant ( n a t i o n s of t h e e a s t e r n Mediterranean) d u r i n g t h e 1600's Sabir.

-

T h e r e h a s been c o n s i d e r a b l e o p p o s i t i o n t o t h i s t h e o r y s i n c e

t h e r e a r e c r e o l e s which have no t r a c e of Portuguese i n f l u e n c e , and f u r t h e r m o r e , t h e r e i s no h i s t o r i c a l f a c t on which t o b a s e t h i s n o t i o n . P i d g i n i z a t i o n and c r e o l i z a t i o n a r e fundamentally phases of t h e same p r o c e s s t h a t h a s o c c u r r e d and i s p r e s e n t l y o c c u r r i n g time and a g a i n t o many s o u r c e l a n g u a g e s a l l over t h e world. To p u t i t i n a n u t s h e l l , t h e y undergo t h e same b a s i c p r o c e s s . a r e s u l t , c r e o l e s a r e c h a r a c t e r i z e d by t h e same f e a t u r e s .

As

DeCamp

r

'sts t h e s e a s f o l l o w s : (1) t h e r e a r e u s u a l l y no number, gender o r

i

c a s e markers; (2) a d v e r b i a l and a d j e c t i v a l forms a r e i d e n t i c a l ; (3)

adverbs and a d j e c t i v e s a r e i t e r a t e d f o r i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n ; and (4) verb-

\

a1 a s p e c t s are i n d i c a t e d by s y n t a c t i c markers b u t t r u e t e n s e s a r e n o t

Z

\

marked m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y .

They a r e more complex i n form and more v a r i e d

11 i n f u n c t i o n t h a n p i d g i n s s i n c e t h e y a r e p r o b a b l y t h e f e s u l t o f t h e ex'

pansion o f t h e p i d g i n and a r e now t h e n a t i v e languages of t h e i r speak-

ers. According t o Decamp, c r e o l e s undergo two t y p e s of p r o c e s s e s : change i n s t r u c t u r e

-

(a) i n s c a l e

-

r e d u c t i o n , expansion, s i m p l i -

f i c a t i o n and c o m p l i c a t i o n ; and (2) change i n f u n c t i o n of i t s u s e , and (b) i n s o c i a l s t a t u s .

(1)

-

(a) i n t h e scope

C r e o l e s can b e and o f t e n a r e t h e

r e s u l t of p i d g i n s o r even a p r e - p i d g i n i z a t i o n continuum undergoing t h e

. c r e o l i z a t i o n process. gin i n society.

T h i s development depends on t h e r o l e of t h e pid-

P i d g i n i z a t i o n and c r e o l i z a t i o n a r e t h u s m i r r o r images of

t h e same p r o c e s s , t h a t i s , r e d u c t i o n and expansion.

S i n c e t h e y under-

go t h e same p r o c e s s , t h e r e i s o b v i o u s l y a r e l a t i o n s h i p between p i d g i n and c r e o l e as w e l l a s between one c r e o l e and a n o t h e r . There a r e many c r e o l e s s c a t t e r e d among s p e a k e r s i n d i f f e r e n t p a r t s of t h e w o r l d , which a r e s o s i m i l a r a s t o b e m u t u a l l y i n t e l l i g i b l e .

In

f a c t , a l l French c r e o l e s a r e m u t u a l l y i n t e l l i g i b l e a l t h o u g h they may n o t n e c c e s s a r i l y b e understood by Standard French s p e a k e r s .

Some English-

based c r e o l e s may b e m u t u a l l y comprehensible, a s i s t h e c a s e w i t h West I n d i a n E n g l i s h c r e o l e and K r i o t h a t i s spoken i n S i e r r a Leone, West Africa.

However, t h e r e i s a problem i n s o f a r a s t h e g e n e t i c c l a s s i f i -

c a t i o n i s concerned.

T h i s i s d i s c u s s e d i n Mervyn C. Alleyne (1971).

S i n c e t h e r e i s much c o n t r o v e r s y o v e r what c o n s t i t u t e s p r e c i s e l y t h e g e n e t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p between s t a n d a r d languages, i t i s n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e r e i s no agreement as t o t h e g e n e t i c c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of c r e o l e s . I n t h e c a s e of t h e West I n d i a n i s l a n d s , no r e c o r d s were k e p t o f which languages were n a t i v e t o t h e o r i g i n a l s l a v e s , and f u r t h e r m o r e , t h e i r c u l t u r e had been s u p e r s e d e d , o r a t l e a s t g r e a t l y i n f l u e n c e d by t h e c u l t u r e of t h e European c o l o n i s t s .

T h e r e f o r e , t h e r o o t of t h e problem

l i e s i n whether t h e r e s u l t i n g c r e o l e s h o u l d b e c l a s s i f i e d i n conjunct i o n w i t h t h e European s o u r c e language i n a p a r e n t / o f f s p r i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p , o r whether i t s h o u l d b e c l a s s i f i e d i n a g e n e t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h other creoles.

Perhaps, we c o u l d s u g g e s t t h a t c r e o l e s and o t h e r s o u r c e

languages s h o u l d b e c l a s s i f i e d i n a more g e n e r a l r e l a t i o n s h i p , somet h i n g i n t h e d i r e c t i o n of t h e c h a r t on t h e f o l l o w i n g page:

Table 1.1

G e n e t i c R e l a t i o n s h i p between C r e o l e s and Standard Languages. English

---r

A f r i c a n Language

-I-

French

The s t u d y of p i d g i n s and c r e o l e s a l s o s e r v e s t o i l l u m i n a t e n a t u r a l t e n d e n c i e s i n human language. I n T r i n i d a d and Tobago, we h a v e t h e s i t u a t i o n where two r e l a t e d languages e x i s t w i t h i n one community f o r d i f f e r e n t purposes.

It may

b e c a l l e d a n example of d i g l o s s i a ( a s d e s c r i b e d by Charles A. Ferguson ( 1 9 5 9 ) ) , o r t h e t y p e of c r e o l e continuum d i s c u s s e d by Derek Bickerton(1973).

I n t h e l a t t e r a r t i c l e , B i c k e r t o n contends t h a t a c r e o l e

continuum i s c r e a t e d by non-speakers of E n g l i s h who come i n t o c o n t a c t with it.

They t h e n make random s e l e c t i o n s of t h e E n g l i s h o u t p u t i n

o r d e r t o i n t e r n a l i z e t h e i r own i n a c c u r a t e v e r s i o n s of t h e r u l e s of t h e E n g l i s h language.

A s more and more s p e a k e r s r e p e a t t h i s p r o c e s s , t h e

continuum becomes "an o r d e r e d and p r i n c i p l e d dynamic process" where t h e a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n expands r a p i d l y as forms o f t h e c r e o l e a r e developed.

Between b o t h p o l e s of t h e continuum i s a remarkable amount of d i a -

l e c t s , which a r e i n h e r e n t l y ' d i f f e r e n t from one a n o t h e r , y e t whose b o u n d a r i e s cannot b e p r e c i s e l y d e f i n e d .

Each v e r n a c u l a r h a s i t s own

r o l e , and t h i s r e s u l t s i n a complex p a t t e r n s w i t c h i n g i n o r d e r t o p l a y each s o c i a l r o l e .

Max K. Adler (1977) s t a t e s t h a t t h i s u n s t a b l e pro-

c e s s which r e s u l t s i n t h e c r e a t i o n of a c r e o l e continuum i s c h a r a c t e r -

i z e d by: p r e s e r v a t i o n s , borrowings, new f o r m a t i o n s , t r a n s f e r r e d meani n g s , s p e c i a l p r e f e r e n c e s , and compounds o r i t e r a t i v e s which i n d i c a t e i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n o r weakening.

Some of t h e s e e x i s t i n T r i n i d a d i a n

C r e o l e , as w e s h a l l demonstrate l a t e r on. I n t h i s c a s e , w e have Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian Creole.

Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , which i s

t h e e d u c a t e d form of E n g l i s h , i s c l o s e r t o S t a n d a r d B r i t i s h E n g l i s h ( f o r example, /3/ i s t h e vowel i n STE ' p o t '

a s i n Standard B r i t i s h

E n g l i s h ; / r / i s l o s t p o s t v o c a l i c a l l y , s o t h e y s a y /ka:/ 'car')

n o t /kar/ f o r

s i n c e i t i s based on i t , t h a n i t i s t o S t a n d a r d American Eng-

l i s h , y e t i t i s d i s t i n c t i v e l y T r i n i d a d i a n o r West I n d i a n i n f l a v o u r . As w e s h a l l see, b o t h STE and TC o r TBC a r e used i n w i d e l y d i f f e r i n g

s i t u a t i o n s f o r e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t purposes.

I n s o f a r a s t h e language

s i t u a t i o n i s concerned, t h e r e e x i s t s c u r r e n t l y i n T r i n i d a d and Tobago a d i g l o s s i a t h a t i s r a p i d l y becoming a l i n g u i s t i c continuum.

A t one

e x t r e m e of t h e continuum i s S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h o r S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h and a t t h e o t h e r end i s t h e ' p u r e '

creole equivalent t o its

Jamaican c o u n t e r p a r t d e s c r i b e d by B e r y l L. B a i l e y (1971), and I a m posi t i v e t h a t t h i s u n a d u l t e r a t e d form i s spoken by few, i f any, n a t i v e s o f T r i n i d a d and Tobago.

The d a t a which i s a n a l y s e d later on i n t h i s

p a p e r r e p r e s e n t s t h e form t h a t i s s t i l l spoken, and i s a s c l o s e as p o s s i b l e t o t h e c r e o l e end of t h e continuum. S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian C r e o l e are used f o r w i d e l y d i f f e r e n t r o l e s i n s o c i e t y .

Each p e r s o n

w i t h i n t h e community commands a s p a n of t h i s l i n g u i s t i c continuum, and

9

t h e f u r t h e r up t h e socio-economic l a d d e r h e o r s h e i s , t h e c l o s e r t h e p e r s o n i s towards t h e Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h p o l e o f t h e continuum.

Some p e o p l e a r e extremely v e r s a t i l e i n t h a t t h e y a r e f a m i l i a r

w i t h a g r e a t expanse of t h i s continuum, and a r e t h e r e f o r e a b l e t o communicate w i t h p e o p l e from more v a r i e d walks of l i f e .

Others a r e

more l i m i t e d i n t h a t t h e i r most c r e o l i z e d E n g l i s h w i l l s t i l l b e h i g h e r towards t h e S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h end t h a n , f o r example, a road worker's most 'educated'

form of English.

T r i n i d a d and Tobago a r e

c u r r e n t l y undergoing a dynamic p r o c e s s which i s moving them towards t h e d i r e c t i o n of a p o s t - c r e o l e community, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e more urban a r e a s .

.

David Decamp (1971) e x p l a i n s t h a t t h e c o n d i t i o n s t h a t l e a d

t o t h i s are: ( I ) t h e o f f i c i a l language i s t h e s t a n d a r d language which i s t h e s o u r c e f o r t h e c r e o l e ; (2) t h e r i g i d s t r a t i f i c a t i o n between s o c i a l c l a s s e s i s b e g i n n i n g t o b r e a k down, o r no l o n g e r e x i s t s , s o t h a t s o c i a l m o b i l i t y i s p o s s i b l e ; and ( 3 ) t h e r e a r e enough e d u c a t i o n a l and a c c u l t u r a t i o n a l programs t o r e a c h t h e m a j o r i t y of t h e p o p u l a c e and e x e r t enough p r e s s u r e t o move them towards t h e s t a n d a r d end of t h e continuum, away from t h e c r e o l e .

Another i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r t h a t h a s caused t h i s

p r o c e s s t o a c c e l e r a t e i s t h e sudden i n f l u x of f o r e i g n l a b o u r as a res u l t of t h e d i s c o v e r y of o i l and n a t u r a l g a s , t h a s u b s e q u e n t a v a i l a b i l i t y of m a s s i v e sums of money, r a p i d i n d u s t r i a l development, and c o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e n e c c e s s i t y of having a good command of S t a n d a r d Engl i s h a s t h e o n l y means of communication w i t h f o r e i g n l a b o u r e r s whose n a t i v e l a n g u a g e i s n o t T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , and who, t h e r e f o r e , u s e Standard E n g l i s h a s a l i n g u a f r a n c a .

S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h i s g e n e r a l l y used f o r formal s i t u a t i o n s and i s t h e norm f o r formal e d u c a t i o n a t s c h o o l , o f f i c i a l c h a n n e l s of comrnuni c a t i o n , mass media such a s r a d i o and t e l e v i s i o n , government d e c l a r a t i o n s , memoranda, o f f i c i a l ceremonies, l e g a l documents, e t c .

On t h e

o t h e r hand, T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian Creole a r e used i n dome s t i c s i t u a t i o n s and f o r communication between f r i e n d s o r members of t h e community.

I t may a l s o b e used on formal o c c a s i o n s such as i n pol-

i t i c s ; f o r example, i n an e l e c t i o n s p e e c h , D r . E r i c Williams, t h e now deceased prime m i n i s t e r , made a p o l i t i c a l promise i n Standard T r i n i dadian E n g l i s h ending w i t h t h e T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e p h r a s e "o crapaud smoke mih pipe" meaning "or t h a t w i l l b e t h e end of me".

Being t h e

w i l y p o l i t i c i a n t h a t h e was, h e l a p s e d i n t o c r e o l e i n t e n t i o n a l l y i n o r d e r t o emphasize t h e s e r i o u s n e s s o f h i s promise a s w e l l a s t o demo n s t r a t e i d e n t i t y w i t h t h e average T r i n i d a d i a n who u s e s c r e o l e a s h i s way of communicating and e x p r e s s i n g h i m s e l f . A l l T r i n i d a d i a n s and Tobagonians s p e a k c r e o l e t o some e x t e n t , y e t

q u i t e a few w i l l deny t h e i r knowledge of i t , o r even t h e f a c t t h a t i t exists.

T h i s i s because they have been b r o u g h t up i n t h e b e l i e f t h a t

Standard E n g l i s h i s 'good E n g l i s h ' w h i l e T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian C r e o l e a r e 'bad E n g l i s h ' .

However, i n t h e p r e s e n t day, more

and more c r e o l e s p e a k e r s a r e b e g i n n i n g t o t a k e p r i d e i n t h e i r h e r i t a g e . One of t h e s i g n s of t h i s new a t t i t u d e is t h e acceptance and r e c o g n i t i o n of a growing body of l i t e r a t u r e t h a t i s s t r i c t l y f o l k l o r i c and d e f i n i t e l y creole.

I n t h e p a s t , p o e t r y was n o t p o e t r y u n l e s s i t w a s w r i t t e n

i n S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h and was t h u s a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of t h e f a c t t h a t t h e

11

p o e t h a s l e a r n e d Standard E n g l i s h , and w a s t h u s 'educated'.

Another

symptom o f t h i s new i d e n t i t y i s ' h y p e r c r e o l i z a t i o n l , which i s hypercorrection i n reverse.

C r e o l e s p e a k e r s know t h a t i f t h e y want t o

advance economically and s o c i a l l y w i t h i n t h e i r community, t h e a b i l i t y t o speak S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h i s e s s e n t i a l .

While t h e y may wish t o par-

t i c i p a t e i n t h i s upward m o b i l i t y , t h e y a l s o want t o r e t a i n t h e i r id e n t i t y as a c r e o l e s p e a k e r .

The r e s u l t of t h i s a g o n i z i n g dichotomy

has been t h a t t h e y o v e r - r e a c t and t r y t o u s e t h e most extreme form of creole i n every situation,

J u s t a s p e o p l e who u s e Standard E n g l i s h i n

c a s u a l s i t u a t i o n s are c o n s i d e r e d t o b e p e d a n t i c and s n o b b i s h , l i k e w i s e t h e i n a b i l i t y o r t h e s t u b b o r n r e f u s a l t o u s e Standard E n g l i s h o r Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h i n s i t u a t i o n s t h a t w a r r a n t i t c a l l s down s i m i l a r disapproval. S i n c e T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian C r e o l e a r e g e n e r a l l y used a t home and f o r c a s u a l communication w i t h i n t h e community, t h e r e must b e some way whereby t h e s t r u c t u r e and c o n c e p t s o f S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h are i n t e r n a l i z e d by c r e o l e s p e a k e r s . system.

T h i s i s done through t h e e d u c a t i o n a l

I n t h e m a j o r i t y of s c h o o l s , c h i l d r e n a r e n o t o n l y encouraged

b u t a r e a l s o pressured i n t o speaking Standard Trinidadian English, t o t h e e x t e n t where t e a c h e r s even p r o f e s s i g n o r a n c e of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian Creole.

I n some cases, s h o u l d t h e c h i l d c o n t i n u e t o

speak T r i n i d a d i a n Creole o r Tobagonian C r e o l e , h e i s h e l d up b e f o r e t h e c l a s s as a f i g u r e of r i d i c u l e , and h e i s l a t e r mocked and s t i g m a t i z e d by h i s p e e r s as b e i n g 'a c o u n t r y boy from t h e bush'.

Even i n many

homes, c h i l d r e n a r e p r e s s u r e d b y t h e i r p a r e n t s t o speak Standard Eng-

\ 1

lish.

I f t h e c h i l d does n o t a t t e n d s c h o o l f o r economic r e a s o n s o r

o t h e r w i s e , h e n e v e r t h e l e s s a c q u i r e s a b a s i c u n d e r s t a n d i n g of Standard E n g l i s h o r S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h by l i s t e n i n g t o t h e r a d i o o r o t h e r forms of mass media.

Thus, even though t h e p e r s o n may b e illit-

e r a t e , o r may n o t have an a c c e p t a b l e d e g r e e of competency i n Standard E n g l i s h o r S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , h e i s s t i l l c a p a b l e of unders t a n d i n g i t s i n c e h e h a s i n t e r n a l i z e d t h e s t r u c t u r e and b a s i c concepts of S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h .

H i s p r o f i c i e n c y i n ' t h i s f i e l d i s measured by h i s

a b i l i t y t o s w i t c h back and f o r t h from Standard E n g l i s h t o Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h t o T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e o r Tobagonian C r e o l e , and by h i s c a p a c i t y t o d i s t i n g u i s h between t h e v e r n a c u l a r s t h a t r a n g e a l o n g t h e continuum, w i t h i n t h e wide a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n . One i n t e r e s t i n g a s p e c t o f t h i s s i t u a t i o n , a s i s d i s c u s s e d by Dennis R. C r a i g (1971), i s t h e f a c t t h a t c r e o l e s p e a k e r s may r e c o g n i z e Standard E n g l i s h forms o u t of p r o p o r t i o n w i t h t h e i r a b i l i t y t o produce

similar examples.

Creole speakers a r e i n t h e p e c u l i a r p o s i t i o n t h a t ,

w h i l e E n g l i s h i s n o t a f o r e i g n language t o them, i t i s s t i l l n q t t h e i r n a t i v e language.

For c r e o l e s p e a k i n g c h i l d r e n , t h i s poses a c u t e prob-

l e m s , i n e d u c a t i o n a s w e l l a s i n t h e a c q u i s i t i o n of language, t h a t a r e

o n l y now b e i n g acknowledged.

While t h e s e c h i l d r e n and even a d u l t s re-

cognize S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h forms, t h e y may n o t b e a b l e t o reproduce s i m -

i l a r forms o r b e a b l e t o d i s t i n g u i s h t h e i n n a t e d i f f e r e n c e between Standard E n g l i s h and c r e o l e p a t t e r n s .

To h e l p s o l v e t h e s e problems,

C r a i g h a s i n d i c a t e d what e d u c a t o r s s h o u l d l o o k f o r i n t h e i r c r e o l e s p e a k i n g s t u d e n t s and how they s h o u l d go about overcoming i t .

r

T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and Tobagonian C r e o l e a r e now i n a s t a g e of t r a n s i t i o n , t h a t i s , t h e y a r e g r a d u a l l y moving towards Standard E n g l i s h o r S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n English.

It i s a n u n s t a b l e and dynamic p r o c e s s .

S i n c e T r i n i d a d and Tobago a r e themselves s o minute i n s i z e and t h e r e a r e no g e o g r a p h i c a l f a c t o r s t h a t would pose insurmountable b a r r i e r s t o communication, t h e r e i s no g r e a t v a r i e t y of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e w i t h i n T r i n i d a d , o r Tobagonian Creole i n Tobago.

Each community s p e a k s a form

of c r e o l e which i s mutually i n t e l l i g i b l e w i t h , and sometimes h a r d l y d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from t h a t of any o t h e r community.

Of c o u r s e , t h e

c r e o l e spoken i n a wealthy suburb of Port-of-Spain

i s more l i k e l y t o b e

c l o s e r t o S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h t h a n t h a t spoken i n a t i n y i s o l a t e d v i l l a g e l i k e Moruga.

However, t h i s i s due t o socio-economic

f a c t o r s t h a t are o u t s i d e the scope of t h i s paper.

Communication be-

tween h i g h e r and lower c l a s s e s a r e e a s e d by each c l a s s a t t e m p t i n g t o speak a form of c r e o l e t h a t i s c l o s e r t o t h a t spoken by t h e o t h e r c l a s s , which may b e o u t s i d e t h e range w i t h which t h e s p e a k e r f e e l s comforta b l e , y e t w i t h i n t h e a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n . T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and Tobagonian C r e o l e a r e n o t i d e n t i c a l as many people b e l i e v e .

One of t h e r e a s o n s f o r t h i s can b e found i n t h e h i s -

t o r y of b o t h i s l a n d s .

T r i n i d a d and Tobago a r e t h e most s o u t h e r n of t h e

c h a i n of i s l a n d s t h a t are s t r u n g a c r o s s t h e Caribbean Sea.

Forming t h e

l o w e s t p o i n t of t h e L e s s e r A n t i l l e s , t h e y l i e j u s t o f f t h e n o r t h e a s t e r n c o a s t of Venezuela.

T r i n i d a d c o v e r s an a r e a of a p p r o x i m a t e l y one thous-

and, e i g h t hundred and s i x t y - f o u r s q u a r e m i l e s w h i l e s m a l l e r Tobago ext e n d s o v e r one hundred and s i x t e e n s q u a r e m i l e s , w i t h a v o l c a n i c peak

a t its centre.

Both i s l a n d s were d i s c o v e r e d by C h r i s t o p h e r Columbus

on h i s t h i r d voyage i n 1498, and claimed f o r Spain.

Afeer 1783, Trin-

i d a d was p o p u l a t e d by French s e t t l e r s , and i n 1797, t h e i s l a n d w a s capt u r e d by t h e B r i t i s h .

It w a s o f f i c i a l l y ceded t o B r i t a i n i n 1802.

Tobago became a colony of B r i t a i n i n 1814, and o f f i c i a l l y s o i n 1877. Both i s l a n d s were j o i n e d a s a s i n g l e colony i n 1889. Tobago became independent on August 3 1 s t , 1962. a t e d i n 1833.

T r i n i d a d and

S l a v e s w e r e emancip-

I n order t o r e p l a c e t h i s labour f o r c e , t h e B r i t i s h

brought i n d e n t u r e d l a b o u r e r s from I n d i a between 1845 and 1917.

This

l a t e a d d i t i o n of E a s t I n d i a n workers and t h e n , Chinese immigrants, h a s had some measure of i n f l u e n c e on t h e c r e o l e of T r i n i d a d . I n b o t h i s l a n d s , t h e r e a r e s m a l l p o c k e t s where Yoruba i s s t i l l spoken, b u t t h i s i s r a p i d l y dying o u t , even among t h e o l d p e o p l e who a r e f o r c e d t o s p e a k c r e o l e t o communicate w i t h t h e younger g e n e r a t i o n s . I n T r i n i d a d , French Creole i s a l s o spoken by a s m a l l m i n o r i t y , made up mostly of p e o p l e from Grenada and o t h e r i s l a n d s where it i s more common. The p o p u l a t i o n c o n t e n t of b o t h i s l a n d s are v e r y d i f f e r e n t and t h i s a c c o u n t s p a r t l y f o r t h e d i f f e r e n c e between T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian C r e o l e .

While Tobago i s p o p u l a t e d almost e n t i r e l y by p e o p l e

of A f r i c a n d e s c e n t , t h e r e are s e v e r a l r a c i a l groups which comprise t h e p o p u l a t i o n of T r i n i d a d .

A g e n e r a l breakdown of t h e p o p u l a t i o n c o n t e n t

of t h e l a t t e r i s as f o l l o w s :

T a b l e 1.2

P o p u l a t i o n Content of T r i n i d a d .

1. 2. 3. 4. 6,

........................ .................... ........................ .................. .......

Of A f r i c a n d e s c e n t Of E a s t I n d i a n d e s c e n t Of Chinese d e s c e n t Of mixed r a c i a l a n c e s t r y Of European and Mid-Eastern d e s c e n t (mainly E n g l i s h , Spanish, French, Portuguese, S y r i a n and Lebanese d e s c e n t ) .

45%

40% 5% 5% 5%

A s a r e s u l t , T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e i s d i s t i n g u i s h e d from t h e E n g l i s h -

based c r e o l e s of t h e o t h e r Caribbean i s l a n d s by t h e words, o r c r e o l i z e d forms of them, borrowed from S p a n i s h , French, Chinese and H i n d i .

Some

c r e o l e idioms t a k e n from Spanish a r e : /mamagay/ meaning ' t o a c t l i k e a sycophant, t o f l a t t e r e x c e s s i v e l y ' from 'mamar g a l l o '

, /malfo/ ' e v i l

e y e ' from 'ma1 d e o j o ' and / p i c 3 1 'song w i t h a w i t t y o r s h a r p c r i t i c a l Some l e x i c a l i t e m s t a k e n from French are:

o b s e r v a t i o n of s o c i e t y : / l a g a h u / 'werewolf

'la diablesse' 'crapaud'

'

from

, /cob01

, /du-du/

'loup

garou'

/ l a y a b l ~ s / ' female demon' from

' v u l t u r e ' from 'corbeau'

from 'doux-doux'

a term of endearment, and /p3mcite/

thsre'.

,

, /crape/

ref erring t o

'one's

frbm

sweetheart:

i,e.

' t y p e of f r u i t ' from ' p o m e cy-

Words from Hindi which have been i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o t h e vocab-

u l a r y of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e a r e : / d u l a h r n / ' b r i d e ' ,

' p o t a t o ' , / b a y i / ' s p i n a c h ' , e t c , ; and /hakwai/ f o r ' b l a c k p e o p l e ' .

/beti/ 'girl',

/ahlu/

Chinese, o r t h e c r e o l i z e d Chinese

I t i s a l s o q u i t e common t o h e a r T r i n i d a d -

i a n Creole speakers r e p e a t ' o u i ' I

'frog'

( f o r example, / a s i st w i / f o r 'I real-

l y saw i t ' ) a t t h e end o f a s t a t e m e n t o r answer t o a q u e s t i o n as a s i g n

I

i

of emphasis,

A n l t h e r r e a s o n why t h e c r e o l e of Tobago i s much more c9n-

s e r v a t i v e t h a n t h a t of T r i n i d a d i s t h a t T r i n i d a d i s much more developed t h a n Tobago, which, because of i t s ' l a c k of r e s o u r c e s s t i l l remains i n t h e b a c k w a t e r s , s a f e from r a p i d change. There i s c o n s t a n t and v a r y i n g d e g r e e s of i n t e r a c t i o n between Trini d a d i a n C r e o l e , Tobagonian C r e o l e and S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h .

I have c a l l e d

T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e a c r e o l e and n o t a d i a l e c t of E n g l i s h , because, a l though t h e l i n g u i s t i c s i t u a t i o n i s moving towards a p o s t - c r e o l e continuum, t h e c r e o l e t h a t i s s t i l l spoken b y t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e

'

numerous s m a l l towns, suburbs and v i l l a g e s i s n o t understood by t h e m a j o r i t y of S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h n a t i v e s p e a k e r s e n t e r i n g t h e community. To g i v e a broad i d e a of how wide t h e a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n i s between Standard E n g l i s h and T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , w e w i l l t a k e a c l o s e r l o o k a t it.

S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h i s g e n e r a l l y t h e language used i n b u s i n e s s

- major

b u s i n e s s t r a n s a c t i o n s between l a r g e c o r p o r a t i o n s a r e u s u a l l y conceived, c a r r i e d o u t , and s e a l e d i n S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h , a l l formal c o n t r a c t s a r e i n Standard E n g l i s h , e t c .

Moving down t h e economic l a d d e r , s m a l l e r bus-

i n e s s d e a l s , s a y between s m a l l f a m i l y b u s i n e s s e s , may b e n e g o t i a t e d i n S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , o r , depending on t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e businessmen, a form of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , each t r y i a g t o speak t h a t form of c r e o l e w i t h which h e f e e l s t h e o t h e r i s most comfortable.

To-

wards t h e lower end of t h e s c a l e , t h e r e i s t h e Sunday market where t h e housewife goes t o buy f r e s h meat and produce. h a g g l i n g i s u s u a l l y expressed i n t h e ' p u r e s t ' t h e housewife.

T h i s b a r t e r i n g and form of c r e o l e known t o

I f t h e vendor w i s h e s t o d r i v e a h a r d b a r g a i n , h e

a t t e m p t s t o make a c o n t r a s t between h i s socio-economic p o s i t i o n and t h a t

17

of t h e h o u s e w i f e , t o t h e advantage of t h e l a t t e r .

I f , on t h e o t h e r

hand, h e w i s h e s t o wheedle and f l a t t e r , h e p l a y s up t o h e r by speaking h i s most r e f i n e d form of Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , t h u s implying t h a t , of c o u r s e , s h e i s a v e r y i m p o r t a n t p e r s o n .

A preacher, speaking

i n f o r m a l l y t o one of h i s f l o c k , w i l l s p e a k i n T r i n i d a d i a n Creole; y e t , when a d d r e s s i n g h i s c o n g r e g a t i o n , i l l i t e r a t e though h e may b e , h e w i l l u s e what h e t h i n k s i s Standard E n g l i s h , o n l y o c c a s i o n a l l y b r e a k i n g i n t o Trinidadian Creole t o s t r e s s a point.

Should h e d e l i v e r h i s sermon i n

T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , t h e c o n g r e g a t i o n would b e e x t r e m e l y offended and i n s u l t e d b y t h i s l a c k of d i g n i t y , and would condemn h i s c a p a b i l i t y t o p r e a c h , g r e a t though h i s o r a t o r i c a l a b i l i t y may be. A s any s o c i o l o g i s t o r s o c i o l i n g u i s t knows, t h e s e k i n d s of r e l a t i o n -

s h i p s and s i t u a t i o n s o c c u r on a d a i l y b a s i s and each may c a l l f o r a d i f f e r e n t form o f c r e o l e which may b e c l o s e r t o ' p u r e '

creole or t o

S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h t h a n what t h e s p e a k e r u s e s h i m s e l f .

Any

p e r s o n would b e h a r d p u t t o s a y t h a t t h e r e was one s i n g l e day when h e d i d n o t h a v e t o make a few o r even many a d j u s t m e n t s - t o t h e form o f Standard Trinidadian English o r Trinidadian Creole t h a t h e speaks, i n order t o communicate w i t h o t h e r s w i t h o u t a r o u s i n g h o s t i l e f e e l i n g s .

A typical

example of t h i s i s a g r o c e r who, w i t h i n t h e p a s s a g e of one day, s p e a k s S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h t o h i s lawyer and c l i e n t s who a r e t e a c h e r s , S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n English t o h i s business competitor, Trinidadian Creole t o h i s p a y i n g customers, and a much b r o a d e r form of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e t o t h e non-paying customers and t h e s t r e e t sweeper.

I n o r d e r t o do t h i s ,

h e must s w i t c h back and f o r t h w i t h o u t h e s i t a t i o n , and, i n t u r n , move up

and down t h e l i n g u i s t i c continuum by adding c r e o l e words o r borrowing words from S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h f o r a s i t u a t i o n i n which t h e r e a r e n o c r e o l e words t h a t are a p p r o p i a t e , The f a c t t h a t t h e r e a r e borrowings from S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h , Spanish, French, Chinese and Hindi l e x i c o n s a f f e c t s a l l components of Trinidadi a n Creole.

D i f f e r e n t words may b e used f o r t h e same r e f e r e n t i n Stan-

d a r d E n g l i s h and i n T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , f o r example, / f r a k / i s used f o r 'dress', /bakanal/

/j3:si/ ' j e r s e y '

'bacchanal'

f o r 'sweater',

/badrs/

'bodice'

f o r 'blouse',

f o r 'confusion, s p e c t a c l e 1 , / f g t / ' f e t e '

for

--

'party',

etc.

. .

Some Standard E n g l i s h words may a l s o b e i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o

T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , b u t used i n a n e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t s e n s e , e.g.

/di

f f g f r ~ gf r ~ g /meaning n o t t h a t t h e f i s h i s f r e s h , b u t t h a t i t h a s a v e r y f i s h y t a s t e o r smell. d e s c r i b e 'eggs'.

/ f r & g / i n t h i s s e n s e , may a l s o b e used t o

S e v e r a l Standard E n g l i s h terms may a l s o b e used i n

r e v e r s e o r d e r i n Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h o r T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , f o r example, ' t o n g u e t i e d ' becomes ' t i e d tongue'. Thus, T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e d i f f e r s - from Standard E n g l i s h , n o t o n l y i n t h e l e x i c o n , b u t a l s o i n t h e grammar and i n t h e phonology.

Some of

t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s are p o i n t e d o u t i n David J a y Minderhout (1973) and i n .

David Decamp (1971).

.

They a r e as f o l l o w s :

(1) The c o p u l a o r forms of ' t o b e ' are u s u a l l y a b s e n t and are gene r a l l y d e l e t e d a f t e r pronouns, f o r example, /i b a yan w i / ' h e i s a r e a l l y bad man',

/ d i bwai dEm w ~ k f dwrkrd/ ' t h e boys are v e r y wicked

o r mischievous'.

(2) T h e r e i s g e n e r a l l y no p a s t t e n s e i n d i c a t o r , a l t h o u g h t h e c o n t i n -

uous t e n s e i s marked by t h e v e r b a l s u f f i x -ing,

( f o r example, /i w a k m

d31f d i s t r i t / ' h e i s walking down t h e s t r e e t ' ) , t h e p r e s e n t and h a b i t u a l t e n s e by 'does'

(eg. s h i daz go t a t538 ~ b r di e / ' s h e goes t o

church e v e r y d a y ' ) , and t h e f u t u r e by forms of 'go'

(eg. /a go go s i d i

d a k t a l 'I w i l l go t o s e e t h e d o c t o r ' ) .

(3) P l u r a l markers a r e d e l e t e d .

(4) The f o l l o w i n g pronominal system i s found:

Table 1 . 3

Pronominal System of T r i n i d a d i a n Creole.

TC

STE

hshe er

h Igi1

they them

t ldSrn1

There is n o c a s e i n t h e pronouns, e x c e p t t h a t /a/ may b e used i n p r e ference t o / m i / .

(5) There i s no s u b j e c t - v e r b agreement, eg. / d i E i n i c r a l we i wan/ ' t h e c a t e r p i l l a r where i t wants t o ' .

(6) There i s no p a s s i v e form of t h e verb.

(7) The negative particle corresponding to 'isn' t' varies from / ~ n t takrn nobw2di b~znrs/'that neighbour N f n N E /, eg. /di neba de ~ n t does not discuss other people's affairs'.

(8) Multiple negation - Whereas two negatives within the same core sentence are understood in Standard English to equal a positive, in Trinidadian Creole, multiple negatives within the same clause simply indicate negative. tain'.

Eg. /mi e nyam no plant~n/'I did not eat any plan-

The general negativizer is /no/.

(9) Questions are not realized by the inversion of the corresponding .statement, but by a declarative sentence ending with a high tone. (10) Use of the repetitive sentence is quite common, eg. / r z d ~ di

d ~ dwi/ for 'he is really dead'. (11) The dummy subject constructions 'there is' or 'there are' are

usually replaced by the existential 'it' in 'it have' as in / ~ hab t tu man faytrn m di wek/ 'there are two men fighting-in the wake'.

'4

(12) Reduplication is not a characteristic of lower social class.

It spans the breadth of the entire continuum and is accepted by all social classes.

Thus it is quite common to hear expressions like

/hwoli-hwoli/ 'full of holes', Islo-do/ 'very slow', lbrrs-brrsl 'very rapidly' , /wet-WEt/ ' really wet

' , and, taken from the African

language

Twi, /bob01 'fool' and /b~bz~l/ 'confusion, mess'. (13) Another feature that is characteristic of English-based creoles

is that of associated plurals.

The use of these associated plurals is

generally limited to the lower classes of creole speakers.

Some exam-

ples are: /jan dem/ 'John and his companions' and /di bwai drm/ 'all the

boys ' /

.

/

(14) Some nouns a r e a l s o used f o r v e r b f u n c t i o n s .

Whereas i n Stan-

dard E n g l i s h t h e v e r b a l c o u n t e r p a r t of t h e noun ' t h i e f '

is 'to steal',

i n T r i n i d a d i a n Creole, t h e v e r b a l e q u i v a l e n t of t h e noun ' t h i e f '

is 'to

t h i e f ' , a s i n t h e example: / r z t i f i t i f d i g o t w i / meaning 'he r e a l l y s t o l e t h e goat'.

S i m i l a r l y , whereas i n Standard English t h e r e e x i s t s

t h e noun ' t o t e ' meaning ' c a r r y - a l l ' , i d a d i a n Creole.

t h e r e i s no such noun i n Trin-

I n s t e a d , t h e r e i s t h e v e r b ' t o t o t e ' which means ' t o

carry'. I

/

(15) C e r t a i n verbs which a r e semantic converses i n Standard English, f o r example, ' l e a r n '

word.

and ' t e a c h ' ,

a r e sometimes expressed by a s i n g l e

Creole speakers say / a l 3 n d i a l f a b e t d r s wik/ 'I learned t h e

a l p h a b e t t h i s week', b u t they a l s o s a y

/ l m ?$i samz/ ' t e a c h her how ' t o

do sums'. \I

!!

(16) One of t h e more complex of t h e grammatical and phonological var-

i a b l e s i s hypercorrection,

Hypercorrection a r i s e s when a d i s t i n c t i o n

i n t h e s t a n d a r d language i s n e u t r a l i z e d i n a p a r t i c u l a r & a l e c t .

To

apply t h i s t o t h e s i t u a t i o n a t hand, l e t u s c o n s i d e r speakers of Trini d a d i a n Creole, where verbs a r e n o t marked f o r number and person. d i s t i n c t i o n i s t h e r e f o r e collapsed.

The

However, c r e o l e speakers h e a r

s p e a k e r s of Standard English u s i n g v e r b forms t h a t a r e marked f o r numb e r and person.

They a r e n o t aware t h a t t h e r e a r e c e r t a i n r u l e s t h a t

apply t o form t h e s e paradigms under c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s and i n c e r t a i n contexts.

They only know t h a t , p e r s o n s of h i g h e r s o c i a l s t a n d i n g , who

a r e b e t t e r educated, u s e t h e s e verb forms.

Thus, i n an attempt t o re-

f i n e t h e i r language and advance t o what t h e y b e l i e v e i s a v e r n a c u l a r t h a t i s c l o s e r t o Standard E n g l i s h , t h e y p r o d u c e u n a c c e p t a b l e and ungrammatical s e n t e n c e s l i k e : (a) *I h a s t o go t o town today. (b) *We u s e s t o go t o t h e market.

( c ) *YOU wants a cup of c o f f e e ? (d) *They i s a l a z y people. The same p r i n c i p l e a p p l i e s i n phonology.

Thus, i f sounds i n a

s t a n d a r d l a n g u a g e , s a y sound a and sound b a r e pronounced i n d i f f e r e n t l y as b i n a d i a l e c t , t h e d i a l e c t s p e a k e r may n o t know when t o s u b s t i t u t e

a for his b. standard -

For i n s t a n c e , t h e s p e a k e r of a n ' h - l e s s f

dialect,

when / h / and z e r o a r e c o l l a p s e d , may m i s t a k e n l y i n t r o d u c e / h / i n a n i t e m which h a s z e r o i n t h e s t a n d a r d language ( e . g , h e might s a y / h z l / f o r

1

fillf).

I n T r i n i d a d , s t a n d a r d / a / and /3/ b o t h go t o /a/.

One

i s t h e r e f o r e n o t s u r p r i s e d when c r e o l e s p e a k e r s o c c a s i o n a l l y o v e r c o r r e c t

t h e i r /a/ t o / a / , pronouncing, f o r example /bahamfis/ lb3hamnsl.

aham am as' as

I n o t h e r i n s t a n c e s , where t h e r-Loss r u l e a p p l i e s ( a s i s ex-

p l a i n e d i n t h e c h a p t e r on r u l e s , t h e / r / i s d e l e t e d p o s t v o c a l i c a l l y i n T r i n i d a d i a n Creole) s o t h a t t h e Standard E n g l i s h word / g ~ r d n / 'Gordonf i s pronounced i n c r e o l e as l g a : d n / ,

i t i s n o t u n u s u a l t h a t c r e o l e speak-

e r s h y p e r c o r r e c t and i n s e r t / r / where t h e r e i s none i n S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h . Thus, w e g e t / b l a r s t r d / for ' b l a s t e d ' .

S i n c e t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between

t h e words w i t h / r / and t h o s e w i t h o u t have been n e g a t e d i n c r e o l e , T r i n idadian Creole speakers re-insert

t h e / r / when s p e a k i n g S t a n d a r d T r i n -

i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , sometimes misapplying t h e r u l e and i n s e r t i n g / r / where

t h e r e w a s none p r e v i o u s l y d e l e t e d . Another p o t e n t i a l s o u r c e of h y p e r c o r r e c t i o n might o c c u r a s a r e s u l t of o c c l u s i v i z a t i o n . / d l , /b/ and of /Q/,

/a/,

/y/

Whereby s t a n d a r d 101,

/a/,

/v/ and

/ d l go t o I t / ,

r e s p e c t i v e l y , one might t h e r e f o r e e x p e c t h y p e r c o r r e c t i o n

/v/ and

/?!If o r

creole

It/,

/ d l , /b/ and

/TI.

One example

of t h i s i s when c r e o l e s p e a k e r s h y p e r c o r r e c t Standard E n g l i s h /maeamatzks/ 'mathematics'

t o /maQimaerks/.

H y p e r c o r r e c t i o n i s a s common a phenomenon among s p e a k e r s of Trini d a d i a n C r e o l e a s i t i s among Tobagonian C r e o l e s p e a k e r s .

It occurs

n a t u r a l l y i n e v e r y d a y speech, e s p e c i a l l y when s p e a k e r s o f t h e c r e o l e t r y t o r e f i n e t h e i r d i a l e c t w i t h o u t having a f i r m g r a s p of t h e r u l e s t h a t govern S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h .

Most of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l e r r o r s of hyper-

c o r r e c t i o n a r e i n d i v i d u a l ones r a t h e r t h a n g e n e r a l ones,

However, a s

f a r a s t h e grammar i s concerned, h y p e r c o r r e c t i o n i s more widespread and e s p e c i a l l y p r e v a l e n t among t h e more i l l i t e r a t e who are i n t h e proc e s s of moving up t h e socio-economic l a d d e r .

The performance of t h e

c r e o l e s p e a k e r d o e s n o t always r e f l e c t a t r u e p i c t u r e of h i s knowledge of S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h and h i s a b i l i t y t o d i s t i n g u i s h between t h e d i f f e r e n t vernaculars. C h a r l e s A. Ferguson (1959) s a y s t h a t i n . a d i g l o s s i a , t h e r e a r e g r e a t d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e grammar of t h e s u p e r o r d i n a t e and t h a t of t h e s u b o r d i n a t e l a n g u a g e , t h e grammar of t h e l a t t e r b e i n g much s i m p l e r t h a n t h a t o f t h e former.

There a r e less o b l i g a t o r y c a t e g o r i e s ; para-

digms are more s y m m e t r i c a l , i n t h a t i r r e g u l a r forms are d i s c a r d e d o r i g nored a s i r r e l e v a n t and redundant; and p r e p o s i t i o n s a l l t a k e t h e same

case. S i m i l a r l y , h e o b s e r v e s , t h e l e x i c o n of t h e language of lower s o c i a l s t a t u s i s more l i m i t e d t h a n t h a t of t h e more h i g h l y regarded language. I n t h i s c a s e , s i n c e some c r e o l e words have no e q u i v a l e n t i n S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h and v i c e v e r s a , t h e y a r e never used when c r e o l e s p e a k e r s cormu n i c a t e w i t h Standard E n g l i s h s p e a k e r s because t h e l a t t e r do n o t u s u a l l y

.

understand t h e s e terms ( e g. c r e o l e words l i k e /maco/ from 'maquereau' t h e French word meaning 'mackerel',

o r t h e s l a n g meaning 'pimp',

,

in

c r e o l e i s used i n a d e r o g a t o r y manner, a s a noun o r v e r b , t o r e f e r t o someone who meddles o r s p i e s on o t h e r ~ e o p l e ' sa f f a i r s ; /macorn€/ from t

ma commere', \ a n o l d French term, no l o n g e r i n u s e , meaning 'my d e a r '

and conveying a f e e l i n g of warmth and camaraderie, e t c . ) .

As a r e s u l t ,

s p e a k e r s who belong w i t h i n t h i s l i n g u i s t i c continuum, i f t h e y a r e c l o s e r t o one extreme of i t t h a n t o t h e middle a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n , may b e i g n o r a n t of words which b e l o n g t o t h e p o l e of t h e continuum t h a t i s oppo s i t e t o t h e i r s and a world a p a r t from t h e i r s . 'A-

I n r e g a r d t o phonology, t h e phonology of t h e c r e o l e is much more b a s i c , s t r e a m l i n e d and u n c l u t t e r e d by t h e redundancies t h a t might p l a g u e t h e o l d e r , more e s t a b l i s h e d language.

I n t h e c a s e where t h e s t a n d a r d

language h a s phonemes t h a t a r e n o t p r e s e n t i n t h e c r e o l e , t h e l a t t e r may borrow them whenever t h e o c c a s i o n makes i t i m p e r a t i v e t o do s o . Ferguson goes on t o e x p l a i n t h a t a d i g l o s s i a e x i s t s wherever t h e r e

i s one s u b o r d i n a t e language and a s u p e r o r d i n a t e one.

I n t h i s case, the

former i s T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and t h e l a t t e r i s Standard T r i n i d a d i a n English.

The s u p e r o r d i n a t e language (Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h o r

S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h ) i s t h e one used and a c c e p t e d i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e . a l s o used f o r formal e d u c a t i o n and w r i t t e n and formal purposes.

It i s No

group w i t h i n t h e community e v e r needs t o u s e t h e s t a n d a r d language f o r casual situations.

A d i g l o s s i a - i s d i f f e r e n t i a t e d from a s i t u a t i o n i n

which a s t a n d a r d language e x i s t s w i t h a number of d i a l e c t s t h a t a r e related t o it. He a l s o s t a t e s t h a t a d i g l o s s i a i s c r e a t e d by t h e e x i s t e n c e of t h r e e c o n d i t i o n s : (1) t h e body of l i t e r a t u r e i s i n t h e superimposed language o r a d i a l e c t r e l a t e d t o i t ; (2) t h e r e i s l i m i t e d l i t e r a c y among t h e p o p u l a t i o n ; and (3) much t i m e h a s passed t o a l l o w t h e s t a b i l i z i n g and e s t a b l i s h m e n t of t h i s s i t u a t i o n ,

The d i g l o s s i a becomes t h r e a t e n e d

when t h e r e i s : (1) g r e a t e r l i t e r a c y ; (2) more communication; and ( 3 ) a d e s i r e f o r a n a t i o n a l language. The arguments i n f a v o u r of h a v i n g t h e superimposed language as t h e n a t i o n a l language a r e : (1) t h e superimposed language i s b e l i e v e d t o b e s u p e r i o r t o t h e s u b o r d i n a t e language; (2) t h e f i r s t c o n n e c t s t h e c i t i z e n s of t h e c o u n t r y t o s p e a k e r s of t h a t language a l l o v e r t h e world; and (3) i t i s more u n i f y i n g t o have one language, i.e. t h e s t a n d a r d s o u r c e language, t h a n i t i s t o have a m u l t i t u d e of v e r n a c u l a r s t h a t vary.

The a p p e a l of having t h e s u b o r d i n a t e language a s t h e n a t i o n a l

language l i e i n t h e f o l l o w i n g i d e a s : (1) t h e c r e o l e i s more c o l o u r f u l t h a n t h e s t a n d a r d language; (2) t h e s u b o r d i n a t e language c r o s s e s a l l s o c i a l b o u n d a r i e s ; and (3) i t i s understood by a g r e a t e r m a j o r i t y of t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e country.

The superimposed language i s chosen

o u t , f o r example, L a t i n .

V a r i e t i e s of t h e s u b o r d i n a t e language may

become t h e s t a n d a r d i f t h e r e a r e a l r e a d y s e v e r a l communities i n e x i s t ence t h a t a r e c e n t r e s f o r t h e s e v e r n a c u l a r s . L e t u s now c o n s i d e r how t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s a p p l y t o t h e s i t u a t i o n i n T r i n i d a d and Tobago.

The body of l i t e r a t u r e t h a t was o f f i c i a l l y s a n c t -

ioned by t h e Board of Education was w r i t t e n i n S t a n d a r d English.

How-

e v e r , w i t h i n t h e l a s t few y e a r s , i t h a s bowed t o growing p r e s s u r e t o i n c l u d e and r e c o g n i z e a s p a r t of t h e o f f i c i a l c u r r i c u l u m works of creo l e s p e a k e r s who have w r i t t e n and composed i n t h e i r n a t i v e language. There i s e v e n a newspaper w i t h island-wide c i r c u l a t i o n t h a t emphasizes t h i s ' c r e o l i s m ' by having most of t h e i r a r t i c l e s w r i t t e n i n c r e o l e . Some of t h e h a r d l i n e r s and o l d t r a d i t i o n a l i s t s s t i l l l o o k down on t h i s w i t h d i s t a s t e , a s a l a c k of e d u c a t i o n , o t h e r s r e g a r d i t a s a symbol of a growing c o n s c i o u s n e s s of and p r i d e i n t h e i r i d e n t i t y , Much t i m e h a s passed t o a l l o w f o r t h e s t a b i l i z i n g and e s t a b l i s h ment of t h e c r e o l e s i n c e i t s development from a p i d g i n ,

Whereas be-

f o r e , a s i z a b l e p o r t i o n of t h e p o p u l a t i o n was i l l i t e r a t e , now, due t o r a p i d development, a b e t t e r economy, and more communication i n T r i n i dad, t h i s i s now reduced t o a mere h a n d f u l .

O f course, since l i f e i n

Tobago moves a t a much slower pace, t h e d i g l o s s i a remains much more s t a b l e t h a n i n Trinidad.

Tobagonian C r e o l e i s more c o n s e r v a t i v e and i s

much c l o s e r t o i t s o r i g i n a l form t h a n i s t h e c r e o l e of i t s s i s t e r i s l a n d . N a t u r a l l y , when independence was d e c l a r e d i n 1962, t h e o f f i c i a l language chosen w a s t h e European s o u r c e language, S t a n d a r d B r i t i s h E n g l i s h . From t h i s , we can draw t h e c o n c l u s i o n s t h a t a l t h o u g h t h e r e i s d e f i n i t e -

l y a d i g l o s s i a t h a t is r e l a t i v e l y s t a b l e i n Tobago; i n T r i n i d a d , t h e d i g l o s s i a i s t h r e a t e n i n g t o b r e a k up a s i t moves towards a p o s t - c r e o l e continuum, o f t h e t y p e d e s c r i b e d i n Decamp (1971). Mervyb C. Alleyne (1971) p r e s e n t s a d i f f e r e n t f a c e t of t h e problem.

He b e l i e v e s t h a t c r e o l e languages a r e t h e r e s u l t of a c u l t u r a l

c l a s h between Western European languages and t h o s e of West A f r i c a .

The

A f r i c a n c u l t u r e and t h e language of t h e s l a v e s were p a r t l y o v e r l a i d by t h a t of t h e European c o l o n i s t s i n an e f f o r t t o subsume them.

This

i n t e r a c t i o n between upper and lower c l a s s e s of t h e s o c i e t y gave r i s e t o a " c u l t u r a l c o n t a c t s i t u a t i o n " and t h e subsequent p r o c e s s e s of borrowing, i n c o r p o r a t i o n , r e s t r u c t u r i n g , s i m p l i f i c a t i o n , expansion, e t c . l e d t o t h e development of a n enormous v a r i a t i o n i n v e r n a c u l a r s .

The r e s u l t -

i n g English-based c r e o l e s show i n t h e i r broad s t r u c t u r a l p a t t e r n s , morphology, and phonology, t h a t t h e i r s o u r c e languages a r e West African. These c r e o l e s are t h e r e f o r e t h e end r e s u l t of " d e c u l t u r a t i o n " and "acculturation",

r e s t r u c t u r i n g and r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

One of t h e m a l a d i e s of t h i s " d e c u l t u r a t i o n " i s t h e p u b l i d p r i v a t e dichotomy f e l t by many c r e o l e s p e a k e r s , who wish t o advance s o c i a l l y and e c o n o m i c a l l y , and, knowing t h a t t h e u s e of S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h i s e s s e n t i a l t o f a c i l i t a t e t h i s b e t t e r m e n t , s t i l l want t o r e t a i n t h e i r i d e n t i t y as c r e o l e s p e a k e r s . as a c u l t u r a l v a r i a n t .

The c r e o l e t h u s becomes and is regarded

There s t i l l e x i s t s t h e idea,'among some people,

t h a t c r e o l e s developed from a baby t a l k model, t h a t i s , t h e s l a v e ' s i m i t a t i o n o f h i s m a s t e r ' s i m i t a t i o n of t h e s l a v e ' s i m i t a t i o n . know, t h i s i s a misconseption.

As we

A f a r more p l a u s i b l e t h e o r y i s t h e one

proposed b y Alleyne (1971), t h a t c r e o l e s developed among f i e l d s l a v e s whose s o c i a l c o n t a c t w a s l i m i t e d t o t h e i r p e e r s .

Thus, t h e y r e i n t e r -

p r e t e d E n g l i s h , r e s t r u c t u r i n g i t t o f i t i n t o t h e p a t t e r n s of t h e i r own n a t i v e language. I n comparison t o o t h e r t y p e s of co lack E n g l i s h ' , William Labov (1971) s t a t e s t h a t h e b e l i e v e s t h a t "Non Standard Negro ~ n g l i s h "of Black American communities i s f a r more developed a s a p o s t - c r e o l e tinuum t h a n t h e English-based

con-

c r e o l e s of t h e Caribbean. T h i s b e l i e f i s

based on t h e f a c t t h a t c e r t a i n r u l e s which a f f e c t West I n d i a n E n g l i s h on a l e v e l t h a t i s e x t r e m e l y c l o s e t o t h e s u r f a c e form, a r e a p p l i c a b l e t o Black E n g l i s h a t a much d e e p e r l e v e l .

It i s t h e r e f o r e conceivable

t h a t t h e English-based c r e o l e s of t h e West I n d i e s may f o l l o w a p a t h t h a t i s v e r y s i m i l a r t o t h a t o f "Non Standard Negro English".

He also

b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e c e n t r a l s t r u c t u r e s of l i n g u i s t i c systems, s u c h as v e r b a l t e n s e and a s p e c t , resist i n f l u e n c e from o t h e r languages, w h i l e t h e p e r i p h e r a l elements of v o c a b u l a r y a r e f r e e l y borrowed.

He s t a t e s

the principle that: I1

whenever a s u b o r d i n a t e d i a l e c t i s i n c o n t a c t w i t h a s u p e r o r d i n a t e one, l i n g u i s t i c forms produced by a s p e a k e r of t h e s u b o r d i n a t e d i a l e c t i n a formal c o n t e x t w i l l s h i f t i n a n u n s y s t e m a t i c manner towards t h e s u p e r o r d i n a t e . "

T h i s a c c o u n t s f o r t h e development of t h e l i n g u i s t i c continuum from a d i g l o s s i a t o a p o s t - c r e o l e one. I n a t t e m p t i n g t o a c c o u n t f o r p h o n o l o g i c a l phenomena i n T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , we have made t h r e e d i v i s i o n s : T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h and S t a n d a r d English.

On t h e o t h e r hand, S t a n l e y

Tsuzaki (1971) p r o p o s e s . t h a t a number o f c o e x i s t e n t sub-systems be set up i n a c a s e where a l i n g u i s t i c continuum e x i s t s , i n t h e o r d e r o f : p i d g i n s , v a r i e t i e s of c r e o l e s , s t a n d a r d language, e t c . , s o t h a t t h e continuum may b e b e t t e r a n a l y s e d .

W e have decided a g a i n s t t h i s method f o r

t h e simple reason t h a t i t i s very d i f f i c u l t i f not impossible t o dist i n g u i s h where t h e p i d g i n ends and t h e c r e o l e b e g i n s , o r even between each s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t v e r n a c u l a r .

Tsuzaki a l s o s t a t e s t h a t i f one

component of a l i n g u i s t i c system i s a f f e c t e d , f o r example, a phoneme, then a l l t h e o t h e r s a r e affected.

T h e r e f o r e , a l l t h e o t h e r phonemes

must make a d j u s t m e n t s and a d a p t a t i o n s .

The argument a g a i n s t t h i s i s

t h e s i m i l a r i t y of c r e o l e grammars i n some a r e a s and t h e d i s s i m i l a r i t y i n others.

T h i s argument a l s o s u p p o r t s t h e r e l e x i f i c a t i o n h y p o t h e s i s

of T a y l o r , Whinnon and S t e w a r t , r e f e r r e d t o by Tsuzaki.

There i s

e v i d e n c e t h a t languages i n c l o s e c o n t a c t , f o r a l o n g p e r i o d , become i d e n t i c a l i n some a r e a s and d i f f e r e n t i n o t h e r s .

The r e l e x i f i c a t i o n

h y p o t h e s i s r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e l e x i c o n of a language can b e s p l i t o f f from t h e grammar many t i m e s i n t h e c o u r s e of t h e development of t h e creole.

I n t h i s p a p e r , we have p r e f e r r e d t o s e t up a d i a s y s t e m t o

account f o r T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian Creole. The a b i l i t y t o u n d e r s t a n d n o v e l u t t e r a n c e s i y Standard E n g l i s h must depend on a system of i n t e r n a l i z e d r u l e s l i n k i n g t h e two l e v e l s ,

i . e . C r e o l e and Standard E n g l i s h . one from t h e o t h e r .

There must b e a competence t o d e r i v e

What t h i s t h e s i s a t t e m p t s t o show i s t h a t i n

a c t u a l f a c t , i t i s p o s s i b l e t o d e r i v e c r e o l e r e n d i t i o n s of Standard E n g l i s h l e x i c a l i t e m s by a p p l y i n g a s m a l l s e t of p h o n o l o g i c a l r u l e s .

Some of t h e s e r u l e s w i l l b e found t o a p p l y i n a s p e c i f i c o r d e r . a r e d i s c u s s e d i n c h a p t e r s 3 and 4.

These

There are a l s o a c o u p l e of r u l e s

which do n o t r e q u i r e t h e p o s t u l a t i o n of o r d e r i n g c o n s t r a i n t s a s f a r a s t h e g e n e r a l body of r u l e s a r e concerned.

This is a l s o discussed i n

c h a p t e r 3. Much c o n t r o v e r s y c e n t e r s around t h e n e c c e s s i t y f o r e x t r i n s i c orderi n g of r u l e s .

We s h a l l a l s o d i s c u s s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of e l i m i n a t i n g

o r d e r i n g c o n s t r a i n t s and of t h u s c o l l a p s i n g t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between 'ordered'

and 'unordered' r u l e s i n c h a p t e r 4.

CHAPTER 2

THE PHONEMIC SYSTEM OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE

The p u r p o s e of t h i s c h a p t e r i s t o r e l a t e t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e s of S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h t o t h o s e of T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and Tobagonian Creole.

A s a s t a r t i n g p o i n t , we s h a l l l i s t , f o r purposes of

comparison, t h e s u r f a c e phonemes of Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h and Trinidadian Creole.

W e s h a l l i n d i c a t e t h e main correspondences found.

Chapters 3 and 4 w i l l b e devoted t o t h e d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e g e n e r a l r u l e s l i n k i n g Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h t o t h e c r e o l e s and t h e d i s c u s s i o n o f m a t t e r s of o r d e r i n g .

Table 2 . 1

'

The Vowel Phonemes of Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h and T r i n i d a d i a n Creole,

STE

It w i l l b e n o t e d t h a t T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e h a s a smaller i n v e n t o r y oE vowel phonemes t h a n h a s Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h ( e l e v e n a s compared t o t h i r t e e n ) .

I n t h e c a s e of t h e h i g h e r vowels (i,l

, e , 4 , u,

V , o ) , t h e S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h phonemes show up i n T r i n i d a d -

i a n C r e o l e r e n d i t i o n s a t corresponding p o i n t s , a l t h o u g h t h e r e may b e minor p h o n e t i c d i f f e r e n c e s . S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h lower vowels ( E , a ? , a , 3

, 3:,

a:)

a r e r e l a t e d t o t h e f o u r T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e lower vowels a s f o l l o w s :

(1) S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h / € / corresponds t o T r i n i d a d i a n Creole /€/, 'pen'

Thus, we f i n d STE / g € t / ' g e t '

f o r TC / g y • ’ t / , and STE l p € n /

f o r TC / p ~ n / .

(2) S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h /ae/ corresponds t o t h e more cent r a l Trinidadian Creole / a / . /haet/ ' h a t '

Thus, f o r / m = t /

'mat' we f i n d /mat/,

t h e r e i s / h a t / , and f o r / k ~ t '/ c a t '

for

, /kyat/.

(3) S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h /a/ i n u n s t r e s s e d environments, i n general, appears i n Trinidadian Creole a s /a/. t e r ' shows up as / s r s a / , ter' a s / l ~ t a / ,/ a f t a ( r ) / /pita/,

/b=?ka(r) 'after'

'sis-

/ ' b a n k e r ' a s /banks/, / l & t a ( r )/ ' l e t as /afta/,

/ b e k a ( r ) / ' b a k e r ' a s /beka/,

/priEa ( r ) / 'preacher'

Thus, / s s s t a ( r ) /

/pita(r)/

'peter' as

/bs t a ( r ) / ' b e t t e r ' as / b ~ t a / ,

a s / p r i E a / and / t i E s ( r )

/

'teacher'

s h a l l r e f e r t o t h e r e l e v a n t r u l e as Shwa Lowering.

a s /&a/.

We

I n stressed posit-

i o n , S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h / a / i s l i m i t e d t o words s u c h as ' t u r n ' , 'hurt',

e t c . where we may wish t o p e r m i t u n d e r l y i n g / / r / / .

cases Trinidadian Creole has /3/ 'hurt',

/b3:n/

'burn'

, /w~:rn/

,-f o r

'worm',

example, /w2:d/

T h i s r u l e w e s h a l l l a b e l Shwa Rounding. a l s o has

/a/

I n these

/ t 3 : n / ' t u r n ' , / h ~ t: /

'word'

and /b3:d/

'bird'.

Standard ~ r i n i d a d i a nE n g l i s h

i n numerous i t e m s when t h e c r e o l e s have unreduced vowels.

Thus, 'tomorrow'

/tam2ro/ a p p e a r s as /tumaro/ and ' y e s t e r d a y '

lygstade/,

as / y ~ s a d e / .

(4) S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h / 2 / and /2:/ corresponds t o Trinidadian Creole / a / , for

lp3t/

t h e l i n k i n g r u l e b e i n g one of Unrounding.

' ~ o t 'w e f i n d

Thus,

at/, f o r / b ~ : l / ' b a l l ' we g e t / b a l / , f o r / t a y /

t o y t ' t h e r e i s / t a y / , f o r / g ~ n / 'gone' we f i n d / g a d and f o r / b ~ m / 'bomb' w e h a v e /barn/.

(5) S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h / a : /

corresponds t o Trinidadian

C r e o l e /a:/. These correspondences c a n b e shown a s f o l l o w s :

Table 2.2

The Correspondences between STE lower Vowel Phonemes and t h e i r e q u i v a l e n t s i n TC.

STE

TC

I n g e n e r a l , ~ r i n i d a d i i nC r e o l e consonant phonemes o c c u r i n t h e s a m e p o s i t i o n as Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h Consonants, w i t h o n l y a

few e x c e p t i o n s which s h a l l be d i s c u s s e d on t h e f o l l o w i n g page. The consonants of b o t h s y s t e m s are as f o l l o w s :

Table 2 . 3

The Consonant Phonemes of STE and TC.

STE

TC

There a r e l e s s consonants i n t h e T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e i n v e n t o r y of phonemes t h a n i n Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h (twenty-four i n t h e f o r mer compared t o twenty i n t h e l a t t e r ) .

There i s no

/&/, /@/,o r /2/

i n T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and / v / i s merely a n a l l o p h o n e of /b/.

T h i s can

b e accounted f o r by t h e r u l e of O c c l u s i v i z a t i o n , which s t a t e s t h a t : ( a ) S l i t d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e s are o c c l u s i v i z e d , t h u s /Q/ goes t o / t / as i n

/uq/

'thing',

Itrut/ 'truth',

/ d l a s i n /wzdzn/ ' w i t h i n f , /doz/

/ t a t / 'thought';

and

/a/

goes t o

' t h o s e ' and /bed/ ' b a t h e ' .

(b) The v o i c e d l a b i o d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e / v / i s o p t i o n a l l y o c c l u s i v i z e d , t h a t i s , /v/ i s a n a l l o p h o n e of / b / and t h e r e f o r e v a r i e s o p t i o n a l l y w i t h i t , t h u s we g e t / b i l i b / ' b e l i e v e ' ,

/drayb/ ' d r i v e ' and / d & b l /

'devil'.

(c) The v o i c e d p a l a t a l f r i c a t i v e /$!/ i s o c c l u s i v i z e d t o ' p l e a s u r e ' becomes l p l f fa/ and 'measure' / m ~ Y a / .

/Y/,

thus

T h i s tendency towards a r e d u c t i o n i n t h e i n v e n t o r y of phonemes i s a l i g n e d w i t h t h e n o t i o n of s i m p l i c i t y , t h a t i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a l l creoles.

Note t h a t a l l t h e l i q u i d s and g l i d e s remain t h e same i n Trin-

i d a d i a n C r e o l e a s i n Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h .

CHAPTER 3

THE PHONOLOGICAL RULES OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE

Most of the data in this chapter are based on the personal knowledge of the author who, being a native of Trinidad and Tobago, acted as her own informant. The rest of the data are taken from A Transformational Analysis of Tobagonian Creole English, a Ph.D. dissertation by Donna Elaine Southers (1975); and from A Socio-linguistic Description of Tobagonian English, a Ph.D. dissertation by David Jay Minderhout. The phonological systems compared are those of Trinidadian Creole and Tobagonian Creole (which is a more conservative form of TC and perhaps indicative of its past form) and Standard Trinidadian English. The latter is based on Standard British English.

The analysis here

presented was intended to be synchronic but it is clear that it can also be interpreted to be diachronic. The scope of this analysis is limited to the rule system relating standard and creole varieties.

37

First of all, let us consider the rules whereby the vowels of the creole phonemic system are derived from the vowel phonemes of Standard Trinidadian English:

Contraction

Data: brown crown down drown town pound mound round ground

Discussion: The difference between Trinidadian Creole and Tobagonian Creole lies in the generality of the rule contracting /law// to

131. In

Tobagonian Creole, there appears to be no restriction; whereas in Trinidadian Creole the phenomenon is limited to the environment before /n/ (or perhaps before all nasals? There are no actual cases of underlying //awn// or //awn//).

The Trinidadian Creole form of the rule

must t h e r e f o r e state:

I / /

/J/

/-

+nasal

I n Tobagonian C r e o l e , we have simply: //awl/

-+ 131

A s w e s h a l l s e e l a t e r on, t h i s secondary / 3 / i s n o t s u b j e c t t o t h e

Unrounding r u l e (which i s analyzed n e x t ) , s o t h a t t h e l a t t e r w i l l have t o be ordered before t h e Contraction r u l e . The replacement of / / n / / h a s //awn// /pan/).

o ~ //awnd//,

by

/9/

i s found when t h e u n d e r l y i n g form

a l t h o u g h n o t when i t h a s / / a ~ (/a/s i n 'upon'

Therefore, t h e relevant r u l e , . V e l a r i z a t i o n ( l a t e r discussed i n

d e t a i l ) , must precede C o n t r a c t i o n , ( s e e d e r i v a t i o n of Ipawnd/ 'pound').

Unrounding

bomb bottle

Pan

upon

?2a: t

short

ga:n

gone

ga: 1

gall

wa:k

walk

talk Gordon

John frock dog son

brown crown down drown town pound mound round ground

Tobagonian Creole (c)

k3

COW

h3

how

3t

out

h ~ s

house

Statement of rule:

Discussion: Note t h a t / 3 / does occur i n t h e i t e m s of ( b ) , which i n Standard E n g l i s h , h a v e /awl.

T h i s i m p l i e s t h a t t h e r u l e producing t h e s e c a s e s

of /3/ must n o t b e followed by t h e Unrounding r u l e and t h u s f e e d i n t o The a c t u a l o r d e r i s t h a t of c o u n t e r f e e d i n g : f o r i n s t a n c e , c o n s i d e r

it.

t h e d e r i v a t i o n s of /barn/ 'bomb'

and / p y / 'pound': b2 m

p awnd

F i n a l Consonant D e l e t i o n

-

Pawn

Velarization

-

Unrounding

barn

-

Contraction

pa?

p33

Another s o u r c e of s u r f a c e /3/ i s t h e u n d e r l y i n g sequence / / a r n / / as i n /bz~:n/ ' b u r n ' .

Again we must e n s u r e t h a t t h e secondary / D / does

n o t undergo Unrounding.

That i s , t h e o r d e r i s c o u n t e r f e e d i n g :

barn Unrounding

-

Shwa Rounding

bx n

r-Loss

b2:n

Shwa Rounding and r-Loss

Data:

(a) w3:k

work

h2: t

hurt

bird third word worthless dirt first learn Myrtle pearl/~earl shirt

Statement of r u l e : S t r e s s e d / / a / / goes t o /3/ b e f o r e / / r / / .

Discussion: The /3/ a r i s i n g from t h i s r u l e i s n o t converted f u r t h e r t o /a/ by t h e normal Unrounding r u l e (e.g.

-+

/ga:dn/)

a s we s h a l l see

That i s , t h e a c t u a l o r d e r i s t h a t of counterfeeding: Un-

l a t e r on. rounding

//gxdn//

- Shwa

and /wa:k/

Rounding.

Compare t h e d e r i v a t i o n s of / w ~ : k / 'work'

'walk':

Unrounding

wark

w3:k

-

wa:k

Shwa Rounding

w~rk

-

r-Loss

w3:k

-

W e n o t e a l s o t h a t because p o s i t i o n b e f o r e / / r / / i s p a r t o f t h e s t r u c t -

u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n of Shwa Rounding, t h e r u l e of r-Loss must b e made t o f o l l o w Shwa Rounding ( t h e o r d e r i s a c t u a l l y c o u n t e r b l e e d i n g ) . t h e o r d e r i n g c h a r t becomes: Unrounding

I

Shwa Rounding

-

I

intr traction

There a r e t h u s two p r o c e s s e s i n v o l v e d i n d e r i v i n g /w3:k/ //wark//

'work';

So f a r ,

from

one i s t h e more g e n e r a l r u l e d e l e t i n g p o s t - v o c a l i c

/ / r / / i n b o t h s t a n d a r d and c r e o l e v a r i e t i e s ; t h e o t h e r i s t h e s p e c i f - . i c a l l y c r e o l e r u l e converting

//a//

to

/3/

before //r//.

N o t i c e t h a t i n o r d e r t o account f o r t h e /3/ of such i t e m s we must 1

p o s i t a n u n d e r l y i n g / / r / / a s t r i g g e r , a l t h o u g h t h i s / / r / / does n o t o c c u r i n Standard English.

Thus we a r e making a minor d e p a r t u r e from

our u s u a l p r a c t i c e of r e l a t i n g t h e c r e o l e forms back t o t h e s t a n d a r a ones r a t h e r t h a n t o d e e p e r u n d e r l y i n g s t r u c t u r e s .

The a l t e r n a t i v e ,

would b e t o t r e a t i t e m s s u c h a s / b ~ : n / a s o r i g i n a t i n g from forms w i t h standard long

//a://.

W e p r e f e r n o t t o t a k e t h i s approach however, as

Standard E n g l i s h needs a r u l e o f / r / Loss anyway i n o r d e r t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e a l t e r n a t i o n between r - f i n a l forms s u c h a s / k a r / ' c a r '

i n pre-

v o c a l i c p o s i t i o n and t h e r-less forms found f i n a l l y and preconsonantally.

Shwa Lowering

Data: (a) s z s a

sister

tiZa

teacher

pri8a

preacher

dala

dollar

dakta

doctor

•’•’la

fellow

bf t a

better

beka

baker

b agka

banker

laya

1awy er

bada

bo thex

waiya

wire

pita

Peter

mfra

mirror

aft a

a • ’ter

lCta

letter

y~sade

yesterday

&a

ever

n~ba

never

taiya

tyre

haiya

hire

mister

f ama

farmer

(b) tumaro

tomorrow

Statement of r u l e : A l l u n s t r e s s e d shwas a r e lowered t o / a / .

Discussion: I t w i l l b e n o t e d t h a t t h e /k/ of ' b a n k e r '

and 'baker'

remains

That i s , t h e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n r u l e , which i s d i s c u s s e d

unpalatalized.

l a t e r on, i s no l o n g e r o p e r a t i v e a t t h e p o i n t i n t h e r u l e sequence a t

which Shwa Lowering t a k e s e f f e c t . feeding.

Thus, t h e a c t u a l o r d e r i s counter-

Consider t h e d e r i v a t i o n of ' b a k e r ' : bekar

r-Loss

beka

Palatalization

-

Shwa Lowering

beka

.

The o n l y o t h e r r u l e a f f e c t i n g shwa i s t h a t which rounds s t r e s s e d shwa t o /3/ b e f o r e / r / .

I f w e allow t h i s r u l e t o b e ordered b e f o r e

Shwa Lowering, t h e l a t t e r r u l e can be s i m p l i f i e d t o s a y t h a t a l l shwas are lowered.

I t i s obvious t h a t t h e e f f e c t of Shwa Rounding and Shwa

Lowering w i l l b e t o e l i m i n a t e /a/ from the p h o n e t i c s of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian Creole. S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h h a s shwa i n many i n s t a n c e s when t h e c r e o l e s show t h e ' f u l l 1 vowel.

Thus, Standard E n g l i s h 'tomorrow'

/ t a m x o / shows up

as /tumko/.

What t h i s i m p l i e s i s t h a t t h e u n d e r l y i n g forms w i l l have

t h e unreduced vowel; Standard E n g l i s h w i l l t h e n r e d u c e t h e s e t o shwa a c c o r d i n g t o t h e r u l e s which happen t o a p p l y t o S t a n d a r d E n g l i s h phonology.

The c r e o l e s l a c k t h i s r u l e of shwa r e d u c t i o n .

Thus, t h i s i s

one of t h e two c a s e s ( t h a t of r-Loss mentioned on page 42) where t h e c r e o l e forms a p p e a r t o d e r i v e , n o t from Standard E n g l i s h i t s e l f , b u t from a ' d e e p e r '

u n d e r l y i n g l e v e l t h a n t h a t a t which shwa r e d u c t i o n

takes e f f e c t .

Consider now t h e r u l e s t h a t a f f e c t t h e c r e o l e consonant phonemes and a l l o w them t o b e d e r i v e d from Standard E n g l i s h consonants:

Palatalization

.

game

Gail gain

garden garage gallop gather gya: t a

garter

gya :b a d i n

gaberdine

gyaloz

gallows

gyamb 1

gamble gas

(dl kyen

cane

kyebl

cable

ky e j

cage

kyek

cake

kyes

case

kyeb

cave

careful keskedee kettle

(•’1 k y a t

cat

kyari

carry

kyar

catch

kya :

car

can kyanada

Canada canteen

kyantin

here near

Statement of rule:

Discussion: Palatalization is a phenomenon which is fairly common in many languages.

It is so called because, in addition to the primary con-

striction, there is also a second narrowing of the tongue at the palatal region.

This results in the [i]

or

Cy]

sound characteristic of

palatalization. In Trinidadian Creole, this is realized in the examples given on the two preceding pages.

The features of the vowel are extended to

the preceding consonant; thus acting as a secondary modifier.

The

tongue position of these front vowels is assimilated by the preceding consonant thus resulting in palatalization. In Trinidadian Creole, it is the velars that are palatalized before a front vowel.

Thus, we can posit the following rule:

T h i s may b e s i m p l i f i e d t o :

P a l a t a l i z a t i o n i s t h u s c o n d i t i o n e d by t h e f e a t u r e [+frond

of t h e f o l l -

owing vowels. L e t u s now c o n s i d e r t h e p o s i t i o n of t h e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n r u l e withi n t h e r u l e sequence.

I n o r d e r t o f i n d o u t whether t h e Unrounding r u l e

p r e c e d e s o r f o l l o w s P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , w e w i l l a t t e m p t t o compare t h e d e r i v a t i o n s of /gya:dn/

'garden'

and /ga:dn/

co or don'.

Consider what

would be t h e r e s u l t of a p p l y i n g Unrounding f i r s t :

-

gardn

gxdn

Unrounding

gardn

gardn

Palatalization

gyardn

gyardn

r-Loss

gya :dn

*gya :dn

Thus, P a l a t a l i z a t i o n must p r e c e d e Unrounding.

Once Unrounding ..

t a k e s p l a c e , P a l a t a l i z a t i o n is no l o n g e r e f f e c t i v e , s i n c e , i f i t i s a p p l i e d t o /ga:dn/

'Gordon',

a f t e r Unrounding, we g e t t h e u n a c c e p t a b l e

p h o n e t i c r e a l i z a t i o n of /gya:dn/. condary /a/ of 'Gordon'

The problem i s t o p r e v e n t t h e se-

and o t h e r i t e m s w i t h u n d e r l y i n g / / 3 / / from

triggering Palatalization.

That i s , t h e Unrounding r u l e must n o t b e

allowed t o f e e d P a l a t a l i z a t i o n ,

T h i s c a n b e a c h i e v e d by a p p l y i n g t h e ,

\

. . . .

r u l e s i n t h e c o u n t e r f e e d i n g o r d e r of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , followed by Unrounding:

-

gardn Palatalization Unrounding r-Loss

g~rdn

-

gyardn

-

gardn

gya :dn

ga:dn

From these derivations, we can conclude that: (a) Palatalization must not apply after Unrounding, since this would result in /gya:dn/ for 'Gordon'. (b) This leaves the following derivations, since the position of the r-Loss rule in the rule sequence is irrelevant as far as these data are concerned: gardn

(1) Palatalization Unrounding r-Loss

(2) Palatalization r-Loss Unrounding

(3) r-Loss Palatalization Unrounding

gyardn

-

gxdn

gardn

gya :dn

gyardn gya :dn

ga: dn

g3:dn

-

gaidn

ga:dn

g ~dn :

gya:dn

-

ga: dn

However, we must consider exceptions like the Tobagonian Creole form of /ka:n/ meaning 'can't'

as compared to the Trinidadian Creole

version /kyant/. long /a:/

U n l i k e t h e l a t t e r , t h e Tobagonian C r e o l e form h a s a

and i s n o t p a l a t a l i z e d .

As we h a v e f o r m u l a t e d t h e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n r u l e , t h e l e n g t h of t h e f o l l o w i n g vowel i s i r r e l e v a n t ,

Thus, i f w e o r d e r t h e r-Loss r u l e be-

f o r e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , ( a s i n d e r i v a t i o n ( 3 ) ) , i t must a c t on v e l a r s preceding l o n g

la: /.

However, i n Tobagonian C r e o l e , we f i n d t h a t P a l a t a l i z a t i o n f a i l s b e f o r e t h e l o n g /a:/ of /ka:n/ /kyant/.

'can't'

(versus Trinidadian Creole

T h i s h a s i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r o u r o r d e r i n g ; f o r i n Tobagonian

C r e o l e we must e n s u r e t h a t w h i l e t h e /a:/

a r i s i n g from r-Loss t r i g g e r s

P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , t h i s is not the case with the /a:/

' can' t ' .

A s we must presume t h a t t h e u n d e r l y i n g f o m s a r e t h e same i n

b o t h , some r u l e must a p p l y i n t h e c a s e of /ka:n/ ation.

of t h e Tobagonian

t o impede P a l a t a l i z -

A p l a u s i b l e c h o i c e would b e a r u l e of l e n g t h e n i n g ,

(although

whether t h i s i s m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y o r p h o n o l o g i c a l l y c o n d i t i o n e d must r e main a n open q u e s t i o n ; c e r t a i n l y n o t a l l c a s e s of / / a n t / / undergo lengthening /ant/).

-

and ' a n t ' a r e pronounced homophonously as

thus, 'aunt'

For Tobagonian C r e o l e , w e may t h e r e f o r e propose:

Lengthening Palatalization

Trinidadian Creole

Tobagonian C r e o l e

kan t

kan t

-

ka:nt

kyan t

-

C l u s t e r Reduction

On t h i s assumption, P a l a t a l i z a t i o n a p p l i e s o n l y b e f o r e s h o r t /a/ ( f o r g e n e r a l i t y , b e f o r e s h o r t vowels).

Note however, t h a t w e must s t i l l

a l l o w f o r P a l a t a l i z a t i o n i n b o t h Tobagonian C r e o l e and T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e b e f o r e t h e /a:/ r e s u l t i n g from r-Loss. w e have /gya:dn/

* garden1.

There, i n b o t h d i a l e c t s ,

T h i s i m p l i e s t h a t t h e /a:/ of such i t e m s

must a r i s e a f t e r P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , a s o t h e r w i s e , t h e s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n Thus, t h e r e v i s e d o r d e r i s Length-

of t h e l a t t e r r u l e would n o t b e m e t . e n i n g , P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , and r-Loss.

Consider now t h e d e r i v a t i o n s i n

Tobagonian C r e o l e of ' c a n 1 , ' c a n ' t '

and ' c a r t ' :

can

can' t

cart

kan

kant

kart

-

ka:nt

-

Lengthening Palatalization r-Loss

-

C l u s t e r Reduction

-

kyart kya :t

I n T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , 'cow' */kyaw/,

-

kyan

i s pronounced /kaw/ r a t h e r t h a n

s o t h a t i f w e assume u n d e r l y i n g //kaw//,

we must remove i t from

It i s t h e r e f o r e tempting

t h e r a n g e of a p p l i c a t i o n of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n .

t o a p p e a l t o t h e same Lengthening r u l e a s i s r e q u i r e d i n Tobagonian C r e o l e anyway, t o impede t h e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n of /ka:n/

'can't',

even

though on t h e s u r f a c e , t h e l e n g t h c o n t r a s t i n t h i s dipthong i s n e u t r a l i z e d i n p r o b a b l y a l l d i a l e c t s of E n g l i s h .

Thus, f o r T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e

we have :

kaw Lengthening Palatalization

ka:w

-

The forms /hye/ ' h e r e '

and /nye/

'near'

do n o t appear t o a r i s e from

P a l a t a l i z a t i o n a s o t h e r words w i t h sequences of /ne-/, a f f e c t e d (/nem/ 'name',

/ h e t / 'hate".

A s i m i l a r process i s t h a t of L a b i a l i z a t i o n :

Labialization

boy spoil

pound about

(d) ba:n

born

Pat

Pot

Pan

pond

bas

boss

bat1

bottle

/he-/

a r e un-

Statement of r u l e :

Discussion:

A comparison of 'boy' /bway/ and 'buy'

/bay/ makes i t c l e a r t h a t

L a b i a l i z a t i o n a f f e c t s o n l y t h o s e sequences which, i n Standard E n g l i s h , are r e p r e s e n t e d by a l a b i a l s t o p followed by /2y/;

dard English has lay/ a r e n o t a f f e c t e d .

t h o s e , i n which Stan-

T h i s i m p l i e s t h a t i f t h e /w/ of

forms s u c h as T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e /bway/ a r e t o b e d e r i v e d by a d e r i v a t i o n a l r u l e , t h e segments corresponding t o s u r f a c e / a / must b e underlyingly differentiated.

Thus, w e have f u r t h e r e v i d e n c e f o r p o s i t i n g a

dual source f o r surface /a/,

i n a d d i t i o n t o t h a t adduced i n o u r d i s c u s s -

i o n of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , when w e n o t e d t h e o c c u r e n c e of t h i s phenomenon i n T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e /gya:dn/

'garden' b u t n o t i n Iga:dn/

'Gordon'.

J u s t as P a l a t a l i z a t i o n i s c o n d i t i o n e d by f r o n t vowels, w e may assume t h a t t h e p r e s e n t phenomenon, which we l a b e l ' ~ a b i a l i z a t i o n ' , i s c o n d i t i o n e d by t h e f e a t u r e [+back].

N o t i c e , however, t h a t w h i l e P a l a t a l -

i z a t i o n a f f e c t s v e l a r s t o p s i n t h e environment b e f o r e any f r o n t vowel, L a b i a l i z a t i o n i s r e s t r i c t e d t o a p o s i t i o n b e f o r e t h e s p e c i f i c sequence y

.

W e may t h e r e f o r e propose t h e f o l l o w i n g d e r i v a t i o n s f o r T r i n i d a d -

i a n C r e o l e /bway/

'boy'

and /bay/ 'buy':

/by/ Labialization

bwsy

Unrounding

bway

/bay/

The r e l a t i o n between L a b i a l i z a t i o n and Unrounding i s one of 'counterbleeding';

t h a t i s , i f t h e o r d e r of a p p l i c a t i o n were r e v e r s e d , t h e Un-

rounding of / ~ y /t o l a y / would remove t h e environment r e q u i r e d f o r t h e a p p l i c a t i o n of L a b i a l i z a t i o n , t h u s o b l i t e r a t i n g t h e s u r f a c e c o n t r a s t of 'boy'

and 'buy':

Unrounding Palatalization

/bv/

/bay/

bay

-

-

-

There a r e t h r e e p o i n t s worth examining i n r e l a t i o n t o L a b i a l i z a -

(1) I t s i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h t h e r u l e which c r e a t e s secondary

ID/,

i.e.

the Contraction rule. (2) The p o s s i b i l i t y of s i m p l i f y i n g i t s d e s c r i p t i o n s o t h a t i t a p p l i e s

t o a l l underlying l a b i a l s t o p

+

/3/ sequences.

(3) The r e l a t i o n s h i p between L a b i a l i z a t i o n and P a l a t a l i z a t i o n . (1) The C o n t r a c t i o n r u l e , a s w e noted, a f f e c t s t h e underlying / l a w / / , converting i t t o

131, s o t h a t , f o r i n s t a n c e , /kaw/ 'cow', i n Tobagonian

Creole, i s r e a l i z e d a s /k3/. The L a b i a l i z a t i o n r u l e , a s w e have formu l a t e d i t , o p e r a t e s o n l y b e f o r e underlying / / ~ y / / .

I n t e r a c t i o n between

t h e two r u l e s would t h e r e f o r e a r i s e were C o n t r a c t i o n t o y i e l d a sequence

/key/ o r l g 3 y / .

For example, a n u n d e r l y i n g //kawy// might go by con-

t r a c t i o n t o /k3y/ and, were L a b i a l i z a t i o n t o follow, subsequently t o / k w ~ y / . However, t h e r e do n o t appear t o b e any c a s e s of underlying //kawy//

and s o t h e m a t t e r of d i r e c t i n t e r a c t i o n between t h e two r u l e s

cannot b e p u t t o e m p i r i c a l t e s t .

However, although the relative ordering of Labialization and Contraction cannot be established directly, there is an indirect argument from transitivity in so far as (a) Labialization precedes Unrounding (as noted before) and (b) Unrounding precedes Contraction (as is clear from the fact that the /3/ arising from / / a w l / 4

Unrounding Contraction

is not unrounded to /a/:

kaw

k3

On this basis, we may therefore hypothesize that were the sequence //awy// to, in fact, occur underlyingly, the surface output would be /3y/: /~awy/ Labialization Unrounding Contraction

P3Y

(2) The second point concerns the possibility of simplifying the formulation of the Labialization rule to allow it to apply to labial stops before all occurrences of underlying 131.

Recall that under the

present analysis, the failure of / 3 / before other segments to trigger Labialization is accounted for by restricting Labialization itself. Thus, /bway/ 'boy' and /barn/ 'bomb' would be derived as follows: / b ~ /

/bm/

Labialization

bw~y

-

Unrounding

bway

bam

While this description is observationally adequate, it has one

slightly unsatisfactory feature: the environment for Labialization involves reference to the segment following the inmediately adjacent 131. It would be preferable if, without complicating our account elsewhere, we could state the environments purely in terms of immediately adjacent segments.

One possible method of meeting this requirement would be to

apply Unrounding in'two stages, the first converting /2/ to /a/ except before /Y/, and the second affecting all residual cases.

Thus, if Lab-

ialization is allowed to intervene between 'restricted' and lgenerall Unrounding, the only instances of

/3/

actually accurring at this point

of application will be those preceding /y/: / b ~/y

/bm/

-

bam

Restricted Unrounding Labialization

b w y~

-

General Unrounding

bway

-

Not only does this account meet the principle of 'immediate adjacency', but it may in fact recapitulate the historical sequence more accurately than our original analysis.

However, it does entail the addition of an

extra rule (Restricted Unrounding), so that, on balance, it would seem preferable to stick to our original presentation. Furthermore, if we allow the rule of Labialization to operate in the environment between labial stop and /3/ simpliciter, we shall also have to ensure that it does not act on the secondary / p ~ / , /b3/ arising +

'about' from //abawt// or Shwa Rounding as by Contraction (as in / b ~ /

Z

in /b~:n/'burn' from //barn//).

That is, it must be crucially ordered

i o n s would b e i n c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h e o r d e r i n g p r i n c i p l e s needed anyhow, a l t h o u g h we might wish t o r e g a r d them as s l i g h t a d d i t i o n a l e v i d e n c e a g a i n s t t h e h y p o t h e s i s t h a t L a b i a l i z a t i o n does n o t r e q u i r e r e f e r e n c e t o / y / i n i t s s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n , on t h e b a s i s t h a t a s l i g h t complicati o n i n r u l e d e s c r i p t i o n i s p r e f e r a b l e t o t h e a d d i t i o n of e x t r i n s i c ordering constraints.

(3) The t h i r d t o p i c concerns t h e r e l a t i o n of t h e p r e s e n t r u l e of L a b i a l i z a t i o n t o t h a t of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n .

A t f i r s t s i g h t , they a r e

quite s i m i l a r : (a) I n both cases, a g l i d e is i n s e r t e d . (b) The f e a t u r e of t h e g l i d e depends on t h a t of t h e f o l l o w i n g vowel. The /w/ i s i n s e r t e d b e f o r e t h e back vowel / 3 / , and / y / b e f o r e any f r o n t vowel. ( c ) I n b o t h c a s e s , t h e p r e c e d i n g consonant belongs t o one p a r t i c u l a r p o i n t of a r t i c u l a t i o n c l a s s , /w/ r e q u i r i n g / b / o r / p l , / y / ,

/ k / o r /g/.

The o n l y c o n s i d e r a t i o n t h a t would p r e v e n t o u r subsuming L a b i a l i z a t i o n and P a l a t a l i z a t i o n under a g e n e r a l r u b r i c ' g l i d e f o r m a t i o n ' , might b e t h e d i s c o v e r y t h a t t h e two r u l e s a p p l y a t d i f f e r e n t p o i n t s on t h e g e n e r a l r u l e sequence.

However, t h e o n l y o r d e r i n g c o n s t r a i n t i d e n t i f i e d

t h u s f a r f o r L a b i a l i z a t i o n , i s t h a t i t r e q u i r e s i t t o p r e c e d e Unrounding. S i g n i f i c a n t l y enough, t h i s c o n s t r a i n t a l s o c h a r a c t e r i z e s P a l a t a l i z a t i o n . N o t i c e a g a i n , f o r example, t h e d e r i v a t i o n of lgya: dn/ l g a :dn/

'

or don' :

' garden'

and

Palatalization

-

gardn

gya :dn

ga: dn

Unrounding r-Loss

-

gyardn

The o t h e r o r d e r i n g c o n s t r a i n t s on P a l a t a l i z a t i o n ( t h a t it must f o l l o w Lengthening and precede r-Loss)

a f f e c t r u l e s which do n o t i n t e r -

a c t w i t h L a b i a l i z a t i o n anyway, s o t h a t t h e r e a p p e a r t o be no o b s t a c l e s i n t h e way of combining t h e two r u l e s o t h e r t h a n t h e p u r e l y n o t a t i o n a l ones of f o r m u l a t i n g t h e more g e n e r a l r u l e .

One p o s s i b l e f o r m u l a t i o n

might be: G l i d e Formation: A g l i d e i s i n s e r t e d between v e l a r s t o p and f r o n t vowel and between l a b i a l s t o p and / 3 / , a g r e e i n g i n f r o n t n e s s w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g vowel.

I n Tobagonian C r e o l e / / o / /

a p p e a r s t o d i p h t h o n g i z e t o /wo/ i n a l l

contexts : hwom

home

hwol

hole

hwot~l

hotel

hwoli

holy

bwot

boat

bwos

boast

bwol bwon

bone

bwonns

bonus

.

kw 01

cold/coal

kwo t

coat

kwon

cone

hop

cope

grwo

grow

grwos

gross

rwo z

rose

rw OP

rope

mod

road

mo

r OW

mwo

more

T h i s a p p e a r s t o r e p r e s e n t a phenomenon s u f f i c i e n t l y removed from L a b i a l i z a t i o n t o j u s t i f y our considering i t a s a s e p a r a t e r u l e :

(1) U n l i k e b o t h P a l a t a l i z a t i o n and L a b i a l i z a t i o n i t does n o t i n t e r a c t with o t h e r rules.

(2) I t s s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n does n o t r e f e r t o t h e p r e c e d i n g cons o n a n t whereas P a l a t a l i z a t l o n and L a b i a l i z a t i o n r e f e r t o v e l a r and l a b i a l segments r e s p e c t i v e l y .

Velarization

Data : down town

pound drown brown crown mound round ground

(b) pan

Pan

man

man

(c) pan ga:n

upon gone

turn bird burn third word curl

Discussion: The above d a t a i n d i c a t e t h a t where Standard English h a s the sequence //awn//,

both T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and Tobagonian Creole show / D Y / .

Thus, i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e e f f e c t of Contraction, w e must a l s o c o n s i d e r

t h e o c c u r r e n c e s of v e l a r

/IJ/

f o r Standard E n g l i s h d e n t a l I n / .

i n sets ( b ) and ( c ) show t h a t u n d e r l y i n g / / a n / / do n o t l e a d t o t h e o u t p u t

and

//m//

The i t e m s

respectively

131.

It i s c l e a r t h a t whatever t h e c o r r e c t f o r m u l a t i o n of t h e r u l e may b e , i t cannot s t a t e t h a t //n// goes t o

/3/

a f t e r /a/.

F i r s t of a l l , t h e r s

would b e no way of p r e v e n t i n g , f o r example, t h e i t e m / / p a n / / f i n i s h i n g up a s */pay/.

'pan'

from

The o n l y p l a u s i b l e c a n d i d a t e s a r e :

(1) V e l a r i z a t i o n of / / n / /

to

/IJ/

i s c o n d i t i o n e d by a p r e c e d i n g /w/.

(2) V e l a r i z a t i o n of / / n / /

to

/q/

i s c o n d i t i o n e d by a p r e c e d i n g

131.

I f we choose o p t i o n (I), t h e n it: i s obvious t h a t V e l a r i z a t i o n must a p p l y b e f o r e t h e removal of /w/ by C o n t r a c t i o n : t h a t i s , t h e r e q u i r e d

.

order w i l l be counterbleeding. of /d23/

.

Consider, f o r example, t h e d e r i v a t i o n

'down': dawn

d'3

Contraction

The converse o r d e r would f a i l t o y i e l d

/3/

as t h e r u l e , a s f o r m u l a t e d ,

does n o t o p e r a t e on t h e sequence / ~ n / . However, w e r e we t o adopt opt i o n (2),

t h i s o r d e r would t h e n become t h e o n l y p o s s i b l e one: dawn

Contraction

d3n

Velarization(2)

d33

It now becomes n e c e e s s a r y t o t a k e i n t o account i t e m s such a s t h o s e

i n (c) and (d) of t h e d a t a , f o r , i f V e l a r i z a t i o n i s i n f a c t c o n d i t i o n e d by a p r e c e d i n g

131,

we must p r e v e n t i t s a p p l i c a t i o n b o t h t o t h e p r i m a r y

/ad of i t e m s such as / / g s : n / / and t o t h e secondary / ~ : n / of i t e m s such as / t 3 : n /

'turn'.

Consider f i r s t t h e primary / / m / / _ s e q u e n c e .

I f V e l a r i z a t i o n (2) is

t o b e i n h i b i t e d from a c t i n g on i t , t h e n i t must b e removed from t h e r a n g e of a p p l i c a t i o n of t h e r u l e e n s u r i n g t h a t t h e / / 3 / / i s unrounded t o /a/ by o r d e r i n g Unrounding b e f o r e i t : g=n Unrounding Velarization(2)

gan

-

With r e g a r d t o t h e secondary

/m/ a r i s i n g from Shwa Rounding, we must

e n s u r e t h a t r-Loss f o l l o w s V e l a r i z a t i o n .

't u r n '

Consider t h e d e r i v a t i o n of

:

tarn Shwa Rounding V e l a r i z a t i o n (2)

t3rn

-

To summarize, w e may s a y t h a t V e l a r i z a t i o n c a n i n f a c t b e made t o a p p l y t o p o s i t i o n a f t e r /3/ i f t h e f o l l o w i n g c o n s t r a i n t s on o r d e r i n g are adopted: Unrounding

Contraction

\iza

These are c l e a r l y more complex t h a n what we r e q u i r e f o r V e l a r i z a t i o n ( I ) , which must simply b e made t o o p e r a t e b e f o r e t h e /w/, o c c u r s i n i t s s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n , i s l o s t by C o n t r a c t i o n :

which

Velarization (1)

I

Contraction On this basis, we shall assume that Velarization (1) is preferable and that the Velarization rule should therefore be formulated as follows: Velarization: Underlying //n// converts to / / in the environment

3

after /w/.

It remains only to add that although the present rule appears to have the opposite effect of the much more widespread rule found also in Trinidadian Creole and Tobagonian Creole, converting final in unstressed /13/ (/ma:nrn/ 'morning'), teraction between the rules.

/3/

to / s /

there is no possibility of in-

Velarization occurs only after /w/, de-

velarization only after /I/, so that the environments are in complimentary distribution.

Develarization

Data: h~lprn

helping

snjzn

singing

dansrn

dancing

itrn

eating

ma :nIn

morning

gorn

going

ta:kzn

talking

wa :k r n

walking

11krn

licking

ma&n

mashing

ti81n

teaching

l a y m n~

' l i m i n g r , hanging around

Statement of r u l e : Final

/3/

goes t o /n/ a f t e r u n s t r e s s e d /I/.

Discussion: T h i s r u l e a p p e a r s t o b e t h e o n l y one ( w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of dipht h o n g i z a t i o n i n Tobagonian C r e o l e , page 58) which does n o t i n t e r a c t with other rules.

A s we n o t e d b e f o r e , t h e v e l a r

/3/c r e a t e d

by Velar-

i z a t i o n d o e s n o t occur a f t e r /I/ and t h e r e f o r e does n o t e n t e r i n t o ordering constraints with the present rule.

Occlusivization

Data:

(a) t i • ’

thief

t xn

thin

rbritrn

everything

tri

three

trut

truth

t ayk

thank

trk

thick

tat

thought

tred

thread

tro

throw

trot

throat

tn nda

thunder

Cbl d ~ m

them

bed

bathe

dat

that

de

they/there

di

the

den

then

diz

these

w~drn

within

do

though

drs

this

do2

those

(cZ d r a y b

drive

Irb

live

gb ri

every

bilib

believe

bluhebp

Bluehaven

f ayb

five

dsbl

devil

r~ b a

river

web

wave

keb

cave,

pleasure measure seizure treasure garage

Statement of r u l e : S l i t d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e s a r e occlusivized. f r i c a t i v e /v/ i s o p t i o n a l l y o c c l u s i v i z e d . fricative

/8/

is occlusivized t o

The voiced l a b i o d e n t a l The voiced p a l a t a l

/j/.

Discussion: The o n l y way t h i s r u l e can i n t e r a c t w i t h o t h e r s appears t o be l i m i t e d t o t h e c a s e of t h e sequence / / m y / / . p o t e n t i a l i n p u t f o r Glide Formation. ing possibility:

Occlusivization

ab~yd

Labialization

abw3yd

O c c l u s i v i z a t i o n can c r e a t e a

Thus, w e might expect t h e follow-

Unrounding

abwayd

In actual fact, however, this and similar items do not undergo Glide Formation, and what we find is /abayd/.

This implies that Glide Form-

ation is crucially ordered before ~cclusivization: av3yd Glide Formation

-

Occlusivization

abayd

Unrounding

abayd

Cluster Reduction and Metathesis

Data: (a) tari tL

3

story sting

Pat

spot

kra8

scratch

tray

strong spit stink skin skull skirt stop

(b) E S P ~ ~

expect

risp~k

respect

las

last

f 3:s

first

b2: s

burst

brs

best

tes

test

hes

haste

nsks

next

second find wind blind h=3

s3=3

hound sound

maYn

mind

han

hand

En

end

brn

bend

(d) k o l

cold

bol

bold

hol

bold

f il

field

Statement of rule: Sequences of /s/ + stop delete the /s/ word initially; in other positions, they delete the stop.

/dl is deleted everywhere after

nasals and /I/.

Discussion: This rule does not appear to be crucially ordered in respect to any of the rules that we have discussed.

For instance, //~awnd//'~ound'

would lead to /p33/ given the rule descriptions we have offered irrespective of ordering of Cluster Reduction.

Thus, both (a) and (b) yield

the correct result: pawnd

s"

(a) Cluster Reduction Velarization

pa9

Contraction

P3?

(b) Velarizatfon Contraction .

Pa-

~""tfd - .

.

Cluster Reduction

~33d

P33

However, consider the following data: .krxpsi

crispy

aks

ask

This Metathesis appears to be irregular (i.e. morphologically conditioned)

.

Thus, while //asks// goes to /aks/, //w~sp//undergoes the

usual Cluster Reduction to yield /was/. When Metathesis does apply, it

-

bleeds Cluster Reduction,

Thus, the derivation of /aks/ 'ask' and

/krspsi/ 'crispyf must be assumed to go as follows:

Metathesis Cluster Reduction

ask

krzspi

aks

krzpsi

-

-

The Metathesis is optional and may be stated as follows: Metathesis: /s/ metathesizes with a following stop.

CHAPTER 4

RULE ORDERING

The rule ordering constraints of Trinidadian Creole are summarized in the table below.

Table 4.1

The Rule Ordering Constraints of Trinidadian Creole

I

Glide Formation (Labialization) / I \ w a l a ~talization)

/

I

f-

u

E-

\

/

yb-

Contraction

Metathesis

Shwa. kounding . ,ewering

b

r-LOSS

b

= bleeding order b- = counterbleeding order 'f = counterfeeding order

I

b er Reduction

Develarization

There h a s been c o n s i d e r a b l e d i s c u s s i o n i n r e c e n t y e a r s a b o u t t h e need f o r e x t r i n s i c r u l e o r d e r i n g .

Extrinsic ordering i s distinguished

from i n t r i n s i c o r d e r i n g , which need n o t b e s t a t e d e x p l i c i t l y and which arises a u t o m a t i c a l l y from t h e d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e r u l e s themselves ( s e e Noam Chomsky, Aspects of t h e Theory of Syntax, p. 223).

Thus, g i v e n t h e

u s u a l f o r m u l a t i o n s of t h e P a s s i v e T r a n s f o r m a t i o n , which i n t r o d u c e s t h e a g e n t i v e BY p h r a s e , and of t h e Agent D e l e t i o n Transformation, which d e l e t e s t h e a g e n t i v e p h r a s e , t h e o n l y way b o t h t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s can a p p l y i s t o assume t h a t t h e y o p e r a t e whenever t h e i r i n p u t c o n d i t i o n s a r i s e .

For i n s t a n c e , 'Someone a r r e s t e d B i l l ' cannot undergo a g e n t d e l e t i o n a s i t c o n t a i n s no agent p h r a s e ; i t can undergo p a s s i v i z a t i o n t o ' B i l l

was a r r e s t e d by someone', which i n t r o d u c e s a n a g e n t p h r a s e and i s consequently s u b j e c t t o agent d e l e t i o n . It may b e noted i n t h e above example of i n t r i n s i c o r d e r i n g , one

r u l e c r e a t e s a p o t e n t i a l i n p u t t o t h e second.

That i s , ( a ) t h e r e l a t i o n

between t h e two r u l e s i s a f e e d i n g one and (b) t h e a c t u a l o r d e r i n which t h e r u l e s a p p l y i s feeding.

Because t h e a g e n t p h r a s e (on t h e above

a c c o u n t ) cannot a r i s e e x c e p t as a r e s u l t of p a s s i v i z a t i o n , t h e r e i s o n l y one p o s s i b l e o r d e r i n g .

Were a g e n t d e l e t i o n t o a p p l y b e f o r e p a s s i v i z a t -

i o n , it would i n f a c t never b e allowed t o o p e r a t e (and c o n s e q u e n t l y would n o t even e x i s t ) . I n phonology we may a l s o have a f e e d i n g r e l a t i o n l i n k i n g two r u l e s . Consider Shwa Rounding and Unrounding i n T r i n i d a d i a n Creole.

It w i l l b e

r e c a l l e d t h a t Shwa Rounding c o n v e r t s /a/ t o /3/ b e f o r e /r/ i n i t e m s such

as / t a r n / ' t u r n '

and Unrounding c o n v e r t s /3/ t o /a/ as i n / b m /

'bomb'.

I f w e allowed b o t h r u l e s t o apply whenever t h e i r s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n was m e t , s t a r t i n g from / t a r n / w e would n o t e t h a t of t h e two r u l e s i n q u e s t i o n o n l y Shwa Rounding was a p p l i c a b l e , y i e l d i n g / t a m / .

But t h i s

now meets t h e s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n of Unrounding and i s s u b j e c t t o f u r t h e r conversion t o / t a r n / .

However, t h e r e , i s a n important d i f f e r e n c e

between t h i s phonological c a s e and t h e s y n t a c t i c one.

It i s t h a t t h e

a r i s i n g from Shwa Rounding can a l s o occur u n d e r l y i n g l y , s o t h a t

/a/

whether o r n o t we apply t h e r u l e s i n a p a r t i c u l a r o r d e r , both r u l e s w i l l s t i l l a p p l y t o some forms..

I n p a r t i c u l a r , i f w e a p p l y them i n t h e con6,

v e r s e o r d e r (counterfeeding) b o t h w i l l have i n p u t s :

Unr ound i n g Shwa Rounding

bz~m

tarn

bam

-

-

t2rn

This o r d e r i s , a s w e noted above, t h e one a c t u a l l y found.

It i s

t h u s c l e a r t h a t when two r u l e s a r e i n a f e e d i n g r e l a t i o n and when t h e feeding r u l e f o l l o w s ( t h e o r d e r i s counterfeeding) t h e p r i n c i p l e t h a t r u l e s a p p l y whenever t h e i r s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n s a r e m e t , w i l l y i e l d t h e wrong r e s u l t . *

The q u e s t i o n then a r i s e s : i s it p o s s i b l e t o modify t h e d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e r u l e s i n o r d e r t o e n s u r e t h a t t h e c o r r e c t o u t p u t i s generated? I n t h i s c a s e , can w e formulate t h e r u l e of Unrounding t o e n s u r e t h a t i t does n o t a p p l y t o t h e / t ~ r n /a r i s i n g from / t a r n / ? 'no',

i n so f a r a s t h e primary / D / of / t a m / ' t o r n '

rounding.

The answer must be a f f e c t e d by Un-

That is, t h e only c o n d i t i o n which could b e b u i l t i n t o Un-

rounding which i s capable of i n h i b i t i n g i t s a p p l i c a b i l i t y t o ' t u r n '

would have t o r e f e r n o t t o t h e i n p u t e x i s t i n g a t t h e s t a g e of d e r i v a t i o n a t which Shwa Lowering occurs, b u t t o t h e underlying form.

That i s ,

Shwa Rounding would have t o be formulated a s follows: Unrounding:

/3/

i s lowered t o / a / except when i t occurs i n t h e under-

l y i n g form a s /a/ b e f o r e /r/. Thus, i t would be t o admit t h a t phonological r u l e s can ' l o o k back' t o e a r l i e r stages i n a derivation. E s s e n t i a l l y , t h e same i s t r u e of a l l t h e r u l e s i n our d e s c r i p t i o n c: which a p p l y i n a counterfeeding o r d e r ( t h e r e a r e no examples of feeding order).

Consider, f o r example, t h e r u l e of Glide Formation i n r e l a t i o n

t o Unrounding.

Glide Formation i n t e r a l i a i n s e r t s a /y/ between /k/ and

/ a / , y i e l d i n g / k y a t / from / k a t / .

However, t h e / k a t / a r i s i n g from / k a t /

i s n o t f u r t h e r converted t o / k y a t / .

Again, t h e only way w e can prevent

t h i s i s t o p r o h i b i t Glide Formation from applying t o t h o s e /ka/ sequences which a r i s e from underlying / k e / .

S i m i l a r l y , Unrounding w i l l

have t o be prevented from applying t o t h e /3/ of i t e m s such as 'town' by s t a t i n g t h a t t h e

/3/

a r i s i n g from underlying / l a w / / i s exempt.

F i n a l l y , w e found t h a t Glide Formation does n o t apply t o t h e /ka/ o f , f o r i n s t a n c e , /beka/ 'baker'.

Again, because t h e o r d e r i s counterfeed-

i n g , w e must s t a t e t h a t /ka/ sequences a r i s i n g from Shwa Lowering a r e exempt ( o r e q u i v a l e n t l y , /ka/ sequences a r i s i n g from u n d e r l y i n g /ka/)

.

W e t h u s arrive a t t h e following conclusion: Counterfeeding Ordering Elimination: T h i s can o n l y b e achieved i f t h e r u l e s a r e allowed t o 'look back' t o e a r l i e r s t a g e s i n a deri v a t ion.

Two r u l e s may b e s a i d t o b e a r a b l e e d i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p t o e a c h o t h e r when one of them (A) i s s u c h t h a t i t s e f f e c t i s t o p o t e n t i a l l y remove i n p u t s f o r t h e second (B).

I f t h e a c t u a l o r d e r of a p p l i c a t i o n i s A-B,

t h e n w e s a y t h a t t h e o r d e r i s b l e e d i n g ; t h e converse o r d e r (B-A)

is

c a l l e d counterbleeding. Among t h e ordered r u l e p a i r s d i s c o v e r e d t o l i n k Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h and T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , we found o n l y one c a s e of a b l e e d i n g 4

order.

The r u l e of Lengthening was found t o remove t h e forms f o r 'cow'

and ' c a n ' t '

from t h e s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n :

Lengthening Palatalization

kant

kaw

kan

ka:nt

ka:w

-

-

ky an

-

It w i l l b e r e c a l l e d t h a t P a l a t a l i z a t i o n w a s d i s c o v e r e d t o a c t on a v e l a r

s t o p o n l y b e f o r e s h o r t f r o n t vowels. How, t h e n , would it b e p o s s i b l e t o e l i m i n a t e r e f e r e n c e t o o r d e r of a p p l i c a t i o n and a t t h e same t i m e e n s u r e t h a t 'cow' t e c t e d from t h e e f f e c t of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n ?

and ' c a n ' t '

are pro-

I f our r u l e s -a r e n o t a p p l i e d

as t o t h e o r d e r of a p p l i c a t i o n it i s c l e a r t h a t P a l a t a l i z a t i o n must b e s o f o r m u l a t e d as t o f a i l t o a p p l y t o i t e m s meeting t h e s t r u c t u r a l desc r i p t i o n o f Lengthening.

As we noted, t h e p r e c i s e conditions t r i g g e r i n g

Lengthening a r e u n c l e a r e x c e p t t h a t /a/ i s always lengthened b e f o r e /w/. I n any c a s e , whatever environments c o n d i t i o n Lengthening w i l l have t o b e l i s t e d as p a r t of t h e s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n ; s o t h a t P a l a t a l i z a t i o n w i l l have t o have appended t o i t wording t o t h e e f f e c t

'

,.. e x c e p t b e f o r e

/ a w l , i n t h e word ' c a n ' t '

... '.

This gives us a

further principle: Bleeding Ordering E l i m i n a t i o n : T h i s c a n o n l y b e achieved i f t h e d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e b l e d r u l e i s complicated t o e x c l u d e t h e e n v i r onment i n which t h e b l e e d i n g r u l e a p p l i e s a s e x p l a i n e d i n t h e prec e d i n g page.

C o u n t e r w e e d i n g o r d e r l i n k s v a r i o u s p a i r s of r u l e s d i s c u s s e d above. For i n s t a n c e , t h e r u l e of C o n t r a c t i o n a p p l i e s b e f o r e t h a t of V e l a r i z a t i o n i n a counterbleeding order. i s d e r i v e d from //dawn//

It w i l l b e r e c a l l e d t h a t / d ~ y / 'down'

by f i r s t c o n v e r t i n g / I n / / t o /?/ a f t e r //w//

and t h e n C o n t r a c t i n g / / a w l /

t o /3/,

t h u s , i n e f f e c t , removing t h e

trigger f o r Velarization: dawn Velarization

day

Contraction

d39

I n t h i s case, r a t h e r t h a n p r e v e n t a p a r t i c u l a r r u l e from a p p l y i n g , we must e n s u r e t h a t b o t h r u l e s a p p l y , which means, i n e f f e c t , t h a t t h e p o t e n t i a l l y b l e d r u l e of V e l a r i z a t i o n must apply when t h e //w//

is s t i l l

The most r e a s o n a b l e s o l u t i o n would b e t o a p p l y b o t h r u l e s a t

present.

t h e l e v e l of u n d e r l y i n g form s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , t h a t i s , a p p l y b o t h Velari z a t i o n and C o n t r a c t i o n t o //dawn//,

yielding directly / d q / .

A similar s i t u a t i o n , a s might b e e x p e c t e d , a p p l i e s t o t h e o t h e r cases of c o u n t e r f e e d i n g o r d e r i n o u r d a t a .

t o /ts:n/

For i n s t a n c e , / / t a r n / /

goes

by f i r s t rounding t h e shwa b e f o r e / / r / / and t h e n d e l e t i n g t h e

trigger, r

.

Again w e may o b t a i n t h e c o r r e c t r e s u l t by a p p l y i n g Shwa

Rounding and r-Loss d i r e c t l y t o t h e u n d e r l y i n g s t r u c t u r e / / t a r n / / , which t h e s t r u c t u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n of b o t h r u l e s a r e met.

in

Finally we

found t h a t i n o r d e r t o account f o r t h e c o n v e r s i o n of / / b ~ y / / t o /bway/ we must f i r s t a p p l y L a b i a l i z a t i o n i n t h e environment b e f o r e / a / a s t h e /3/

i s removed l a t e r by Unrounding

bleeding order.

-

a g a i n a c a s e of t h e u s u a l counter-

A s i n t h e o t h e r c a s e s d i s c u s s e d , we may e l i m i n a t e

c o u n t e r b l e e d f n g o r d e r i n g s p e c i f i c a t i o n by a p p l y i n g t h e r u l e s simultaneously.

T h i s g i v e s u s t h e t h i r d p r i n c i p l e governing e l i m i n a t i o n :

C o u n t e r b l e e d i n g Ordering E l i m i n a t i o n : T h i s c a n b e achieved i f t h e b l e e d i n g r u l e and t h e b l e d r u l e a p p l y s i m u l t a n e o u s l y .

To summarize, we may s t a t e t h a t e l i m i n a t i o n of s t r i c t o r d e r i n g of p h o n o l o g i c a l r u l e s i s p o s s i b l e b u t t h a t t h e means whereby t h i s i s achieved w i l l v a r y r a d i c a l l y a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p r e c i s e n a t u r e of t h e r e l a t i o n between t h e r u l e s ( ' f e e d i n g '

o r 'bleeding')

and a c c o r d i n g t o t h e a c t u a l

o r d e r which t h e s t r i c t o r d e r i n g h y p o t h e s i s would p o s i t ( ' f e e d i n g ' , 'counterfeeding',

'bleeding',

'counterbleeding').

The c o m p l i c a t i o n s

e n t a i l e d are c o n s i d e r a b l e and, most s e r i o u s l y , i n t h e c a s e of counterf e e d i n g o r d e r s , we are f o r c e d t o a c c e p t t h a t r u l e s may ' l o o k back' t o e a r l i e r s t a g e s i n a d e r i v a t i o n and s a y t h i n g s l i k e 'A goes t o B e x c e p t where C o c c u r s a t an e a r l i e r s t a g e i n t h e d e r i v a t i o n ' .

CONCLUSION

The a i m of t h i s t h e s i s was t o a n a l y z e t h e r e l a t i o n between Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h and T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian C r e o l e from a p h o n o l o g i c a l p o i n t of view, b e a r i n g i n mind t h a t S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h i s b a s e d on Standard B r i t i s h E n g l i s h .

I n o r d e r t o accomplish

t h i s g o a l , we s e t up a diasystem l i n k i n g T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e , Tobagonian C r e o l e and S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , a l s o t a k i n g i n t o account o t h e r a l t e r n a t i v e s t o t h i s approach. I n t h e introductory chapter, w e attempted t o provide a n o v e r a l l view of t h e i s l a n d s of T r i n i d a d and Tobago, and t h e h i s t o r i c a l , sociol o g i c a l and s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c f a c t o r s t h a t played a p a r t i n t h e c r e a t i o n of a d i g l o s s i a .

We a l s o d i s c u s s e d t h e r e a s o n s why t h i s d i g l o s s i a i s

r a p i d l y d e v e l o p i n g i n t o a p o s t - c r e o l e continuum. The second c h a p t e r d e a l t w i t h t h e phonemic system of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e as compared t o t h a t of Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , showing how t h e former i s d e r i v e d from and based on t h e l a t t e r .

W e a l s o pointed

o u t t h e c o r r e s p o n d e n c e s between t h e vowel and consonant phonemes of T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and t h o s e of Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h . I n t h e n e x t c h a p t e r , w e p r e s e n t e d a dozen p h o n o l o g i c a l r u l e s which s e r v e t o d e r i v e T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian C r e o l e from Standard Trinidadian English.

Of t h e s e t w e l v e r u l e s , n i n e were o r d e r e d i n r e l -

a t i o n t o o n e a n o t h e r , two t o each o t h e r , and one was c o m p l e t e l y o u t s i d e t h e domain o f t h e s e r e s t r i c t i o n s .

The r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s p o s i t e d f o r un-

d e r l y i n g forms were c l o s e t o t h e s u r f a c e forms of S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n

E n g l i s h , s i n c e w e found it unneccesary t o go t o 'deeper'

levels.

F i n a l l y , Chapter 4 was devoted t o d i s c u s s i o n of t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of e l i m i n a t i n g t h e need f o r e x t r i n s i c o r d e r i n g of t h e r u l e s . Consequently, s e v e r a l c o n c l u s i o n s were drawn.

F i r s t of a l l , we

n o t e d t h a t T r i n i d a d i a n C r e o l e and Tobagonian c i e o l e could b e d e r i v e d from S t a n d a r d T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h by p o s i t i n g a dozen p h o n o l o g i c a l c'

r u l e s , which a r e a l l o r d e r e d w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of one.

Secondly, s i n c e

t h e u n d e r l y i n g forms f o r t h e s e r u l e s were c l o s e t o t h e s u r f a c e forms of Standard T r i n i d a d i a n E n g l i s h , w e c o u l d t h e n account f o r t h e c r e o l e s p e a k e r ' s a b i l i t y t o s w i t c h codes e f f o r t l e s s l y .

F i n a l l y , we concluded

t h a t it i s p o s s i b l e t o e l i m i n a t e s t r i c t o r d e r i n g of r u l e s o n l y where t h e r e was a ' b l e e d i n g '

r e l a t i o n s h i p o r where t h e r e was a ' f e e d i n g '

and t h e a c t u a l o r d e r i n which t h e y a p p l i e d was ' f e e d i n g !

one,

LIST OF REFERENCES

Adler, Max K. ( 1977) Pidgins, Creoles and Lingua Francas: A sociolinguistic study. Hamburg : Buske. Alleyne, Mervyn C. (1971) Acculturation and the cultural matrix of creolization (in Hymes (1971)). Bailey, Beryg L. (1971) Jamaican Creole : can dialect boundaries be defined? (in Hymes (1971)). Bickerton, Derek (1973) The nature of a Creole Continuum, in Language, vol. 49, #3, pp. 640-669. Craig, Dennis R. (1971) Education and Creole English in the West Indies: some sociolinguistic factors, (in Hymes (1971)). Decamp, David (197lalIntroduction: The study of pidgin and creole languages, (in Hymes (1971)). (197lb]Towards a generative analysis of a post-creole speech continuum (in Hymes (1971)). Ferguson, Charles A. (1959) Diglossia, in Word, vol. 15, pp. 325-340. Hymes, Dell (ed.) (1971) Pidginization and Creolization of Languages. London: Cambridge University Press. Labov, William (1971) The notion of 'system' in creole languages, (in Hymes (1971)). Minderhout, David Jay (1973) A Socio-linguistic Description of Tobagonian English, Georgetown University, Ph.D. Dissertation. Southers, Donna Elaine (1975) A Transformational Analysis of Tobagonian Creole English. University of North Carolina, Ph.D. Dissertation. Tsuzaki, Stanley (1971) Coexistent systems in language variation: the case of Hawaiian English, (in Hymes (1971)).