World Englishes: Volume III: Central America 9781474205979, 9781474298544

Citation preview

Acknowledgements

The World Englishes series could not have gone forth without the help of many who tirelessly contributed in various ways. First, I am indebted to Loreto Todd for imparting this project to me and for giving me advice, support and encouragement along the way. In the early stages of the project, I consulted with Braj Kachru, who provided invaluable guidance for the development of the series. The editors are grateful to all those who have identified contributors and provided advice or research materials for various chapters. For Volume I, John McKenny and I express our gratitude to Dave Britain, Graeme Davis, Christina Lee, Richard Marsden, Esther Asprey, Gerald Kelly, Kim Willcocks, Bill Griffiths, Lifang Wang, William Lancaster, Peter Sercombe, Gus John, Peter Craumer, Lynn Berk, Marian Demos, Joan Baker, Heather Blatt; for Volume II, I am grateful to Michael Montgomery, Barbara Burnaby and William Kretzschmar; and I am grateful to John Holm for his comments on Volume III. I am especially thankful for the encouragement and support of my colleagues in the Linguistics Program and the English Department at Florida International University: Ellen Thompson, Mehmet Yavas, Feryal Yavas, Virginia Mueller Gathercole, Asher Milbauer, Kemp Williams, Meri-Jane Rochelson, Kathleen Mccormack and Donna Weir-Soley. During the course of the project, the students in my World Englishes seminars always kept me upbeat and motivated. Both John McKenny and I are thankful to the University of Nottingham Ningbo China and Florida International University respectively for the faculty development grants we received for the production of the maps. Also, I would like to acknowledge the staff at Bloomsbury: Jennifer Lovel, formerly of Continuum, made helpful suggestions in the early design of the series; and Colleen Coalter and Gurdeep Mattu provided unwavering support, guidance and patience throughout this publication. The editors owe an enormous debt to Subitha Nair for her painstaking work in the final editing and typesetting of the volumes. These acknowledgements would be incomplete without an expression of gratitude to my friend, Robert Kohn; he is always a source of advice and inspiration.

World English Vol III.indb vi

11/26/2012 2:35:39 PM

Acknowledgements

vii

As one would expect in a project of this size, there were many others who contributed in multiple ways. I have benefitted from them all and to them I give my heartfelt thanks. Any omission of their names is unintentional.

Text Permission has been granted to Ramish, H. 2008. Channel Island English: Phonology. in B. Kortmann and C. Upton (eds), Varieties of English. The British Isles. Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 223–236. We are pleased to grant permission for the non-exclusive use of your article. Decker, K. ‘Belize Kriol’, in Vol. III: Central America, ‘Portions of this chapter were published previously in Decker, Ken. 2005. The Song of Kriol: A Grammar of the Kriol Language of Belize. Belize Kriol Project: Belize City’. Permission has been granted by the Belize Kriol Project for this chapter to be published as an abridgement of a book previously published as: Decker, Ken. 2005. The Song of Kriol: A Grammar of the Kriol Language of Belize. Belize Kriol Project: Belize City.

Maps/Illustrations Regional maps, Vol. I–III, prepared by Himadri Biswas, GIS-RS Center, Florida International University. Map of South east Englishes produced by the author. Map language data adapted from 2009 Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth Edition, (C) SIL International, Inc. Used by permission. ‘Indigenous Peoples and Languages of Alaska, compiled by Michael E. Krauss. Copyright 2011 Alaska Native Language Center and Institute of Social and Economic Research. Used with permission’. ‘Canada population centres’ compiled by J. K. Chambers. Copyright 1999. Used with permission. ‘Route of the African Seminoles’, compiled by Ian Hancock. Simon, Beth Lee, ‘Midwest American English’, Vol. II, North America. All map figures were generated by Erica Wyss to whom I am grateful. Figure 1. Murrray, T. E., Frazer, T. C., and Simon, B. (1996), ‘Need + Past Participle in American English’. American Speech, 71, 259. Figure 2. Lavov, W., Ash S. and Boberg, C. (2003), Atlas of North American English, www.ling.upenn.edu/phono_atlas/. Figures 3, 14. Ash, S. (2006), ‘The North American Midland as a dialect area’, in Murray, T. and Simon, B., Language Variation and Change in the Midland; a new look at ‘Heartland’ English, pp. 41, 47.

World English Vol III.indb vii

11/26/2012 2:35:39 PM

viii

Acknowledgements

Figure 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13. Responses to Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) Questionnaire prompts and material from DARE files compiled from data provided by Joan Hall and Luanne von Schneidermesser. Figure 7. Murray, T. E., Frazer, T. C., and Simon, B. (1996), ‘Need + Past Participle in American English’, American Speech, 71, 159. Figure 8. Murray, T. E. and Simon, B. (1999), ‘Want + Past Participle in American English’, American Speech, 74. Figure 9. Benson, E. J., (2009), ‘Everyone Wants In: Want + Prepositional Adverb in the Midland and Beyond’, Journal of English Linguistics. 37, 33. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

World English Vol III.indb viii

11/26/2012 2:35:39 PM

Contributors

Robert J. Baumgardner Texas A&M University-Commerce Department of Literature and Languages Hall of Languages 141 Commerce, Texas 75429 Email: Robert.Baumgardner@ tamuc.edu Ken Decker SIL International, Sociolinguistics Department 7500 W. Camp Wisdom Rd., Dallas TX 75236, USA Email: [email protected] Marcia L. Dittmann Torres del Cedro, Calle 168 no. 14C-29 Torre 3, apto. 803, Bogota, Colombia Email: [email protected]

Arja Koskinen University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast URACCAN-IPILC, URACCAN Bluefields, RAAS, Nicaragua Email: [email protected] Peter Snow Department of Education University of Alaska Kenai River Campus 156 College Road Soldotna, AK 99669, USA Email: [email protected] Elizabeth Grace Winkler Department of English, Cherry Hall, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 Email: [email protected]

Ross Graham Department of English, University of Coventry Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB Email: [email protected]

World English Vol III.indb ix

11/26/2012 2:35:39 PM

Series Preface

World Englishes surveys the huge richness and varieties of the English language and its diffusion worldwide, looking beyond the documented popular English varieties to include lesser known varieties and emerging English varieties, especially in geographical regions where English has not been previously documented. Given that we are surrounded by the global presence of English written and spoken – from its proliferation in the mass media, the translation of works from other languages into English to the internet, online communication and its use as the main language in medical, diplomatic, scientific and international discourses – it would not be practical in a series of this kind to focus only on the structural features of an English variety. The globalization of English is a topical issue in geography, international relations, anthropology, sociology, political science and other related fields. Consequently, chapters have been structured in such a way to give liberty to those contributors with expertise in various disciplines, or who could co-author with contributors who have, to include chapter sections that would reflect the needs of the other social sciences. While the primary aim of World Englishes is to appeal to linguists and English language specialists, the series focuses more on the geographical region and the variety of English spoken there than on the type of English variety involved. For instance, English as a first language, a second language, a third language, an International language and English pidgin and creole varieties. Each chapter follows a general template that reflects the linguistic, social and historical needs of the English variety. The chapters consist of a linguistic description, as applicable to that particular English variety, of the components of the grammar: phonetics/phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. Chapters also include demographic data, a brief description of the historical and sociocultural background of the English variety, the present and (if possible) future social, political and economic implications of English language use within the region, its use in literary works and in the social media, and wherever the use of English is applicable and of its importance in the region. In Volumes I, II and III, the contributors are considered to be well informed of the particular English variety in the region, The chapters are illustrated with maps outlining the region or location of the particular English variety. Each volume will describe several varieties of English within the specified territory.

World English Vol III.indb xiv

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

Series Preface

xv

Some descriptions will be more detailed than others, depending on the variety described and its use of English. World Englishes serves to function as a reference book, an educational tool and a work of history, geography and anthropology. The series aims not only to appeal to linguistic and English language scholars and students but also to scholars and students in other of the social sciences: geographers, anthropologists, sociologists and economists. The volumes are accessible to undergraduates, as well as graduate and postdoctoral students: any student or scholar who is interested in a comprehensive guide that encompasses all aspect of a particular English variety as a new line of research or expanding existing knowledge of a particular English variety. The World Englishes series is intended to be the first series of volumes to offer comparable, accurate descriptions of English varieties within a given territory and to provide a systematic model for linguistic description and comparison. We hope that as the volumes become available, our efforts will complement previous works on world Englishes, contribute to the growing knowledge of English as a global language and support the development of research in this area.

Bibliography Crystal, D. (2003), English as a Global Language, 2nd edn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kachru, B. B., Kachru, Y. and Nelson, C. L. (eds) (2006), The Handbook of World Englishes, Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Kachru, Y. and Smith, L. E. (2008), Cultures, Contexts, and World Englishes, New York and London: Routledge. Kortman, B. and Schneider, E. W. (eds) (2006), A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Research Tool, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. (Edited together with Kate Burridge, Rajend Mesthrie, and Clive Upton.) McArthur, T. (ed.) (2002), The Oxford Guide to World Englishes, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Svartvik, J. and Leech, G. (2006), English: One Tongue, Many Voices, London: Palgrave MacMillan.

World English Vol III.indb xv

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World English Vol III.indb xvi

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

Central America

Locations where varieties of English are spoken in Central America.

World English Vol III.indb 1

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World English Vol III.indb 2

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

Introduction Ken Decker

Introduction to Central American English Many varieties of English have been spoken along the Caribbean coast of Central America for several centuries. Due to the history of this English presence, there is a distinct geographic division from other English varieties. While unrelated to this history, English also has a presence in modern day urban Central America. This will be represented by a chapter on English in Mexico. The primary goal of this volume is to describe the varieties of English that differ most from an international standard. Comments will be made about the presence of more standard varieties when possible. Central American English is similar to what some call West Indian English or Caribbean English. These terms are used to describe a set of English varieties, with shared features, that constitute something different from British English, American English and other varieties of English. These local and regional English varieties need further definition.

A History that Unites a Region The varieties of English spoken today along the Caribbean Coast of Central America are the result of a process that began in Europe, Africa and on the open seas and continued in the Eastern Caribbean, Jamaica and all along the Central American Caribbean coast. There were periods of history when large numbers of people moved freely along the coast and to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the United States. This pattern continues today with many people moving to cities in the United States and England and sometimes returning. Difficulties arise when one tries to make any statement of relationship between Central American varieties and some vague ‘international standard’ variety of English. There have been many varieties of English that have influenced the speech of the Caribbean Coast of Central America. The earliest relationship would be with British, and particularly sixteenth and seventeenth century regional British English varieties. Historically, it was British sailors and settlers who had the most linguistic influence along the coast. These

World English Vol III.indb 3

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

4

World Englishes Volume III

sailors spoke different regional varieties of English. It seems that the speech of northern England and Scotland had a more lasting influence. (See Holm 1978). Within the Caribbean, there has been much mixing of linguistic varieties. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, labourers from numerous Caribbean islands were transported to work on the Panama Canal and others went to work large fruit plantations in several locations along the coast. There were also other West Indians who came to work on these projects, and they brought their own varieties of English. Today, there is much influence from American English. Again, this influence comes in different varieties: the Midwestern media standard of television and the varieties encountered in New York, New Orleans, Houston, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles by those people who go to the USA for some time and then return. This contact seems to be more available to Belizeans than English speakers from other parts of the Central American coast. These various influences have created a community with many variations that could all be called ‘English’. Dealing with the same problem, Hellinger (1973:1) presented the following model to show the different variations found in Belize: RP ↔ l-n varieties ↔ ?ED ↔ ?WIE ↔ l-n varieties ↔ ?BE ↔ l-n varieties ↔ BC However, there are also significant differences between some varieties and Standard English. This model states the following: between a British English -standardized variety (Received Pronunciation [RP]) and the basilectal variety of Belize ‘Creole’ (BC), there are numerous undefined variations (l-n varieties) found in non-standard British regional variations (?ED for undefined English dialects), an undefined West Indian variety of English (?WIE) along with its variations (l-n) around the Caribbean, an undefined Belizean English (?BE) acrolectal variety and other (l-n) mesolectal varieties. So, it is very difficult to say where English ends and where Kriol begins, but when we compare the ends of this continuum, we find that there are significant differences. Creole languages frequently are created in a violent and confusing clash of cultures. This development process does not create uniform linguistic or cultural situations. There are numerous theories concerning the origins of Caribbean creole languages, some of which involve various pidgins spoken in Africa or an earlier language called ‘Sabir’, or Lingua Franca, spoken on Portuguese sailing vessels (see Holm 2000 for a discussion of the various theories).

World English Vol III.indb 4

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

Introduction

5

At the time of arrival of Europeans to the Caribbean coast of Central America, there were many varieties of several major language families. There were several varieties of Maya languages, Chibchan languages and Choco languages. In 1502, Columbus, on his fourth voyage, sailed along the Central American coast of the Caribbean. While the Spanish travelled through the region frequently, they never made any serious efforts to colonize the coast. From the 1560s, English buccaneers became present along the coast. During the 1630s, English settlements were established at Stann Creek in Belize, Roatán, Cape Gracias a Dios, Providence Island and on the Nicaraguan coast, which came to be known as La Mosquitia. These settlements came under occasional attack from the Spanish, but were usually resettled soon after. In 1699, William Pitt established a settlement along the Black River (Palacios) on the present-day Honduran coast. By 1740, the coast from Belize to Nicaragua became a British protectorate under the Governor of Jamaica, with a Superintendent in Black River. Evidence of trade between Black River and distant locations is revealed by a quote from the 1760s that there were ‘white traders from Jamaica, Curaçao, New York, Philadelphia, London and Guatemala’ present (Sorsby 1969: 154 in Holm 1978: 55). African slaves had been imported since the earliest days of these settlements. Colonial life on the coast had many faces. There were native and mixed race peoples, African slaves and whites who had lived their entire lives on the coast. All of them spoke their own varieties of English. Some people were engaged in trade and others in logging, and there were some small plantations. By 1776, the number of desertions from plantations had escalated so much that the shore was put under martial law. There were maroon communities in inland hideouts. In the 1786 Convention of London and 1787 Treaty of Versailles, the British agreed to evacuate the Mosquito Coast in exchange for Spanish recognition of the Belize colony. The ‘Shoremen’, as the English living along the Nicaraguan coast called themselves, were forced to leave their settlements, and most of them went to Belize or the Caymen Islands. The new settlers in Belize outnumbered the local residents by nearly five to one (Floyd 1967). Before this date, Belizean English probably had more linguistic similarity with that of Jamaica, but, after this date, it became much more like that of Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast. In spite of the treaties, there were those who stayed along the Miskito Coast and on Providence and defied the Spanish. In the early 1800s, with the abolition of slavery and the collapse of the plantations in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, some people returned to the Bay Islands and the Miskito Coast. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fruit companies from the United States of America began to develop a banana industry along the coast. These companies recruited Afro-Caribbean labourers from Jamaica

World English Vol III.indb 5

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World Englishes Volume III

6

and the Caymen Islands to work on these plantations. In the beginning of the twentieth century, tens of thousands of Afro-Caribbean labourers were brought to Panama to build the Panama Canal.

Language Contact between English and Spanish This volume also has the goal of illuminating the multilingual dynamics found in these communities. The volume covers a wide variety of situations in which Spanish and varieties of English were in contact, from Spanish speakers adopting English in Mexico to English‒Creole speakers rejecting Spanish in Belize. In many of the locations and situations described in this volume, Spanish language did not become important until the 1950s. Today, the language choices are a pressing daily concern. There are many factors involved in the choices people make. Le Page and Tabouret-Keller (1985), in their landmark study, ‘Acts of Identity,’ described a triangle with Spanish, English and Creole at the corners. In the language contact situations described in this volume, people make many language choices within the bounds of this triangle model. There are many reasons for these choices: religious, economic and cultural identity. The Afro-Caribbean English-speaking people of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Columbian Archipelago of San Andres are forced to make choices between a local Creole identity, a Spanishspeaking national identity, an English-speaking international identity and mixtures of these identities. The evolution of the sociolinguistic environment is different in each location and the impact produces different results.

Features of Central American English We desire to draw together in this one volume a sampling of some of the phonological and grammatical structures common to these varieties. The presentation of these features may not be to the satisfaction of proponents of specific linguistic models. We did not want to align the data with any single model. We present it as accessible as possible to any specialist. Each author has focused his/her attention based on personal preferences, but we feel that a sufficient sample is presented to be useful to other linguists.

Bibliography Floyd, T. S. (1967), The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia, University of New Mexico Press. Hellinger, M. (1973), ‘Aspects of Belizean Creole’, Folia Linguistica, 6(1/2), 118–135.

World English Vol III.indb 6

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

Introduction

7

Holm, J. (1978), The Creole English of Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast: Its Sociolinguistic History and a Comparative Study of its Lexicon and Syntax, Ph.D. thesis, University College, University of London. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International. ––. (2000), An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Le Page, R. and Tabouret-Keller, A. (1985), Acts of Identity, London: Cambridge University Press.

World English Vol III.indb 7

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World English Vol III.indb 8

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

Chapter 1

The English Language in Mexico1 Robert Baumgardner

Background After Mexican Spanish, the English language is the most studied and learned language in Mexico, its study and acquisition far outstripping that of the 62 indigenous languages2 and the second most studied foreign language, French, in this vast country of over 100 million inhabitants. Since the first decades of the nineteenth century, when the study of both English and French were introduced in Mexico, English has played a role in both public and private Mexican education (well ahead of that of French) as well as in Mexican commerce and mass culture (Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores 1996: 116). Mexico’s proximity to the United States, the human and commercial flow between the two countries (El Paso has been called ‘the busiest international crossing in the world’ – The Economist 1998: 31) and the established communities of Mexicans in the United States and US citizens in Mexico have all worked together to bolster the close economic, cultural and linguistic ties between the two countries. In Braj Kachru’s (1995) now widely recognized three concentric circles of English, Mexico and English in Mexico fall within the third expanding circle. Unlike British or American English (Kachru’s inner circle) or Indian or Ghanian English (Kachru’s outer circle), English in Mexico is, for the vast majority of Mexicans, a foreign language. As it has in some expanding circle countries (see, e.g. Jenkins 2000, 2007, for a discussion of ‘Euro-English’), the appropriation of English as a ‘Mexican’ language or a ‘Mexican’ variety of English has not yet taken hold, and probably will not in the foreseeable future (see Baumgardner and Brown 2003; Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores 1996 for further discussion of this issue). McArthur (1992) does not include ‘Mexican English’ in his Oxford Companion to the English Language; he does, of course, include Chicano English (cross-referenced with Mexican–American English), Tex–Mex and Spanglish (see Fought 2003 and Volume 2 in this series for a discussion of Chicano English). English in Mexico, therefore, is a performance variety of English with a Mexican Spanish substrate. Depending on the proficiency of the speaker, it can contain on the phonological level the substitution in English of /b/ for /v/, /č/ for /š/ and /i/ for /ɪ/. Like other learners of English, Mexican Spanish speakers will sometimes omit the third person singular -s

World English Vol III.indb 9

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World Englishes Volume III

10

ending on the present tense verb as well as confuse regular and irregular verb forms. (For a full description and contrastive analysis of Mexican–Spanish and US English, see Cotton and Sharp 1988; Stockwell and Bowen 1965; Stockwell, Bowen and Martin 1965.) In the remainder of this essay, I first discuss the impact of English in the Mexican school system, both public and private. Mention will also be made in this brief overview of English in Mexican education of the other domains in Mexico in which English plays a role. I then turn to the linguistic aspects of the impact of English on Mexican Spanish and show how Mexican Spanish has been ‘Englishized’ (Kachru 1995) by US English. I conclude this chapter on English in Mexico by showing the influence of English on branding of Mexican products, the use of English in Mexican advertising and the presence of English in shop names in Mexico.

English in the Mexican Educational System Most Mexican youngsters inevitably learn a bit of English (largely informally, from tourists and mass media), but no instructional use is made of this language due to historical and political sensitivities (Fishman 1976: 64–65). Basic education is regulated in Mexico by the Secretaria de Educación Pública (SEP, http://www.sep.gob.mx), and Mexican children are required to attend school from ages 6–14 (up to the equivalent of the ninth grade in the United States). While English is not required in all public-sector elementary schools (Fishman 1996), a number of states now have pilot English programmes at the primaria (elementary, grades 1–6) level (see, e.g. http://www.sec-sonora.gob. mx/pip/body.html, for information on the programme in the state of Sonora). The primaria pilots are run as extra classes at the present time and not in all grades. Programmes generally entail two 50-minute class periods a week during a 36-week academic year. At the beginning of the 2005–2006 academic year, SEP also initiated, in some states, pilot programmes in content (including English) instruction at the 5th and 6th grade levels through Enciclomedia, a software program ‘conceived and made in Mexico’ (Ortíz Piña 2006; www. enciclomedia.edu.mx/English.htm). In 2006, Tlaxcala passed a law that primary students in the State should be taught English at the primary level ‘. . . para prepar a futuros braceros’ [to prepare future USA-bound seasonal farm laborers] (Cabrera 2006: A36). At the secundaria and técnica level (middle school, grades 7–9), English is a federal requirement, and all schools follow a programme (three 50-minute sessions per week in all grades) for three years (McLaughlin 2002). The programme is co-produced by the SEP and the British Council, but it is far too ambitious for the average non-native Mexican teacher since schools typically lack resources

World English Vol III.indb 10

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

The English Language in Mexico

11

like overhead projectors, photocopiers and other basic equipment. Teachers get most of their training from textbook publishers and often have a very poor level of English and teaching skills. There is an authorized list of textbooks that teachers can choose from, and the choice is up to the individual teacher. This can cause problems when students change from one class to another or from one year to the next because they may find themselves in a class using a different textbook. All the textbooks follow the programme, so the content does not vary greatly, though the approach may (Mickey Rogers, personal communication, 29 June 2006). Telesecundarias, rural schools (grades 7–9) taught via distance education, utilize Enciclomedia for English instruction (for further information, see, http://presidencia.gob.mx/buenasnoticias/ index). At the preparatoria, bachillerato, técnológica and comercio levels (grades 10–12), a great amount of variety exists. There are numerous preparatoria systems for university-bound students, and though most of them are under a central national administration, there is considerable state autonomy in how English instruction programmes are run at this level. The different systems vary greatly in their English requirements, some programmes requiring only two semesters of English and others requiring up to six semesters. The average is three to four semesters. Students usually have three 50-minute sessions per week, as in middle school, but this also varies among the different systems. Many preparatorias are under the aegis of university systems, so their requirements are geared to comply with the entrance requirements of a particular university system. For example, preparatorias incorporated in the public UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) system require six semesters of English study, four of general, four-skills English and the last two of reading comprehension (Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores 1996: 121). The private University of Monterrey preparatoria requires six semesters of English instruction in its international and technical bachillerato and six semesters of either English or French instruction in its bilingual and bicultural high school diplomas. Public preparatorias tend to choose a course book for the school, and often for a whole state or even the whole country, so teachers in a given school or system will all use the same series. There is quite a lot of special edition publishing in this sector, as publishers will make content or sequencing changes and print special covers in order to get a series into a state or national system (personal communication, Mickey Rogers, 29 June 2006). At the university level in Mexico, there is considerable freedom regarding English language requirements. Each university or university system must be registered with the SEP, but all are free to set up their own individual or system requirements. The national university system in the Distrito Federal is headed by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (founded in 1551) with its various satellite campuses. Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores (1996: 121) provide a good description of English requirements in the UNAM in Mexico City with its basic English courses in addition to specialized English

World English Vol III.indb 11

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World Englishes Volume III

12

courses in the schools of Architecture, Business Administration, Chemistry, etc. Each of Mexico’s 31 other states also has its own state university and teachers’ colleges (Escuelas Normales Superiores) or equivalents. Each has its own English requirements depending upon the discipline. While the requirements of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) in Monterrey are similar to those of UNAM in Mexico City, UANL is working at the present time towards a TOEFL requirement to replace its basic English courses (Jaime Antonio Solís Hinojosa, personal communication, 9 August 2006). This is the system in place at the private University of Monterrey (UDEM) in San Pedro Garza García and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), both of which require TOEFL for graduation. UDEM requires 550 on the TOEFL (Institutional, paper-based test). Upon entering UDEM all students take a placement exam that determines which of nine (9) English courses they will be placed into. All are remedial, except the last course, which is TOEFL preparation. Very often, a university’s English requirements are equal to those of its major competitors. Hence, if the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), Universidad Regiomontana (UR) and La Salle (Norte) are UDEM’s competitors, then their English requirements will be similar to those of those universities (Penny Ann Harrold Ellis, personal communication, 31 July 2006). For further information on English in higher education in Mexico see Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores (1996) and SEP ’s website (www.sep.gob.mx). English is also taught at numerous other institutions throughout Mexico: in private schools (e.g. Berlitz or Harmon Hall), binational centres, sponsored entirely or in part by foreign governments (e.g. British Council or the United States Information Service), private bilingual schools where instruction is in both Spanish and English, private companies (Dell or Compact computers), privately organized classes and United States government schools. The American Foundation School in Monterrey, Mexico, accepts both US as well as Mexican students. For further information see Nelson (2000) and Baumgardner (2001). The presence of English can be found in other domains in Mexico as well. Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores (1996), in addition to education, include thorough discussions of English in the Mexican workplace, tourism and both print as well as electronic media. In their description of immigrant groups residing in Mexico, Hawayek de Ezcurdia et al. (1992: 113) note: In Mexico City [alone] one finds theatre, religious services (Catholic, Jewish and Protestant), newspapers,3 a radio station and cable TV in English. Schools are vitally important for the maintenance and spread of English. There are American and British schools where the Mexican children who attend become completely bilingual. At present there are some 55,000 American citizens residing in the Federal District, who represent a strong vitalizing force for the English-speaking community.

World English Vol III.indb 12

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

The English Language in Mexico

13

Not only in Mexico City, but throughout Mexico, one finds large Englishspeaking expatriate communities. According to the United States Department of State, there are more US citizens in Mexico than in any other country in the world other than the United States and Canada.4 Mexico’s large US community encompasses retirees, students, businesspersons, missionaries, diplomats, writers, artists, drifters, hippies and citizens of US origin married to Mexicans, most of whom continue to speak English to some degree (see Baumgardner 2001, for a discussion of US Americans in Monterrey). With the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, English and United States presence in Mexico (as well as Mexican presence in the United States) have been on the rise. While this is seen by some as linguistic hegemony (see, e.g. Sierra and Padilla 2003; Hidalgo, Cifuentes and Flores 1996), others take a more conciliatory approach. Baumgardner and Escobar (1998, 2000), for example, discuss how the influence of one language on the other can be used pedagogically as a tool in the classroom, and Solís Hinojosa et al. (1994) have written English-teaching classroom material from this same perspective. Fishman’s (1976) thirty-year old observation quoted at the beginning of this section concerning the paucity of English in education in Mexico is patently outdated.

English Borrowings in Mexican Spanish . . . en qué idioma va a hablar el niño? [And which language is the child going to speak?]5 Español, qué no? [Spanish, no?] Y todas esas jergas nuevas, qué? El espanglés y el angloñol y el ánglatl . . . [And what about all those other new jargons? Espanglés, angloñol, ánglatl . . . ] Cristóbal Nonato (Fuentes 1987: 25) In the 7 January 2002 technology section (Interfase) of Monterrey’s El Norte newspaper, there are six headlines that contain no less than seven English borrowings (monitorean, to monitor  monitor, gadget, internet, crash, hot shot, the abbreviation PC and the hind clipping demo  demonstration). In addition, video digital is a loan translation (or calque, see discussion below) and the name of the section of the newspaper, Interfase, is itself an English borrowing ( interface): 1. 2. 3. 4.

Monitorean gadgets su rendimiento [gadgets monitor your performance] Más Internet y video digital [more internet and digital video] Evitando ‘crashes’ [avoiding crashes] Hot shots [hot shots]

World English Vol III.indb 13

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

14

World Englishes Volume III

5. Haga una buena acción: Regale su PC viejita [do a good deed: sell your old PC cheap] 6. Los mejores demos de la temporada [the best demos of the season] In the same edition of Interfase one finds the following advice about ‘cookies’: También cuando navegas por Internet almacenas archivos como son las llamadas ‘cookies’. Para borrarlas da click con el botón derecho del mouse sobre el ícono del ‘Internet Explorer’ y selecciona ‘propiedades’. En la parte donde dice ‘archivos temporales de Internet’ da click en ‘eliminar archivos’ (El Norte, 7 January 2006, Interfase, 6A). [Also when you are navigating the internet, you store files that are called ‘cookies.’ To erase them click the right button of the mouse on the Internet Explorer icon and select ‘properties.’ Where it says ‘temporary internet files’ click ‘delete files.’] In a 2000 article in the New York Times on the growing importance of the internet in Latin America, Sam Dillon reported on the characteristics of and attitudes towards this latest contact zone between English and Spanish. In an interview with José Carreño Carlón, Director of the Department of Communication at Iberoamerican University in Mexico City, Carreño Carlón made the following observation about ‘purist’ attitudes towards English borrowings in Mexican Spanish: ‘This was a hard-fought battle from the 60s through the 80s, but the nationalists and purists are in retreat, especially because, in the cybernetic world, many English words have no easy equivalent.’ Tarsicio Herrera Zapién, Secretary of the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language in Mexico City, expressed a similar opinion in Dillon’s article, saying that the Academy no longer fought the ‘purity’ battle, which in fact had been abandoned by the Mexican people. Added Herrera Zapién, ‘We can’t legislate how people speak; we simply catalog Mexican usages.’ Like modern Mexican Spanish, many languages throughout the world today borrow computer and technology terms from English. This is not surprising given the fact that the United States is one of the leaders in the development of technology in the modern world. The English language is now situated both within geographic as well as electronic proximity to Mexico. Mexican Spanish borrowing from English and other languages (viz. French and Amerindian) is not a recent phenomenon. Some English borrowings were inherited from Peninsular Spanish, for example, lord, suicidio (eighteenth century); cheque, club, organismo, turista (nineteenth century); comité, interviú, racial (twentieth century), etc. . . . (Patterson and Urrutibéheity 1975: 16). After World War II contemporary Mexican Spanish began to experience an unprecedented influx of Anglicisms directly from the United States. As historians Meyer, Sherman and Deeds (2003: 707) have noted: ‘ . . . hundreds of Anglicisms invaded the language. Somehow el jit [hit], el jonron [homerun], el extra inin [inning] seemed more palatable, and certainly more understandable, than okay, bay-bay [bye-bye], chance, jipi [jeep], biznes [business], and parquear [to park].’ And more recent

World English Vol III.indb 14

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

The English Language in Mexico

15

borrowings (again predominantly from US English) such as blog, crash (see [3] above), hostess, rap, and backstage have become well established (see Gumperz 1982 for a discussion of ‘established’ borrowings). To understand fully the impact of US English on Mexican Spanish today it is necessary, however, to look beyond the 2000-mile shared border of the two countries. The proximity of Mexico and the United States has of course had an influence on English borrowings in the Spanish of Mexico (as well as on Spanish borrowings in US English, see Baumgardner 2006, 2007). But the overall importance of English in the world today must also be taken into account. Mexico is among a growing number of Kachru’s (1995) expanding circle countries whose languages and cultures are being influenced by English. In his extensive studies of the wide-ranging effect of English in the world, Kachru (1995: 243) has shown how the influence of English has produced what he terms Englishization. According to Kachru, the Englishization of a language’s lexicon manifests itself in three different ways: in loan words, loan shifts (or calques) and hybridization, where English and the other language are mixed. Each of these word-formation processes can be readily found in Mexican Spanish. The extent of English borrowing, for example, can be seen in Table 1.16: Table 1.1

English Borrowings in Mexican Spanish

Automotive: cab forward (64), cámper (225), car wash (34), cruise control (195), clutch (386), custom (86), fuel injection (48), jeep (1,394), hot rod (101), off-road (323), overdrive (205), pick-up (2,711), spoiler (286) Business: benchmark(ing) (203), bushel (161), business (3,195), joint venture (320), off-shore (300), outsourcing (562), over the counter (57), split (289), spread (204), swap (219) Cuisine: blueberry (84), brunch (242), corn flakes (228), hot cakes (395), hot dog (350), prime rib (115), sandwich (883) Entertainment: backstage (242), clap (120), grunge (427), Latin Lover (205), moshe (255), rap (1,688), reality show (2,508), stand-by (397), talk-show (576) Fashion: baby dolls (74), backpack (87), fitness (270), flats (58), halter (356), lipstick (193), stretch (150), top-model (629) Sports: balk (62), down-hill (166), dragster (73), full-contact (41), funny car (41), infield (395), inning (2,318)/inin (90), infielder (293) jonron (3,566)/homerun (7), muster (511), playoffs (6,184), quarterback (4,216), rating (4,196), rookie (72), roster (1,014), squash (414), staff (10,014) Technology: blog (221), blogger (40), chat (1,258), click (3,015), cookies (106), hacker (356), home page (361), on-line (752), pixel (103), plug and play (118), podcast (44), reset (20), switch (414), tweeter (46), upgrade (68), wallpaper (39), website (459), wiki (48) Miscellaneous: baby shower (74), best seller (772), clip (672), cool (1,195), gadget (122), gangster (393), gay (3,252), hobby (437), kit (940), love seat (42), (chemical) peeling (80), test (1,018), ticket (885), tip (580)

World English Vol III.indb 15

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

World Englishes Volume III

16

Borrowed English compounds are often clipped in Mexican Spanish and result in lexical items normally not found in native varieties of English; these include: beis (baseball), bull (bulldozer), compact (disc), fut (football), heavy (metal), holding (company), inter (intermission/bisexual), reality (reality show), refri (refrigerator), six (pack), súper (market), tóper (Tupperware), trading (company), trench (coat) and volei (volleyball). It is also possible for more than one meaning (polysemy) of an English word to be borrowed: pitch in Mexican Spanish is used either as a sports term or a business term as in ‘a good pitch’ (highpressure sales presentation). The English borrowing box belongs to both the domains of sports as well as that of furniture, that is, box (spring); maple can mean either the wood or the flavor; and a hit can be a popular song, a baseball term and now an internet term. Lexical items that have undergone grammatical or semantic shift are also included in Kachru’s first category of borrowings. For example, English ‘relax’, a verb, is used in Mexican Spanish as both a noun (En estos momentos busco sólo relax y tiempo libre [At those times I only look for relaxation and free time] El Norte 12/2/94, Deportiva 5) and an adjective ( . . . en un momento que se encuentre muy relax, de preferencia fin de semana [ . . . at a time when you feel very relaxed, preferably on the weekend] El Norte 7/20/96, Moda 21). Neither of these usages is known in English-speaking countries. Moreover, relax as an adjective appears to be Mexican usage; only the nominal form is found in Rodríguez González and Lillo Baudes (1997), a recent lexicon of English borrowings in Peninsular Spanish. Other English borrowings have undergone a semantic shift; for example, a bargirl in Mexican Spanish is a ‘barmaid,’ or female bartender (bargirl is used in some varieties of English to refer to female prostitutes who work in or frequent bars); a socket is a ‘plug’ (Sp. enchufe); a boiler is a ‘hot-water heater’ found in homes, not in factories; raite ( Eng. ride) means ‘hitchhiking’; trolley or trolleybus is a kind of ice-cream; happy can mean ‘tipsy’; and hostess in Mexican Spanish refers either to a male or female. Note the following description of a young man’s job as ‘hostess’: Mi labor como hostess fue ser el anfitrión . . . mi función fue estar en la entrada del centro social y cuando llegaban los invitados llevarlos y distribuirlos a sus respectivas mesas. Yo tenía una lista en la que tenía el nombre del invitado y tenía un mapa del lugar . . . y con eso yo los llevaba a sus mesas. A las damas les movía la silla para que se sienten, . . . les daba mi nombre, . . . los trataba muy amable, . . . y pues todo para que los invitados se sientan bien recibidos. En general eso era mi función como hostess (Wilfredo Cortéz Cázares, personal communication, 3 August 2006). [My job as hostess was to be the host (anfitrión is Spanish for host; anfitrióna is hostess) . . . my function was to be in the entrance of the establishment and, when the guests arrived, to take them and place them at their respective tables. I had a list that

World English Vol III.indb 16

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

The English Language in Mexico

17

contained the names of the guests and also a map of the seating arrangement . . . and with this I took them to their tables. I pulled the chairs out for the female guests . . . I gave them my name, . . . and treated them with courtesy, . . . so that all the guests felt welcome. This was in general my function as hostess]. Also note hostess in Figure 1.1, a classified ad from Monterrey’s El Norte (15 November 2003, G16). The text reads: ‘Important: company needs hostesses – 18 to 30 years old, dynamic, both sexes. Cashiers – with experience, good appearance.’ As the ad states, the hostesses can be male or female; the cashiers, however, can be only females (cajeras is the feminine plural form of the noun). None of these semantic shifts – bargirl, socket, boiler, raite, trolley/trolleybus, happy or ‘male’ hostess – appear in Rodríguez González and Lillo Baudes (1997) as English borrowings in Peninsular Spanish. Kachru’s (1995) second category of lexical Englishization includes loan translations, or calques. A calque is a word or phrase in Spanish that is a translation of an English word or phrase. For example, Spanish la luna de miel is a translation of English ‘honeymoon’ and el rascacielos (rasca[r] ‘to scrape’  cielos ‘skies’) is a Spanish calque based on the English lexical item ‘skyscraper.’ English ‘a

Figure 1.1 2003, G16).

World English Vol III.indb 17

Hostess: a classified ad from Monterrey’s El Norte (15 November

11/26/2012 2:35:40 PM

18

World Englishes Volume III

moment of truth,’ on the other hand, is a calque that comes from the Spanish bullfighting term el momento de la verdad (Erichsen 2007). Some Mexican Spanish calques include bajar canciones (to download songs), banda ancha (broadband), control remoto (remote control), disco duro (hard drive), hora feliz (happy hour), lavar dinero (to launder money), mensaje de texto (text message), pizza personal (personal pizza), ratón (computer mouse), tienda de convenencia (convenience store), video conferencia (video conference) and video digital (see headline [2] above). The preceding examples are only ‘la punta del iceberg’ (the tip of the iceberg) with regard to English calques in Mexican Spanish – for a further discussion see del Rosario (1970). Kachru’s (1995) third category includes mixed (hybrid) Spanish–English lexical items. These include periphrastic compounds with both English and Spanish elements, Spanish–English derivational and inflectional affixation, and Spanish–English clipping and blending. Individual English borrowings of the type found in Table 1.1 above form parts of the following periphrastic compounds in Mexican Spanish: chuleta de res strip (strip steak), clip de video (video clip), cuarto de chat (chat room), hot cakes de blueberry (blueberry hot cakes), jack de audífonos (headphone jack), kit de clutch pickup (pickup clutch kit), luz de stop (stop light), programa anticrash (anti-crash program), roster de playoffs (playoff roster), sandwich de nieve (ice cream sandwich), staff de pitcheo (pitching staff), switch de reset (reset switch) and ticket de compra (receipt). Table 1.2 contains select Spanish affixes along with examples of English borrowings used with them to form hybrid derivations/inflections in Mexican and other World Spanishes: Mexican Spanish blends are composed of an English borrowing plus a Spanish lexical item; however, because of the clipped elements in the blends, their meanings are not always as transparent as those of words in the other categories. Rediqueta ( Sp. red ‘network’  Eng. netiquette [ net  etiquette]) are rules of politeness for the internet, and Mexicatessen (Mexica[n][delic]atessen) is a delicatessen Mexican style. A servicar (Sp. servir ‘to serve’  Eng. car, pl. servicares or servicars) is known in Texas as a ‘beer barn,’ that is, a drive-through liquor store in the shape of a barn. An article in the 27 August 1997 edition of El Norte read: ‘Dado que el negocio Garabatal es un servicar y cuenta con un permiso con el giro de minisuper, puede estar abierto las 24 horas . . . ’ (Local, 3) [Given that Garabatal is a beer barn and has permission to operate as a mini-supermarket, it can remain open 24 hours a day . . . .]. Servicars are a Northern Mexico phenomenon. Cantabar [ cantar ‘to sing’  bar] is another Mexican Spanish creation (hybrid blend) meaning a bar with karaoke. G. L. Othón, in his lively column Sugerencias del Gourmet [The Gourmet’s Suggestions] of 20 June 1997 (El Norte, Buena Mesa, 2), wrote: ‘Igual fenómeno ocurre en la zona de la Colonia Contry, por la Avenida Revolución, donde se amontonan restaurantes, cantabares, hamburgueserías, taquerías, pizzerías y todo tipo de empresas gastronómicas exitosas . . . .’ [The same phenomenon is occurring in the suburb Contry along Revolution

World English Vol III.indb 18

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

The English Language in Mexico Table 1.2

19

Mexican Spanish Derivations with English Bases

bateador (batter) boxeador (boxer) fildeador (fielder) goleador (goalie)

pitchear (to pitch) rankear (to rank) remixear (to remix) reportar/-ear (to report) resetear (to reset) scautear (to scout) shockear (to shock) surfear (to surf) switchear (to switch) taclear (to tackle)

Sp. -aje

Sp. -ción

drenaje (drainage) porcentaje (percentage) reportaje (report) sabotaje (sabotage) tatuaje (tattoo) voltaje (voltage)

filmación (filming)

alcoholismo (alcoholism) esnobismo (snobbism) tourismo (tourism) yuppismo (yuppiedom)

Sp. -eo

Sp. -ista (person who)

balanceo (balance) boxeo (boxing) catcheo (catching) coacheo (coaching) escauteo (scouting) flirteo (flirting) monitoreo (monitoring) shockeo (shock) switcheo (switching)

aerobista (aerobics) canoista (canoe) futbolista (soccer) golfista (golf) jazzista (jazz) lobbista (lobby) manicurista (manicure) medallista (medal) panelista (panel) softbolista (softball) tenista (tennis) voleibolista (volleyball)

Sp. -ato/-azgo liderato (leadership) liderazgo (leadership) Sp. -(e)ador

Sp. -ar/-ear blogear (to blog) bloquear (to block) boicotear (to boycott) boxear (to box) catchear (to catch) chatear (to chat) clickear (to click) coachear (to coach) driblear (to dribble) escannear (to scan) escautear (to scout) faulear (to foul) faxear (to fax) filmar (to film) flanquear (to flank) flirtear (to flirt) formatear (to format) fumblear (to fumble) googlear (to google) lonchear (to lunch)

Sp.-era budinera (pudding mold) Sp. –ero (person who) jonronero (home run) nocautero (knock out) pistolero (pistol) rapero (rap) reportero (report) rocanrolero (rock & roll) softbolero (softball) trailero (trailer) yonquero (junk)

Sp. -ería (place where) coctelería (cocktail) hamburgesería (hamburger) lonchería (lunch) Sp. -ico bombástico (bombastic) Sp. -ismo

Sp. -izar estandarizar (standardize) hospitalizar (hospitalize) monitorizar (to monitor) remasterizar(to remaster) rostizar (to roast) vulcanizar (to vulcanize) Sp. reremixear (to remix) remasterizar (remaster) resetear (to reset)

Avenue, where restaurants, karaoke bars, hamburger establishments, taquerias, pizzerias and all types of successful eateries are opening . . . .] When languages begin to create new lexical items with borrowed words (like cantabar, servicar and rediqueta), they are participating in the ‘acculturation of English in ‘un-English’ sociocultural and linguistic contexts’ (Kachru 1995: 243),

World English Vol III.indb 19

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

World Englishes Volume III

20

a linguistic process that is being documented more and more in such contexts throughout the world today as a result of English’s role as a global lingua franca (see, e.g. articles in the journals Asian Englishes, World Englishes, English Today and English World-Wide). In Fuentes’ (1987) Cristóbal Nonato [Christopher Unborn] cited above, Christopher’s mother poses a question about which language the child is going to speak. ‘Spanish?’ contests the father. But what about those other jargons, she retorts: Espanglés, angloñol, ánglatl? [Spanish  English, English  Spanish, English  Nahuatl]. Is Spanish in Mexico truly in danger of being ‘contaminated’ by English as La Comisión para La Defensa del Idioma Español [Commission for the Defense of the Spanish Language] believed in the early eighties (see discussion below)? Was it corrupted by its extensive borrowing from Nahuatl? Did the approximately 4,000 words borrowed into Spanish from Arabic from the eighth to the thirteenth centuries damage the language? Alatorre (1989: 316), in fact, calls them ‘ . . . una de sus bellezas.’ [one of the beauties of Spanish]. And recall Tarsicio Herrera Zapién, Secretary of the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language, who feels the duty of the academy is to describe, not prescribe, usage in this new age of digital technology and the internet (Dillon 2000). With regard to the number of English borrowings in Spanish, a close examination is indeed revealing. Luis Fernando Lara, director of the Diccionario del Español Usual en México (1996), sheds some much-needed light on this topic when he writes: Although the vast majority of words in standard Mexican Spanish are of Spanish origin, a small fraction of the lexicon is composed of words from foreign languages, particularly French and English . . . . If during the nineteenth century Gallicism was considered the accursed manifestation of foreign influence over the Spanish language, this role now is played by borrowings from English. Due to the United States’ considerable economic and political influence, Anglo-American culture also has considerable influence in contemporary Mexico. Anglicisms can be found everywhere in Mexican Spanish, although the absolute number is probably negligible (Lara 1997: 876). This position is supported by the fact that out of 14,000 entries in Lara’s (1996) dictionary, fewer than 2 per cent (0.018) are English borrowings. This trend holds for other dictionaries of Mexican Spanish: of the 30,550 entries in Santamaría’s Diccionario de Mejicanismos (1974), 1.6 per cent are English borrowings and ‘at least 20 per cent are of Aztec [Nahautl] origin’ (Cotton and Sharp 1988: 104), and Gómez de Silva’s (2001) recent Diccionairo Breve de Mexicanismos (a compilation of ninety-five previously published works on Mexicanisms since 1761 – including Santamaría 1974) contains 77,000 entries, not even nearly one per cent (0.003) of which are noted as coming from English – words of French origin are even fewer (0.001). The Amerindian (especially Nauhatal) influence is far greater (see, e.g. Santamaría 1988). Perhaps Alatorre (1989) sums up the

World English Vol III.indb 20

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

The English Language in Mexico

21

situation best when he writes: ‘Hay en nuestro mundo muchas cosas de que alarmarse. Entre ellas no está la lengua española en cuanto tal (y en toda la diversidad de sus realizaciones) [There are many things in our world to get alarmed about. The Spanish language (in all of its the diversity) is not one of them]’ (Alatorre 1989: 318).

Images of English in the Mexican World of Business Branding English in Mexico permeates the world of commerce. It can be found in names of businesses and in outside advertising, print advertising, newspapers, magazines and in the branding of Mexican products. Mexican products that use English in their names can bear either an outright English name or use English in the formation of a name, a process Kachru (1986: 163–165) has described as ‘bilingual creativity.’ A popular brand of Mexican cigarettes goes by the name Boots (see discussion below); a kind of candy cigarettes is called Guns; wellknown brands of potato chips and popcorn are called Chip’s and Gold Pop, respectively; Barcel markets chilli-flavored nuts called Hot-Nuts; a Mexican boxer shorts (cortos boxer para caballero – boxer shorts for men) goes by the name of Lancer; Marinela manufactures both Hit (marshmallow coconut cookies) and ¡Sponch! (a sponge cake snack); Mexican fruit juices are marketed under the name Boing!; and Productos Jetti markets Snacks Jett ( Eng. jet), pineapple squash flavored peanuts. There is sometimes a mismatch between an English product name and connotations that name may have for an English-speaking market, for example, Sharky mango pulp and Kranky chocolate-coated corn flakes. It is important to keep in mind, however, that these products are not being marketed for native English-speaking consumers. Spanish and English are often mixed in product naming (bilingual creativity). A popular brand of sandwich bags is called Sandwichitas [literally ‘little sandwiches’]; the Texas Whataburger chain in Mexico offers its Tuesday two-for-one Whataburger Cheeseburger special to its Whatamigos; el Azteca markets Botanice snacks (Sp. Bota[na] ‘snack’  Eng. nice); and from Productos Valle Verde comes FrutiNola (Sp. Frutí[cola] ‘fruit’  Eng. [gra]nola), a mixture of mapleflavored peanuts, almonds and raisins. English words can also be used as the base for a Mexican product name. White bread and hot dog buns were marketed in Mexico by the company Maseca Gruma under the name Breddy (no longer available), a Mexican Spanish product name that used the English word ‘bread’ as its base; Sabritas, the Mexican division of US Frito-Lay, uses the English word ‘puff’ as a base for its product, Poffets, a chilli-lime flavored pop corn; Mexican food giant Gamesa markets Crackets, which uses the English word ‘cracker’ as a base. The English word ‘dip’ is used as a base for the name of

World English Vol III.indb 21

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

22

World Englishes Volume III

Dippas, a corn chip also made by Sabritas. The chip’s package reads arma la combinación perfecta para dippear, busca la nueva salsa dip Dippas [put together the perfect combination for dipping, look for the new salsa dip Dippas], which contains three forms of the English borrowing ‘dip’: the verb dippear (dipp  -ear), the product name Dippas, and ‘dip’ in the compound salsa dip, where the influence of English is also apparent in the use of a ‘binomial syntagmatic’ or ‘juxtaposition’ compound (salsa dip) rather than a ‘preposition’ compound (dip de salsa). Closa sells salted Virginia peanuts under the name Nuttis, which uses the English word ‘nut’ as its base. And finally, the English lexical item ‘crunch’ is used in various ways in Mexican product branding and packaging. Ruffles, made by Sabritas, is advertised as ‘más papa, más sabor, más crunch’ [more potato, more flavor, more crunch]. Señor Natural advertises its granola bars as Ahora más cronchi! [now more crunchy] (with no initial inverted exclamation mark). And Barcel manufactures fried corn strips called Cronchers, which uses crunch as its base; this product appeared in Mexico in the nineties about the same time as cronchi began to be used in the marketplace in place of its Mexican Spanish equivalent crujiente. Before a product is marketed in Mexico, a name survey is often carried out to find out which brand name might be more appealing (hence profitable). Such was the case when Cigarrera La Moderna [La Moderna Cigarette Company – now known as British American Tobacco México] was ready to market Boots and Boots Lights cigarettes. The survey results indicated that the only English name among the other contenders (all Spanish) was the most popular. By using an English brand name, Cigarrera La Moderna felt that its product would have a better chance of sales outside of Mexico because of English’s role as an international lingua franca. Locally (in Monterrey), the English name reflected people’s daily lives (the Northern Mexican vaquero culture), so unconsciously they identified with it. Boots, according to company officials, has proven to be a very successful product name (Baumgardner and Montemayor 1999). Names of foreign products marketed in Mexico either remain the same or are translated into Spanish. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, for example, was changed to Zucaritas, an easier word to pronounce for Spanish-speaking consumers. Up until 1998, Procter and Gamble marketed the popular bar soap Escudo in Mexico. During the company’s ‘globalization’ efforts in the late twentieth century, it decided to change the name of the soap to Safeguard, the English name under which the product was marketed in the United States and Canada. Sales plummeted among Mexican consumers, who obviously preferred the Spanish name. Three years later Procter and Gamble changed its product’s brand name back to Escudo (http://pg.com.mx/nuestras_marcas/cuidado_belleza_safeguard.php; Neff 2002). Some names of foreign products are not changed; they are simply imported directly into Spanish (there are, of course, phonological adjustments when pronounced). Converse (tennis shoes) remains Converse in

World English Vol III.indb 22

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

The English Language in Mexico

23

Spanish; Guess and Levi’s (jeans), Rayban (sunglasses) and Timex (watches) also retain their English names. Care must be taken, however, when importing words directly from one language into another as General Motors painfully learnt when it marketed the Chevy Nova in Mexico; Nova [noa] in Spanish means ‘it doesn’t go/run’ (Hayden and William 1997).

Magazine advertising Another domain in which the influence of English is evident is advertising, including print advertising, radio/television advertising and advertising in the linguistic landscape (billboards, signs, posters and shop names). In print advertising, both English and Spanish appear in attention-getters (words and phrases used to draw the attention of readers), slogans (set phrases associated with a particular product) and body copy (the remaining text). For example, German sportswear maker Adidas uses only its brand name and the English phrase ‘Gimme the Ball’ as an attention getter in one of its Mexican ads (Futbol Total June 2005: 3), while US watchmaker Timex uses its name along with a Spanish slogan Intensifica tu tiempo [intensify your time] in an ad in Muy Interesante [very interesting] magazine (March 2005: 97). Code-mixed advertisements are those ads with one-word, phrase(s), and/or sentence(s) in otherwise Spanish attentiongetters, slogans and body copy. English words used in such advertisements are often already established borrowings in Mexican Spanish. For example, German carmaker Volkswagen uses the compound ‘off-road’ in the attention-getter in its ad for the Touareg (la major tecnología Off Road del marcado [the best off-road technology on the market]) (Automóvil Panamericano June 2007: 2). Off-road, like other English borrowings related to the automobile (cab forward, camper, custom, hot rod, overdrive, spoiler, see Table 1.1), is an established English borrowing. An ad for Sport Life magazine in Automóvil Panamericano (June 2004: 39) shows the topics covered by the Mexican monthly: estilo de vida [life style], aventura [adventure], nitrición [nutrition], salud [health], correr [jogging], deporte [sports] and fitness, another established English borrowing. Korean electronics giant LG has no problem advertising its LG Cool mobile telephone in Mexico, since cool is also an established borrowing in Mexican Spanish. The company’s English slogan Life’s Good is also used in otherwise mostly Spanish-language advertisements (Muy Interesante February 2005: 7). Other international companies in Mexico have also joined in the English trend. The Swiss company Rado advertises its watches in Spanish body copy except for the English slogan Rado: A different world (Actual, June 1997: 33), while the Austrian underwear maker Skiny uses both its English slogan Lifestyle Underwear as well as an English attention-getter What a Feeling! in otherwise Spanish body copy (Tú, June 1997, back cover). US watchmaker Timex, advertising its Perpetual Calendar watch in Muy Interesante (July 2006: 81) includes the watch’s

World English Vol III.indb 23

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

24

World Englishes Volume III

name in Spanish (calendario perpetuo), body copy ‘De venta en tiendas prestigio’ [for sale in fine stores] and its English slogan, Timex® Be There Now. A distinction must be made here between the use of English borrowings in advertisements in Mexico and the use of English as ‘language display’ (Eastman and Stein 1993). When English-language product slogans such as Gimme the Ball, Life’s Good and A different world or attention-getters such as What a Feeling are used in an otherwise all-Spanish ad, a ‘modern’ identity is brought to mind in this non-English context. ‘The mere presence of English associates the product with modernity, quality engineering, exclusivity, professional mobility, international appeal and other positive concepts, depending on the product category and target audience’ (Martin 2007: 170). Haarmann (1989) terms this the ‘ethnosymbolic value’ of language while Eastman and Stein (1993) refer to the use of language in this capacity as ‘language display,’ where comprehension is not of prime importance. As Kelly-Holmes (2000: 70) has written: ‘It is clear from the use of language in intercultural advertising that in-depth and familiar knowledge of the foreign language is neither displayed by the advertiser nor assumed on the part of the advertisee (i.e. the person or group of persons to whom the advert is directed).’ Bell (1991: 136) further notes: ‘Perhaps the most striking employment of linguistic resources in advertising is the use of a language which is not understood by the advertisement’s target audience. This occurs in a minor way in all countries. French or English names or words are used in order to associate a product with values such as elegance or progress.’ This can be clearly seen in a whole page ad for mattresses and box springs (colchones y box) that appeared in El Norte (Monterrey) on the back page of the Local section (5 August 2007). The whole ad is in Spanish, but in the mid right portion of the ad is written SPA (System Posture Adapt) in English and translated in smaller letters in Spanish as terapía integral del descanso. This use of English as language display serves to draw potential buyers’ attention to the fact that this is a foreign product. Finally, the influence of English in magazine advertising in Mexico could not be more evident than in the case of Eres [You Are], a popular monthly for teenagers published by Editorial Televisa in Mexico City. When the publication came out with a new, smaller format (9½ in.  7 in. in place of 11 in.  8 in.), it was renamed Eres Pocket. Mixed in among the magazine’s various departments (e.g. Buzón [letters], Belleza [beauty], Salud [health] and Vida Real [real life], can also be found Free (diversion and clothing), Test (weight), En el Coffee (in the coffee – entertainment) Gadgets (the latest ones) and Click (photographs). The influence of English in the monthly can also be seen in its fullpage ad for the coming edition, which begins with the large English phrase Next Month followed by coming features in Spanish (Eres Pocket, 15 July 2006: 76). Such is the impact of English on some sectors of Mexican magazine publishing.

World English Vol III.indb 24

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

The English Language in Mexico

25

Shop names Another area of Mexican commerce where English has had great influence is the linguistic landscape, that is, shop names. Mexico is not alone in this respect; there is a growing body of literature on the power of English in this domain throughout the world (see, e.g. Backhaus [2005] for Japan, Baumgardner [2004] for Germany, Baumgardner [2005a] for Mexico, Griffin [2004] for Italy, MacGregor [2003] for Japan, McArthur [2000] for Switzerland and Sweden, Ross [1997] for Italy, Schlick [2002, 2003] for Austria, Schlick [2002] for Italy and Slovenia, and Thonus [1991] for Brazil). What all these studies have in common is that the use of English in a shop name adds a certain aura to the shop, even when clients do not necessarily understand the meaning of the name, or in some cases even when a native speaker of English does not necessarily understand the intended English meaning (Ross 1997). In Monterrey, Mexico’s inner city shopping area, Plaza Morelos, shoppers encounter store names such as Le Pavillion Sports Bar (a French-English compound), Mr. Piel [Mr. Leather], Status Men’s Shop, T. T. Blues (blue jeans), Snack’s Tropicana, Joker (restaurant), and Payless Car Rental. Other store names around the city include Kool Kar (car wash), Lewinsky Lencería [lingerie], Mariscos Mr. Fish [Mr. Fish Seafood], Mr. Pay Pastelería [Mr. Pie Bakery], Mr. Taco, Office Mart, Pick-Up Shop (car dealer), Slim (Gym), Remembers Film Café (see Figure 1.2) and many other outright English names, Spanish names, and English-Spanish mixed creations. One such trilingual creation is the name of the unfortunately now-closed shop ‘Soubeernir’ (see Figure 1.3). Soubeernir, a play on the French word ‘souvenir’ (used also in Spanish along with recado), sold beer paraphernalia and souvenirs such as Tecate t-shirts, Carta

Figure 1.2

World English Vol III.indb 25

Remembers Film Café.

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

World Englishes Volume III

26

Figure 1.3

Soubeernir.

Blanca ashtrays, Modelo coasters, sportswear, etc. The English morpheme –beerin the word replaces French –ve- and reflects how the [v] would be pronounced in Mexican Spanish (as [b]). This French-English-Spanish creation and the above examples of English in the Mexican linguistic landscape reveal the depth with which the English language has penetrated Mexican Spanish in the naming of shops (see also Baumgardner 1997, 2005b).

Conclusion In its pamphlet ¿Qué es la Comisión para La Defensa del Idioma Español? [What is the Commission for the Defense of the Spanish Language?] (1982), a series of questions are posed and answered in order to explain the raison d’être of this short-lived Commission created in 1981 by President José López Portillo (1976– 1982). Language and culture, avers the CPDIE, are inseparable. Can languages ‘defend’ themselves? Some believe so; the Commission, however, thinks not. The Mexican language and culture are being invaded by a force which regards itself as superior and which manifests itself in the transfer of science and technology, in tourism, in mass communication and in advertising (¿Qué es . . . 1982: 12). More specific to the Spanish language, the CPDIE notes: El desplazamiento gradual del idioma, la deformación constante de sus reglas sintácticas, gramaticales y fonolólgicas se presenta también en un gran número de publicaciones . . . . Las páginas de estas publicaciones están llenas

World English Vol III.indb 26

11/26/2012 2:35:41 PM

The English Language in Mexico

27

de anuncios comerciales, un gran número de ellos escritos directamente en otros idiomas, y en la mayoría de los restantes se hace una mezcolanza arbitraria de palabras y significados, con el propósito solamente de atraer la atención de las lectores, pero a costa de distorsionar por completo la estrucgura idoimática y, por consiguiente, el pensamiento mismo de quienes reciben el mensaje. La deformación de la lengua nacional por el uso exagerado de extranjerismos se manifiesta también en le paisaje urbano. Las calles de nuestras cuidades se han plagado de anuncios comerciales escritos en inglés y francés, o introduciento en el español extraños apóstrofes, siempre con la intención de lograr un supuesto prestigio, a costa de exaltar lo ajeno y despreciar lo proprio (¿Qué es . . . 1982: 13). [The gradual displacement of the language, the constant deformation of its rules of syntax, grammar and phonology is also present in a large number of publications . . . . The pages of these publications are full of commercials, a large number of which are written in foreign languages and the majority of the rest in an arbitrary mishmash of words and meanings . . . . The deformation of the national language by the exaggerated use of foreignisms is also apparent in urban centres. The streets of our cities are plagued with advertisements written in English and French, which introduce into Spanish foreign apostrophes [see Snack’s Tropicana above], always with the intention of attaining a false prestige by exalting the foreign at the cost of the local.] To understand fully the impact of US English on Mexican Spanish today it is necessary to look beyond both the prescriptivist views of the CPDIE (perhaps Mexico’s ephemeral equivalent of France’s 1994 Toubon’s Law, see Martin 2006, 2007) as well as beyond the 2000-mile shared border of the two countries to the world at large. Certainly the closeness of Mexico and the United States as well as the economic and political position of the United States have had an influence on English borrowings in the Spanish of Mexico (as well as on Spanish borrowings in US English, see Baumgardner 2006). However, the global importance of English in the world and the e-world today must also now be taken into account. The Englishization (Kachru 1985) of the Mexican Spanish lexicon, brand names, advertising and linguistic landscape is not restricted to Mexico, for as Jenkins (2000, 2007) continues to remind us, English is now the global lingua franca, and Mexico is only one among a growing number of Expanding Circle countries whose languages and cultures either have been or are now being influenced by the widening reach of this language.

Notes 1

I would like to thank Mr. Scott Downing and Mr. Jake Pichnarcik of Interlibrary Loan, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Ms. Penny Ann Harrold Ellis (Universidad de Monterrey), Wilfredo Cortéz Cázeres, Jaime Antonio Solís Hinojosa

World English Vol III.indb 27

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

28

2 3

4 5 6

World Englishes Volume III

(Secretaria de Educación de Nuevo León), and Dr Bruce Coggin; a special thanks to Ms. Mickey Rodgers (Macmillan English Mexico) for information on Mexican public schools. I also gratefully acknowledge the companies whose products/ services are discussed in this paper. Special thanks also go to Remembers Film Café and Soubeernir, whose photographic images appear here. All errors are, of course, my own. See http://www.elbalero.gob.mx/kids/about/html/indigenous/lenguas.html. Mexico City’s only English-language daily newspaper, The News, closed on 31 December 2002, after 53 years of publishing (Iliff 2003). State Department, United States Government (April 1998) English translations of Spanish in this paper are placed in brackets [ ]. The number after each entry represents the number of articles (not times) in which the lexical item appears in its singular form in the Reforma newspaper (Mexico City) database (www.Reforma.com) from January 1993 through December 2006; many words occur more than one time in each article. The database only includes text; images can be accessed but are not part of the textual database.

Bibliography Alatorre, A. (1989), Los 1,001 Años de la Lengua Española [1,001 Years of the Spanish Language], 2nd ed, Tezontle, México. Backhaus, P. (2005), ‘Signs of multilingualism in Tokyo: a diachronic look at the linguistic landscape’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 175/176, 103–121. Baumgardner, R. J. (1997), ‘English in Mexican Spanish’, English Today, 13(4), 27–35. ––. (2001) US Americans in Mexico: constructing identities in Monterrey, Studies in Linguistic Sciences, 31(1), 137–159. ––. (2004), ‘English signage in Germany and Mexico’, Fourteenth Annual English Graduates for Academic Development (EGAD) Symposium. ––. (2005a), Advertising in the other tongue: English in signage in Mexico, 35th Annual Popular Culture/American Culture Association, San Diego, California. ––. (2005b), ‘The Englishization of Spanish in Mexico’, in P. Brithiaux, D. Atkinson, W. Eggington, W. Grabe and V. Ramanathan (eds), Directions in Applied Linguistics: Essays in Honor of Robert B. Kaplan, pp. 240–254, Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. ––. (2006), ‘The appeal of English in Mexican commerce’, World Englishes, 25(2), 251–266. ––. (2007), ‘English in Mexican product branding’, in N. M. Antrim (ed.), Seeking Identity: Language in Society, pp. 66–80, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Baumgardner, R. J. and Brown, K. (2003), ‘World Englishes: ethics and pedagogy’, World Englishes, 22(3), 245–251. Baumgardner, R. J. and Escobar, S. V. (1998), ‘Borrowing as scaffolding’, Southwest Journal of Linguistics, 17(1), 15–30. ––. (2000), ‘Teaching English through borrowings’, MEXTESOL Journal, 24(1), 15–32.

World English Vol III.indb 28

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

The English Language in Mexico

29

Baumgardner, R. J. and Montemayor, M. E. (1999), ‘English-Spanish code-mixing in Mexican advertising’, American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Stamford, CT. Bell, A. (1991), The Language of News Media, Oxford: Blackwell. Cabrera, A. (2006), Inglés obligatorio en primarias para preparar a futuros braceros [English obligatory in primarias to prepare future USA-bound seasonal farm workers], Milenio(A), 36, México. Cortéz-Cázeres, W. (2006), Use of the word ‘hostess’ in Mexican Spanish, Personal Communication. Cotton, E. G. and Sharp, J. M. (1988), Spanish in the Americas, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Deep in the heart of NAFTA (1998), The Economist, 31–33. Dillon, S. (2000), On the language of Cervantes, the imprint of the internet, http://www.nytimes.com/library/review/080600spanish-internet-review. html, 17 October 2001. Eastman, C. M. and R. F. Stein (1993), ‘Language display: authenticating claims to social identity’, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 14(3), 187–202. Erichsen, G. (2007), Calques, http://spanish.about.com/od/historyofspanish/g/ calque.htm, accessed 13 November 2007. de Ezcurdia, A. H., Yoffe, H., Movsovich, E. and de la Mora, A. (1992), ‘Immigrant languages of Mexico’, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 96, 111–127. Fishman, J. (1976), Bilingual Education: An International Sociological Perspective, Rowley, MA: Newbury House. ––. (1996), ‘Summary and interpretation: post-imperial English 1940–1990’, in J. A. Fishman, A. W. Conrad and A. Rubal-Lopez (eds), Post-Imperial English: Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940–1990, pp. 623–641, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Fought, C. (2003), Chicano English in Context, New York: Palgrave. Fuentes, C. (1987), Cristóbal Nonato [Christopher Unborn], México: Fondo de Cultura Económica. Gómez de Silva, G. (2001), Diccionario Breve de Mexicanismos [Short Dictionary of Mexicanisms], México: Academia Mexicana y Fondo de Cultura Económica. Griffin, J. L. (2004), ‘The presence of written English on the streets of Rome’, English Today, 20(2), 3–7, 46. Gumperz, J. J. (1982), Discourse Strategies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Haarmann, H. (1989), Symbolic Values of Foreign Language Use: From the Japanese Case to a General Sociolinguistic Perspective, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Harrold Ellis, P. A. (2006), English requirement at UDEM. Hayden, J. and William, M. (1997), ‘A few quality bloopers’, Journal of Management in Engineering, 13(2), 4. Hidalgo, M., Cifuentes, B. and Flores, J. A. (1996), ‘The position of English in Mexico: 1940–1993’, in J. A. Fishman, A. W. Conrad and A. Rubal-Lopez (eds). Post-Imperial English: Status Change in Former British and American Colonies, 1940–1990, pp. 113–137, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Iliff, L. (2003), ‘Only English paper in Mexico closes’, The Dallas Morning News(A), 16. Jenkins, J. (2000), The Phonology of English as an International Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

World English Vol III.indb 29

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

30

World Englishes Volume III

––. (2007), English as a Lingua Franca: Attitude and Identity, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kachru, B. B. (1985), Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: The English language in the outer circle, in: R. Quirk and H. Widdowson (Eds) English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures, pp. 11–36 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press). Kachru, B. B. (1986), The Alchemy of English: The Spread, Functions and Models of Nonnative Englishes (Oxford, Pergamon Press). Kachru, B. B. (1995), ‘World Englishes: approaches, issues, and resources’, in H. D. Brown (ed.), Readings on Second Language Acquisition, pp. 229–260, Upper Saddle River, NJ: PrenticeHall Regents. Kelly-Holmes, H. (2000), ‘Bier, Parfum, Kaas: Language fetish in European advertising’, European Journal of Cultural Studies 3(1), 67–82. Lara, L. F. (dir.) (1996), Diccionario del Español Usual en México [Dictionary of Everyday Mexican Spanish], México: El Colegio de México. ––. (1997), ‘Mexican Spanish’, in M. S. Werner (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society and Culture, Vol. 2, pp. 873–877, Chicago, IL: Fitzroy Dearborn. MacGregor, L. (2003), ‘The language of shop signs in Tokyo’, English Today, 19(1), 18–23. Martin, E. (2006), Marketing Identities through Language: English and Global Imagery in French Advertising, Basingstoke: Palgrave. ––. (2007), ‘ “Frenglish” for sale: Multilingual discourses for addressing today’s global consumer’, World Englishes, 26(2), 170–188. McArthur, T. (ed.) (1992), The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press. ––. (2000), ‘Interanto: the global language of signs’, English Today, 16(1), 33–43. McLaughlin, H. J. (2002), ‘Schooling in Mexico: a brief guide for US educators’, Eric Document, RC-02-5. Meyer, M. C., Sherman, W. L. and Deeds, S. M. (eds) (2003), The Course of Mexican History, 7th ed, New York: Oxford University Press. Neff, J. (2002), ‘P&G flexes muscle for global branding’, Advertising Age, 73(22), 53. Nelson, J. (2000), Handbook for Teaching English in Mexico and Central America, San Jose, CA: Writers Club Press. Ortíz Piña, J. M. (2006), Estudiantes de 6° año de primaria aprenderán con la tecnología de Enciclomedia, http://www.innova.gob.mx/ciudadanos/biblioteca/ index, 2 August 2006. Patterson, W. and Urrutibéheity, H. (1975), The Lexical Structure of Spanish, The Hague: Mouton. Rodríguez González, F. and Lillo Baudes, A. (1997), Nuevo Diccionario de Anglicismos [New Dictionary of Anglicisms], Madrid: Gredos. Rogers, M. (2006), English in Mexican schools, Personal Communication. del Rosario, R. (1970), El Español de América, Sharon, CT: Troutman Press. Ross, N. J. (1997), Signs of international English, English Today, 13(2), 29–33. Santamaría, F. J. (1974), Diccionario de Mejicanismos [Dictionary of Mexicanisms], 2nd ed, México: Porrua. ––. (1988), Diccionario General de Americanismos [General Dictionary of Americanisms], 3 Vols, 2nd ed, Villahermosa: Gobierno del Estado de Tabasco.

World English Vol III.indb 30

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

The English Language in Mexico

31

Schlick, M. (2002), ‘The English of shop signs in Europe’, English Today, 18(2), 3–7. ––. (2003), ‘The English of shop signs in Europe’, English Today, 19(1), 17. Sierra, A. M. and Padilla, A. (2003), ‘United States’ hegemony and purposes for learning English in Mexico’, in P. M. Ryan and R. Terborg (eds), Language: Issues of Inequality, pp. 215–231, México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Solís Hinojosa, J. A. (2006), English requirement at UANL. Solís Hinojosa, J. A., Arreguín de los Reyes, R. B. and Laso Solórzano, V. (1994), English One/Two Communicative, México: D. F., Larousse. Stockwell, R. P. and Bowen, J. D. (1965), The Sounds of English and Spanish, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Stockwell, R. P., Bowen, J. D. and Martin, J. W. (1965), The Grammatical Structures of English and Spanish, Chicago, University of Chicago Press. Thonus, T. (1991), ‘Englishization of business names in Brazil’, World Englishes, 10(1), 65–74. ¿Qué es la Comisión para la Defensa del Idioma Española? [What is the Commission for the Defense of the Spanish Language?] (1982), México: Secretaria de la Educación Pública.

World English Vol III.indb 31

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

World English Vol III.indb 32

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

Belize

Languages of Belize

World English Vol III.indb 33

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

World English Vol III.indb 34

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

Chapter 2

Belize Kriol Ken Decker

Introduction This chapter discusses the variety of English, called ‘Belize Kriol (BK)’, spoken in the country of Belize in Central America. Within Belize, most people who speak Kriol as their first language today live in coastal settlements or along rivers. The largest community of Kriol speakers is in Belize City. Other large rural concentrations are found along the Belize Old River in the villages from Belize City to San Ignacio, along the Sibun and New Rivers in the north and along the coast south from Belize City to Punta Gorda. According to Greene (1999), there are large communities of Belizeans in New York City and New Orleans in the United States. It is also reported that there are communities of Belizeans in Chicago, Houston, Miami and Los Angeles in the United States and in London, England.

Historic and geographic considerations Through the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the years of declining domination by the Maya, Spanish speakers were somewhat active in the area of northern Belize (Shoman 1994). However, the Spanish presence was greatly diminished by the late seventeenth century when British pirates/buccaneers/ privateers began cutting logwood along the Caribbean coast of Central America, including the area that eventually became Belize. These British settlers began developing the area for international commerce and brought slaves from Africa. As Africans and Europeans intermarried, the Belize Creole birthed as an indigenous people. As the British settled along the Caribbean coast of Central America, political administration was established in Jamaica. Jamaica was also a trans-shipment hub for many of the African slaves who were brought to Central America. In the eighteenth century, temporary population movements caused major language influences. There were several attacks on the British settlements by Spanish forces trying to take control over the area. During these times, many of the settlers and slaves moved temporarily down the Central American coast to Honduras and Nicaragua, where they came into contact with Miskito Indians.

World English Vol III.indb 35

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

36

World Englishes Volume III

As a result, many Kriol words for plants and animals, as well as other words, were borrowed from the Miskito language. As a result of agreements outlined in the 1787 Treaty of Versailles, many of the British settlers and their slaves on the Miskito coast of Nicaragua moved to Belize. The new settlers outnumbered the present residents nearly five to one (Floyd 1967). Before this date, there was probably more linguistic similarity with the creole of Jamaica, but, after this date, the creole of Belize became much more like the creole of Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast. In the last century, there have been immigrants from many different countries. These include Mennonites, who speak a variety of German called ‘Plautdietsch, Middle Eastern Syrians and Lebanese and, most recently, the East Asian Orientals (Chinese and Koreans)’ who seem to preserve their own languages among themselves. Most of these immigrants learn a mixture of English and Kriol.

Ethnicity and language in Belize According to the latest census figures (SIB 2010), there are 312,698 people in Belize. About 50 per cent are considered Latino or Hispanic, 21 per cent Creole, 10 per cent Maya, 4.5 per cent Garifuna, 3.6 per cent Mennonite, 2.1 per cent East Indian 8.8 per cent other. The Ethnologue (2009) lists eight languages in Belize, with a further five listed as immigrant languages. Belize is the only country in Central America with English as the national language. However, BK is the lingua franca of the country. The oldest known speech community in Belize is the Maya. There are presently several linguistic varieties of Maya in Belize: Mopán Maya and Kekchí (or Ketchí) in the Cayo, Toledo and Punta Gorda Districts and Yucatán Maya in Corozal and Orange Walk Districts. Previously, a variety called ‘Itzá Maya’ was spoken in the Cayo District, but its use appears to have vanished in Belize. Most Maya and Kekchí speakers are located in remote, inland locations. Historically, there has been little linguistic interaction between the Maya/Kekchí communities and the Kriol-speaking community. In 1797, the British, on the island of St. Vincent in the West Indies deported most of the Garifuna-speaking people to the northern coast of Honduras. Part of this group eventually settled in Belize. Through the years of contact between Creoles and Garifuna, Kriol does not seem to have borrowed many words from Garifuna, but all Garifuna in Belize have learnt Kriol. In the past two centuries, there has been an increasing influx of Spanish speakers into Belize. These Spanish speakers come from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador. The Spanish-speaking population is gaining numerical dominance in the country. Many Creoles seem to learn phrases and words in Spanish, but there does not seem to be evidence of

World English Vol III.indb 36

11/26/2012 2:35:42 PM

Belize Kriol

37

anyone shifting to Spanish as their dominant language. On the other hand, there is evidence that the new immigrants are keen learners of English and Kriol. In the nineteenth century, South Asian Indians were brought to Belize as indentured labourers. Today, their descendants speak Kriol. There are also many recent immigrants from South Asia, many of whom have learnt a mixture of Kriol and English. The other language communities that have entered Belize through the last couple of centuries have not had any significant effect on the linguistic environment. Standard English is used to varying degrees in Belize. It is the official language and prescribed as the language of education. The newspapers are written in English. Radio and television announcers are required to have good proficiency in English. Belize City has cable television from the United States and Mexico, and there are two local television stations. There are radio and television programmes in English, Spanish and Kriol (there may be occasional programmes in other languages). The proficiency that Creoles have in English is a matter of debate and is an important consideration. My personal observation is that there are many Creoles with limited proficiency in speaking, reading and understanding Standard English. I have met several individuals, and heard reports of many others, who are monolingual in Kriol. The English of the most well-educated Creoles has distinctive features that mark it as a Caribbean variety, but would be quite understandable to most American and British English speakers.

Defining Belize Creole ethnicity and language Defining a creole ethnicity in Belize is not precise. Generally, anyone who has Afro-European1 ancestry is considered to be a Creole. However, there are Belizeans of European and non-Afro-European descent whose families have lived in Belize as long as any of the people with African ancestry. They are culturally no different from those with African ancestry but they may or may not consider themselves Creoles. While skin colour is sometimes used as an indicator of ethnicity in Belize, some people who consider themselves to be Creoles can have lighter skin colour than someone who claims only European ancestry. Defining the language of Creoles too is not precise. Most often, Belizean Creoles will refer to their language as English. However, there can be considerable variation between Standard English, whatever that may be, and that which is spoken in Belize. The variety of English spoken by most Creoles in Belize is referred to as Belize Kriol, or Creole. Some people consider Kriol to be simply bad English and will call it that. From a linguistic perspective, Kriol is a distinct variety of English.

World English Vol III.indb 37

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

38

World Englishes Volume III

This chapter is limited, primarily, to the language of those Belizeans living in Belize who have Afro-European ancestry. More needs to be studied and described about Kriol as it is spoken by the people of German, Garifuna and Amerindian ancestry, this has been done to some degree by Escure (1982a, b) and LePage et al. (1974). While the language of white Belizeans (those of European, non-African ancestry) may not be exactly identical in all respects to that of the Afro-European Creoles, it has not been excluded. For the sake of simplicity, those who speak Kriol as their first language will be referred to as Creoles; however, no racial claim is made by this reference.

Sociolinguistic considerations There are no definitions for language and dialect that are fully accepted in the linguistic community, let alone in the general population of Belize. There are numerous attitudes and beliefs about language in general, and Kriol in particular, that create difficulties in such an analysis as is proposed in this chapter. The opinions of people from both inside and outside the community have created negative attitudes towards Kriol. Under the colonial system, there was no question as to whether Kriol was a real language worthy of recognition and development; only the Queen’s English was acceptable. The attitude that Kriol is English and that the English spoken in Belize is ‘bad English’ developed in the minds of many Belizeans. In recent decades, more languages around the world have become recognized and considered for development. When these ideas have been discussed in Belize, there has been opposition. Many Belizeans have had insufficient exposure to British or American English to recognize the degree to which Kriol differs from these varieties of English. Or, they may consider the differing features not significant enough to call it a separate language. Therefore, there is frequent overlap between what people call Kriol and what they call English. BK is not spoken in isolation, that is, free from the presence and influence of English. The schools attempt to teach some variety of English to the children. Radio and television bring English into most homes. Churches function most of the time in some variety of English. English has much prestige and in order to present an image of being educated and sophisticated, people will, at times, attempt to use as many Standard English features in their speech as possible. Several linguists have studied the social implications of the variation in the speech of different Belizean Creoles (see, e.g. Young 1973; Escure 1981; 1991; Migge 1994). The development of Kriol has been viewed with suspicion and misunderstanding. Sometimes, people think that Kriol will be developed to the exclusion of Standard English. Sometimes, people think that the proposed use of Kriol in the schools would be for the purpose of teaching Kriol as a language with which

World English Vol III.indb 38

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

Belize Kriol

39

they are unfamiliar. Kriol is often viewed as a barrier to improved proficiency in Standard English and thus a barrier to education.

Background to the research All languages are constantly in various processes of change; however, the change in a creole is typified by the rapidity of change. In a community where language is changing like this, we find the speech of some people to be more conservative, holding to forms as they learned them, while the speech of others is more innovative with alternate pronunciation, new words and new structures. In a study of the language such as I have conducted, one which attempts to describe a general representation of the speech behaviour of the whole community, the researcher must choose evidence that is stable and consistent in the speech and therefore conservative in relation to the point of innovation where the language is at the time of the study. Thus, I have needed to make subjective choices when describing some features as representative of the overall Kriol language and other features as being only idiolectal. My primary goal is to describe the basilectal variety of BK. I will comment about the acrolectal variety when possible. I am aware that there is variation even at the basilectal end of the continuum throughout the BK-speaking community; there is variation between city and rural Kriol, northern rural and southern rural areas and the youth and the elderly. There can also be variation on the basis of the speaker’s level of education and socioeconomic status. These variations are largely found in phonological features and lexical choices. When possible, I will include any relevant information.

The Sound System of Belize Kriol To study the phonology of BK, I needed to be able to identify basilectal Kriol. I followed the criteria given by Young (1973) and Escure (1981). Young (1973: 164), in his research of stylistic shifts between different dialects, chose three phonological features as indicative of the differences between the acrolect and basilect: 1. interdental fricatives in English altered to BK alveolar stops (For example: The English ‘th’ in ‘this’ becomes ‘d’ ‘dis’ in BK.) word-final consonant clusters reduced to a single consonant (For example: The English ‘nd’ in ‘hand’ becomes ‘n’ ‘han’ in BK.) 2. nasalized word endings in basilectal speech, not found in acrolectal (For example: The BK nasal sound in ‘pahn’ is not found at the end of English words.)

World English Vol III.indb 39

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

World Englishes Volume III

40

In the results of his research, Young (1973: 172) said Almost all informants showed a 100% substitution of stops for interdental fricatives, and of reduced word-final C-clusters, when they used creole. On the other hand, nasalization was never 100% over long stretches. However, fricativesubstitution and C-cluster reduction are seen to be features of even the most formal speech generally, sometimes over 50%, then increasing in less formal situations, to a figure of about 100% of all speakers in creole usage. Nasalization was much more clearly ‘reversed’ for the less formal and, especially, for Creole speech modes. Escure (1981: 32) presented nine features in Kriol pronunciation that differ from Standard English. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Reduction of consonant clusters; first  fos. Rounding of the English vowel in but  bot. Unrounding of the English vowel "n law  laa. Change of the English vowel in town  tong. English vowels without stress gain more form in Kriol, water  waata. Reduction of the ‘r’ sound English bird  bod. Reduction of the th sound in that  dat. Reduction of the th sound in thick  tik. Lowering of the vowel sound in oil  ail.

Vowels It is in the vowel system that BK phonology differs most from English. The description of BK vowels presented here is very simplistic. There is much variability in the vowels of any individual, and thus it is difficult to describe a uniform system for the language. However, there is a uniform system understood within the minds of the speakers of the language. I will also present evidence of influence from African substrate languages. For each of the high and mid cardinal vowel positions, there are front and back long vowels /iː/, /eː/, /uː/, /oː/ and short /i/, /e/, /u/, /o/ vowels. Table 2.1

Belize Kriol Vowels

Vowels

Front

High long short

iː i

Mid long short

eː e

World English Vol III.indb 40

Back uː u oː o

ɑː ɑ

Low long short Diphthongs

Central

ɑi

ou

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

Belize Kriol

41

There are two low central vowels, /ɑ/ and /ɑː/ and two diphthongs: /ɑi/ and /ou/ (see Table 2.1). There is a significant contrast of BK vowels as measured in the length of production. There is a clear contrast between short and long vowels in open syllables. For example, /si/ ‘see’ and /siː/ ‘sea’. In closed syllables, a tense and a lax vowel may be as long as each other depending on higher level phonological features. In the development of the writing system for BK, people consistently wanted spellings that show a difference between long and short vowels. Phonetically, there are four lax vowels: [ɪ], [ɛ], [ʊ] and [ɵ], but they only occur in closed syllables. I analyse these as allophones of the short vowels. This can be expressed as the following informal rule2: V[-length] [-tense] / __C • [ɪ, ɛ, ʊ, ɵ] [-tense] / __ • [i, e, u, o] There is a clear distinction between tense and lax high and mid BK vowels in closed syllables, for example, [wiːk] ‘weak’ and [wɪk] ‘wick’. The long and short vowel distinctions are phonemic because they can occur in the same place in a word, in this example, a closed syllable, and make the difference between the meanings of the words. One can also hear the tense–lax distinction between the vowels in [wi] ‘we’ and [wɪk] ‘wick’. This difference is not phonemic because we can predict that a short vowel followed by a consonant will be more lax in production. Therefore, vowel length is more significant than vowel quality. The position of the mid back /o/ seems to have the most variation. Sometimes, it may seem more central as [ə], more low as [ɔ], more unrounded as [ɵ] and more high as [ʊ]. I have generally interpreted a more central approximation [ə] as an influence from the acrolect. If the vowel is followed by a labial or nasal consonant, it seems to be more rounded, as [o] in [tɵb] ∼ [tob] ‘tub’. The low back variant [ɔ] may occur as an alternative for the mid back vowel /o/ followed by a velar stop, as in [mɔɡ] ‘mug’ and [brɔk] ‘broke’. The low central /ɑ/ may occur as one of several variations: the low front variant [æ], the mid central variants [ə, ʌ] and the low back variant [ɔ]. These variations may be evidence of influence from the acrolect. Occasionally, one will hear the occurrence of other glides: [uo] for /oː/, as in [buot] ‘boat’, and [ie] for /eː/, as in [s iekɑ] ‘due to’. These glides appear to be a more archaic form of the long vowels. They are commonly heard in other Western Caribbean English creole varieties, as in Jamaica, Bluefields, Nicaragua and San Andres, Colombia. They may have originally developed as an adaptation of English vowels or perhaps they are a remnant of pronunciations common to northern England and Scotland. In other single-syllable words, words in English that end with [ɹ], such as ‘deer, dare, bear, beer’, we get numerous variations in the vowel in BK: [eɑ], [ɛɑ], [eə], [ɛɑ], [iɑ], [iə]. I consider all of them

World English Vol III.indb 41

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

World Englishes Volume III

42

to be a sequence of /eɑː/. It is interesting to note that Welmers (1973: 54–59), in his discussion of consonant clusters with palatal /y/ in African languages, describes the same difficulty in interpreting the consonant and vowel sequences, which may be interpreted as /py/, /by/, /dy/ or /fy/. Nasalization is a relatively minor phonological feature in BK. It often occurs as a simple spreading feature from nasal consonants to preceding vowels, and then the nasal consonant is dropped or less pronounced. For example, tonti ‘dizzy’ may be pronounced as [ˈtõti], which shows nasalization of the vowel in a word-medial position. Nasalization of a vowel before a nasal consonant is predictable. For a small set of words, nasalization is phonemic; it creates a meaningful contrast for five vowels: /ĩ/, /ẽ/, /ɑ̃/, /ɑ̃ː/ and /õ/. Following are pairs of words that show contrast on the basis of nasalization: [wɑ̃] ‘a, will ’ and [wɑn] ‘one’, and [de] ‘there’ and [dẽ] ‘they, them’. In virtually all samples of /wɑn/ the /n/ is pronounced, and there is little noteworthy nasalization on the /ɑ/, whereas for /wɑ̃/ an /n/ or /m/ is only pronounced if followed by an alveolar or labial consonant, and the /ɑ̃/ will always be nasalized. It was also the opinion of Creoles involved in the development of the writing system that it is important to be able to write nasalization to distinguish between these words and several others. Following is a list of the words that seem to consistently show nasalization: /dẽ/ ‘them, they’, /sẽ/ ‘same’, /wɑ̃ː/ ‘want’, /wɑ̃/ or /ɑ̃/ ‘a, will ’, /ɑ̃/ ‘him/ her ’, /hĩ/ ‘he/him’,/kõ/ ‘come’, /frɑ̃/ ‘from’, /sõ/ ‘some’, /sõ̃ˈtiŋ/ ‘something ’, /ɡɑ̃ː/ ‘gone’, /pɑ̃/ ‘on/upon’,/kyɑ̃ː/ ‘cannot ’ Nasalization has a sociolinguistic role also. This is described by Young (1973: 230–231) who says, ‘It should be added that this type of nasalization seems to function partly as a marker of creolized speech: a speaker who wants to mark his code switching from an English to a creole mode of speech behaviour seems to signal this switch primarily by nasalizing stretches of his speech.’ I have also noticed that the use of one of these nasalized words, such as /kyɑ̃ː/ ‘cannot’, which is pronounced the same in acrolectal and basilectal speech, may cause the speaker to slip, unconsciously, from acrolectal to basilectal speech. With the influence that English is exerting on the present day Belizean sociolinguistic environment, we can expect to be seeing more of the English differentiation of vowel sounds to be entering into Belizean English and ultimately into BK.

Consonants Most consonants in BK are like the selection available for American or British English. I mention only the variations from these standards.

World English Vol III.indb 42

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

Belize Kriol

43

Stops In fast speech, the phonemes /b/, /k/ and /ɡ/ sometimes become the fricatives [], [x] and [ɣ] respectively. The glottal stop [ʔ] occurs as a variant of the stops /t/ and /k/, as in [bɵʔn] ‘button’ or [tɛʔ] ‘take’. The [t͡ʃ] and [d͡ʒ] appear to have replaced English /t/ and /d/ in words that had /tr/ or /dr/, as in / t͡ʃrok/ ‘truck’ and /d͡ʒrɑiv/ ‘drive’.

Fricatives One of the most obvious features that differentiates BK from some varieties of English is the absence of [] and [ɸ] in Kriol. This is typical of Caribbean and Central American varieties of English. In fast speech, the /v/ may not be fully formed, resulting in a bilabial fricative []. In the language of some Creoles in rural areas, we find that [b] is used as a variant of /v/ in some words, for example, [ˈrɪbɑ] ‘river’. In fast speech, a /z/, in word-final position may lose voicing and sound like [s]. The voiced alveopalatal fricative /ʒ/ is only found in word-medial position. In the language of some rural Creoles, it is replaced by the voiced alveopalatal affricate /d͡ʒ/, for example, [ˈt͡ʃred͡ʒɑ] ‘treasure’. The voiceless velar fricative /h/ does not occur at the end of a word.

Nasals Sometimes, in fast speech, the nasal consonant is not actually pronounced and the preceding vowel becomes nasalized. There are numerous BK pronunciations with the velar nasal /ŋ/, which are not found in most English varieties. For example, /ˈmoŋtin/ ‘mountain’, /doŋ/ ‘down’, /broŋ/ ‘brown’. It appears that all these examples are English words with the /ɑo/ diphthong preceding an alveolar nasal /n/. There are actually two different processes involved. The first change requires the nasal to become velar /ŋ/, and the second change is the flattening of the /ɑo/ diphthong to /o/.

Consonant clusters BK has two sets of consonant clusters in syllable onsets that do not occur in English. English and BK both have words in which stops, except for /p/, are followed by the labial semi-vowel /w/, for example, /twelv/ ‘twelve’, /dwɑːf/ ‘dwarf’, /kwɑʃ/ ‘coatimundi’. Unlike Standard English, BK also has consonant clusters that combine a stop /b/ or /ɡ/, followed by the labial semi-vowel /w/ and followed by the diphthong /ɑi/, for example, /bwɑi/ ‘boy’ and /ɡwɑin/ ‘going’. The second set of consonant clusters, some of which do not occur in English, include combinations with the palatal semi-vowel /y/. As with English, the

World English Vol III.indb 43

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

44

World Englishes Volume III

occurrence of /y/ appears with the labiodental fricatives, for example, /fyuː/ ‘few’ and /vyuː/ ‘view’, the nasal /m/, for example, /myuːl/ ‘mule’, and stops /p/, /b/, /k/, and /g/, for example, /pyuːpl̩/ ‘pupil’, /byuːtɪfʊl/ ‘beautiful, /kyuːt/ ‘cute’, and /ɑːɡyuː/ ‘argue’. Notice that all these consonant plus /y/ combinations occur before /uː/. Unlike Standard English, BK also allows the combination of stops /p/, /k/ and /ɡ/ with /y/ when followed by the low central vowel /ɑ/ or /ɑː/, for example, /pyɑmpi/ ‘foolish’, /kyɑtl̩/ ‘cattle’ and /ɡyɑːdn̩/ ‘garden’. There is also a small set of consonant plus /y/ combinations that are shared between BK and some non-Standard English varieties. The non-Standard English combinations are found in some regional varieties of British and American English. In BK, the combination of alveolar stops /t/ or /d/ with /y/ results in the pronunciation of affricates [t͡ʃ] or [d͡ʒ] respectively, as in [t͡ʃuːb] ‘tube’ and [d͡ʒuːti] ‘duty’. Another combination is /n/ followed by /uː/, as in /nyuːz/ ‘news’.

Word level stress Stress in BK is identified by a higher pitch. (Stress is marked with ˈ before the stressed syllable, for example, /wɑːˈtɑ/ ‘water’.) Pitch refers to a higher or lower tone. Length and loudness, two other features that mark stress in some languages, are not as important in determining stress in BK. Multi-syllable words usually3 have a stress on one of the syllables. There does not appear to be any consistent pattern to the stress of BK words. Words of non-English origin do not follow a consistent pattern. In some words, stress is on the final syllable, for example, /krɑˈkɑ/ ‘nervous’, /ɡiːˈt͡ʃi/ ‘miserly’, /bofoˈto/ ‘awkward’. However, other words have the stress on the first syllable, for example, /ˈwɑːsi/ ‘fierce’, /ˈkɑblɑ/ ‘inept worker’, /ˈkoŋkɑs/ ‘housefly’. Words that are shared between BK and English do not follow a consistent pattern. Some of them maintain the same pattern as in English, for example, /diˈziːz/ ‘disease’, /ˈoːvɑ/ ‘over’, /ˈtiːt͡ʃɑ/ ‘teacher’. However, for other BK words, the stress is on a different syllable from that used in English, for example, /beːˈbi/ ‘baby’, /kɑːtˈrid͡ʒ/ ‘cartridge’, /sɑntɑˈpi/ ‘centipede’.

Intonation BK also uses intonation as a device for marking certain syntactic relationships for which English uses inflections. The following figures show how intonation clarifies otherwise similar BK sentences in which English would use different words or structures. In Figure 2.1, the intonation clarifies a possessive relationship versus a plural marking. In Figure 2.2, the intonation clarifies a possessive relationship versus an adjectival construction. In BK only certain grammatical categories of words can have sentence-level stress. Those words that can be stressed are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and, sometimes, pronouns and prepositions. The second or third word after a

World English Vol III.indb 44

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

Belize Kriol

English

45

BK

Intonation high–low–high

‘Take their book.’

___  

high–high–low

‘Take those books.’

___  

Figure 2.1

English

Intonation.

BK

Intonation

__ ___ /

low–high–low

‘the man’s horse’

_______ /

low–low–high

‘the male horse’

Figure 2.2

Intonation.

breath pause receives high pitch; the same word will also receive extra stress. BK utterances combine stress on certain words in a sentence higher pitch of certain parts of sentences and stress and high pitch that are added for discourse reason. This results in two or three particularly highly stressed words in many sentences. High pitch and sentence-level stress are independent but often occur together. When sentence-level stress occurs on a multi-syllable word, it will always occur on the word-level stressed syllable. Young (1973: 225–226) gave the following explanation of stress at the sentence level: In speech stretches longer than the word, a creole syntactic feature has a marked effect on accent and intonation pattern. This is the analytic nature of creole syntax; Standard English inflections are largely absent, the invariable form of the word entering into syntactic combination with a variety of syntactic markers. These markers are always unstressed relative to the stems with which they are combined, so that nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and sometimes pronouns are in sharp phonological contrast with the rest of the speech stream. So strong is this pattern that some of the rhetorical devices of English that depend for their effect on a reversal of normal accentual relationships, are almost impossible. /mi/ which indicates past, is not only

World English Vol III.indb 45

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

World Englishes Volume III

46

not normally accented, it is unacceptable. Moreover, syntactic markers never end a sentence in creole. For this reason, falling intonation contours at the end of sentences are much less common than in the standard language. Figure 2.3 represents the combinations of higher level phonological features, all working together: Pitch SL stress Belize Kriol 4 Grammatical English gloss English translation

__

¯¯ ____ ¯¯ ¯¯¯¯ ___ ____ ____ ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ / / /           AV PN V PN V PP N PP PN N so he went he whisper into one of them ear ‘ So he went and whispered into one of their ears.’

 is an adverb that functions as a discourse marker at the beginning of a sentence in the ‘resolution to the problem’ section of a narrative text. It cannot receive sentence-level stress or high intonation.  is a pronoun that can in some situations receive stress. In this sentence, it receives sentence- level stress because it is the second word after a breath pause and because the previous sentence had spoken of the other characters in the story. The extra stress here returns the reference to the primary actor of the sentence.  is a secondary verb in this sentence and does not receive any stress as would the verb.  is a redundant pronoun here and therefore receives no stress.  is the primary verb in this sentence. Since the sentence is longer than nine syllables and, to differentiate this verb from the helping verb, it receives stress and higher pitch. It also seems that verbs in the ‘resolution to the problem’ section of the text tend to receive high pitch and stress.  is a preposition. Young did not speak of prepositions receiving sentence-level stress or higher pitch. However, the emphasis on the locative role of this preposition is sufficient reason to mark it with higher stress and pitch in this sentence.  is a noun modified by the following prepositional phrase; it serves no major semantic function in the sentence and, therefore, receives no stress or higher pitch.  is a prepositional phrase modifying the previous noun; the final word /is the main object of the verb and it occurs before a breath pause. It receives high pitch but no stress, which is rare at the end of a breath segment.

Figure 2.3

Suprasegmental features.

The rising and falling of the intonation, along with the rhythm of the sentencelevel stress, gives BK a distinctive song-like quality.

Historical changes in sounds In this section, I will describe some of the changes to the sound system over time. These changes reveal the influences from different languages and differences from English as it is spoken today. Often, it is not possible to say with certainty that a given feature is the result of a regional British English pronunciation or from the influence of African languages. Possibly, the presence of a feature in the speech of both the British settlers and African slaves may have assured the presence of the feature in BK. One of the distinguishing features that differentiates BK from English is the absence of [] and [ð] in Kriol. These are the voiceless and voiced sounds of th as in ‘thistle’ and ‘this’. These two sounds in English have merged with [t] and [d] respectively. For example, the English [ð], as in ‘that’ became [dɑt] in BK. The English [] in ‘thin’ became [tɪn] in BK. This change from English may be due to the absence of these sounds in many West African languages. However,

World English Vol III.indb 46

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

Belize Kriol

47

Roberts (1988, citing Zachrisson 1927) gives the forms /dis/ ‘this’, /dat/ ‘that’, /dose/ ‘those and /farda/ ‘farther’ as being used in some parts of England. Wright (1905) also gives the forms dis ‘this’ and dem ‘them’ as being found in parts of northern Great Britain. As far as I can tell, all of the words with a /v/ are of European origin; it is probably not a sound that came into BK from any African language. This change may be due to the absence of /v/ in many West African languages. Sociolinguistically, the pronunciation of [b] in certain words is a marker of rural and/or archaic speech. In the rural variety of BK, the [b] is found in words that in English are pronounced with a voiced labiodental fricative [v], for example, [ˈɹɪbɑ] ‘river’. The city variety of BK pronounces most of these words with the [v]. This shift back towards an English pronunciation is an example of decreolization. This decreolization has not been complete; some words are still always pronounced with the [b] even in the City, for example, [ʃʊb] ‘shove’. The variation between [v] and [b] is not always consistent in some individuals’ speech; they may say the same word with [v] in one instance and with [b] in another instance. The voiced alveolar fricative /z/ is not found in many BK words. The voiced alveopalatal fricative /ʒ/ is rare and found only in the speech of some people in Belize City. The presence of this sound is a sociolinguistic marker of the City variety of BK. In rural speech varieties, /ʒ/ is replaced by [d͡ʒ] or [z]. Holm (1988: 135) notes, ‘[ʒ] was not naturalized as an English sound until the seventeenth century.’ Welmers (1973: 52) notes that [z] and [ʒ] are rarely found in West African languages. These facts may account for the rarity of these sounds in BK and give us a date of the seventeenth century by which time BK had become established, uniform and separate from English. I have heard Belize Creole children in a rural community pronounce the name ‘Jesus’ as [d͡ʒiˈdɑs], and McKesey (1974) gives [t͡ʃroudɪz] as a pronunciation for ‘trousers’. In both cases, one might expect [z] where the [d] occurs, but I have not found any other evidence of [d] replacing /z/ in anyone’s speech. Another word, [sɑt͡ʃɪz] ‘sausage’, may have changed by a similar process. The presence of /h/ at the beginning of some words that in English begin with a vowel is a sociolinguistic marker of some rural speech varieties. Some words in which the insertion of /h/ at the beginning of a word is occasionally heard are /hɑliˈɡetɑ/ ‘alligator’, /hɑmɑˈdili/ ‘armadillo’, /hɑˈmɑnz/ ‘almond’, /hɑmˈbrelɑ/ ‘umbrella’ and /hɑˈriːnj/ ‘orange’. This may be done as an attempt to maintain a consonant at the beginning of a syllable. Cassidy (1971: 36–37) notes that the non-standard insertion and deletion of /h/ in the word-initial position of some words in Jamaican may have some relationship to similar phenomena in the Cockney variety of British English; there may be a similar explanation for BK. There are a few words in BK that may be considered to have consonant clusters with the addition of [w]. These clusters always occur before [ɑ], so, they could also be interpreted as having a [ʊɑ] diphthong. For example,

World English Vol III.indb 47

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

48

World Englishes Volume III

[bwɑi] or [bʊɑi] ‘boy, [kwɑil] or [kʊɑil] ‘coil’, [ɡwɑin] or [ɡʊɑin] ‘going’, [ɡwɑnɑ] or [ɡʊɑnɑ] ‘iguana’ and [ɡwɑvɑ] or [ɡʊɑvɑ] ‘guava’. The addition of [w] in the pronunciation of ‘boy’, ‘going’ and ‘coil’ may come from a regional British pronunciation. For example, Wright (1900) cites forms gwain, gwan, gwine for the present participle of ‘go’ and bwoy for ‘boy’ in several English counties throughout the nineteenth century. Other words used in Kriol with this consonant cluster may have been borrowed with the pronunciation from other languages. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, ‘iguana’ comes from Arawak iwana and guava comes from Spanish with the [ɡw] cluster. Welmers (1973) describes the presence of consonant clusters including /w/ in African languages, but it does not occur with many words in BK. BK does not tend to use the /ɹ/ sound at the end of syllables. This feature had begun in the English of London by the seventeenth century. For example, the British r-less pronunciation of ‘farther’, is very similar to the BK pronunciation of ‘father’ /ˈfɑːdɑ/. The /ɹ/ may be pronounced at the end of some words, if the following word begins with a vowel. The presence of [ɹ] in words such as /dɹt/ ‘dirt’, /bɹd/ ‘bird’ and /wɹk/ ‘work’ may be a more recent approximation towards English pronunciation and a mark of non-basilectal speech. There are words in BK for which metathesis appears to have occurred, for example, /krodl̩/ ‘curdle’, /klɑːɹ/ ‘crawl’, / t͡ʃɑnilz/ ‘challenge’, /lɑɡɹɑhed/ ‘loggerhead turtle’, /hoks/ ‘husk’ and /ɑks/ ‘ask’.5 Holm (2000: 161) pointed out that apical consonants, those sounds produced with the tip of the tongue against the upper teeth or the alveolar ridge ([d], [n], [l] and [ɹ]), ‘are related in a number of African languages’ as related sounds in different varieties of the same language. The fact that these sounds may have been related in the African languages may account for the metathesis of these sounds and the resulting pronunciation of some of these words, for example, /flɪtɑz/ ‘fritters’, /mɑlɑnti/ ‘manatee’, /droŋlid/ or /droŋdid/ ‘drowned’. However, Wright (1900) cites the spelling ‘drownded’ as being used in some northern English districts in the nineteenth century. BK does not tend to have word-final /nd/, /pt/, /kt/, /st/, /sk/ consonant clusters, that is, /fren/ ‘friend’, /ɑksep/ ‘accept’, /ɑk/ ‘act’, /res/ ‘rest’ and /mɑːs/ ‘mask’. Roberts (1988, citing Wyld 1920) notes numerous examples of words for which the final [d] or [t] is not pronounced in British English. For some other words, it is questionable if the consonant is really gone or repressed. For example, in English, the /n/ in ‘hymn’ is not pronounced, but when ‘hymn’ becomes ‘hymnal’ we see that the /n/ is now pronounced. This happens with some words in BK, for example, /ɡrɑn/ ‘grand’ becomes /ɡrɑndɑ/ ‘grander’ and /win/ ‘wind’ becomes /windi/ ‘windy’. However, there are other words for which this does not occur: /sɑn/ ‘sand’ and /sɑni beː/ ‘beach’, not /sɑndi beː/. The forms, with the second consonant added to the cluster, may be a marker of mesolectal speech and not truly indicative of basilectal speech. For

World English Vol III.indb 48

11/26/2012 2:35:43 PM

Belize Kriol

49

other words in which the second consonant appears to have been added, it may be that Creoles do not regard the word as a combination of two morphemes. For example, /bildin/ ‘building’ would not be considered as ‘build’ plus ‘-inɡ’ but rather as one word. Similarly, /lɑndin/ ‘landing’ is understood as ‘a place where boats land’, not as ‘land’ plus ‘-inɡ’. The speech of some Creoles does not include the /s/ in some words with an initial /st/, /sp/ or /sk/ combination in the English word, for example, /toˈmik/ ‘stomach’, /pur/ ‘spur/buttress of a tree’ and /kreːp/ ‘scrape’. It is not clear as to why the /s/ has been dropped. There are other words in which the /s/ has been added to words with /tr/, /pr/ or /kr/ that did not include s- in English, thus producing words like /skroʃ/ ‘crush’ and /struːt/ ‘truth’. The /s/ is possibly added due to hypercorrection. These alterations to English words may be evidence that the CCC consonant cluster in syllable onsets is a more recent addition to the syllable structure system.

Changes to vowels The differences between some of the RP vowels and BK vowels sheds light on the relationship to the language varieties that were part of the development of BK. Some of the vowels show particular relationship to regional varieties of British English. The diphthong [ie], as in [kiek] ‘cake’, is found in northern England and Scotland. This vowel is sometimes heard in Belize and was probably more common in an archaic form of BK. According to Hellinger (1973: 125), the lowering of [ӕ] to [ɑ] in word-initial and wordcentral positions reveals a relationship to the English of Northern England. For example, Eng. /fæt/ fat, /lænd/ land BK /fɑt/ fat, /lɑn/ land It seems that most, if not all, English /ɔ/ has become /ɑː/ in BK. For example, Eng. /ɔ/ – /ɔn/ on, /tɔk/ talk, /ˈdɔtr/ daughter BK /ɑː/ – /ɑːn/ on, /tɑːk/ talk, /dɑːˈtɑ/ daughter Historically, some BK words went through a process by which a vowel or unaccented syllable at the beginning of a word is omitted. However, in the decreolized speech of Belize City we often hear the first vowel or syllable reattached, making the word pronounced more similar to English. In the following example, English and BK words are compared to show the changes:

World English Vol III.indb 49

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

50

iguana about across amongst against around upon except remember depend

World Englishes Volume III English [ʔɪɡʷɑnɑ] [ʔəbaut] [ʔəkrɑs] [ʔəˈmʌŋst] [ʔəˈɡɛnst] [ʔʌˈraund] [ʔʌˈpɑn] [ʔɛkˈsɛpt] [riˈmɛmbər] [diˈpɛnd]

BK /ɡwɑːnɑ/ /bout/ /krɑːs/ /mõŋs/ /ɡens/ /roŋ/ /pɑ̃/ /sep/ or /sepm̩/ /memba/ /pen/

The Literary Development of Belize Kriol Up to this point in this chapter, phonetic and phonemic symbols have been used for writing Kriol words. From this point forward, written Kriol words will follow the BK established spelling system developed through the Belize Kriol Project.

History of Writing Belize Kriol Kriol phrases are used in newspaper articles, cartoons and promotional posters and on t-shirts and billboards. Musicians are marketing tapes of creole songs with the Kriol lyrics written on the jackets in Kriol. Plays have been written and performed in Kriol. There have been numerous poems and stories published6 in Kriol. These are some of the most noteworthy: a BK poem titled ‘Tode and Billy’ published as early as 1935 (Elliot), a book about BK, including a small glossary, published by George McKesey in 1974 and a book of Kriol proverbs first published by Dr Colville Young in 1980. Lopez (1991: 15–16) relates that the Ministry of Education discussed the possibility of the development of an orthography in the 1980s, but that the idea was discarded due to the expectation that the financial cost of the development of teaching materials and textbooks would be prohibitive. In July 1974, the journal National Studies published three short articles debating different options for BK spelling conventions. The articles were written by Dr Marlis Hellinger, a teacher at St. John’s Junior College, Richard Hadel, and Dr Colville Young. In 1994, an orthography development workshop7 was held in Belize City. As a result of the workshop, a small booklet titled How fi rite Bileez Kriol (1994) was published. This was followed in 1997 by the publication of Bileez Kriol Glassary

World English Vol III.indb 50

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

51

an Spellin Gide. A second orthography workshop was held in 2002 at which time some revisions were made to the writing system.

The Belize Kriol writing system Instead of choosing symbols from the IPA alphabet to represent Kriol sounds, symbols were chosen from the English alphabet to represent sounds which are similar in English and Kriol. Consonants maintain the ‘one symbol to one sound’ correspondence. The symbols c, q and x have been eliminated as unnecessary. The combination th is not used, but zh has been added. Silent consonants, like k in ‘knife’ and b in ‘climb’, are not written. See Table 2.2 for a comparison of phonemic consonants with their orthographic representation. Table 2.2 Belize Kriol consonant correspondences Phonemic Symbol

Dictionary Symbol9

BK Alphabet

b

b

b

t͝ʃ

ch

ch

cheet

cheat

d

d

d

dayt

date

f

f

f

fish

fish

ɡ

ɡ

g

goat

goat

h

h

h

hamadili

armadillo

d͡ʒ

j

j

Joon

June

k

k

k

keel

keel

l

l

l

leek

leak

m

m

m

mangroav

mangrove

n

n

n

no

no

ŋ

nɡ

ng

ring

ring

p

p

p

paypa

paper

ɹ

r

r

reech

reach

s

s

s

snayk

snake

ʃ

sh

sh

ship

ship

t

t

t

toad

toad

v

v

v

vain

vine

w

w

w

wing

wing

y

y

y

yes

yes

z

z

z

zink

zinc

ʒ

zh

zh

provizhan

provision

World English Vol III.indb 51

BK sample word beed

English translation bead

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

52

Table 2.3 Belize Kriol vowel correspondences Phonemic Symbol

Dictionary Symbol8 _ e

BK Alphabet

BK sample word

English translation

ee

bleed

bleed

i

ĭ

i

big, di

big, the

eː

ā

ay

bay, bayk

bay, bake

iː

e

ĕ

e

bed

bed

ɑi

ī

ai

ailan

island

ɑː

ää

aa

saal

salt

ɑ

ä

a

man

man

uː

ōō

oo

boot

boot

u

oo ͝

u

bush, yu

bush, you

u

o

ow

bowt

about

oː

ō

oa

boat

boat

o

o

o

nasalization

hn

o

u

goh, brok

go, break

waahn

want

Most of the symbols that were chosen for vowels were chosen because they are the most common way of writing that sound in English. For example, ee for the /i:/ sound in ‘beet’. These choices are unambiguous to the reader. See Table 2.3 for a comparison of phonemic vowels with their orthographic representation. At the workshop, it was decided that hn would be written after the vowel to indicate nasalization. For example, waahn ‘want’, frahn ‘from’ and sohnbadi ‘somebody’. There are several words that end with e or o that have a final h also added like weh, deh, soh and noh. As far as I can tell, there is no linguistic reality to this ‘h’, but the participants of the workshop thought these words needed it.

Word Classes of Belize Kriol Sometimes, sounds, by themselves, can have meaning. Belize Creoles often use a gesture of sucking air through the teeth to express disgust, called choops. Welmers (1973: 51) notes that the sound of sucking air through the teeth is used as an insult throughout most of Africa. This sound is not a word, but it carries meaning. Sometimes, Creoles make a high pitched /hmm/ sound. It means something like, ‘So that’s what you think!’ or ‘I don’t believe that!’ There are a number of examples of calquing in BK. For example, yai waata ‘tears’ comes from African expressions such as omi l’oju Yoruba meaning ‘water from eyes’ or Igbo anya mmili literally translated as ‘eye water’. Some other

World English Vol III.indb 52

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

53

words in BK that may have been formed by calquing are doamowt ‘doorway’, riva mowt ‘estuary’, fut batam ‘sole’, han eensaid ‘palm’, wehpaat ‘where’, wentaim ‘when’, weh mek ‘why’ and put mowt pahn ‘to curse’.

Nouns BK nouns are generally not inflected for plurality or to express possession as in English. While many nouns in BK have come from English, there are many nouns that originated from other languages.10

Proper nouns Much could be written about proper nouns for people and places in Belize. Many of the names of people and places have historical roots and relationships. Many Creoles have what could be considered common British, Scottish and Spanish surnames and given names. Among the children being born these days, many given names are thought to be more African sounding, for example, Jamal and Shaneeka. Hernandez (1990) considers the surnames Dakers, Conorquie and Gentle to refer to seaports of West and Central Africa. He also says that Lino and Sambula are names that are unchanged from their African roots. Names that can actually be traced to Africa, such as Cassidy discussed in ‘Jamaica Talk’ (1971: 157), do not seem to occur with any great frequency. Quashee is an African name found in BK as kwashiman ‘an immoral man’ and in a few place names, for example, Quashee Trap Lagoon near Gales Point. Place names in Belize come from a wide variety of sources. Some come from Maya names, such as Sibun (xibum),11 and Spanish names, such as Santa Elena. The village of Calcutta gets its name by way of the South Asian immigrants that settled in the area. Some English names are descriptive of the local geography, such as Roaring Creek (sometimes called ‘Rolling Creek’). Many villages have the name bank attached to them: Flowers Bank, Lord’s Bank, Grace Bank. The term bank was a reference to a section of riverside owned by a logging company. The histories of some village names are contested. Crooked Tree is said to have been a reference to a group of three unscrupulous men who settled in the area or a reference to a large, but crooked-trunk Bullet tree. There are many names12 that reveal a Scottish influence: Ben Lamond, Cumberland Hall and Aberdeen logging works to the south and west of the Southern Lagoon, and the village of Scotland Half Moon named after an earlier Scotland and Half Moon logging operation east of Bermudian Landing. The name ‘Belize’ itself is somewhat shrouded in mysterious and dubious historical traditions. One popular account claims that the name is a corruption of the name of an early buccaneer settler named ‘Wallace’. Thompson (1970), presents evidence of the name ‘Belize’ being a Yucatec Maya word beliz meaning

World English Vol III.indb 53

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

54

World Englishes Volume III

‘muddy waters’, which is an accurate description of the river and coastal waters. Hernandez (1990: 38) suggests that the name may have come from an African village in Angola with the name ‘Belize’.

Common nouns Common nouns of interest in BK are ones that vary from Standard English nouns. There are many Kriol words that come from non-standard, regional varieties of English. While it can be said that they are English words, they are not used by the majority of English speakers. For example, Wright says the following words, also found in BK, were used in northern England: backside ‘buttocks’, bellywark (like BK beli woks) ‘colic’, burying ground ‘cemetery’ (1898, Vol. I); doctor fly ‘a kind of large biting fly’, goddy ‘godmother’ (1900, Vol. II); locker ‘cupboard’ (1905, Vol. III); and nose hole ‘nostril’ (1905, Vol. III). In central England, the term bank was used for ‘a small limited area like a farm or homestead’, which may have been the source for the use of the term in Belize for tracts of land for logging operations. From southwestern England, Wright (ibid) cites: baloo ‘an uproar or disturbance’ (like BK balahu ‘rowdy’), cat-boil ‘a small boil or festered pimple’ and liard ‘a liar’. He gives the following examples from Scotland: burying ‘a funeral’, hall ‘the main room of the house’, lick ‘a blow, stroke’, trash ‘brush cuttings’ and yaws ‘a kind of disease’. A 1703 citation in the Oxford English Dictionary gives gawlin ‘a type of water bird’ from Scottish English. Other common nouns come from languages other than English. There are a few words that may come from French: doado ‘to nap’ from dodo, baby talk for dormir ‘to sleep’ (Cassidy and LePage 1980) and tablayta ‘a kind of candy’ from tablette ‘cake, slab (of chocolate)’ (Allsopp 1996). Finally, pikni ‘child’ a Kriol word of Portuguese descent (from pequenino ‘little boy, little one’) is held in common with many other creole languages (Allsopp 1996). There are numerous words that have been borrowed from Spanish: boleedo13 ‘a lottery game’ from boleto13 meaning ‘ticket’, braata ‘a small gift’ from baarata meaning ‘bargain sale’, potrero ‘pasture’, payaso ‘a fool’ from payaso ‘a clown’, piblan ‘mosquito net’ from pabellón meaning ‘pavilion’ or ‘canopy’, and pikaado ‘trail’ from picada meaning the same.14 Young (2002) also includes alkaldeh ‘mayor of a village’, duhendeh ‘a mythological forest man’, goama ‘hangover’, kee ‘island’, kompaajreh ‘a close male friend’, komaajreh ‘a close female friend’, konswelo ‘a kind of medicinal plant’, manzana ‘a measure of land’. There are many recently borrowed words for foods from neighbouring Spanish cultures, for example, chimoaleh, eskabacheh, garnaaches, panaades and reyeno. There are also a number of food names that come from Garifuna, which may have originated from African languages. Examples include baami, bambam and fufu.15 Young (2002) includes the following words borrowed from Garifuna:

World English Vol III.indb 54

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

55

grupa ‘a kind of ocean fish’, taat ‘a seat in a dugout canoe’, sorosi ‘a kind of medicinal plant’ and zinganga ‘dragonfly’. A few words for common nouns are retained in Kriol from African languages, without having gone through Garifuna. The following examples are given with the African language names from which they may have come: Twi anansi ‘a spider character’, senseh ‘a type of chicken’, dukunu ‘corn pudding’, Igbo bakra ‘white man’ and okro ‘a type of vegetable’. Many other BK words appear to have come from West African languages, but the exact source cannot be determined. For example, gumbeh ‘a kind of drum’, guzu ‘a magic spell’, konkante ‘a flour made from plantains’, oabya ‘a system of beliefs about the supernatural originating in Africa’ and pinda ‘peanut’ (see Allsopp 1996; Cassidy and LePage 1980; Young 2002). Another major source for common nouns, especially for plant and animal names, is the Miskito language of Nicaragua and Honduras. These are the people who used to be called waika in Belize. Holm (1977) lists the following words as coming from the language of the Miskito Indians of Nicaragua and Honduras: bilam bribri doari gibnat hooyu konkas kraabu kuhoon kwam maklala papta pitpan

a kind of small fish a kind of tree dugout canoe a kind of small mammal a kind of bird housefly a kind of fruit a kind of palm tree a kind of bird a kind of small lizard a kind of palm plant a flat bottom boat

pyampyam raati soopa taapong tuba waari waawa waha waika weewi aants wishwili wowla

a kind of bird a kind of sea crab a kind of palm tree a kind of fish a kind of fish white-lipped peccary cowardly a kind of plant a Miskito Indian a kind of ant a kind of lizard boa constrictor

Young (2002) includes a few more Miskito words that have been borrowed into BK: banak ‘a kind of tree’, swanka ‘a kind of river turtle’, botasi ‘a kind of river catfish’, kraana ‘a kind of river fish’, pupsi ‘a kind of river fish’ and duki ‘a chart with human skeleton bones numbered for consulting to interpret dreams’. Also, found in Heath and Marx (1953) is pataki ‘a watertight basket’. Rama, a tribe neighbouring the Miskito in Nicaragua, is the source for kiskis ‘wooden tongs’. There appears to be very little lexical influence from the neighbouring Maya language varieties. One of the few words that has been identified as coming from Maya is milpa meaning ‘small farm’. Young (2002) also lists almud ‘a measurement for corns and beans’, chicha ‘an alcoholic beverage made

World English Vol III.indb 55

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

56

from corn’, chaya ‘a kind of vegetable’, zakpa ‘a kind of plum’, ishtabai ‘a mythical woman’ and belikin ‘the name of a local beer’.

Pronouns BK has a full set of pronouns similar to English, including personal, reflexive, indefinite, interrogative and demonstrative pronouns, but there are no possessive pronouns. I will only discuss features that are somewhat different from Standard English. In BK there is a full set of subject pronouns. First- and third-person singular have different object pronouns. There are also some other forms that occur, which are described in Table 2.4. As described in the section on vowels above, there is a clear distinction between long and short vowels. This vowel length plays a grammatical role for variation in the pronouns. By lengthening the vowel of mi, yu, wi, or transition to a diphthong in the case of ah and ai, the speaker is able to provide emphasis or clarification. Gi mi di buk. Give the book to me. (meaning: I want the book.) Gi mee di buk. Give the book to me. (meaning: not to someone else.) Yu mosn taak laik dat! Do not say such things! (Those are the wrong things to say.)

Table 2.4

Personal Pronouns Subject pronouns

Object pronouns

Other personal pronoun forms

First-person singular

ah

mi

ai/mee

Second-person singular

yu

yoo

Third-person singular

ih

ahn

First-person plural

wi

wee/aal a wee

Second-person plural

unu

aal a unu

Third-person plural

dehn

aal a dehn

World English Vol III.indb 56

hihn shee it

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

57

Yoo mosn taak laik dat! You should not talk like that! (Others might but not you.) The phrases aal a unu and aal a wi are not actually personal pronouns; as phrases they serve the function of providing some emphasis as the other emphatic forms mentioned above. Another method of providing emphasis on the subject is to place a personal pronoun after a proper noun. Da weh Beti shee di du? What (in the world) is Betty (by herself) doing? The third-person singular hihn is the emphatic form of ih in basilectal Kriol. In urban Kriol, it is used as a clarification of masculine gender. The feminine form shee is a recent expansion of the pronoun system. Sometimes hihn is still heard in rural areas to refer to a female. The authenticity and role of it in basilectal Kriol is uncertain. Young (1973: 248) and Dayley (1979: 8) consider it an object pronoun only; Greene (1999: 70) says that her informants considered it ‘bad creole’. My consultants considered it acceptable for inanimate referents in either the subject or object roles. In places where English would use an impersonal demonstrative ‘there’, Kriol will use a personal pronoun dehn. dehn gat lat a gang da Bileez. they have many gangs in Belize There are many gangs in Belize. BK has a full set of reflexive pronouns which are described in Table 2.5. It appears that BK can form a reflexive-like construction that creates a focus on the subject by using a personal pronoun and oanself as the reflexive pronoun. An if Saytan di fait gens ih oanself, ih wahn soon finish aaf ihself. And if Satan fights against himself, he will soon destroy himself. Table 2.5 Reflexive Pronouns Singular

World English Vol III.indb 57

Plural

First person

miself

wiself

Second person

yuself

unuself

Third person

ihself

dehnself

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

58

BK relative pronouns do not function differently from Standard English but their forms are somewhat different. There may be more than one relative pronoun in a sentence, if there is more than one relative clause. ai si di hows weh bon op laas nait. I saw the house that burned up last night. ah gaan si di man hoofa han mi kripl op. I went to see the man whose hand was crippled. The word weh may be dropped completely from the sentence if it is the object of the relative clause. dehn bai op aal di froot weh wi mi bring da maakit. dehn bai op aal di froot wi mi bring da maakit. They bought all the fruit that we had brought to the market.

Adjectives BK adjectives tend to function like Standard English adjectives. There are a few differences, primarily in the specific words that are used as adjectives. For example, BK has many unique ways for describing things about people. There are adjectival references to different skin colours (klyaa ‘fair complexion’, red ‘reddish hue’, cheezi ‘pale’), size (blofoto ‘fat’, maaga ‘skinny’), personal hygiene (naasti ‘unsanitary’, swaati ‘sweaty’) and personality (krachiti ‘grumpy’, jitri ‘nervous’, meen ‘stingy’, halari ‘rowdy’). Wright cites several adjectives that were found in the nineteenth century regional varieties of British English. Most of these examples come from northern England and Scotland: fast ‘rude, impudent’, facy ‘insolent, brazen’, frowsy ‘musty, ill-smelling’ (1900, Vol. II); hashiness (like BK hashishi) ‘slovenliness’, jokesy ‘fond of fun, amusing’ (1905, Vol. III); maager ‘thin’, mannish ‘precocious mimicry’, peckish ‘hungry’, pure ‘whole, entire’ (1905, Vol. IV); and simple ‘stupid’ (1905, Vol. V). The definite article in BK is di, and the indefinite article is wahn. In BK, there are some nouns which may not always require a definite article; for example, haaspital, skool, govament and maakit. This follows a British English variation, which differs from American English. BK demonstrative adjectives have some slight differences from Standard English. The differences are mainly in the word choices, but there are also structural differences also. The demonstrative adjective dat is usually not pronounced with the final /t/. For analysis, this can create some confusion with the copula da that may occur in similar places in a sentence. In the section on the copula da, it is described as providing focus, or emphasis, to the following phrase when moved to the front

World English Vol III.indb 58

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

59

of a phrase. However, the emphatic da appears to be a different word than the demonstrative dat. The demonstrative dat has a quality of pointing towards specific information concerning the following noun. There are also two words, ya and deh, which create compounds to provide locational emphasis (see Table 2.6.) It may appear that disya, datdeh, dehnya and dehndeh should each be written as two words. The reaction of BK speakers is to write them as one word. In the section on pronouns, dehn was described as the third-person plural pronoun. Here, it is described in another function as a demonstrative, and it will be seen again as a plural marker later. The use of the third-person plural pronoun as the plural marker is a commonly found pattern for creole languages and is also found in many African languages. Following are examples of demonstrative adjectives. Shub dis plog eena datdeh hoal. Push this plug into that hole right there.

Help mi wid disya tik. Help me with this log right here.

Give ahn da flowaz. Give her that flower.

Unu haftu reed dehnya buk. You (all) have to read all these books.

Dehn shooz da fi shee. Those shoes are hers.

Dehndeh bod da mi hombog wi. Those birds there have been bothering us.

The locational words ya and deh can also follow the noun to which they are referring. If it follows the noun there may be increased emphasis. For example: Ah kech disya bwai di teef mengo. I caught this boy stealing mangoes. Ah kech dis bwai ya di teef mengo. I caught this boy (right here) stealing mangoes. The noun following a singular demonstrative adjective may be replaced by the word wan. This changes the noun that was replaced into a type or generic reference. For example, Dehn bwai gaan oava. Those boys went over (to the north side of Belize City). Table 2.6 Demonstrative Pronouns Near

Distant

Singular and w/ specific emphasis

dis or disya this or this right here

dat or datdeh/datideh that or that right there

Plural and w/ specific emphasis

dehn or dehnya these or these right here

dehn or dehndeh those or those right there

World English Vol III.indb 59

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

60

Dehn wan neva main di polees. Those (kind) never obey the police. BK uses several different strategies for creating comparative adjectives. Example (a) below shows the most common way that a comparative adjective is formed with addition of -a and the superlative form with -is. The superlative adjective must always be preceded by the definite article di. Examples (b) and (c) are irregular forms. As can be seen in the examples in this section, the English forms tend to be somewhat different from the Kriol. Some of these forms may come from non-standard regional varieties of British English. Wright (1898) found the following superlative forms in the nineteenth century: badder, baddest, betterer, wahserer and wosser. a. big, biga, bigis (1898, Vol. I) b. gud, guda/beta, gudis/bes (1900, Vol. II) c. wos, wosa, wosara (1905, Vol. VI)

big, bigger, biggest good, better, best worse, much worse than, worst

The adjective can be used in a phrase with moa for making a superlative comparison with or without using the ending -a. For example, mos faasa dan or moa faas. There is occasional use of paas as a comparative adjective in BK. According to Allsopp (1996), this probably comes from West African languages that use a verb ‘to surpass, pass’ to express a comparison. Da fish don paas faiv pong lang taim. That fish was much more than five pounds. In the following example ‘paas ahn dong lang taim’ is an idiom that is used to express comparisons of height, weight, talkativeness, running speed, tendency towards flashy dress, etc. Oh hihn taa! Ih paas ahn dong lang taim. Oh he is tall! He is much taller than him/her.

Interrogative Adjectives There are several interrogative words that can function as adjectives: wich, hoofa, hu moch. Yu noh haftu wori da wich snayk, dehn aal geh bon op. You do not have to worry which snake it is, they all get burned up. Dehn mi luk si hoofa has gaan. They looked to see whose horse was missing. Luk hu moch a di pipl gat tu moch food, an ah deh di ded fi hongri. Look at how many of the people have plenty food and I am dying of hunger.

World English Vol III.indb 60

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

61

Prepositions Most BK prepositions are similar to Standard English prepositions; however, there are a few noteworthy exceptions noted in Table 2.7. Notice that some prepositions have multiple semantic relationships. Some of these prepositions also function as conjunctions and adverbs. There can also be complex prepositional phrases that usually involve a string of several prepositions and describe a spatial relationship, as in the following examples: pahn di said a da di bak a frahn owt a

on the side of at/to the back of from out of

Some prepositions in spoken BK can also be eliminated when the context makes the association clear. However, for those who have been attempting to write Kriol this is not considered acceptable in written Kriol. In the following examples, these Kriol examples are what is spoken, but for written Kriol, writers feel that these are not good sentences without the preposition. Ah gwain PG timaaro. Ih wahn reech siks aklack.

I am going to PG (Punta Gorda) tomorrow. He/she will arrive at 6 o’clock.

One issue that has come up in orthography development is whether or not the -a ending to eena, baka and saida is part of the preposition or another word.16 In many situations, the -a seems to be nothing more than a separate preposition a meaning ‘of’, but it cannot always be interpreted as such. For example, put it eena di baks put it in the box or put it inside of the box (but not – put it een a di baks put it in of the box) This example shows that analysis of the -a as a separate word is not appropriate analysis. The following examples show that there is a difference in the usage of the forms. put it baka di hows put it behind the house (but not – put it behind of the house) put it saida di tree put it beside the tree (but not – put it beside of the tree)

World English Vol III.indb 61

put it deh da di bak a di hows put it there at the back of the house

put it pahn dis saida a di tree put it on this side of the tree

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

62

Table 2.7 Prepositions BK preposition

Meaning

Example BK sentence

a

of

Wich wan a dehn da fi yu?

Which of these is yours?

afta/aata

at: locative

Noh laaf afta mi.

Do not laugh at me.

anda

under: locative

A fain wahn oal spayd deh anda di koknat tree.

I found an old shovel there under the coconut tree.

bai

by/near: locative

Ah gaan oava bai Teknikal.

I went over near Technical.

baka

behind: locative

Dehn ron baka di stoa.

They ran behind the store.

da

to: locative

Ih gaan da skool.

He/she went to school.

at/in: locative

Ih deh da skool.

He/she is at school.

in: temporal

Weh yu di du owt ya, foa aklak da maanin?

What are you doing out here (at) 4 o’clock in the morning?

in/into: locative

Ih jrap eena di waata.

He/she fell into the water.

in: temporal

Yu haftu goh bak eena wahn fyoo dayz.

You must go back in a few days.

for: goal

Di man di luk fi yu!

The man is looking for you!

for: benefactive

Dehn bring dis fi yu.

They brought this for you.

for: duration

Dehn gaan fi wahn lang taim now.

They have been gone for along time now.

of/due to: source

Dehn gaan fi wahn lang taim now.

I am afraid of that lady’s man.

frahn

from: origin

Dehn kohn dong frahn Shipyaad.

They come from Shipyard.

pahn

on/upon: locative

Si di gwaana deh pahn di tree.

Look at the iguana there on the tree.

on: temporal

Wi wahn dehdeh pahn Tyoozdeh.

We will be there on Tuesday.

on: instrument

Ah gaan pahn haasbak.

I went on horseback.

beside: locative

Ih oava deh saida di hows.

It’s over there beside the house.

eena

fi

saida

English gloss

(continued)

World English Vol III.indb 62

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

63

Table 2.7 (Continued) Example BK sentence

BK preposition

Meaning

troo

through: temporal

Troo aal a dis, di daag jos di li dong deh.

Through all of this, the dog was just lying there.

English gloss

through: locative

Di breez di bloa troo do hows.

The breeze is blowing through the house.

tu

to: benefactive

Seh tanks tu di laydi.

Say ‘thanks’ to the lady.

wid

with: accompany

Yu miks di koknat milk wid di flowa.

You mix coconut milk with the flour.

with: containing

Ah neva si wan wid red yai.

I have not ever seen one with red eyes.

with: instrument

Ih nak ahn wid di eks.

He/she hit him/her with the axe.

Verbs Interesting BK verbs are ones that vary from Standard English verbs. There are many Kriol words that come from non-standard, regional varieties of English. Wright (1898) cites a number of verbs used in nineteenth century regional varieties of British English that can also be found in BK. From northern England and Scotland he presents, dodge ‘to follow after someone’, fall ‘to become pregnant’, favour ‘to resemble in appearance’, full ‘to make full’, grater ‘to grate’, gree ‘to agree, to live in amity’ (1900, Vol. II); hanker ‘to desire’, hot ‘to heat’ (1905, Vol. III); mash up ‘to smash or break’, piddle ‘to urinate’, punish ‘to suffer pain’ (1905, Vol. IV); rail ‘to verbally abuse’, reach ‘to arrive’, study ‘to ponder or consider’, swinge ‘to scorch’ (1905, Vol. V); and turn ‘to change’ (1905, Vol. VI). From parts of southern England: back ‘to carry’, ball ‘to cry out’ (1898, Vol. I); and out ‘to put out, extinguish’. Most BK verbs are never altered (inflected) in their form by modification for tense, person or number.17 This makes Kriol different from Standard English and any other European language, but makes it like many African languages that do not inflect their verbs. For example, in the following sentences, we see that Standard English has several different forms of the verb ‘to sing’ expressing changes in the tense, while BK has different tense markers and the root verb form does not change. Ih don sing ih sang. Ih sing da sang fos. Ih di sing rait now. Ih sing evri day. Ih wahn sing direkli.

World English Vol III.indb 63

He/she has already sung his/her song. He/she sang that song first. He/she is singing right now. He/she sings every day. He/she will sing soon.

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

64

This difference is possibly most significant with the copula da, the ‘to be’ verb. Notice the amount of variation in the English verbs and the absence of variation in the BK verbs. Ai da di teecha! Yu da di teecha. Ih da di teecha. Ah da-mi di teecha. Yu da-mi di teecha. Ih da-mi di teecha.

I am the teacher! You are the teacher. He/She is the teacher. I was the teacher. You were the teacher. He/She was the teacher.

This feature of non-inflection is so important as a marker of Kriol that it can be said that any inflection is a mark of non-basilectal speech. It should be noted that a word like fishin when used as a noun is considered a different word than the verb ‘to fish’. For example, Ih gaan fishin is a different sentence from Ih di fish. The first expresses that the subject has gone to engage in an activity called fishin, while the second sentence says that the subject is in the action of ‘fishing’. There are a few BK verbs that retain evidence of English inflection. A word like marid is the BK uninflected infinitive form ‘to marry’. These verbs use pre-verbal tense markers like other verbs. In the following example, brok has the form of the English past tense ‘broke’, but notice how the BK verb remains uninflected for the different tenses for which English has different forms. Ih brok rak aal day. Ih mi brok aal day. Ih mi-di brok rak aal day. Ih wahn brok rak aal day.

He/she broke/breaks18 rock all day. He/she broke rock all day. He/she was breaking rock all day. He/she will break rock all day.

The ‘to go’ verb seems to be the only truly irregular verb in BK that has different forms for different tenses. Yu fi goh da dakta. Ah gaan da Monki Bay. Ah gwain da maakit.

You are supposed to go to the doctor. I went to Monkey Bay. I am going to the market.

As in English there are intransitive, transitive and ditransitive verbs. Intransitive Verbs bayd bathe, swim groa grow, become kohn come baal cry

World English Vol III.indb 64

Transitive Verbs kech catch laan learn/teach kot cut laas lost

Di-transitive Verbs sel sell tel tell bring bring han hand

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

65

Adverbs In BK, the word classes of adjective and adverb are open sets; these are words that can be used in many different ways. In BK, most adverbs and adjectives have the same forms and can only be distinguished by whether they are modifying a noun, verb, adjective or adverb. For example, in dat man faas, faas is an adjective, while in ih ron faas, faas is an adverb. As with other word classes, most adverbs come from English. Some of the forms probably come from nineteenth century non-standard regional varieties of British English. Wright presents the following examples that come from either northern or southwestern England or Scotland: aback ‘ago’, backways ‘improper procedure, wrongly’, bam-bye ‘presently, soon’ (1898, Vol. I); directly ‘in a little while’ (1900, Vol. II); and soon ‘early’ (1905, Vol. V). The BK words used for adverbs and the ways they are used are often the same in English, but there can also be significant differences. In English, many adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding -ly. Some BK adverbs have a corresponding -li ending also. For example, haadli ‘rarely’, nayli ‘nearly’ and direkli ‘soon’. However, I would not say that BK has suffix -li, the -li is just part of the word. English does not allow the reduplication of adverbs for emphasis as in Kriol, as in: Da snayk kud moov kwik kwik. That snake can move very fast. Many adjectives may also function as adverbs, such as, gud ‘good’, bad ‘bad’, rait ‘right’, karek ‘correct’, rang ‘wrong’, eezi ‘easy’, haad ‘hard, loud’, saaf ‘soft, quiet’, lat ‘lot, much’, etc. An adjective can also be made into an adverb by adding -wan, but this is not required and may be an archaic feature. Kwik-wan ih jomp op. Quickly, he jumped up. Di tik juk ahn shaap-wan eena ih said. The stick poked him/her sharply in his/her side. There are several adverbial word pairs that can be used to modify verbs. Yu wahn noa da hoo fi troo. Indeed, you will know who I really am. O, wi gain anda speed now. Oh, we are really going fast now.

World English Vol III.indb 65

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

World Englishes Volume III

66

Ih di eet kwik taim. He/she is eating very quickly. Da gyal tel lai kyaahn don. That girl can do nothing but lie. BK uses two different words for adverbial negation: noh and neva. There is an important semantic difference between BK noh and neva and English ‘no’ and ‘never’. Noh implies that the event never occurred at any time in the past; while neva implies that an event did not occur at one specific instance. Whereas English ‘never’ means the event never occurred at any time in the past. The addition of the adverb agen to the phrase with noh or neva for negation means that the event will not occur at this time. Further, it seems that agen along with neva means the event is counter to expectation. Ah noh waahn sing. Ah neva waahn sing. Ah noh waahn sing agen. Ah neva waahn sing agen.

I do not (ever) want to sing. I did not want to sing (this time). I do not want to sing at this time. I do not want to sing after all. (I changed my mind.)

Intensifying adverbs make the action of the verb more intense, or, used before an adjective, adverbs make the description more intense. jos ‘just’, oanli ‘only, really’, reeli ‘really’, veri ‘very’, stodi ‘study’, bad ‘good, bad, a lot’, or noh moh (see meaning below). As described above, the reduplication of an adverb can also be used to intensify the quality of the adverb. The following sentences are examples of adverbs qualifying the intensity of the verbal action. Dehn jos bayli yer wahn vais seh, ‘Hoo, hoo.’ They just barely heard a voice say, ‘Hoo, hoo.’ Ih seh dehn gyal oanli gat werdz. He/she said those girls really got into a quarrel. Bot dehn noh reeli pripyaa mi eena terd faam. But they did not really prepare me in third form (grade). Wi reech deh kwik kwik. We got there really fast. The use of oanli as an intensifying adverb preceding the adjective in a descriptive clause means the noun has this quality to an extreme measure. Da day mi oanli hat! That day was extremely hot!

World English Vol III.indb 66

11/26/2012 2:35:44 PM

Belize Kriol

67

The use of stodi means that the action was done very intently. Ah stodi wach dehn wails dehn gaan dong di layn. I kept watching them as they went down the lane. The use of bad intensifies the described qualities of the verb, adjective or adverb. It can also be reduplicated for greater intensification. There are three exceptions concerning the use of bad 1. it cannot be used with gud; 2. when combined with smaat it has the meaning of ‘intelligent’; 3. when combined with faas it has the meaning of ‘interfering’. Ih mi beks bad. Disya hows gat wud lais bad. Mi fut mi tayr op bad bad.

He/she was very angry. This house has a bad infestation of termites. My feet were terribly torn up.

The use of noh moh following a clause means that the quality described in the clause should be understood with the fullest sense. It can also be reduplicated for further intensification. Ah ben mi fut, man, laik mi fut gwain soh. An da payn! Shee fut mi ben bot neva soh noh moh. I bent my foot, man, like my foot went so. And it was painful! Her foot bent but not nearly as much (as mine). Shee lov da man tu noh moh noh moh. She is wildly in love with him.

Pre-verbal tense markers BK has a systematic way of marking time reference like any other language, and it is quite different from English. It is interesting to note that all of the creole languages in the Caribbean and Central Atlantic area, including varieties spoken in Africa, have similar systems. The proper analysis of pre-verbal markers in Caribbean creole languages is one of the most studied and debated issues in creole linguistics. In BK, every clause will have some way of indicating the time reference. The pre-verbal tense markers discussed here do not always indicate a strictly temporal reference. However, ‘tense’ is an acceptable label as long as the rules for the marker are defined. Some of the so-called ‘tenses’ that I will be describing are more accurately called ‘mood and aspect’. These terms will be explained

World English Vol III.indb 67

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

68

more fully because they are important for identifying the differences between BK and English. Languages have many ways of describing when an action took place, and the tense marking on a verb is one means. Another way used by BK is the use of an overt temporal word or phrase, such as yesideh or bowt nain aklak.

Past tense In the field of creole linguistics, there is much debate about the proper description of pre-verbal markers that mark the action of a verb as having already happened. Some linguists, for example, Bickerton (1981: 58), consider that the creole ‘past tense’ should be more accurately described as an anterior!tense. This term ‘anterior’ refers to the action being described as previous to the time frame that has been in focus in the discourse. Winford (2001: 5) prefers the term ‘relative past’ and Spears (1993: 262) uses the term ‘antiperfect’. Other recent research by Gooden (2000) considers that the presence or absence of the BK marker mi indicates the speaker’s perspective of the relevance of the past state or event in relation to the present situation. To put a difficult subject into a simple explanation, the pre-verbal marker mi can be called the ‘past tense’. One needs to understand though that this does not work the same as past tense in English. The use of mi in BK for marking of past time reference is more of a discourse feature in Kriol than in English. If there is no marker before the verb, there may still be a past time reference. The marker mi can also be used before an adjective or adjective phrase, like a past tense copula. For example, an ih mi soh terabl . . . ‘and it was so terrible . . .’ or ih mi gud . . . ‘It was good . . .’

Future tense In BK, the future tense is marked with wahn or gwain, preceding the verb. While these markers are generally considered to establish a future time reference, they are not truly a ‘future tense’. This is more accurately described as an irrealis mood, meaning that the action of the verb has not happened yet. A mood marker states the intent of the speaker, and for an accurate interpretation the hearer needs to know more of the context to determine the actual intent. In the following example from an Anancy story, Anancy is scheming a way to catch some animals for food, he says: Den wi wahn get een aal di animal dehn . . . Then we will get all the animals in . . . Most accurately interpreted, it is Anancy’s intention that, should his plan work, all the animals will come into the trap.

World English Vol III.indb 68

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

69

The marker gwain is used if there is more certainty of the action. In the following contrasting examples, we see that the intent of the speaker plays a major role in the choice of forms used. Ah wahn goh da keez. Ah gwain da keez.

I (intend) will go to the cayes. I am (definitely) going to the cayes.

The markers wahn or gwain can be combined with the past tense marker mi to form a conditional past, which describes a condition in the past that was making reference to a future expectation or intention. This expresses the same time and conditional references as ‘was going’ in English. For example, Ah mi wahn lef bifoa dehn reech. I was going to leave before they arrived. Ih mi gwain ker dehn frahn di aypoat, bot ih neva get op een taim. He was going to bring them from the airport, but he did not wake up in time.

Aspect Aspect refers to an internal quality of the verbal action. BK has three aspect markers indicating continuous, habitual and completed actions. The continuous tense is made with the marker di preceding the verb. While this marker is generally considered to establish a continuous or progressive action, it is not truly a tense. As with adding the suffix –ing in Standard English, the di in BK only makes the action continuous in whatever tense is already established. The continuous marker di indicates that the action of the verb is ongoing at whatever time is in reference. In the following example, we can see that the tense is overtly marked as past by the phrase laas nait, and the di indicates that the verb was in the process of ongoing action at that time. Laas nait, wen ih di preech bowt . . . Last night, when he was preaching about . . . Kriol has another aspect marker, don, which can be considered a completive aspect. This marker indicates that the action of the verb has been completed. The time of completion is related to whatever time is established by the context. Shee don kleen di kichin. She has cleaned the kitchen. The habitual aspect in BK is marked by doz, yoostu or aalwayz. The habitual marker indicates that the action of the verb occurs or recurs over an extended

World English Vol III.indb 69

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

70

period of time. In older forms of BK, the marker doz was used and always indicated that it was a past tense occurrence. This was unique among the Caribbean creole languages; in other places, doz could also be used in present tense. This feature is used infrequently today and has been replaced by the use of yoostu in past tense. The habitual marker aalwayz can be used in any tense. While aalwayz appears to be no different from the adverb yoozhali, aalwayz is a marker and no adverbs are used within this TMA19 structure of BK. In English, words like ‘used to’ and ‘does’ are considered auxiliary or helping verbs. Wi doz haftu goh da skool dong deh. We used to have to go to school down there. Slayv yoostu goh ahn liv eena dehn kayv ahn soh. Slaves used to go and live in those caves and places out there. Wel, dehn aalwayz gat it di jrai rait eena son. Well, they always have it drying in direct sunlight. Dehn mi aalwayz goh da vilij pahn Sondeh. They would always go to the village on Sundays.

Other verbal auxiliaries Verbal auxiliaries, also called ‘modals’, are used along with main verbs to express the intent or mood of the speaker towards the action of the verb event. They carry meaning of obligation, intent, requirement, certainty or ability. The following selection of verbal auxiliaries will help to clarify the difference between each of the forms. Ah mait goh hayl dehn Ah mosi goh hayl dehn Ah maita goh hayl dehn Ah aatu goh hayl dehn Ah mos goh hayl dehn Ah fi goh hayl dehn Ah shuda goh hayl dehn Ah haftu goh hayl dehn Ah kud goh hayl dehn Ah kuda goh hayl dehn Ah wuda goh hayl dehn

I might go visit them (uncertain) I probably should go (regularly) to visit them I should go visit them (reproachful) I should go visit them (it would be worthwhile) I should go visit them (it is important!) I am suppossed to go visit them I am obligated to go visit them I am required to go visit them I am able to go visit them (permissable) I am able to go visit them . . . (ability) I would go visit them but/if . . .

There appears to be a further distinction between these verbal auxiliaries based on their distribution, where they can be used in a verb phrase. Table 2.10 presents

World English Vol III.indb 70

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

71

the order of verbal auxiliaries and see that some are used before negation and tense marking, and others come after these structures. The use of tu is considered rare enough in basilectal speech that speakers consider it part of other auxiliary words; for example, in written Kriol, haftu/ hafu is not considered as two words haf  tu and yoostu is not yoos  tu. The Creoles active in orthography development felt that these should be written as one word. Although tu is sometimes found in place of infinitive marker fi in sample texts, it may be a marker of mesolectal speech.

Pre-verbal fi/fo The pre-verbal marker fi (also pronounced fo or fa) has two pre-verbal functions; it can either be an infinitive marker or a verbal auxiliary expressing an obligatory quality to the action. A verb marked with the infinitive marker fi is one that does not refer to the action of the verb at one specific time event, but refers to the action of the verb as an event. Dehn tel yu fi lef di lee baybi hoam. They told you to leave the little baby at home.

Post-posed adverbial words There are a number of post-verbal BK words that are used after verbs, usually verbs of motion. These words may have a directional effect on their combination with the verb or an intensifying effect; for example, hib ‘toss’ and hib weh ‘discard’ and mes ‘mess’ and mes op ‘ruined’. The combination of the post-verbal word with the verb may create a verbal idea that has little semantic similarity to either of the morphemes, for example, bring op ‘to raise a child’. Following is a list of commonly used post-verbal words: aaf, aan, bak, bai, dong, een, op, owt, oava, rong, weh. Dehn pul op di boat fi skrayp aaf di big banakl dehn. They removed the boat from the water to completely scrape away all of the large barnacles. Di man keri aan wid di sehn choon ih mi-di sing bifoa. The man continued (inappropriately) with the same tune he had been singing. Evri Wenzdeh di pikni dehn haftu stay bak fi du jooti. Every Wednesday the children must remain behind to do duty. Di gyal ban dong ih beli mek ih ma noh noa ih pregnant. The girl tightly wrapped her belly so that her mother would not know that she was pregnant.

World English Vol III.indb 71

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

72

Mi ma ahn pa yoostu tek een pipl az boadaz. My mother and father used to provide housing for people as boarders. Wahn bad bad taim wahn spred oava di hoal konchri. Terrible events will reach to all parts of the country. Di man plant owt wahn areenj aachad. The man planted/established an orange orchard. Ih wori rong wid loan pikni. He’s always bothering the children. Wi gaan owt a tong fi dash weh di gyaabij. We went out of town to dispose of the garbage. When the phrase gwain oava is said in Belize City, it has the interesting nuance of always referring to going to the south side of town. Ah gwain oava da Tekinikal. Ah gwain oava da da Yabraa.

I am going to Technical.20 I am going to the Yarbrough area.21

The following example shows that a certain structure, if interpreted as having a relationship to English, would be misinterpreted. In English, a sentence like ‘I went by Mary’ would mean that I passed by Mary, but in BK bai in this sentence is actually part of the verb, an idiomatic expression, rather than a preposition. Ah gaan bai Mayri. I visited Mary.

Idiophones A final group of adverbs are words called ‘idiophones’. These are words that are meant to represent an actual sound of something or express the suddenness of an action; therefore, they modify the main verb of the sentence. The use of idiophone words expresses a vivid description of the event. The idiophone word may be used at the beginning or end of a sentence or replace parts of a sentence. Dabaow! Ih jrap eena di waata. He fell into the water with a splash! Di hows jrap, brigidim buf. The house fell with a crash.

World English Vol III.indb 72

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

73

Den baps! Di daag deh pahn mi. Then suddenly, the dog was on me. While English has words that are somewhat similar to these Kriol idiophones, this feature of BK seems to come from African languages where it is a common feature (Welmers 1973). Following are some idiophone words used in BK followed by similar words from Twi, an African language (Cassidy and LePage 1980): bam – bàm the sound of striking, clapping, lashing, falling brigidim – bìrim meaning suddenly budum – bŭrùm noise of something heavy falling to the ground

Conjunctions Words that are used for conjunctions in BK tend to be words similar to those used in Standard English. However, there are a few words that are different. Ih noh wahn geh notn, lesn ih stay eena skool. She is not going to get anything, unless she stays in school. Sayk a di rayn kohn, wi neva gaan da skool da day. Due to the rain coming, we did not go to school that day. Soh ih si di snayk, di haas kik op ahn chroa Jim da grong. As soon as he saw the snake, the horse reared up and threw Jim to the ground. Yu noh gwain noway til yu eet da pees a karats. You are not going anywhere until you eat those carrots. Dehn gaan dong wehpaat ih liv. They went down (to the place) where he lives. Ih fala di lait owt kraas di pain rij, wichin ih frayd fi goas. He followed the light out across the pine ridge, even though he was afraid of ghosts.

Interjections Interjections are words that function somewhat by themselves as exclamations, greetings or serve some other emotive purpose. Some common interjections are cho, wara, gyal, bwai, mada ayz. Some words are considered less acceptable

World English Vol III.indb 73

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

74

than others; there are many rude terms that would not be appropriate to be included here. Interjections are useful for communicating friendliness, surprise, exasperation or other emotions. Sometimes an interjection cannot be adequately translated because it simply communicates an attitude or it is a polite phrase. For example, a common greeting, Mi breda, weh dig oh aan, could be translated as ‘My brother, what is going on?’, but it is spoken to a friend, not necessarily a ‘brother’. The phrase is simply a way to say ‘Hello’. The use of noh at the end of a request or question can be a way of softening or making the comment more polite. Gyal, bring mi sohn kayk, noh. Miss, bring me some cake, please. Cho, mi neva si notn laik dat! Wow, I never saw anything like that! Mada ayz, Ah wahn beet yu bwai! By golly, I am going to beat you boy! A commonly used phrase in BK, fi troo, could possibly be translated literally as ‘for true’. It communicates the idea of agreement or certainty. Ai yer ih reeli rayn ya fi troo. Indeed, I heard that it rained hard here. Fi troo, di riva kohn op soh. It’s true that the river came up that way.

Sentence Structure in Belize Kriol In this section, I will describe the phrases, clauses and sentences of BK . BK patterns are different from English in some ways. Sometimes in colloquial language the terms phrase, clause and sentence are used as synonyms. In linguistics, they have different meanings. A phrase is one or more words that function as a complete unit in a clause or sentence. A clause is a minimal unit in which a proposition is stated, consisting of a subject and a predicate. A sentence may be as simple as a clause, but it also refers to more complex constructions of combined clauses. These terms will be further described, with examples, in the following sections. Escure (1981: 32) presented eighteen features by which Kriol differs from English: nine differences in pronunciation and nine grammatical differences. She used these criteria to determine when speech could be considered basilectal. Following are the grammatical differences:

World English Vol III.indb 74

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol Grammatical Changes 1. non-gender marking of English 2. non-marking of possessive – s: 3. non-redundant marking of past tense: 4. absence of auxiliary ‘do’ in negative sentences: 5. absence of ‘be’ verb before stative verbs: 6. non-marking of plural: 7. relationship between the forms for locative and continuative: 8. past tense marker mi 9. possessive marker fi

75

he, she  ih bredda haas brother’s horse ih gaan an ih noh fain nobadi He went and found nobody ih noh waahn it he does not want it ih beks he is angry too bwai two boys ih dehdeh di fish he is there fishing

The noun phrase In a BK noun phrase, the head noun, or pronoun, may be the only unit in the phrase, or it may be accompanied by modifiers (see Table 2.8). There is a standard order to the constituents that can precede and modify the head noun; from the noun outward they are modifying nouns, adjectives and either articles or demonstratives or possessive pronouns. The adjective position may be filled by an adjective string. The adjective string is a combination of two or more adjectives that can be quite long for impact and emphasis. The noun phrase (NP) functions as a subject, direct object or indirect object of a sentence. Noun phrases can be used to modify the main verb of a clause by describing the time or location of an event. A noun phrase may also be used in a sentence margin with a discourse function. NP as Subject:

Aal di pikni don gaan da skool. All the children have already gone to school.

NP as Object:

Dehn maita legoh di lee wan dehn. They should have (at least) released the little ones.

NP Modifying the Verb:

Evri yaa ih gwain da Stayts. Every year he goes to the States.

NP in Sentence Margin:

Mi sista, shi gaan bak da Cayo. My sister, she went back to Cayo.

World English Vol III.indb 75

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

76

Table 2.8

Noun Phrase constituents

Article, demonstrative, quantifier, or possessive pronoun

Adjective or adjective string

Modifying noun

Head noun

fi hihn22 ‘his’

bwai ‘boy’

sohn ‘some’

pipl ‘people’

wahn ‘a’

big ‘big’

di ‘the’ dehn tree ‘those three,’

wowla ‘boa constrictor’ pain ‘pine’

priti, red ‘pretty, red’

dat ‘that’

oal ‘old’

di ‘the’

taal ‘tall’

rij ‘forest’ gyal ‘girl’

boad ‘board’

hows ‘house’ man ‘man’

dehndeh ‘those’

uman ‘woman’

dehn ‘those’

boat ‘boat’

ih ‘his/her’ di ‘the’

Auxiliary elements

weh liv deh23 ‘who lives there’

deh ‘there’

daag dehn24 ‘dogs’ hows ‘house’

weh fi wi ‘that is ours’

The head noun may be followed by auxiliary constituents. The auxiliary constituents may be a locative demonstrative, prepositional phrase or dependent clause. The prepositional phrase or dependent clause following the head noun provides extra information about the head noun. The locative demonstrative is an alternative use of a demonstrative pronoun that provides greater emphasis on the location of the referent. The BK noun phrase word order is the same as in English. Table 2.8 presents various combinations of words in their respective slots showing some possible noun phrases. Notice in the final example of Table 2.8 the use of a possessive pronoun fi and a plural marker dehn; these will be further discussed in the following sections.

World English Vol III.indb 76

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

77

Plurality BK has several strategies for marking plurality. The plural marker dehn can be placed after a noun to make the noun plural; for example, gyal dehn meaning ‘girls’. Another method of marking plurality is the use of a number, quantifier or demonstrative that is marked for plurality in front of the noun; for example, tree gyal ‘three girls’. When a noun is used to refer to a whole class of items, the noun is not marked for plurality, for example: Ah laik gyal. I like girls.

Ah frayd fi goas. I am afraid of ghosts.

Unlike English, BK does not require the redundant marking of plural on the noun. When any other method of marking plural is used, dehn will not follow the noun. Notice each of the examples in this section. The choice of strategy for marking plural in any given noun phrase depends on the reference that is in focus. Ah laik di gyal dehn.

I like the girls.

Ah laik too gyal.

I like two girls.

Ah laik dehn gyal.

I like those girls.

Ah laik dehnya gyal.

I like these girls.

Ah laik gyal.

I like girls.

(reference to a specific limited set) (refence to a more specific limited set) (reference to one set rather than another set) (reference to the location of a set) (reference to a whole class)

There are also nouns in BK that come from the English plural form and are used for singular or plural. For example, teet ‘teeth’, flowaz ‘flowers’ and ayz ‘ears’. Young (1973: 13) gives the following examples of words that are nonplural but retain the English plural form: ronz (as in the game cricket), aants ‘ant’, somz ‘math’, peenots ‘peanut’, beenz ‘bean’, konks ‘conch’ and pilz ‘pill’. This use of an added -s or -z, as English plurality is marked, is sometimes extended to other words such as mangoz ‘mangoes’, keez ‘keys  islands’, paypaz ‘papers’. This may be an example of mesolectal Kriol. There are also some BK nouns that appear to have come from an English plural form, except that the word in English is a mass noun and considered plural without any change. Mass nouns are things that are always understood as plural, there is no need to add an -s, for example, paper, furniture, mail, water, sand, dirt, etc. BK adds pluralization onto these forms, for example, fernichaz ‘furniture’ and maylz ‘mail’. In Kriol, the word pipl seems to be considered as singular because it is often followed by the plural marker dehn, for example, yu neva noa weh som pipl dehn wahn seh, ‘you never know what some people will say’. However, one

World English Vol III.indb 77

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

78

would never say something like wan pipl get op. Possibly, the word pipl is required to be accompanied by another plural marker. For example, lat a pipl goh op da Chetumal is another acceptable construction with pipl.

Possessives BK has two methods of marking possession in the noun phrase. The more common method of creating a possessive construction is to place the possessing noun or pronoun referent before the head noun. di man koat mi doari Shami hows

the man’s coat my dory (dugout canoe) Shami’s house

Another method of marking possession is the use of a possessive marker fi/fo before a pronoun or proper noun. In the noun phrase construction shown in Table 2.8, the possessive pronoun, with fi, is shown in the first position. However, this may or may not precede the head noun depending on the sentence structure. In fact, the head noun may be wan for an inferred reference. The use of fi/fo marking possessive is more often done for emphasis. Notice the following examples, each with possession marked. The second and third forms of each of the following sets have the possessive pronouns marked with fi/fo. In the third form of each of the sets, the possessive pronoun follows the noun that it modifies. The second form has greater emphasis than the first form on the possessive relationship of the person with the object. The third form has greater emphasis than the first two forms on the person who possesses the modified noun. Wi hows deh bak deh. Fo wi hows deh bak deh. Di hows weh fo wi deh bak deh. Dis da ih buk. Dis da fi shee buk. Dis buk da fi shee. Dehn da hihn pikni. Dehn da fi hihn pikni. Dehn pikni da fi hihn.

Our house is back there. Our house is back there. The house that is ours is back there. This is his/her book. This is her book. This book is hers. Those are his children. Those are his children. Those children are his.

The prepositional phrase A prepositional phrase is a construction involving a preposition followed by a noun phrase as its object.

World English Vol III.indb 78

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

79

wid wahn big rakstoan with a big rock Preposition: wid  Noun phrase: wahn big rakstoan fahn bak a bush chroo di yaaz

from remote rural areas through the years

A prepositional phrase (PP) can modify either a noun or a verb. When modifying a verb the PP may include information regarding direction, place, time or a relationship related to the subject, object or head verb of the sentence. The PP generally follows the head element it is modifying, with the exception of prepositional phrases that are used as an adverbial modification of a verb phrase. In the following example, the PP frahn way bak modifies the verb gaan, it describes when the action happened. Fahn way bak dehn gaan hontin bak deh. For a long time they have been hunting back there. There may be several sequential prepositional phrases; however, it is rare to find more than two phrases together. wid wan a dehn emti rom batl with one of those empty rum bottles PP(P:wid  AJ: wan)  PP(P:a  NP(DM:dehn  AJ:emti  MD:rom  HN:batl))25 fi dehn oal man fahn di vilij for those old men from the village eena wahn boat wid wahn hoal eena ih said in a boat with a hole in its side Preposition phrases can be used at the beginning of a sentence with an adverbial function by modifying the main verb of the sentence. A preposition phrase at the beginning of a sentence may be used to establish the location or time reference of the event. Bak a bush dehn gat dis snayk kaal taamigaaf. Out in the jungle there is a snake called Tomigoff (Fer-de-lance). Afta di neks wan yu ku goh. After the next one you can go.

World English Vol III.indb 79

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

80

The verb phrase A verb phrase is a construction with a verb as the head constituent. The structure of the BK verb phrase is the feature that most distinguishes Kriol as different from English. Unlike the BK noun phrase, there is much more variability in the structure of the verb phrase. Other than the head verb, the verb phrase may include one or more adverbs. The verb phrase may include a prepositional phrase when it modifies the verb. The verb phrase may include TMA markers (see an explanation of TMA markers in the following section). These other elements modify the verb by giving information such as when, where or how the action occurred. Ih neva sleep gud. Verb phrase (ADV: neva  V: sleep  ADV: gud)26

Tense, mood and aspect in the verb phrase The pre-verbal marking of tense, mood and aspect (TMA) in creole languages is a feature that has attracted the most interest of linguists. Here, we are more concerned with the order of the markers in the phrase than with their meaning. Linguists studying various creole languages have noticed for some time that there is a general pattern among these languages that is different from English. At first one may think that the marking of past reference in BK is inconsistent, but upon further investigation a pattern emerges. The marking of past time reference with the marker mi depends on whether the verb is stative or nonstative. A stative verb describes the state of something as it exists rather than a change that occurs through an action. Nonstative verbs are those that describe an action and not a state. Some BK stative verbs are gat ‘have’, waahn ‘want’, noa ‘know’, feel ‘feel’ and tink ‘think’. If the verb is stative, the use of the marker mi indicates past with respect to the present time of the speech event. A stative verb without the marker has present time reference. For non-stative verbs the use of mi indicates past with respect to a previously established past frame of reference, that is, past-before-past or pluperfect. A non-stative verb without pre-verbal markers has reference to an event in the past.27 A stative verb: Ah ga wahn hag. Ah mi ga wahn hag.

I have a pig. I had a pig.

present past

A stative construction: Ah sik. Ah mi sik.

I am sick. I was sick.

present past

World English Vol III.indb 80

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol A non-stative verb: Dehn bayd deh. Dehn mi bayd deh.

They swam there. They had swum there.

81

past past perfect

BK has unique differences from Standard English, and there are some important distinctions that need to be made for Kriol that are not necessary when describing English. The distinction between stative and non-stative verbs is important for describing the formation of past time reference in BK. The strict order of these TMA markers and the way they combine is one of the noteworthy features of creole languages. The order of markers, as presented in Figure 2.4, describes the acceptable combinations of the tense, mood and aspect (TMA) markers. There is one exception to this order involving the past tense marker mi. As with the other markers, it always precedes the verb, except for the ‘to be’ verb da. The mi always follows the da verb, as in Ih da-mi wahn chiklayro. He was a chiclero. Figure 2.4 is presented as a typical linguistic description of the Caribbean creole TMA structure preceding a verb; a plus () or minus (–) refers to the inclusion or exclusion of the marker. I find this model incomplete. There needs to be a further distinction of two aspect markers. The completive aspect marker don can occur within this matrix also. uncommon. Table 2.9 shows the combinations of tense markers and tenses created by the various combinations. It should be noted that combinations of more than two markers, while possible, are uncommon. I have not included the habitual aspect markers doz/yoostu,30 and aalwayz in Table 2.9 because they do not function with all the other markers. They may occur with mi or the aspect markers, but never both. Dayley (1979: 164) presents the following complex constructions with the past habitual

Tense

Figure 2.4

Mood

Aspect

Possible combinations of TMA markers.

Source Adapted from Bickerton (1980: 14) as found in Holm (1988: 167).

World English Vol III.indb 81

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

82

Table 2.9 Tense past ‘mi’

Possible combinations of TMA markers

Mood irrealis ‘wahn’

Aspect 1 Completive ‘don’

Aspect 2 progressive ‘di’

Verb sleep

mi

sleep

wahn

don

di

mi

wahn

mi

wahn

mi

wahn

don

di

Examples (taken largely from Tense label Dayley 1979) Ah sleep deh. past or I slept there. present,28 or habitual or I (regularly) sleep there. past or past Ah mi sleep deh. perfect29 I had slept there.

sleep

future

Ih wahn sleep deh. I will sleep there.

sleep

completive

Ah don sleep deh. I have already slept there.

sleep

Ah di sleep present progressive deh. I am sleeping there.

sleep

Ah mi wahn past conditional sleep deh. I would have slept there.

sleep

completive Ah mi wahn conditional don sleep deh. I would already have slept there.

sleep

progressive Ah mi wahn conditional di sleep deh. I would have been sleeping there. (continued)

World English Vol III.indb 82

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

83

Table 2.9 (Continued) Examples (taken largely from Tense label Dayley 1979)

Tense past ‘mi’

Mood irrealis ‘wahn’

Aspect 1 Completive ‘don’

Aspect 2 progressive ‘di’

Verb

mi

wahn

don

di

sleep

progressive Ah mi wahn completive don di sleep conditional deh. I would have already been sleeping there.

sleep

past completive

di

sleep

Ah mi don di past progressive sleep deh. completive I was already sleeping there.

di

sleep

Ah mi-di sleep past progressive deh. I was sleeping there.

sleep

future completive

di

sleep

Ah wahn di future progressive sleep deh. I will be sleeping there.

don

di

sleep

Ah wahn don future progressive di sleep deh. completive I will already be sleeping there.

don

di

sleep

progressive- Ah don di completive sleep deh. I am already sleeping there.

mi

don

mi

don

mi

wahn

don

wahn

wahn

World English Vol III.indb 83

Ah mi don sleep. I had already slept.

Ah wahn don sleep deh. I will have already slept there.

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

84

aspect marker doz/yoostu, but I have not found any samples of this in my research. Ah doz di sleep. or I used to be sleeping. Ah mi doz sleep. or I used to sleep (but do not anymore.) Ah doz don sleep. or I used to already be asleep.

Ah yoostu di sleep. progressive past habitual Ah mi yoostu sleep. past habitual (completive) Ah yoostu don sleep. completive past habitual

Other pre-verbal constituent ordering In addition to the TMA structure and negation that precedes the verb, there are also a number of verbal auxiliaries, or modals, that have an order of combination before the verb. Table 2.10 presents the order of these words. There are also forms of the modals that include negation: aatn, kudn (or kyaahn), maitn, mosn, shudn and wudn. Some authors, for example, Dayley 1979, consider these to be a contraction of the negation word noh  modal. While Table 2.10 presents the relative order for combining these elements of the verb phrase, it does not give information on the semantic restraints that limit which elements can be combined. For example, the negation words noh or neva would not be used with a negated modal form (wudn, kudn, shudn, etc.). Following are examples of verb phrases with pre-verbal constituents.

Table 2.10 Order of other pre-verbal constituents Negation

Verbal auxiliaries 1

TMA

Verbal auxiliaries 2

maita

ker fi

noa

kuda

mi

wuda

mi

hafu

bait

mosi

mi di

hafu

fait

noh neva

shuda

neva

kuda

mi don

neva

aatu

mi

nyam

fi

kil

hafu

fiks bil

hafu

wudn shudn

World English Vol III.indb 84

Verb

tel waahn

hafu

laan

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

Belize Kriol

85

Dat wuda mi bee fahn DFC, noh? That would have been from DFC, right? Dehn kudn faal di brednot. They could not chop down the breadnut (tree). Unu shuda mi geh wahn laya. You should have gotten a lawyer. Ih noh mos noa wel alrait Ah wahn shoa yu. Surely he had to know that I would show you. As stated above, Table 2.10 presents a relative order for combining elements of the verb phrase. The constituents can be ordered in other ways for different meaning. In the first example below, there is no verb following the modal. I have no evidence, nor do I remember ever hearing of more than three of these words or markers before a verb. However, when an experimental sentence was created with more than three elements, the language helpers understood the meaning. There are also examples of two models from the first verbal auxiliaries column used consecutively, as in the second example below. The use of negation word neva can occur before or after the Verbal Auxiliary 1 modal word. These changes alter the meaning; compare the third and fourth examples below. Da noh mosi deh ih gaan? Is it not certainly there he has gone? Ih mosi wuda mi jrink pil fi dat. He probably would have taken pills for that. Dehn neva mos luk pahn dat. They didn’t have to look at that. Dehn mos neva luk pahn dat. They must never look at that. Some of the pre-verbal constructions seem to be saying or meaning the same thing. For example, wuda and mi wahn both refer to an unrealized action in a past time reference. However, in use, we see that wuda is used in hypothetical or generalized situations, while mi wahn refers to factual events (see the following examples). One should not assume that two seemingly synonymous forms actually mean the same thing. It is best to compare the actual usage in many sentences to determine the true differences.

World English Vol III.indb 85

11/26/2012 2:35:45 PM

World Englishes Volume III

86

How yu seh dat meet wuda mi way bout so moch pong ih mi gat kaa ih oanli way faati pong? How [could] you say that the meat would have weighed about so many pounds because it only weighed 40 pounds? Si, laik, yu wuda tek sohn flowa ahn sprinkl ahn op eena yu hous tap. See, like, you would take some flour and sprinkle it up in your attic. Bot ih seh ih noh mi wahn tel mi notn. But he said that he was not going to tell me anything. Dat bwai mi wahn ker yu boat go sel ahn, man! That guy was going to take your boat and sell it!

The Copula The BK copula is da, the ‘to be’ verb. In BK, it may be considered that there are three copula verbs: da, bee and deh. As with other BK verbs, the copula is not inflected to form agreement with the subject as in English. Welmers (1973: 309) says that in Niger-Congo languages, it is very common for there to be different forms of the copula to mark different relationships between subject and compliment. He specifically mentions a descriptive and a locational relationship as typically expressed by different words. This is true in BK also. English has different forms of the ‘to be’ verb (am, is, are, was, were), but these differ for reasons of time reference and subject–verb agreement. Da, as the copula, links the subject with a description of the subject. In the following examples, notice how the English verb changes and the BK verb does not change in correspondence with the pronoun. Ah da wahn teecha. Yu da wahn teecha. Shee da wahn teecha.

I am a teacher. You are a teacher. She is a teacher.

The BK copula has several constraints when combined with other elements. If the pre-verbal marker mi is used for past tense with any other verb, it precedes the verb. However, when mi is combined with da it follows – da-mi. Ah neva noa yu da-mi aparayta bak deh tu. I did not know you were a (tractor) operator back there too. Bee may be described as another copula, or it may be considered another form of da. Bee is used after a modal or the future/irrealis mood function markers

World English Vol III.indb 86

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

87

wahn or gwain. Both a modal and an irrealis marker, combined with bee, link the subject with a conditional or potential change in the description of the subject. If Ah mi gat wahn raid a mi oan, ih wudn bee no prablem ataal. If I had a ride of my own, it would not be any problem at all. Wen ih groa op, ih wahn bee wahn baaskitbaal playa. When he grows up he will be a basketball player. If the purpose of the sentence is to describe the location of the subject, then the locative copula deh is used. Ih deh owt deh soon. He was (located) out there early. There is a relationship between the copula deh and prepositional phrases indicating place or location. If the copula is followed by a prepositional phrase of location, the locative copula deh is used. This influences the interpretation of the preposition. In the following example, da in the first case is considered directional, but in the second case is locational. Dehn gaan da skool. Dehn deh da skool.

‘They went to school.’ ‘They are at school.’

The copula da also can be moved to the front of a clause to create focus, or emphasis, on the subject. Notice, in the first example below, how the movement of the da changes the sentence. In the second example, the sentence would not normally have a copula present, but the insertion of one at the beginning creates the strong focus on the subject. The placement of the da may also be used at the front of a whquestion clause to bring focus to the interrogative nature of the utterance. In the third example below, we see that the fronting of da makes the question more specific as the information requested. Finally, as in the fourth and fifth examples below, the move of the copula to the front of an adjective phrase can also create a special adjectival phrase that has no verb and creates a focus on description that follows. Da dat weh Ah di tel yu. It is that (specifically) which I was telling you. Dat da weh Ah di tel yu. That is what I was telling you. Da shee du it, noh mee! It was she who did it, not me!

World English Vol III.indb 87

In response to a question like: Did you make this mess?

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World Englishes Volume III

88

Da wehpaat yu baan? Where (exactly) where you born? Da taiyad Ah taiyad. I am really tired. Da sik di baybi sik. The baby is very sick.

Post-verbal adverbial words BK uses frequent combinations of verbs with post-verbal adverbial words (aaf, aan, bak, bai, dong, een, op, owt, oava, rong, weh). Semantically, the adverbial word may add a completely different meaning to the verb, as in the first pair of examples below. If the object of the verb is a noun phrase, the verb may go before or after the post-adverbial word,31 as in the second pair of examples below. However, when the object of the verb is a pronoun, it must be placed between the verb and adverb, as in the third pair of examples below. Dehn mi bring flowa fahn tong. Dehn mi bring op da bwai. Dehn nyam op di kayk. Dehn nyam di kayk op. Wi chrai fi shub dehn owt. Wi chrai fi shub owt aal di pipl dehn.

They brought flour from town. They raised that boy. They ate (ravenously) the cake. We tried to push them out. We tried to push out all the people.

If there are several post-verbal words combined, the order may be different from English. In basilectal speech, the following example has a different word order than English. Put put Verb

ahn it Object

een in Adverb

bak. back Adverb

‘Put it back in.’

The alternate form of this sentence: put ahn bak een, may also be heard. This form is more similar to English and should be considered mesolectal.

Verbal negation Negation of a verbal action is accomplished either by the use of noh or neva, or the use of a modal negative, such as kudn, shudn, maitn, preceding the verb. The copula da is the only verb that precedes the negative.

World English Vol III.indb 88

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

89

Dehn neva si yu. They did not see you. Yu kyaahn goh hayl dehn. You cannot go visit them. Mi daag noh kil no fowl. My dog does not kill chickens. Hihn da noh di baas He is not the boss.

Serial verbs Sometimes, BK will link two or more verbs together to accentuate the action. Holm (1988: 183) feels that this is evidence of underlying influence from the Kwa languages of West Africa. In the first example below, we see that each of the verbs includes partial information about the complete action being described. Ih ron gaan lef di baybi. he run went left the baby He abandoned the baby. Ih neva gaan bak gaan bayg fi di gyal noh moh. He did not go back to beg for the girl any more. Another kind of construction may be an example of serial verbs, or it may simply be an example of reduplication of verbs for greater emphasis. In the following examples, the double use of goh may make the action habitual or somehow more emphatic. Ah goh goh sel dehn pipl rong Albert Schreet deh. I would go sell to those people on Albert Street. If Ah mi gat transpotayshan, Ah wuda goh goh luk fa ahn. If I had some form of transportation, I would have gone searching for him.

Adjective phrases An adjective phrase is a phrase with an adjective as the head, or a series of adjectives joined with a conjunction. The only place that I have found adjectival phrases in BK is in a descriptive clause. In English, adjectival phrases may occur in other types of sentences. Notice that there is no verb in these sentences. Da man oanli fool fool. That man is very foolish. Di gyal bwai fat an swaati. The boy is fat and sweaty.

World English Vol III.indb 89

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World Englishes Volume III

90

When there is reduplication of an adjective, it means that the noun is very well described by the adjective. Sometimes, the adjective will be stated three times, which makes it quite intense. This can also be done with adjectives in a descriptive clause. Di big big haas . . . Di haas big big.

The very big horse . . . The horse is/was very big.

Tag phrases BK frequently uses a tag phrase at the end of a sentence to emphasize the emotional attitude of the main clause, to elicit agreement with the main clause or to indicate politeness (as in the first example below). Some tag phrases have a noun and a verb, as in the fourth and fifth examples below, but I do not consider them as clauses. Some of the tag phrases, such as the second and third examples, are similar to imperative interjections. Other tag phrases are more interrogative-like. They all function similarly with a raising intonation and occur in the same sentence-final position in a sentence margin. Yu kud gi mi wahn jrink, noh? Could you give me a drink, please? Di weda hat, noh chroo!? The weather is hot, is it not!? Di bos wahn lef soon, yer!? Literally: ‘The bus will leave early, hear!’ meaning ‘The bus will leave early! Do you understand my caution?’ Dat da di way tingz goh, yu si?! That is the way things go, do you not agree?! Ah wahn gi yu dis taim, bot noh aks agen, yu yer?! I will give it to you this time, but do not ask again, do you understand?!

Clauses A clause is a minimal unit of a proposition that contains a complete thought. A clause includes at least a subject and a predicate. Most BK clause constructions are similar to those found in Standard English. Following are examples of clauses with subjects, predicates, complements and objects.

World English Vol III.indb 90

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

91

Dehn gaan. Subject  Predicate They left. Jooni da mi lee breda. Subject  Predicate  Complement Junior is my little brother. Ih mosi hit dat kyaat. Subject  Predicate  Object He must have hit that cart. Jan an dehn gaan da di benksaid an teef wahn boat. Compound subject  Compound predicate John and the fellows with him went to the riverside and stole a boat. There are four basic patterns of declarative clauses called ‘descriptive, intransitive, transitive and di-transitive’. Descriptive clauses are a simple form of declarative clause using only the copula, or ‘to be’ verb. The descriptive clause includes something being described, expressed in a noun phrase. The descriptive phrase may be a noun, adjective or prepositional phrase. The descriptive phrase modifies the subject and not the verb. The verb da, the copula, may be used for an equating or possession relationship. The da is placed after the subject and before the descriptive noun phrase. Mista Wayd da di dakta. Mr. Wade is the doctor. Dis gumbeh da fi hihn. This drum is his. One transformation of a declarative clause for focus on the description does not require the subject to be included. English requires there to be some form of subject to every clause. So, sometimes, a ‘dummy’ pronoun is used. For example, when someone says, ‘it is raining,’ the ‘it’ doesn’t refer to anything specific. In BK, one can say, da wahn priti day, ‘it is a pretty day’. The English has to translate an ‘it’, but the BK clause has no subject. Another form of the BK copula, future tense bee, may occur in descriptive clauses. This form of the verb may be used to express possession or equating relationships also. The equating relationship means that the referent of both the subject and the noun phrase following the verb have the same identity.

World English Vol III.indb 91

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World Englishes Volume III

92

Sharon wahn bee di teecha. Sharon will be the teacher. Dis pataki wahn bee fi shee. This basket will be hers. Another form of the BK copula, deh, is used for locative and existential expressions in descriptive clauses. Existential refers to the existence of the subject. This form, deh, was also introduced previously. A prepositional phrase may also be used to describe the location of the subject. Brad deh rait ya. Brad is right here. Ih deh eena di hows. He is in the house. When there is negation in the existential descriptive clause, the deh is at the end of the clause. This shift occurs in BK but not in the corresponding English sentence. No bred noh deh. There is not any bread. When the phrase that modifies the subject is an adjective phrase, there is no copula. Some linguists describe this absence of a verb as the ‘zero-copula’. The clause includes a noun phrase for the subject and an adjective phrase as a descriptive complement that describes the subject. English requires a verb. Di hows bloo. The house is blue. Di froot aal swibl op. The fruit is all shrivelled up.

Passive clauses A passive clause is a transformation of a transitive clause. Unlike an active clause, one with the usual word order of a declarative clause, the direct object (DO) of a transitive clause is moved to precede the verb (V) and becomes the subject (Subj). This is different from a transitive clause because the subject of a declarative clause is the agent of the verbal action. In a passive clause, the subject is not the agent of the verbal action. There are several variations to passive clauses presented below.

World English Vol III.indb 92

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol Beti mi kleen di hows. Subj  V  DO Di hows mi kleen. Subj  V

93

Betty cleaned the house. (active) The house was cleaned. (passive)

In BK, many passive clauses are made with the verb geh/get. The verb geh/get always precedes the main verb. If the pre-verbal marker mi is used, it precedes geh/get rather than the head verb. Jooni geh kik. Jooni (Jr.) was kicked. Di wowla mi geh chap op. The boa constrictor (snake) got chopped up. If an inanimate noun is the agent of a declarative clause, the head noun may be indicated in a prepositional phrase beginning with bai following the verb. This is different from the English passive clause construction that can have any animate or inanimate agent added. Mi makumeh geh kil bai wahn koknat joorin di harikayn. My godmother was killed by a coconut during the hurricane. Di hows mi kleen bai Beti. The house was cleaned by Betty. (unacceptable in Kriol) (acceptable in English) Another variation of the BK passive clause involves the use of the future marker wahn. The wahn is used before the verb. This usage implies the necessity or certainty of an action. Di kichin wahn kleen. The kitchen needs to be cleaned.

Yes/No questions A yes/no question is a type of interrogative clause that attempts to elicit a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response from the listener. In BK, they are structurally like a transitive clause. There is no shifting of words or phrases. This is unlike English in which the word order changes relative to the corresponding declarative clauses. BK does not use auxiliary verbs like ‘do, does or did’ as English uses. The transformation that occurs in the construction of a BK interrogative clause is a change in the intonation. The intonation of a BK yes/no question rises more at the end

World English Vol III.indb 93

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World Englishes Volume III

94

of the clause than with other clauses. In the following examples, notice how the word order for English is different from the word order for Kriol. If you pronounce these clauses out loud, say each one as a statement and then as a question. You should hear a difference in the intonation. Notice also that English begins a yes/no question with either a form of the ‘to be’ verb or ‘to do’ verb. Ih deh eena di hows? she/he is in the house Is she/he in the house? Dehn di bada yu? they -ING32 bother you Are they bothering you? Yu waahn goh wid wi? you want go with us Do you want to go with us?

Wh-Questions Another type of interrogative clause is called a ‘wh-question clause’. These clauses attempt to elicit information from the listener rather than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. These sentences will always have an interrogative, or ‘wh-question word’, in them (see Table 2.11). This type of sentences is often called ‘wh-questions’ because, in English, most of the wh-question words begin with wh. BK interrogative wh-question clauses are transformed from transitive clauses by the placement of an interrogative word in the clause. Most frequently, the wh-question word is placed at the beginning of the clause, but hoo may sometimes occur at the end of the clause. There is no addition of an auxiliary verb like ‘do’, ‘does’ or ‘did’ as in English. However, the focus marker da, which is optional, may be placed before the interrogative word at the beginning of a clause to add focus (FOC) to the question. Interrogative clauses with the interrogative word at the beginning do not have a rising intonation like yes/no questions, but have a falling intonation like intransitive clauses. If the interrogative word is used later in the sentence, the intonation will rise at the end like a yes/no question. Interrogative clauses in which the interrogative word occurs later in the sentence are less common and tend to imply disbelief, as in the final example below. The word-for-word glosses in the following examples are provided to emphasize the different word order from English. How dehn pipl geh soh rich? 33 how those people get so rich How did those people get so rich?

World English Vol III.indb 94

Weh mek ih seh dat? What made she/he say that Why did she/he say that?

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

95

Table 2.11 Interrogative words Interrogative words

English gloss

weh

what, where

wehpaat

where exactly

hoo

who

hoofa/fa hoo

whose

wich

which

wen

when

wentaim

when exactly

wai/weh mek

why

how

how

hu moch

how much/how many

Da wehpaat yu baan? FOC where you born Where (specifically) were you born?

Da hu moch aklak? FOC how much oclock What time is it?

Wen yu gwain goh? when you going go When are you going?

Hoo yoostu liv deh? Who used to live there Who used to live there?

Ih sista da hoo? She/he sister is who Who is his/her sister? Table 2.11 lists BK question words. Individually, these words are classified as pronouns, adjectives or adverbs. This chart is presented to show that the English words are not exactly the same as Kriol words.

Imperative clauses Another kind of transformation creates imperative clauses. The classification of imperative refers to commands such as in ‘Close the door.’ An imperative clause is a transformation of either a declarative or descriptive clause. These clauses often only have a predicate; the subject is generally implied. The subject pronoun, which is always yu ‘you’ or unu ‘all of you’, may be stated if needed for clarity. Lef ya! Get out of here!

World English Vol III.indb 95

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World Englishes Volume III

96

Wach dehn flowaz! Look34 at these flowers! Kohn ya! / Yu kohn ya! (You) come here! If the verb in the imperative clause is the copula, the ‘to be’ verb, the form of the copula, bee, like the future time reference form, is used, as in the first example below. Another BK imperative clause uses the verb si to point out, direct attention to or specify the location of something or someone in relationship to the speaker. These clauses can be said with a raising intonation like a question, but they are not questions. The third example below would sound like and appear to be a question; however, it is a precautionary statement. Unu bee gud now! All of you be good now! Si ahn deh. see him/her there There he/she is. Si yu pos deh! see you purse there Watch your purse! The verb main is often used in precautionary imperative clauses. The clause warns the hearer of something that may happen. Main yu jrap an nak yu hed. mind you fall and hit you head Be careful you may fall and hit your head.

Focus clauses To create an emphasis of focus on specific information, a declarative clause can be transformed. The marker da35 is placed at the beginning of the clause before the word or phrase that is in focus. In the following, notice the transformations that can be made from the initial declarative clause. Interrogative clauses have been transformed by placing a question word in place of the desired information, so for focus on the desired information, the da goes before the question

World English Vol III.indb 96

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

97

word. The use of da at the beginning of a clause for focus can occur with other kinds of clauses. Jan gwain da Jamaica. John is going to Jamaica. Da hu gwain da Jamaica? Who (!) is going to Jamaica? Da Jan weh gwain da Jamaica. It is John who is going. Da weh Jan gwain? Where (!) is John going? Da Jamaica Jan gwain. It is to Jamaica that John is going. A descriptive clause with an adjective phrase and no obvious copula can also be transformed for focus. In this kind of transformation, the descriptive adjective is reduplicated before the subject, and the focus marker da is placed at the front of the entire clause. This expresses a great deal of emphasis on the description. This is generally only done with the first-person singular and in present tense. Da taiyad Ah taiyad. Iam very tired. Da hongri Ah hongri. I am very hungry.

Dependent clauses There are two kinds of BK dependent clauses described in the following sections: relative and cognitive clauses. The main difference between BK and Standard English is in the choice of words that are used to mark the dependent relationships.

Relative clauses A relative clause is a dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun, weh or hoofa,36 introducing an embedded clause, which includes information about the noun it modifies in the main clause of the sentence. An embedded clause is

World English Vol III.indb 97

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World Englishes Volume III

98

in the middle of an independent clause. BK relative clauses are similar to English relative clauses with the exception that English can introduce a relative clause with ‘which’ or ‘that’ also. Ah si di hows weh bon laas nait. I saw the house that burned last night. Di man weh gwain bai di chayr fahn wi, wahn kohn bai tideh. The man who is going to buy the chair from us will come by today. If the subject of the relative clause is human and functioning as a possessor, the relative pronoun hoofa is used. This may be used more in rural speech than in urban Belize City speech. Ah gaan si di man hoofa daag bait yu. I went to see the man whose dog bit you.

Cognitive clauses A cognitive clause uses a marker seh to mark the beginning of a clause that communicates some kind of quotation or reported speech, thought or imaginary action (such as dreaming or pretending). This seh can only be used with a special set of verbs involving some cognitive action or process such as tink ‘think’, noa ‘know’, fain owt ‘find out’, feel ‘feel’, etc. The seh marks the beginning or result of the mental process. The cognitive clause usually includes a complete declarative clause. The cognitive clause is the object of a transitive clause. Dehn tink seh ih wahn kohn bak. They think that he/she will come back. Ih jos di faam seh ih sik. He is just pretending that he is sick. Ah tell dehn bwai deh seh dehn noh fi du dat. I told those boys that they should not do that. This /sɛ/ is found in several other Caribbean English-lexifier creole languages. Several linguists have noted that /sɛ/, used in this way, corresponds with the usage of /sɛ/ in several West African languages. Turner (1949) noted the similarity between Gullah /sɛ/ and Twi /sɛ/. Cassidy (1971) made the connection between Jamaican /sɛ/ and Akan /sɛ/.37

World English Vol III.indb 98

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

99

Subject–Verb agreement in English BK verbs do not have different forms marked for agreement with the subject in the present habitual time reference as Standard English. This change in Standard English occurs for most verbs with the third-person singular pronoun and other nouns that are referred to in third person. For example, ‘run’ is used with the first-person ‘I’ in ‘I run’, but if the subject is ‘he, she, it’ then the form ‘runs’ is used, as in ‘he runs’. Similarly, ‘the dog’ is a third-person singular reference and the verb form must agree by adding -s - ‘the dog runs’. The ‘to be’ verb in English is an exception in that it has different forms for first- and second-person pronouns also. This kind of subject–verb agreement does not occur in BK. This is often a problem for Creole children learning English; they fail to add the –s in a proper way, for example, sometimes producing ‘I talks’ or ‘He go there’, which are incorrect.

Sentences As stated previously, sentences can be as simple as a single clause, or they can be something more complicated, involving several clauses in combination, along with modifying elements. A sentence with a complex arrangement of elements can have a sentence nucleus and one or more sentence margins. BK sentences are essentially the same as found in Standard English. The differences that are found are at the phrase and clause level. Following are some examples of BK sentences going from simple to more complex. Ah laik mengo. I like mangoes. Di bwai skrayp daag fi paas ih tes. The boy just barely passed his test. Yu du eni kain a spoat? Do you participate in any kind of sports? Eena di maakit, dehn gat lat a gud ting fi eet. In the market, there are many good things to eat. Ah gwain da maakit, afta Ah don jrink mi tee. I am going to the market, after I have eaten breakfast. Den, afta wahn lee wail, di lee fish kohn luk fi food rong di root dehn. Then, after a little while, the little fish come searching for food around the roots.

World English Vol III.indb 99

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

100

World Englishes Volume III

Bot, wen ih weel rong an ih di taak, di man tek da pepa waata, ahn put eena ih tee! But when he turned around and was talking, the man took that pepper water and put (some) in his tea! Cho, wi kyaahn goh da keez, sayk a rayn di kohn dis eevnin. Man, we cannot go to the islands because it is going to rain this evening. The following complex sentences use coordinating and contrasting conjunctions, which are underlined. Dis fish tu chinchi fi eet an ih noh luk karek. This fish is too small and it does not look healthy. Di bwai ron hoam an (ih) shet di doa. The boy ran home and shut the door. Ah waahn goh hoam bot di weda luk laik ih wahn rayn. I want to go home but the weather looks like it is going to rain. Eeda hihn wahn lef er Ai gwain, bot Ah noh wahn stay yer wid ahn. Either he leaves or I am going, but I am not going to stay here with him. If the verb kohn or goh, or one of its inflected forms, is used in the first clause of a coordinating relationship with the conjunction an, the an can be deleted (Ø). Dehn kohn Ø bring wi food afta di harikayn paas. They came and brought us food after the hurricane passed.

Discourse Within longer stretches of speech, there are features that help with managing the information. Adverbs, pronouns, interjections, noun phrases, preposition phrases, clauses and sentence fragments can be used to help the logical development of a text. Discourse features help to establish the location or time of events. The following examples show the establishment of time and place for the events of a larger text. Wan day wi get op an notn dehdeh fi eet. One day we got up and there was not anything to eat. Jos den Ah si di lait dehn, Jak-o-lantan! Just then I saw the lights, (it was) Jack-o-lantern!

World English Vol III.indb 100

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

101

Paas dat, yu kud si loan sabana. Beyond that, you could see nothing but savanna. Soh, afta wahn wail, shee gaan aan an tel aal di animal dehn. So, after a while, she moved on and told all the animals. Adverbs are used to provide logical sequencing of ideas, link information, temporal ordering of events or contraindication. Some words that could be used like this are den, neks, dyaafoa, soh, now or howeva. BK can also use a coordinating conjunction (an, bot and er) as a logical connector at the beginning of a sentence.

Tables and Figures Table 2.1: Belize Kriol Vowels, p. 40 Figure 2.1: Intonation, p. 45 Figure 2.2: Intonation, p. 45 Figure 2.3: Suprasegmental features, p. 46 Table 2.2: Belize Kriol consonant correspondences, p. 51 Table 2.3: Belize Kriol vowel correspondences, p. 52 Table 2.4: Personal Pronouns, p. 56 Table 2.5: Reflexive Pronouns, p. 57 Table 2.6: Demonstrative Pronouns, p. 59 Table 2.7: Prepositions, p. 62 Table 2.8: Noun Phrase constituents, p. 76 Figure 2.4: Possible combinations of TMA markers, p. 81 Table 2.9: Possible combinations of TMA markers, p. 82 Table 2.10: Order of other pre-verbal constituents, p. 84 Table 2.11: Interrogative words, p. 95

Notes 1

2

3

4 5

This is a term created to describe those people with parentage predominantly from both Africa and Europe. The rule is read as follows: a vowel (V) that does not have length becomes less tense when followed by a consonant (C). That is /i, e, u, o/ become [i, ԑ, ʊ, ɵ] respectively, but remains tense in an open syllable (__•). That is [i, e, u, o]. The (•) represents a syllable break or end of the word. As I have studied texts using a computer program, I have noticed some words in which neither syllable had more stress than the other. AV-adverb, PN-pronoun, V-verb, PP-preposition, N-noun. However, /ɑks/ may be an archaic, regional English pronunciation.

World English Vol III.indb 101

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

102 6 7 8

9

10

11 12

13

14 15

16

17

18

19

20 21

22

23

24

25

26

27

World Englishes Volume III

Hellinger (1976) cites numerous examples, pp. 25–29. For a complete description of the workshop (see Decker 1996). Some of these English dictionary symbols are not precisely accurate for describing the sounds in Belize Kriol because the BK sounds are different from English, and different dictionaries use different symbols. Some of these English dictionary symbols are not precisely accurate for describing the sounds in Belize Kriol because the BK sounds are different from English, and different dictionaries use different symbols. Words borrowed from other languages are not limited to nouns; there are also pronouns (unu ‘you all’ from West Africa), adjectives (frouzi ‘musty’ from Scottish), and verbs (nyam ‘to eat’ from West Africa) that have been borrowed. Thompson 1970. These examples were found on the 1980 United Kingdom Ministry of Defense 1:50,000 scale maps of Belize. Allsopp considers it to come from bolita meaning ‘little ball’ referring to numbered balls used for picking the winning number. Confirmed with Oxford Spanish Dictionary 2001 and Allsopp 1996. Allsopp 1996 gives possible connections of these words to the West African languages Gã, Igbo or Yoruba. The phrase baka bush is an exception, the two words together are a noun describing a place, somewhere remote. The only exceptions are the verbs goh, which also has the forms gwain, gaan and bee, which also have the forms da and deh. The context determines whether this is a past or habitual understanding of the verb. See p. 96 for more on the arrangement of tense, mood and aspect (TMA) in the BK verb phrase. Technical is the name of a school on the north side of Belize City. Yarbrough is an area on the south side of Belize City near the Government House. The use of ‘fi’, or any of its variants, as marking emphasis on possession, as in this example, is considered a characteristic of the pronoun for the purposes of this chart (see p. 76 on marking possession). This is a relative clause, (see more on p. 95). The final example in this chart has a relative clause in the auxiliary position also. Plural dehn is considered a characteristic of the noun for this chart (see p. 94 on plurality). Read this as: a prepositional phrase (PP) is made with a preposition (P) wid plus an adjective (AJ) wan. This is joined to another prepositional phrase (PP), which is made with a prepositional phrase beginning with the preposition (P) a plus a noun phrase (NP). That NP is made with a demonstrative (DM) dehn plus an adjective (AJ) emti plus a modifying noun (MD) rom plus the head noun (HD) batl. Read this as: the verb phrase has an adverb (ADV) neva plus a verb (V) sleep plus an adverb (ADV) gud. The analysis of stativity and TMA here has been greatly influenced by Frank (2004).

World English Vol III.indb 102

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol 28 29 30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

103

Depends on stative or non-stative distinction of verbs (see p. 78 for more on verbs). See previous footnote. Doz and yoostu may be synonyms. In many cases, they seem to be interchangeable, but, in some sentences, people tended to prefer one form over the other. Some people say that doz is an archaic form. This is not true of combinations that describe a direction, as in dehn gaan dong da PG. You cannot say, dehn gaan da PG dong. In these phrases, the noun phrase must follow the adverb. I am using the abbreviation –ing here to represent that Kriol di is the continuative aspect marker for the following verb WH-questions that begin with ‘how’ are generally considered rhetorical questions. A rhetorical question may also have a tag clause following such as noh? – How it rayn soh, noh? ‘It has rained a lot, has it not!’ The verbs si, wach and luk do not have the same semantic meaning of the English verbs ‘see’, ‘watch’ and ‘look’. The marker da may actually be the same word as the copula da. Although ungrammatical, one often hears a mesolectal phrase like ‘Is food I want,’ which may be a reflection of an underlying Kriol form: da food mi waahn. However, one informant said that when growing up in a rural area many years ago, he was more familiar with fi hoo, rather than hoofa. Gullah is a creole language spoken in the United States along the eastern coast of South Carolina. Jamaican is the creole language spoken in Jamaica, sometimes called ‘Patois’ or ‘Patwa’. Twi and Akan are languages spoken in West Africa.

Bibliography Allsopp, R. (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Belize Kriol Project, (1994), How fi Rite Bileez Kriol, Belize City: Belize Kriol Project. ––. (1997), Bileez Kriol Glassary an Spellin Gide, Belize City: Belize Kriol Project. Bickerton, D. (1980), ‘Creolization, linguistic universals, natural semantax and the brain’, in Day, R. R. (ed.), Issues in English Creoles: Papers from the 1975 Hawaii Conference, Groos, Heidelberg: Varieties of English Around the World G2. ––. (1981), Roots of Language, Karoma Press: Ann Arbor. Braun, G. W. (1987), Linguistic Studies in Belizean Creole, Unpublished manuscript. Cassidy, F. G. (1971), Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred Years of the English Language in Jamaica, London: Macmillan Education, Ltd. ––. (1978), ‘A revised phonemic orthography for Anglophone Caribbean Creoles’, Paper Presented to the Conference of the Society for Caribbean Linguistics, Cave Hill, Barbados. Cassidy, F. G. and Le Page, R. B. (1980), Dictionary of Jamaican English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crystal, D. (1980), A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, London: Andre Deutsch. Dayley, J. P. (1979), Belizean Creole: Grammar Handbook, Peace Corps Language Handbook Series, Brattleboro, VT: The Experiment in International Living.

World English Vol III.indb 103

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

104

World Englishes Volume III

Decker, K. (1994), ‘Orthography development for Belize Creole’, in F. Ingemann (ed.), 1994 Mid-America Linguistics Conference Papers, Vol. 2, Lawrence, KS: The University of Kansas, pp. 351–362. Devonish, H. (1986), Language and Liberation: Creole Language Politics in the Caribbean, London: Karia Press. Elliot, Rev. J. A. C. (1935), ‘I Am With You Always:’ And Other Poems – Religious, Romantic, and Humorous, London: Arthur H. Stockwell. Escure, G. (1978), ‘Vocalic change in the Belizean English/Creole continuum and markedness theory’, in Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, Berkeley, CA: University of California, pp. 283–292. ––. (1981), ‘Decreolization in a Creole Continuum: Belize’, in A. Highfield and A. Valdman (eds.), Historicity and Variation in Creole Studies, Ann Arbor: Karoma Publishers, pp. 27–39. ––. (1982a), ‘Contrastive patterns of intragroup and intergroup interaction in the creole continuum of Belize’, Language in Society, 11(2), 239–264. ––. (1982b), ‘Black Caribs’ Interlanguage in Belize’, Paper Presented to the Society for Caribbean Linguistics Fourth Biennial Conference in Paramaribo, Suriname. ––. (1991), ‘Gender Roles and Linguistic Variation in the Belizean Creole Community’, in J. Cheshire (ed.), English Around the World: Sociolinguistic Perspectives, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 595–608. Floyd, T. S. (1967), The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia, University of New Mexico Press. Frank, D. B. (2004), ‘TMA and the St. Lucian Creole Verb Phrase’, in G. Escure and A. Schwegler (eds), Creoles, Contact and Language Change: Linguistic and Social Implications, Creole Linguistics Library, Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Gooden, S. (2000), ‘Stativity and past marking in Belizean Creole’, Paper Presented to the Conference of the Society for Caribbean Linguistics, Mona, Jamaica. Greene, L. A. (1999), A Grammar of Belizean Creole: Compilations from Two Existing United States Dialects, New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Hadel, R. (1974), ‘Comments (on M. Hellinger, How to write Belizean Creole)’, National Studies, 2(4), 30–32. Heath, C. R. and Marx, W. G. (1953), Diccionario: Miskito – Español, Español – Miskito, Tegucigalpa: Imprenta Calderon. Hellinger, M. (1973), ‘Aspects of Belizean Creole’, Folia Linguistica, 6(1/2), 118–135. ––. (1976), ‘Creole as a literary language’, Belizean Studies, 4(6), 19–31. Henne, M. (1991), ‘Orthographies, language planning and politics: Reflections of an SIL literacy muse’, Notes on Literacy, 65, 1–18, Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Hernandez, D. (1990), ‘The Name Belize: An example of Afro-Caribbean convergence’, in SPEAReports 6: Third Annual Studies on Belize Conference, Belize City: Cubola Productions. Hoebens, E. L. F. M. (2000), ‘Bileez kriol: Usos, desusos y abusos’, DiversCité Langues, On-line: available at http://www.teluq.uquebec.ca/diverscite/entrée.htm. Holm, J. (1977), ‘Miskito words in Belize Creole’, Belizean Studies, 5(6), 1–19. ––. (1978), The Creole English of Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast: Its Sociolinguistic History and a Comparative Study of its Lexicon and Syntax, Ph.D. thesis, University College, University of London, Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International.

World English Vol III.indb 104

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Belize Kriol

105

––. (1988), Pidgins and Creoles, Vol. 1: Theory and Structure, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ––. (2000), An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hughes, A. and Trudgill, P. (1987), English Accents and Dialects: An Introduction to Social and Regional Varieties of British English, London: Edward Arnold. Le Page, R. B, Christie, P., Jurdant, B., Weekes, A. J. and Tabouret-Keller, A. (1974), ‘Further report on the sociolinguistic survey of multilingual communities: survey of Cayo District, British Honduras’, Language in Society, 3(1), 1–32. Lewis, M. P. (2009), Ethnologue, Languages of the World, 16th ed, Dallas: SIL International. Lopez, A. (1991), ‘Belize Creole as an official national language: An analysis’, in SPEAReports 7: Fourth Annual Studies on Belize Conference, Belize City: Cubola Productions. McKesey, G. (1974), The Belizean Lingo, Belize City: National Printers Ltd. Migge, B. (1994), ‘Copula variability in the Belize continuum and the notion of the Creole continuum’, Paper Presented to NWAV (Stanford). Mufwene, S. (2001), Ecology of Language Evolution, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ramondino, S. (ed.) (1968), The New World Spanish-English and English-Spanish Dictionary, New York: Signet Books. Roberts, P. A. (1988), West Indians and Their Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Shoman, A. (1994), 13 Chapters of a History of Belize, Belize City: The Angelus Press Ltd. Spears, A. K. (1993), ‘Stem and the so-called anterior verb forms in Haitian Creole’, in F. Byrne and J. Holm (eds), Atlantic meets Pacific: A global view of pidginization and creolization, Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 261–75. Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) (2010), On-line: available at http://www.statisticsbelize.org.bz/. Thompson, J. E. S. (1970), The Maya: Historical Chapters Since Columbus, Belize: The Bendix Press (cited in Young 2002). UNESCO. (1953), ‘The use of vernacular languages in education’, Monographs on Fundamental Education, No. 8, Paris: UNESCO. Van V., Randall, D. (1977), Some Features of Belize Creole, Unpublished thesis, Stanford University, California. Welmers, W. E. (1973), African Language Structures, Berkeley: University of California Press. Winford, D. (1985), ‘The syntax of fi complements in Caribbean English Creole’, Language, 61(3), 588–624. ––. (2001), ‘On the typology of creole TMA systems’, Society for Caribbean Linguistics Occasional Paper No. 29, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago: SCL. Winer, L. (1990), ‘Orthographic standardization for Trinidad and Tobago: Linguistic and sociopolitical considerations in an English Creole community’, Language Problems and Language Planning, 14(3), 237–268. Wright, J. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, Vol. I – 1898, Vol. II – 1900, Vol. III–VI 1905, London: H. Frowde. Wyld, H. C. (1920), History of Modern Colloquial English, London: T. Fischer Unwin.

World English Vol III.indb 105

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

106

World Englishes Volume III

Young, C. N. (1973), Belize Creole: A Study of the Creolized English Spoken in the City of Belize in its Cultural and Social Setting, Ph.D. thesis. York: York University ––. (1980), Creole Proverbs of Belize, Belize City: Colville Norbert Young. ––. (2002), Language & Education in Belize, 3rd ed, Belize City: The Angelus Press. Zachrisson, R. E. (1927), English Pronunciation at Shakespeare’s Time as taught by William Bullokar, Leipzig: Uppsala.

World English Vol III.indb 106

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

Honduras

Minority Indigenous Languages in the North Coast of Honduras

World English Vol III.indb 107

11/26/2012 2:35:46 PM

World English Vol III.indb 108

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

Chapter 3

English in Honduras1 Ross Graham

Geographical Position Honduras borders Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador. There is a short Pacific coastline along the Gulf of Fonseca and, in the north, about 400 km of Caribbean coast. The offshore department of the Bay Islands is located in the western Caribbean from 30 to 64 km north of the mainland. The three major islands in the main group are Roatan (127 km2), Guanaja (56 km2) and Utila (42 km2), and there are five smaller inhabited islands – Helene, Morat, Barbaret, Big Hog and Little Hog Island in addition to upwards of 50 small cays (pronounced ‘keys’).

Demographic Data The population of Honduras is over 8 million (8,143,564–July 2011 estimate: CIA country facts website). There are no reliable up-to-date figures for the population of the Bay Islands. The figure of 31,552 given in the 2001 national census was regarded even at the time as a gross underestimate. In September 2004, the ‘Bay Islands Voice’ monthly newspaper gave population estimates of 65,000 for Roatan, 9,930 for Guanaja and 8,500 for Utila. A population survey carried out in 2007 under the auspices of ZOLITUR (the newly created Bay Islands free-trade zone) gave an estimate of 98,000 for the Bay Islands (minus the Hog Islands). More recently (March 2009), a ‘Bay Islands Voice’ article referred to a Roatan population of around 70,000, including 600–700 resident foreigners, most of whom are North American. On the basis of these figures, and assuming an overall population growth rate of perhaps 3 per cent a year, it seems safe to conclude that the Bay Islands population is now in excess of 100,000. By my estimate, there are probably around 25,000 native English-speaking Bay Islanders on the islands, with many more living on the mainland or in the United States. Since the 1980s, there has been a high level of unregulated immigration from the mainland of Honduras, attracted by higher wages on the islands. This process accelerated in the 1990s, and at some point in that decade, the population of people of mainland origin overtook the English-speaking island-born

World English Vol III.indb 109

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

110

World Englishes Volume III

population. Migration by ladinos (Spanish-speaking mestizos) has led to considerable pressure on the land and to the growth of dense urbanizations, many of which are, in reality, squatter settlements. On the north coast of Honduras, there is a small English-speaking population in La Ceiba, Tela and Puerto Cortes. Some of these are the descendants of workers who came from the English-speaking Caribbean during the banana boom years of the early twentieth century. Most of this group is now Spanishdominant, if not monolingual. With elderly speakers numbering only hundreds, the once distinctive north coast English variety is rapidly disappearing. Wendy Griffin, a long-time resident of the north coast and author of an unpublished monograph on the history and culture of the north coast English speakers, estimates that there are perhaps 1000 English native speakers in La Ceiba, mostly of Bay Islands origin, and about 150 black English speakers in each of Tela and Puerto Cortes (Griffin, pc., 30-03-05). Smaller numbers are to be found in large urban centres such as San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa.2

Historical Background In the history of Spanish colonization of the New World, the Caribbean coast and offshore islands of Honduras were areas of early settlement, yet they remained at the periphery of the empire, vulnerable to attack and the object of opposing claims to ownership by Spain and Britain. In periods when England was at war with Spain, pirate activities which interrupted Spanish trade along the Caribbean coast had Crown backing, and at other times they were hardly kept in check, in spite of official policies of appeasement of the old enemy. The north coast and the islands were far from the main centres of economic activity (chiefly silver mining) in the centre and south of the country. The culture which developed there was quite distinct, and for the entire colonial period, the region lay outside the effective control of the central authorities. The island of Guanaja was visited by Columbus on his fourth voyage of 1502, and the first substantial Spanish settlements on the Caribbean coast, Puerto Caballos (later Puerto Cortes) and Trujillo, were founded in the 1520s. From the 1560s on, English privateers and pirates were the main scourge of the Spanish maritime fleet. Trujillo was sacked three times between 1560 and 1576 and Puerto Caballos five times between 1589 and 1603 (Floyd 1967: 14). Due to their convenient location, and the abundance of natural food such as fish, coconuts and wild hogs, the Bay Islands were ideal spots for buccaneers and pirates to hide, careen ships and revictual, before launching raids on the mainland or on Spanish ships. The first group of English speakers in the Bay Islands came under the auspices of the Providence Company. A Virginia planter, William Claiborne,

World English Vol III.indb 110

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

111

brought approximately 400 settlers to Roatan in 1638, and these were later joined by others who had been driven off Old Providence Island (now called ‘Providencia’). Among these, there were a number of pirates. In 1643, the buccaneer, William Jackson, completely destroyed Trujillo, which was to remain abandoned and undefended for over a hundred years. This first Bay Islands settlement ended abruptly in 1650, when the Spanish removed the entire population by force, including the original Paya Indian inhabitants. Yet, Spain was unable to control the buccaneers, who pillaged at will along the Caribbean coast of Central America. A small number of buccaneers settled on the Honduran coast. By the 1660s, there were a number of such settlements along the Mosquito coast between Cape Camaron near the mouth of the Black River (Rio Tinto) and Cape Gracias a Dios. Of special significance was the relationship struck between the buccaneers and the people of mixed African–Sumu descent known as the ‘zambo–miskitos’.3 They were expert hunters and fishermen, and provided the buccaneers with fish, manatee and turtle-meat, as well as tortoise shell, which could be sold. In return, they received iron goods, firearms and rum. The zambo–miskitos had the custom of attacking Indian tribes and taking booty and slaves. They accompanied the English buccaneers on long sea trips and enthusiastically joined in raids on Spanish frontier posts. Many of the buccaneers took Indian wives. Dampier records: ‘The Spaniards they hate mortally . . . but acknowledge the king of England for their sovereign. They learn our language’ (Dampier 1998: 12–13). In 1687, a Miskito headman asked for British protection from the Governor of Jamaica. This was granted, and the leader was accorded the title of Jeremy the first. After this, each successive Miskito king came to Jamaica or to Belize to establish his claim to authority.4 There was some flow of people from Jamaica to the Miskito Coast. After Miskito men were hired to put down a slave rebellion in Jamaica in 1688, there was an increase in the numbers of Jamaican slaves escaping to the Shore (Preston, 1988: 8). After the 1667 Sandwich Treaty of Madrid, England undertook to suppress buccaneering, and the buccaneers were reclassified as ‘pirates’. The Bay Islands remained a favoured base for pirate activity. Henry Morgan and John Morris had used Roatan as a refuelling point for the sacking of Granada in 1664. Later, pirates such as Jackman, Sharp, Uring, Van Horn, Coxon, Low, Spriggs and Vane used the islands (see, e.g. Harper 2005). Meyer and Meyer (63) state that ‘by 1700 . . . the islands were being repopulated with a motley group of Indians, Africans, Dutch, French, English, Portuguese and Spaniards, among them English pirates expelled from the Bahamas by Woodes Rogers’. Most likely, the islands were used only as a temporary base, as it would appear that by 1722, Roatan was entirely empty. Philip Ashton, who escaped from Ned Low’s ship in Roatan in 1722, lived alone on the island for 26 months (Leslie 1988).5

World English Vol III.indb 111

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

112

World Englishes Volume III

At this time, contraband trade with Jamaica was a major activity which provided a livelihood for both pirates and resident Baymen. English traders went far into the interior, and cattle, indigo and slaves were brought down the rivers to the coast and hence to Jamaica via the Bay Islands. Contraband led to the growth of frontier towns where Spanish and English came together, especially on the upwaters of Rio Aguan, Rio Tinto and Rio Patuca. One Spanish observer of the time reported: ‘Sonaguera is a town of thieves and murderers, most of whom speak English.’ (Floyd 1967: 60). Following the outbreak of the War of Jenkins Ear (1739–1742), Britain decided to actively defend the Baymen by appointing superintendents on the Miskito Coast and the Bay Islands. The second attempt at a Bay Islands settlement was, in the event, no more successful than the first. In 1742, New Port Royal in Roatan was fortified. 460 soldiers of the Jamaica regiment and their families, together with some settlers from St. Kitts, Jamaica and Belize, came to Roatan (Davidson 1974: 54, 57). The garrison withdrew after the signing of the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), and, for the next thirty years, the islands appear to have remained uninhabited, although, for seven years, a few Englishmen from Jamaica pastured their mules on the western end of Roatan (Davidson 1974: 60). The British protectorate of the Mosquito Shore, which lasted from 1749– 1786, was more successful. This included Black River, Brewer’s Lagoon, Nasty Creek and, to the east, Cabo Gracias a Dios. Contemporary records give the population of the Mosquito Shore in 1770 as 206 whites, around 200 mixed-blood people and 900 slaves (Naylor 1989: 237). Around two thirds lived in Black River. Strategically, a British presence on the Shore offered a haven for the Baymen of Belize when they were attacked, and, economically, it was valuable not just for contraband, but for logwood and mahogany. Slave auctions were held at Black River, where Belizean and Jamaican traders bought and sold. Even the Spanish bought black slaves from the English to work in the silver mines of the interior. The determination of the Spanish colonial authorities to stamp out contraband and reassert control over the coast led to the construction of the great fort at Omoa. Construction work was carried out by black slaves, including Koromanti from West Africa. It is not known whether creole English was spoken at this time, but if so, it seems unlikely that it would have been passed on through many generations. Yet, from a cultural point of view, it is interesting that ‘stories of Tecumseh, a folk hero of Ashanti tales, still circulate in Puerto Cortes’ (Griffin 2004: 5). Spain launched a successful military campaign between 1779 and 1782, eventually forcing the British settlers and their slaves to withdraw completely from both the Bay Islands and the Miskito Coast under the Convention of London (1786). The number of whites in Black River ‘never rose much over 200 but the number of slaves eventually soared to over 1500’ (Naylor 1989: 51). At the time of

World English Vol III.indb 112

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

113

the evacuation of the Shore in 1787, there were at the Cape ‘near thirty English families, with about one hundred negro slaves, who had begun plantations of sugar on the lands given [to] them by the Mosquitos’ (Strangeways 20). The resettlement in Belize of almost all the black slaves meant fragmentation of the already small population of English speakers on the Miskito Coast. However, some traders remained behind. Griffin (n.d.: 2) writes that after the break-up of Black River, many English-speaking blacks were employed by the Spanish as canoe-paddlers. It seems certain that at least some of this generation of blacks and their descendants would have kept creole English alive and would have used the language with the woodcutters and traders from Belize who began to arrive after England made peace with Spain in 1808. Naylor (75) notes that at the mouth of the Patook River, there was a small self-contained farming and ranching community of English negroes who had once belonged to a Black River merchant. One new and quite distinct group of Caribbean blacks was becoming established on the coast. In 1797, the British deported some 5000 Black Caribs to Roatan from the island of St. Vincent, as a punishment for insurrection and fighting on the side of the French. As often before, the Spanish expelled the British from the island. Most of the Black Caribs (now generally known as Garifuna) were persuaded to move to the mainland. Nowadays, about 2000 descendants of those who remained on Roatan still live in the settlement of Punta Gorda. Most speak Spanish and have island English as their second language. Between 1821 and 1849, the British Government had no diplomatic relations with the new Central American Republic or with its successor, the independent government of Honduras.6 However, wealthy Belizean merchants were interested in exploiting the mahogany of the Miskito Shore, where, in contrast to Belize, mahogany was still plentiful.7 Belize was at this time the main trading port in Central America, and British goods supplied the entire region. British commercial interests were represented by a Consul based in Belize. There was talk of building a transoceanic railway or a canal, and intense rivalry over which country would build this. The United States was unambiguously staking its claims to hegemony; the Monroe Doctrine (1823) stated that any intervention by European powers in the American Continent would be viewed as hostile to the United States. No such considerations troubled the speculators who invested heavily in a fraudulent scheme to establish a British settlement in the mythical republic of Poyais on the Miskito Coast.8 A Scottish adventurer, ‘Sir Gregor MacGregor’, claimed to have received a grant of several million acres from the Miskito king. Around 240 British colonists, mostly Scottish highlanders, arrived in 1823, but immediately succumbed to fever and lack of food, so all of them were moved to Belize within a few months. Meanwhile, other people too were on the move within the region. Many slaves escaped from Belize into Honduras because slavery was abolished in the new Central American Federation in 1821, while it remained legal in Belize until

World English Vol III.indb 113

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

114

World Englishes Volume III

1834. Work was easily found, for example, in the Ulua Valley near San Pedro Sula in north-west Honduras, which had became a centre of logging (Griffin n.d.: 2–3). Some Belizeans went further afield. During the nineteenth century, a number of logging settlements of creole English speakers from Belize and Jamaica were established on the Rio Aguan and at points further east on the Miskito coast.9 Cultural assimilation gradually took place as they intermarried with local women. Thomas Young (1842: 80) refers to negroes on the Patook River ‘who have intermarried with the sambos, follow their customs, and consider themselves in all respects Mosquitians’. It was the ending of slavery in the British Empire in 1834 which gave rise to the most significant immigration of English speakers to Honduras. Starting around 1830, ex-slave-owning families from the Cayman Islands began to settle in the Bay Islands. They were followed, after 1838, by a much larger number of ex-slaves and free coloured people. All were attracted by the possibilities for agriculture and fishing. The British administration in Belize backed the settlement and the settlers’ demands for incorporation into the Empire. In the 1840s, some British investors also showed renewed interest in the commercial possibilities of the region, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to re-establish a trading settlement at Black River. To protect British commercial interests, the Miskito Coast was run as an informal protectorate managed by a resident Consul-General in Bluefields, with the young Miskito king as a figurehead. The British allied themselves with the Miskito in a confrontation with the Honduran army in Trujillo (Caiger 1951: 114). The state of anarchy on the coast no doubt explains in part why some English speakers left the north coast and went to settle on the Bay Islands at this time. The 1858 Bay Islands census, reproduced in Davidson (1974: 81), shows that out of a total population of 1548 (which included 572 children born on the islands), 144 were born on the Miskito Coast. This compares with 650 born in the Cayman Islands, 66 in Belize and 28 in Jamaica. A few people had been born in Britain. ‘Whites’ constituted 22 per cent of the population. Aside from the large number of young people and children who are listed as having been born on the islands, it is clear that roughly two thirds of the adult population was of Caymanian birth, although other territories would have contributed a layer of creole English features to the speech mosaic. The Bay Island colony lasted only from 1852 to 1861. Its establishment had been backed by the Colonial Office, but was never sanctioned by the Foreign Office. The United States, which of course had its own designs on a transoceanic canal, held that Britain had breached the 1850 Clayton–Bulwer Treaty, under which neither country was to seek to fortify, occupy or colonize any part of Central America not already owned. Finally, the islands were handed over to Honduras under the terms of the Wyke–Cruz Treaty (1859), which recognized British rights

World English Vol III.indb 114

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

115

to Belize in exchange for giving up any claims to the Miskito Coast and the Bay Islands. The islanders were offered the option of free Crown land elsewhere in the Caribbean, with free transportation, but few accepted. Under the treaty, they kept their rights to all the land and assets they claimed as British citizens. They were also allowed freedom to practise their religion. News of this caused riots on the mainland and invited calls from Honduran Church leaders for the excommunication of President Santos Guardiola. Islanders continued for a long time after to believe that they were British subjects and not subject to Honduran laws.10 Although Spanish was made the official language after the Bay Islands became a departamento in 1872, this had little or no impact on everyday life. Bay Islanders caught fish and turtle, and cultivated plantain, banana, yam and pineapples. These products were traded in Belize and also exported to the United States. Until the devastating hurricane of 1877, most of Honduras’ bananas exported to the United States came from the Bay Islands. Smuggling was also an important source of income. During the American Civil War, arms were smuggled to the Confederates. The distinctive Caymanian-accented English would have been heard in all the small trading ports along the coast, including Cauquira, the main port in La Mosquitía, which according to tradition was founded by Bay Islanders (Griffin n.d.: 3).11 Beginning in the late nineteenth century and continuing well into the twentieth century, the north coast received its final wave of Caribbean immigrants. Some Jamaicans were brought in to work on the proposed interoceanic railroad. Work on this began in the late 1860s, but it never reached further than San Pedro Sula. In 1870, the ‘New Orleans and Bay Island Company’ established in La Ceiba, was the first company to import West Indian workers to work for banana plantations (Canelas Diaz 1999: 65). Later on, around the turn of the century, some West Indian immigrants also worked for banana companies like Vaccaro’s and Samuel Zemurray’s. The numbers of West Indians increased dramatically after 1911, when a coup installed President Bonilla, who granted major concessions to United Fruit, Vaccaro’s (later taken over by Standard Fruit) and the Cuyamel Fruit Company. This led to railroad construction along the Sula Valley (the Tela Railroad), the Aguan Valley (Truxillo Railroad) and inland from La Ceiba. The two major companies were United Fruit (which owned the Tela and Trujillo railroads) and Standard Fruit, which operated from la Ceiba. As the official language used by the banana companies was English, the English language acquired great prestige in Honduras. English literacy was a prerequisite for the better jobs. English speakers worked as stevedores in the docks, drivers, book-keepers, storekeepers, engineers and mechanics. Women

World English Vol III.indb 115

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

116

World Englishes Volume III

too worked as company employees, some as school teachers and nurses, others as domestics and laundresses. Workers came from Belize, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and other parts of the English-speaking Caribbean as far away as Barbados and Trinidad. Many Bay Islanders came to the coast, and some settled there. Likewise, some of the West Indians married Bay Islanders and went to live on the islands. There were as many as 4500 to 5000 West Indian immigrants in Honduras in 1920 (Euraque 2004). Most lived in the port towns of Tela, Puerto Cortes, La Ceiba and Trujillo, where there were separate black West Indian neighbourhoods. The most vibrant was the ‘barrio inglés’ in La Ceiba, established around 1870. The community was served by English-speaking churches: AME Zion, Wesleyan Methodist, Episcopal and Baptist. There were also social clubs and Masonic lodges for the black communities. The banana companies operated English-medium schools specifically for their employees in La Ceiba, San Pedro Sula and La Lima. The Episcopal Church in Tela had a bilingual school, and there was also one in Puerto Castilla, the terminus of the Truxillo Railway. North American culture was in the ascendant, and baseball acquired many followers. English was seen as the language of progress. Many English borrowings into north-coast Spanish date from this time. Those listed in Herranz (1996: 214) include guachiman (watchman), breque (brake), clos or cloche (clutch), bomper, fulear (fill the tank) and hall (jol). The numbers of immigrants declined sharply after the mid-1920s, partly due to the destructive effects of the Panama disease of bananas. United Fruit gradually abandoned the processing of bananas between La Ceiba and Trujillo. Also, from 1933, the enforcement of restrictive labour laws under the dictator, Tiburcio Carias, made it illegal to hire black and Chinese workers, and many blacks were deported. The closing of the Truxillo Railway between 1937 and 1942 made thousands of workers redundant, and many north-coast blacks left the country. After the nationwide banana strike of 1954, the banana industry was mechanized and two thirds of the jobs disappeared. Most of the remaining West Indians went home or left for the United States. Euraque (2004) estimates that ‘by the early 1950s, probably no more than 1,000 West Indians, mostly Jamaicans, lived on the North Coast of Honduras’.

Sociocultural and Linguistic Background From the time of the earliest contacts between English speakers and the Miskito on the Shore, a simplified English would have been spoken to facilitate communication, and from this a pidgin English developed. The Miskito language includes the words ayan (iron), ho, amar, saa (saw) and subil (shovel) (Holm

World English Vol III.indb 116

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

117

1982: 28). It seems likely that these words would have formed part of the pidgin English trading language. There are some brief specimens of this pidgin in Young (1842). He recounts his first encounter with a Miskito at Cape Gracias a Dios: ‘One of them sung out in pretty good English. “How do? Me glad see you–long time you no come!” To which one of our men who had been in the country before, and who knew the Indians, replied “Tokoy, plenty English come live with you, bring plenty everything, too much” ’(ibid: 12). Young comments that such a knowledge of English ‘is easily accounted for, inasmuch as numbers of them go away at different times to Belize, where they sometimes stay two or three years, employed by the merchants as hunters and fishers’ (ibid: 28). In the eighteenth-century logging camps, the Miskito pidgin English would have been influenced by Belizean Creole and Jamaican Creole. If the loggers remained and had families with Miskito women, a form of creole English could have remained in use in these communities for a few generations. However, militating against the retention of creole English as a community language was the transmission of the Miskito language in the home from mother to child, regardless of the ethnicity of the father (Conzemius 1932, cited by Herranz 1996: 436). The eighteenth to nineteenth century toponymy of the Mosquito Shore contained many English names. Some of the names are Cabbage Tree Lagoon, Limehouse Bight, Turtle Bight, Plantain River, Brewers Lagoon (all listed in Strangeways 1822). Two Miskito words of English origin mentioned by Henderson (1811) are bip (bull or cow) and rokepuse (rifle  arquebus). The Miskito today use English words for counting – wan, tu, tree, etc. – and many English words are used for non-indigenous items like ais (ice), boks (box) dur (door), windur (window) and rais an biinz (rice and beans). The word braf (from ‘broth’) refers to coconut milk based soup stock (Griffin n.d.: 4). The Miskito adopted the name ‘Krismas’ for their seven-day traditional festival held between Christmas and New Year. Drum-dances of African influence used to be performed, but these were stopped due to the influence of Moravian missionaries. A striking remnant of the influence of both creole and British culture still remains in the ringplays (rondas) performed on Christmas morning, nowadays in Miskito language versions. These include ‘Do you know the Muffin Man?’, ‘Sally Manny’ and ‘Have you ever seen a lassy?’ Only a few of the original English words remain.12 Today, very few Miskito have any English, even those with a strong element of creole ancestry.13 Cultural contact and migration to and from the islands led to some Miskito words being adopted by English speakers. This accounts for certain words in Bay Islands English: dory  dugout canoe, cohune  a type of palm, wishiwilly  a large lizard ( Miskito ‘isuli’), konkas  a biting fly ( Miskito ‘kunkas’).

World English Vol III.indb 117

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

118

World Englishes Volume III

Turning to the creole English of the workers hired by the banana companies, this is unfortunately unrecorded, but it had diverse inputs. Workers came not only from Jamaica and Belize, but also from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands, and even from the French islands (S. Whittaker, pc., August 2006). West Indians were segregated in their own neighbourhoods and did not mix socially with the white employees (many of whom of course were American) or with the ladinos. Antillean blacks looked down on the Garifuna. Sabas Whittaker, an artist, musician and writer, who was born in Puerto Cortes and who now lives in Hartford, Connecticut, is exceptional in that his father was Garifuna and his mother a black Bay Islander of Caymanian descent. He recalls: ‘My grandmother lived in Cortes for nearly 60 years and still did not speak Spanish . . . mostly by choice . . . the second generation English speaking Hondurans on the mainland attended Spanish schools and socialized with the natives . . . however, they attended English speaking churches, lodge halls (Masons), AME Zion, Wesleyan Methodist and Baptist churches and kept their culture alive by allowing their children to remain bilingual’ (pc., August 2006). Many of the third generation, like Sabas, kept their English, although most of the fourth generation remaining in Honduras are now monolingual Spanish speakers. Many have moved away from the coast to cities like Tegucigalpa or San Pedro. The small population of English speakers that remained on the mainland after the banana strike of 1954 were faced with the choice between cultural assimilation, emigration, or marginalization. Many joined the merchant marine and managed in this way to keep some Anglophone Caribbean links. A number became bilingual teachers in San Pedro and Tegucigalpa. Several have become nationally well known in the sporting world. Others emigrated to the United States, where some, like Sabas Whittaker, have forged successful careers. Bay Islanders long resisted cultural assimilation into Spanish Honduras, though they have come a long way from the stance of cultural superiority and outright rejection of central government which was characteristic of most of the period following incorporation into Honduras (Graham 2000). Very gradually, islanders have come to see themselves as Honduran and to understand that bilingualism is an advantage. Hispanization of the islands is a recent phenomenon. For the first two thirds of the twentieth century, the islands were a largely self-sufficient community. Fruit production for export remained important until the 1920s, but the outbreak of Panama disease followed by the economic collapse of 1929 in the United States led to a lean decade, when islanders turned to selling cohune nuts used in the production of copra and palm oil. The smuggling of illegal liquor to the United States was lucrative for a few people. During World War II, the US Navy leased ships belonging to United Fruit and Standard Fruit for defence duties, and many island men worked as crew on

World English Vol III.indb 118

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

119

these or on supply vessels of the US merchant fleet. After the war, islanders began to find employment with US merchant shipping lines, and from the 1960s, Scandinavian merchant lines and cruise-ship lines. The income earned on ships, combined with remittances from islanders living in the United States, helped sustain what Lord (1975) terms the ‘money-order economy’. From the late 1950s onwards, money earned offshore enabled the development of commercial fishing, which quickly became the islands’ major incomegenerating activity. Some islanders purchased large boats that could operate far out on the banks. The first ice-packing plant opened in Guanaja in 1959, and plants for processing shrimp and lobster opened in French Harbour and Oakridge in the 1960s. Despite declining catches due to overfishing and controls, the fish processing plants operating on Roatan and Guanaja are still a significant source of employment, especially for ladinos. In a society where fishing, subsistence agriculture, and work offshore provided the essentials of life, education was not highly valued. With few exceptions, most islanders took only a few years of education, and very few went on to further study on the mainland. For most of the twentieth century, English education consisted of a few hours a week in ‘home schools’, similar to the ‘dame schools’ of Victorian England. Public schooling in Spanish was made mandatory following a ruling made by Barahona, the islands’ Governor between 1917 and 1919 (Davidson 1974: 95), and many English schools were closed during the long Carías dictatorship (1932–1949). In the mid-1950s, all private English schools were closed by Government order. Sunday schools and ‘home schools’ were the only means of acquiring English reading and writing skills. The result was that most islanders lacked both proficiency in Spanish and literacy in English. During this period, still remembered by island elders, traditional oral culture thrived. Storytelling permeated the Afro-Caribbean culture of the islands, in the form of stories of duppies (ghosts) and pirate gold, Anansi stories or ‘tall tales’. Maypole and plaitpole dances and ring-play songs – survivals of British folk-culture, but altered in the Caribbean crossing of cultures – were living cultural traditions. The end of the old year was marked by Watchnight services in the churches. Junkanoo dances, with a man dressed in ugly rags going from house to house, were a feature of Christmas time. A valuable account of this largely lost culture, with some examples of Bay Island stories, is given in Griffin (2004). Contacts between islanders and mainlanders were minimal until the mid1960s. Evans (1966) describes an isolated society with strong internal barriers to cultural change; his thesis identified factors which ‘serve to induce and perpetuate ill feelings and mistrust between the people of French Harbour and the mainland ladino population’ (1966: v). From the mid-sixties onwards, the 1960s, the islands gradually became more influenced by the outside world. LANSA introduced limited air services to the

World English Vol III.indb 119

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

120

World Englishes Volume III

mainland in 1963. Tourism developed gradually, with the opening of a few dive resorts, but did not begin to take off in a major way until the airport on Roatan was improved to handle international flights in 1988. Immigration by ladinos, which began in earnest in the 1980s, together with greater involvement of administrators and business investors from the mainland, created conditions where ‘maintenance of the language barrier’ (Evans 1966: 172) was no longer feasible or desirable. While speaking Spanish was previously frowned upon, using both languages was becoming a normal feature of everyday interaction by the late 1970s. Perhaps the clearest reflection of the extent of hispanicization today is the near-universal active bilingualism. Only some elderly people are monolingual English speakers (Decker and Henriksen 2002). In contrast, islander householders in the part of western Roatan surveyed in the early 1990s reported that only 50 per cent of their parents spoke Spanish (Stonich 2000: 121). Underlying the gradual language shift is the change in the balance of population between mainlanders and islanders. Knowledge and active use of the other language is much greater among the islanders than among the mainland incomers. ‘84 per cent of islanders who speak English as their primary language also speak Spanish, while only 33 per cent of Spanish-speaking ladinos also speak English’ (Stonich 2000: 120). Another change is that many more Bay Islanders are taking Spanish-speaking partners. This is cutting across the hitherto deep-rooted divisions between white and ‘coloured’ islanders. Writing in the 1930s, a British visitor described ‘rigid strata of society which are unassailable’; coloured people then were ‘looked upon as an entirely different and quite inferior stratum of society by the rest of the population’ (Houlson 1934: 68). This theme is further explored by Evans (1966), who describes a segregated society where whites mistrusted blacks; the segregation was most marked on Utila, where one account refers to a ‘Mississippi-like environment’ in which ‘white people exhibit horror at physical contact’ with ‘coloureds’, and there were separate dances for blacks and whites (Jones and Glean 1971: 59). Despite the taboo on interethnic marriages, and the use of non-flattering terms to address each other, both groups have always self-identified as ‘English’ in opposition to the mainland ‘Spaniards’. Both terms hark back to colonial times, with all the historical baggage that this entails. In turn, many mainlanders still call the native Bay Islanders ‘piratas’. One salient cultural difference is nowadays somewhat diminished in importance. The islanders brought Protestantism to Honduras, which was at first deeply resented by mainland religious conservatives. In the last 25 years, however, there has been a rapid growth in evangelical Christianity on the mainland. A large proportion of the ladino population on the islands now belongs to one of the Protestant denominations, principally to the Adventist and Baptist churches.

World English Vol III.indb 120

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

121

Linguistic Description of Bay Islands English Introduction Holm (1983: 15) makes the following comment with respect to Bay Islands English in his introduction to the edited volume Central American Englishes. (it) would seem to be not a Creole but rather a regional variety of English influenced by contact with creolised English, much like the folk speech of the southern United States. This observation points to BIE having a different character from the creole Englishes spoken in the Caribbean and in Belize and in other pockets of Central America. The underlying assumption is that, as in parts of the Southern United States, prolonged co-existence of whites and blacks in close contiguity has profoundly influenced speech patterns on the Bay Islands. Treated as an analogy, Holm’s characterization is broadly correct, though it is seriously flawed in that it has nothing to say about the wide variation within Bay Islands English, related in large part to social background. Also, significant differences related to ethnicity persist in spite of long-term convergence.14 Moreover, creole influence is more marked than earlier studies by Ryan (1973) and Warantz (1983) suggested. It is true that the speech of many white Bay Islanders shows only a limited degree of creole influence. This is also true of many blacks in the small islands of Utila and Guanaja, where close contact has led to greater convergence of ethnic varieties. The study of Bay Islands English in the Holm volume (Warantz 1983) is based on recordings of black speakers on Utila, so it does not truly represent the range of variation within BIE as a whole. In particular, it suggests that creole influence is fairly marginal. In fact, a careful study of the ‘creole’ features in BIE shows the presence of a great many such features.15 On a morphosyntactic level, there are notable resemblances to mesolectal speech as described by Patrick (1999) for Jamaica or Winford (2000) for Barbados. Absent are the distinctive basilectal forms of the creole copula and combinations of tense-aspect pre-verbal markers. Many black BIE speakers, particularly in Roatan, use a variety that shows the combined influence of creole-like restructuring and long-term convergence with the white variety. Evidence for a substantial creole input comes from linguistic features such as pronoun use, including the second person pronoun annuh, pluralizer -dem, and the seh complementizer, as well as low frequencies of finite be, plural -s, and past-tense marking. Such features could have been brought from the Cayman Islands in the mid-nineteenth century, though they would have been reinforced

World English Vol III.indb 121

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

122

World Englishes Volume III

by the presence of speakers of Belizean or Jamaican Creole, who also came to the Bay Islands to settle, most of whom would at some time have worked on the north coast. According to the 1858 census (Davidson 1974: 81), 252 out of a population of 1548 had been born in the Mosquito Shore, Belize, Jamaica or Africa. On this basis, it is likely that as many as 16 per cent of islanders were native speakers of a creole English. On Roatan, which had a population of 1379, the ‘coloured’ population outnumbered ‘whites’ more than 6 to 1. This pattern of immigration continued into the twentieth century, as municipal records in Coxen Hole reveal. There is no doubt, however, that it was the Cayman Islands, where black and white speech patterns had mutually influenced each other over a long period, which was the crucible of Bay Islands English. Even today, the accent of traditional Bay Islands speakers is very similar to that of the Caymans.16 It is possible to reconstruct two key overlapping processes that would have shaped the historical development of the nineteenth-century Cayman Islands speech which developed into BIE. At an earlier period, selection of features from English dialectal inputs, together with levelling, would have produced a non-standards variety that we can refer to, following Williams (1987), as ‘white Anglo-Caribbean’. Second, an approximation of this variety was variably acquired by black slaves and servants who also brought to the mix some creole speech patterns of Jamaican origin. This modified Afro-Caribbean Caymanian speech profoundly influenced white Caymanian, but processes of mutual convergence meant that Caymanian English was never more than a ‘semi-creole’. I propose that much of the variation within BIE, though not all, can be traced to the partially distinct historical inputs to white and black speech. These inputs may be referred to respectively as Anglo-Caribbean and AfroCaribbean, with the proviso that both terms cover a range rather than referring to a single highly focused variety (for the concept of focusing, see Le Page and Tabouret-Keller 1985). Segregation of blacks and whites in housing and social life and the perception of interethnic differences (as described by Evans) would have encouraged the maintenance of ethnic distinctions in speech. Although ethnolinguistic divisions are much weaker within BIE today, a system of ethnic labelling of certain linguistic features is still useful.17 The present account makes use of the labels AngBIE and AfrBIE where this is appropriate. The abbreviation AfrBIE denotes those speakers whose speech contains the highest incidence of creole features. By comparison, black varieties that show a medium degree of convergence with AngBIE are labelled AfrBIE . The term ‘acrolect’ is used here as a convenient shorthand for the type of BIE that is closest to StE. I avoid use of the terms ‘mesolect’ and ‘basilect’, as these suggest the existence of a creole speech continuum, which is an inaccurate representation of

World English Vol III.indb 122

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

123

the BIE speech community. It is unwise to assume that a true creole basilect, as distinct from ‘creole features’, was ever transmitted cross-generationally in either the Bay Islands or the Cayman Islands. Secondly, a continuum of lects implies a smooth gradation of varieties ranged between those at either end. There are significant discontinuities between AngBIE and AfrBIE, as I have shown in an earlier paper (Graham 2005).18

Phonology In what follows, an attempt is made to distinguish features of pronunciation that are common to all groups of speakers across the islands, while noting a few salient differences associated with (a) individual islands or (b) the most heavily creole-influenced speech, that is, AfrBIE in Roatan. The latter shares certain features with JC (Jamaican creole).

Consonants V/W realizations A range of phonetic variants is found in words spellt with ‘v’ or ‘w’. Various approximants are found in these words, including labial or labio–dental approximants, a labial–palatal approximant and a velar approximant produced with no lip rounding. A pure labio–dental fricative [v] is rare in BIE, and is never found in words spellt with ‘w’. For all varieties except the acrolect, it is appropriate to specify a single /W/ phoneme with various allophones. Syllable-initially, in place of SE [w] or [v], a labial–palatal approximant [ɥ] is often used in the environment of a following close or mid–front vowel. This may also be used with a following [a] vowel, while [ɥ] or [w] with reduced lip rounding is used with back vowels. Some AfrBIE speakers may additionally have [b] as an allophone, as in the attested bek (vexed). Thus, week may sound like veek, and went like vent (front vowel environment). But we also find very sounding like werry and vexed like wex. To the untutored ear, vanished sounds like wanisht and voice like wois or wais. Syllable-finally, in place of SE [v], we again find the labial–palatal approximant [ɥ] after front vowels, as in save; a slightly fronted velar approximant [w˧] occurs elsewhere, making have/how and love/law near homophones. The [ɥ] sound can occur intervocalically, as in never, but some AfrfBIE speakers may drop the consonant, pronouncing the word as [nɒːr]. The v/w merger has been noted in the Bahamas and Bermuda (Wells 1982: 568), as well as St. Vincent (Aceto 2008: 295) and Tristan da Cunha (Schreier and Trudgill 2006: 129). It would seem to have its origin in v/w variability in some earlier British dialects.

World English Vol III.indb 123

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

124

World Englishes Volume III

Initial hwAnother relic feature, perhaps even more unusual in a Caribbean context, is the retention of aspiration in the initial consonant of certain words spellt with ‘wh’. Examples occur in the common function words what, when, where and why, although it is a minority variant. The voiceless labial–velar fricative [ʍ] (equivalent to [hw]) can be regarded as a lexically conditioned allophone of /W/.

H dropping /h/ is generally pronounced, although as in many other varieties of English, it is frequently dropped in the pronouns he, him and her. In contrast to Jamaica, h-insertion is rather rare. The absence of h-dropping outside unstressed function words suggests a pre-nineteenth century origin for BIE phonology.

TH Stopping Particularly in AfrBIE, syllable-initial interdental fricatives // and /ð/ are variably realized as the stops [t] and [d] with a dental articulation, the substitution of /ð/being much more common, though always variable. For most speakers, a stop articulation is the norm where the initial th is followed by [r], as in three [tri]. Stopped forms are much less frequent in AngBIE and are absent in white Utilian speech. The initial consonant in words like than, that, they, this and these is often omitted in informal style.

Rhoticity and treatment of /r/ and /l/ Most AngBIE speakers pronounce post-vocalic [ɹ] often with a degree of retroflexion (phonetic differences are ignored in my transcriptions, which use [r] throughout). For the large majority of white speakers, /r/ is realized word-finally in an unstressed syllable, for example, in mother, brother, water and also in fire. While certainly not the norm, elision of post-vocalic /r/ is more extensive in AfrBIE, where /r/ is commonly elided not only in word-final unstressed syllables, but also syllable-finally, as in [jɔnɛ] journey and [fʌdʌ] further. Elision may also occur pre-consonantally in syllable codas, as in [fʌs] first. This explains hypercorrections such as [kors] coast. /l/ is clear pre-vocalically and after front vowels. A velar pronunciation of /l/ is found after back vowels, as in full. Exchange of /r/ and /l/ may appear in less-educated speech, for example, [ʌnrɛs] unless, [pɔlk] pork, and is lexicalized in [flɪtɪr] fritter. In AfrBIE, /l/ may sometimes be elided pre-consonantally, as in [hɛp] help.

World English Vol III.indb 124

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

125

Realizations of T In words like better or little, the /t/ between vowels tends to be voiced, becoming a voiced alveolar tap. This is part of a more general phonological process affecting /t/ intervocalically, for example, [amit ɪm] I meet him. ˇ Many speakers of all age groups have variable substitution of a glottal stop for /t/ before syllabic /n/ and /l/, as in [nʌʔn] nothing and [bɒʔl] bottle. A glottal stop may also occur in certain common words such as that or right (interjection) when utterance-final. Sometimes there is pre-glottalization of the /t/, for example, [ɡreʔt] great. Glottalization is not an attested feature of CECs, apart from Barbados (Wells 1982: 584) and Saba (Williams 1985: 40), indicating a likely common origin in the respective earlier white varieties. There is a possibility that glottalization can be traced to a Scottish input, although like T voicing, this process could also have been an innovation in the Caribbean. In AfrBIE, there is regular substitution of /t/ by /k/ after /aʊ/ and variable substitution after /aɪ/. This tends to occur with raised realizations of MOUTH and PRICE vowels, as in [өʊksaɪd] outside and [nəik] night.

Velar palatalization When a word-initial velar stop is followed by [a], the consonant is palatalized, for example, cat [kjaːt], garlic [ɡjaːlɪk]. Occasionally, this may extend to front– mid vowels, for example, came [kjeːm] or to a central vowel, for example, girl [ɡjʌrl], but never to back vowels, for example, cot [kɒt]. Velar palatalization before /a/ has its origin in English dialects of the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries; the feature is preserved today in rural Hiberno English and in Jamaican Creole (Cassidy and Le Page 1980: lviii; Harris 1987: 273).

Reduction of syllable-final consonant clusters Although not so regular or extensive as in CECs, final consonant cluster simplification is universal in BIE, though subject to a good deal of variability. (a) Syllable-finally, clusters of any consonant plus /d/ tend to be reduced, with the loss of /d/. For certain words ending in [nd] and [ld], reduction is near-categorical, for example, send → [sɛn], told → [tol] (b) Syllable-final fricative plus /t/ is reduced: left → [lɛf]; coast → [koːs]. At least in the case of -st final clusters, the final stop remains present underlyingly, as is shown by the strategy employed when -s inflections are added to the base: the word is split into two syllables in order to avoid a difficult consonant cluster, and the ending is realized as [ɛz/ɪz]: guests [ɡɛstɛz]; tourists [tʊrɪstɪz]. The same ending is applied to bases ending

World English Vol III.indb 125

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

World Englishes Volume III

126

in -ks, which occur due to metathesis: [hʌksɪz] husks and [dɛksɛz] desks. The [ɛz] variant is sometimes used to avoid an [fs] cluster, for example, [lafɛz] laughs.

Affrication In AfrBIE, there may be affrication in a word-initial tr- or thr- sequence: try [tʃraɪ], [tʃru] through. This substitution is usual in basilectal JC. There is a tendency among some speakers to substitute [tʃ] for [ʃ]: [tʃʊɡa] sugar. For some AfrBIE speakers, /ӡ/ may be replaced with [dӡ], for example, [pledӡa] pleasure.

Devoicing of final stops In AfrBIE, final stops are sometimes devoiced: [bɪk] big, [stap] stab, [blaint] blind.

Vowels Wells (1982) lays out vowel inventories in terms of four ‘part-systems’. The partsystems for BIE are set out in Table 3.1. Column 1 (part-system A) contains the short vowels which occur only in checked syllables. The vowels in columns 2–4, which may occur in both free and checked syllables, include both long vowels and diphthongs. Part-system B vowels and diphthongs have a front–mid to close quality or endpoint. Part-system C consists of vowels with a back–mid to close quality or endpoint, and part-system D vowels have a more open quality. In BIE, certain distinctions made in the standard accents on the basis of vowel quality are either not made or are conveyed by vowel length. This applies to the oppositions /a, ɑ/and /ɒ, ɔ/. Also, BIE is basically rhotic, and no distinct vowel phonemes occur before /r/. In part-system D, /a/ and /ɒ/ have been used to represent the single vowel resulting from the TRAP/BATH and THOUGHT/LOT mergers, respectively. The FOOT/GOOSE contrast is represented by /ɵ/ and /ʊː/. Unreduced vowels are generally used in unstressed syllables, so no schwa vowel is listed.

Table 3.1 The vowel inventory of BIE A ɪ ɛ

World English Vol III.indb 126

B ɵ ʌ

iː eː aɪ

C

D ʊː oː

ɔɪ aʊ

a

ɒ

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

English in Honduras

127

Table 3.2 sets out the phonemic vowel contrasts using the standard lexical sets that were developed by Wells for comparisons of a wide range of accents. I have tried to give some idea of the variation within BIE by including variants for certain phonemes, with the most common variant first. Where a variant is associated with a particular group of speakers, phonological environment or lexical subset, this is explained in the notes. KIT/ɪ/: Some Roatan and Guanaja speakers have close and lengthened realizations before a nasal consonant: [hiːm] him, [θiːŋz] things. In other environments, raising with or without lengthening may sometimes occur, for example, [hiːz] his, [spit] spit, [hiːl] hill. The KIT/DRESS contrast may be neutralized in certain environments. Pre-nasally, Utilians tend to have [ɛ]: [θɛŋz] things, [sɛns] since. For some speakers, [ɛ˔ ] is found before a following /k/: stick [stɛ˔ k], pick [pɛ˔ k] and homophony between sit and set is common. Especially in white BIE, lowering is commonly found in the words it [ɛt], if [ɛf] and till [tɛl]. The KIT set includes some words with /ɛ/ in the standard accents: whelk, pelican, engine and kettle. DRESS/ɛ/: Raising before a following nasal consonant is common. Raised variants can also be observed before final voiced stops and /W/. Examples include [red] red, [eːɡ] egg, [we˕ b] web and [ew r̘ ɪ] every. Lowered variants often occur in the environment of a following /t/, as in get [ɡɛ˕ t] and set [sɛ˕ t]. In Utila, /ɛ/ lowering is more pronounced and may extend to other words, for example, best [bæst], belly [bælɛ]. TRAP/a/: The quality of /a/ is typically an open central [a]. No phonemic contrast exists between the TRAP and the BATH/PALM sets, although length differences are observable: [pat] pat, [paːm] palm. A following nasal alveolar consonant has a tendency to cause backing, as in [fɑːmlɛ] family, [lɑn] land. A distinctive and widespread feature is the diphthongal variant [ai] found before a velar stop: [baik] back, [baiɡ] bag, [saik] sack. Cassidy and Le Page (1980: lii) refer to this feature of JC as ‘archaic’. Wright (1898–1905) cites a few Table 3.2

BIE vowel realizations

Keyword

Realization

ɪ

KIT

ɪ~i~ɛ

iː

FLEECE

iː

iː

NEAR

ɛ a ɒ ʌ ɵ a ɒ ʌ

DRESS TRAP LOT STRUT FOOT BATH CLOTH NURSE

ɛ~e a~ɑ ɒ ʌ~ɔ ɵ~ʊ~ʌ aː ɒː ʌr ~ ɪr ~ ɛr ~ ɔr ~ ɒr

eː a ɒ o ʊː aɪ ɔɪ aʊ

FACE PALM THOUGHT GOAT GOOSE PRICE CHOICE MOUTH

eː ~ e˔ ː aː ~ ɑː ɒː oː ʊː ~ oː aɪ ~ ɐɪ ~ əɪ ~ ʌɪ ɔɪ ~ ɐɪ ɐʊ ~ ʌʊ ~ ɵʊ

eː aː ɒː oː ʊː ɪ ʌ a

SQUARE START NORTH FORCE CURE HAPPY LETTER COMMA

World English Vol III.indb 127

Keyword

Realization

Keyword

Realization iːr ~ iːɪr ~ eːər ~ ɛːr eːr ~ eːər ~ ɛːr ar ɒr or or ɪ ~ ɛ̈ ɪr ~ ʌ ~ ɐ a

11/26/2012 2:35:47 PM

128

World Englishes Volume III

examples from south-mid Lancashire, but this feature may have originated in a tendency to syllable lengthening and breaking in earlier Anglo-Caribbean (see below). It is notable that many AfrBIE speakers use [ɑ] in these words. LOT/ɒ/; THOUGHT/ɒː/: There is no tendency towards unrounding of LOT and consequently no tendency to merge the vowels TRAP and LOT, which is a feature of ‘popular speech’ in the West Indies (Wells 1982: 131). The THOUGHT vowel in words like talk [tɒːk] differs only in length from the LOT vowel in got [ɡɒt]. Unlike in RP, the CLOTH vowel shares length and quality with THOUGHT. Pronunciations like [ɒːf] off and [krɒːs] reflect the outcome of ‘pre-fricative lengthening,’ which took place in seventeenth-century England and which was subsequently reversed in RP and GenAm (Wells 1982: 204). In Roatan, in certain words such as ball, the vowel is sometimes unrounded; however, there is no general process of vowel unrounding in words of the LOT/ THOUGHT lexical sets and consequently no tendency to merger of the vowels TRAP and LOT, which is a feature of ‘popular speech’ in the West Indies (Wells 1982: 131). The stressed vowel of ‘water’ varies between [ɒː] and [ɑː]; the broad ‘creole’ [a:] is stigmatized and generally ridiculed. For some speakers, [ɒ] may replace [a] in the environment of a following nasal and stop: [stɒnd] stand, [plɒnt] plant. STRUT/ʌ/: Generally, this is a mid-centralized vowel, although a lowered and slightly advanced variant is very common in white speech, especially in Utila, for example, [bɐt] but, [kɐm] come. The vowel may be rounded before a nasal, as in punch [pɒ̈ntʃ], or lungs/[lɒ̈ːŋz]; also elsewhere, as in [rɔ̞b] rub [kɔ̞t] cut. The same tendency to rounding with backing can be found in words of the NURSE class (see below). In the environment of a following sibilant, an offglide is sometimes inserted: [kʌɪzɪn] cousin, [dʌɪz] does. The same may occur with /ɛ/, as in [prɛ̈ɪzʌnt] present. This can be observed among AfrBIE speakers in Roatan. Also in this variety, in the words brother and (an)other, the stressed vowel is fronted : [brɛda], [anɛðʌ]. FOOT/ө/; GOOSE/ʊː/: Contrast between the FOOT and GOOSE lexical sets is maintained by a combination of vowel length and quality differences. Words of the FOOT class may have a lowered and often unrounded vowel, for example, [gɔ̈d]/[gʌd] good, [bɔ̈k]/[bʌk] book. In words of the GOOSE class, close [u] is rare, though it is arguably responsible for one minimal pair (at least in Roatan): the negator don’t is sometimes pronounced [du] (see 173, 184 and 230 below). This rare appearance of a close [u] may be motivated by the need to distinguish the word from the lexical verb do [dʊ]. A half-close long back vowel appears with a following obstruent in words like shoot or cruise and in open syllables as in [bʊːɪ] buoy. Other variants occur, conditioned by the nature of the following segment. A following nasal or lateral, as in spoon or school, results in a rounded vowel in the vowel space between [ʊ]

World English Vol III.indb 128

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

129

and [o̞], but typically closer to the latter, overlapping the vowel space of the GOAT vowel. GOAT/o/: This vowel has a pure quality, in contrast with basilectal Jamaican Creole, which has a rising /uo/ diphthong. In Roatan, however, a diphthong may be heard in the words [dʊɔrɪ] dory (type of boat) and [kʊoko] coco (yam). A slightly more open pronunciation may be heard in some words, for example, [sɔp] soap, [bɔt] boat. FLEECE/i/: Monophthongal and clearly distinguished from FIT by both length and closeness. However, the /iː, eː/ opposition is neutralized before a nasal consonant, both being pronounced with a closely articulated [eː]. For many speakers, there is homophony between keen and cane, team and tame and seem and same. FACE/e/: A pure vowel, with no trace of the /ie/ diphthong of Jamaican creole. This vowel has a raised articulation before a following nasal, and also, for many speakers, word-finally, as in way [we̞ː]. A short vowel is sometimes heard in make and take: /mɪk/, /tɛk/. PRICE/aɪ/: A raised centralized onset [əi/ɛ˫ i/] is common in words like night, ripe, nice or life, that is, when the following consonant is a voiceless obstruent. Word-finally, or when followed by a voiced consonant, a lower variant [aɪ] or [ɐɪ] is found. This contrastive pattern is similar to ‘Canadian Raising’. A slightly higher and more backed onset [ʌɪ], occasionally [ɔɪ ]̈ , can also be found in the same environments: [hʌɪ] high, [tɔ̈ɪd] tide, [flɔ̈ɪz] flies, [fʌɪn] find. A [ʌ/ɔ̈] vowel quality for the PRICE vowel is found in Barbados (Wells 1982: 584). It is also found in some remnant dialect communities in North Carolina and in Chesapeake Bay (Wolfram and Schilling-Estes 2004: 180). This supports the case for considering it to be a relic feature in BIE, deriving probably from earlier Anglo-Caribbean. In the ancestor dialect, the existence of a range of competing variants of the PRICE vowel would have been resolved through a process of ‘reallocation’ establishing allophony based on ‘short’ and ‘long’ phonological environments, as has occurred in several colonial varieties (Trudgill 2006: 88). CHOICE/ɔɪ/: Vowel quality varies within an area of vowel space bounded by [ɔɪ], [ɐɪ] and [əɪ]. The unrounded variants, commoner in Roatan and Guanaja, overlap the area of the PRICE vowel. Although not found consistently or with the same frequency in all members of this lexical set, an unrounded variant is common in the words oil, boil, hoist, join, point and poison (also, in AfrBIE, [bwaɪ] as an interjection, as in JC). These pronunciations representing eighteenth-century vowel mergers were still found in some English counties up until the end of the nineteenth century, although in polite speech, [ɔɪ] had replaced [aɪ] in such words after 1800 (Cassidy and Le Page 1980: lii). MOUTH/aʊ/: The onset varies between [ɐ], [ʌ̈] and [ө], the endpoint in all cases being [ʊ]. The more open onset, and a resulting wider diphthong, normal in Utila speakers, while the [өʊ] pronunciation characteristic of CECs is

World English Vol III.indb 129

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

130

World Englishes Volume III

common in Roatan. Although there is height variation in the onset, there is no parallel to the phonologically conditioned raising of the PRICE vowel. NEAR/iː/; SQUARE/eː/: Although the phonetic differences are usually small and there is variation, a phonemic distinction does appear to exist, as shown by the minimal pairs we’re and wear and by a generally maintained contrast in the vowel qualities of here and there. Realization in words of these lexical sets varies between [iː]/[eː]/[ɛː] and a vowel plus transitional glide (the last one found more frequently in AngBIE). For many speakers, there is homophony between word pairs like beer/bare and hair/hear. There is substantial variation affecting here, which has a variety of realizations: [hiːr], [hiːɨr], [heːɪr], [hɛr], [hɛ] or [jæ]. The palatal variant is characteristic of AfrBIE. START/ar/, NORTH/ɒr/, FORCE/or/: In these lexical sets, BIE utilizes slightly lengthened variants of the phonemes corresponding to TRAP, LOT and GOAT, respectively. This, in effect, was the situation in England before the loss of post-vocalic -r in the eighteenth century (Wells 1982: 212). BIE matches today’s Scottish pattern of vowel contrasts before /r/. It is also notable that horse and hoarse are kept distinct: [hɒːrs] versus [hoːrs]. The vowel of cure belongs with the FORCE set, as in the Caribbean generally. The vowel of poor may also be considered to belong with this set, although the quality is often similar to realizations of the GOOSE vowel; moreover, it may be realized with an offglide, as in [pʊᵊr], or with breaking, as in [poːɨr]. NURSE (/ʌr/): BIE preserves a wide range of vowel contrasts before postvocalic /r/, and there is no single NURSE vowel, but rather a range of realizations that reflect interspeaker variation as well as a degree of lexical conditioning. For example, speakers are divided between those who have [ɨ] in bird and burn and those who have [ʌ] or [ɔ]. The backed rounded variant is found in AfrBIE in Roatan and among traditional older white speakers. In AfrBIE, there is a greater tendency to drop pre-consonantal /r/ in NURSE words. The vowel quality in learn, heard, stern, serve and search – and in most words with ‘er’ in the syllable-nucleus, such as kernel or Germany – varies between a front [ɛ] and a back [ʌ], [ɔ] or [ɒ]. It is possible that the backed variants may be traceable to earlier English dialects’ use of a lowered vowel (perhaps [ɑː]) in this group of words, a feature common for at least 250 years up until the mideighteenth century, after which it gradually became a vulgarism (Wyld 1936: 214–215; evidence from ships’ logs in Matthews 1935: 212). In overall terms, the observed patterns are consistent with the levelling of variation in words of this type that had occurred in earlier Anglo–Caribbean, with levelling of variants to the STRUT vowel. The sociolinguistic pattern of incidence of more fronted variants (more frequent among women) is consistent with avoidance of the stigmatized backed variants. HAPPY, LETTER, COMMA unstressed vowels: Although a central vowel close to [ə] may occur in unstressed syllables in some word positions, and some

World English Vol III.indb 130

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

131

speakers regularly use a schwa-like vowel, unstressed vowels generally preserve quality distinctions, and there is no need to postulate a schwa phoneme. The pronunciation of word-final ‘y’ lies in the area between [ɪ/ɛ] and [ë]. If word-final ‘r’ is not pronounced, the unstressed vowel in letter lies between [ɐ] and [ʌ], otherwise the unstressed syllable in words with an -er ending is realized as [ɪr], [ɛr], [ʌr] or [ə ]. ͬ The range of variants is indicative of dialect mixing without a stabilizing norm. Words spellt with final ‘a’ are pronounced with an open [a] as they would be in Spanish, and this extends to local words like rada-cutter (a type of sea crab) or wawla (a type of boa constrictor).

Vowel lengthening and breaking Especially in Utila, and mainly in the environment of a following /l/, nasal consonant, or /r/, the long vowels /eː/, /ʊː/, /oː/ and /ɒː/ are frequently subject to further lengthening: for example, field [fiːːl], name [neːːm], June [dʒoːːn], fear [feːːr]. Lengthening of stressed vowels is identified by Williams (1985) as a feature of white West Indian English, particularly in Saba. The lengthened vowel gives rise to diphthongization, often with syllablebreaking. The following examples, with syllable breaks marked (.), represent both types of result: [jeːːɪrz] years, [fʊːσ ɪl] fool, school [skoːσ ɪl], small [smɒːəl], rain [reːσ ɪn], home [hoːəm]. Breaking can occur in environments other than the most favoured, for example, [foːσ əd] food, [liːσ əvz] leaves.

Vowel Nasalization Vowel nasalization in words with a Vn sequence is common, particularly in AfrBIE. In AfrBIE, the nasal consonant is variably deleted in down/town/around, and the vowel is a monophthong. Thus, down is realized as [dөŋ] [dө˜ː].

Comments on higher level phonological features At this stage, only a few impressionistic comments can be offered. Many observers comment on the sing-song intonation. This is most marked in Guanaja, where rising intonation at the end of sentences is extremely common. As already noted, the stereotypical Utilian drawl is characterized by lengthened vowels, which often become diphthongs or even form two distinct vowel nuclei (breaking). In contrast, the speech of Roatan and Guanaja, particularly AfrBIE in Roatan, is often rapid, with vowels having a clipped quality. In speech of this kind, other processes of simplification can create problems of comprehension for the outsider, for example, [nobizʌ˜ ] ‘nobody’s going to’. Certain words ending in [ɪ] may be pronounced with stress on the first syllable as in the standard accents, but with raised pitch on the second syllable. Examples are baby [beːbɪ́], gully [gɔlɪ́́], candy [kandé] and water [wɑːtɐ´].

World English Vol III.indb 131

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

132

World Englishes Volume III

There are many words in which stress falls on the syllable following the one which would bear primary stress in RP/GenAm. Examples are super1market high1way, kero1sene and mis1chievous. A pattern of equal stress applies to something and anybody. Initial syllable stress occurs in 1cement [simɛnt].

Grammar Before beginning this section, it is necessary to say a few words to describe the basis of the linguistic examples to be presented. The examples are extracted from 25 transcribed interviews, supplemented by field notes collected for my doctoral dissertation (Graham 1997). Data was collected between 1990 and 1992. For my doctoral study, detailed quantitative analysis was carried out on certain variables – noun plural marking, copula absence, past tense marking – using a corpus of interviews of 25 speakers. In ethnic terms, this sample was composed of 13 blacks, 10 whites and two people of ‘mixed’ background. Of these, 15 were from Roatan, 6 from Utila and 4 from Guanaja. The gender split was 14 male and 11 female, and speakers were aged between 22 and 80. The grouping of items in this section allows attention to be focused on distinctive lexical forms, as well as core grammar. The examples come mainly from non-acrolectal varieties of BIE, representing a range from strongly creole-influenced AfrBIE to non-standard usage in AngBIE and AfrBIE. It should be pointed out that there are many speakers whose speech deviates little from StE, showing only a few non-standard features such as occasional copula omission or omission of auxiliary have.

Morphological Forms In this section, the distinctive morphosyntactic forms found in each word-class are summarized.

A. Nouns (i) Certain lexemes have an alternate form in which the StE plural form is used for a singular referent with the indefinite article: a shoes, a teeth, an ants, a men, a feet and a half. Irregular and doubly marked plurals also sometimes occur: feets, foots. (ii) The weak mass/count noun distinction in BIE (see Grammar section) is shown by the treatment of many StE mass nouns as count nouns: many breads ( ‘loaves’), one clothes ( ‘item of clothing’), a beef  ‘cow’, a poor coloured folk ( ‘person’). (iii) The gerund (i.e. an -ing form of a verb functioning as a noun) is well established in mid-range BIE, at least when used as Subject:

World English Vol III.indb 132

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

133

Tryin to get in touch with a president from these countries is harder (th)an get in contact with Bush However, in all other contexts in low to mid-range BIE, the verb base form is normal: Everybody try an hustle without fight life (iv) The relative adverb how may be used as a noun That’s the onliest how you can break it [how  ‘way’] (v) Common English derivational affixes are used in BIE for word creation: -ness: ah neva went to that furtherness  I never went that far away -ation: murderation  murdering -ance: remembrance  memory.

B. Pronouns (i) Bimorphemic interrogative words co-exist with StE forms: how come, for why, why for  ‘why’: why you come behind me for? what part  ‘where’ for who  ‘whose’. (ii) Reflexives are formed by suffixing -self to my, you(r), his, her in singular, and to we, them//their in plural. In the acrolect, our/your/them  selves are found. (iii) The StE absolute forms yours, hers, etc. are used, and generalized to first person mines (a Scotts origin is possible). AfrBIE sometimes uses we own, you own, etc. (iv) In AfrBIE, the same forms may be used for Subject, Object and Possessive in second-person singular (you), first-person plural (we) and thirdperson plural (dey). He hol we fuh nothing, we nuh do (th)at Well he say okay we gon say we prayers before we eat this food. (v) In JC, possessive case is marked by prefixing fi- to the personal pronouns. Marking possessive in this way with fi- is possible only in AfrBIE: da fi-mi pen [ ‘that’s my pen’ – example heard in primary school classroom].

World English Vol III.indb 133

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

134

World Englishes Volume III

(vi) Singular personal pronouns 1 sing. Although I is used, first person is generally realized as [a], represented here orthographically as ah. Why ah don like im, me naw say ah don like it, but ah don like eat it In this example, the use of me as subject pronoun is unusual; it serves to convey a degree of emphasis. Note too how im alternates with the neuter pronoun it. First person I (pronounced [aɪ]) occurs in the fixed phrase make I see and also sometimes as the object of a preposition (in AfrBIE): From the day she marry she wuh livin with I. 2 sing. You exists in the form [ju] and a range of more open or more fronted unstressed variants. Of great interest is the occasional occurrence of the now archaic English dialect form thee. To my knowledge, this has not been attested anywhere else in the Caribbean or indeed, in any other part of the New World. I’ll send him stay with thee [Roatan speaker to me, referring to her misbehaving son] In terms of semantic prosody, there could be an association with undesirable circumstances: RG: If he worked 10 hours, he’s only got 10 lemp Roatan Sp: Well thas wha they pays thee Another older British dialectal form sometimes heard is ye [ji]. This is mainly heard in formulas like ‘I tell ye’ (see also 24). 3 sing. The most usual forms for expressing subject, object and possessive (3sg, masculine) in BIE are (h)e, (h)im and his, respectively. In AfrBIE, the possessive can be realized as [hi] or [i] and also as [hiːz], which represents a blend with the SE form. Him is occasionally found as subject or possessive in AfrBIE.

World English Vol III.indb 134

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

135

A masculine/feminine gender distinction in third person is usually observed, although (h)e is also occasionally found for she as subject pronoun, sometimes pleonastically. The wife [hi] leave him because he used to drink too much BIE is uncharacteristic among CEC’s in that her (generally unaspirated) is the norm in objective case. Its use is extended to subject by some speakers. Their life ain’t very much neither cos her blind an all that Her is also normal for the possessive, though she and [i] are sometimes found. For referring to singular inanimate entities, subject he or she or object her or him are often preferred to it. If they catch you, without ( unless) a gun had a land license, they take her I couldn get him clear [a fishing line] Also found is the singular object pronoun um. RG: the sun burned the skin Roatan Sp: Yeah an peel um off This um usage is shared by both ethnic varieties. The same form also occurs in the plural, although them is more usual. The possessive form its occurs only as an acrolectal borrowing from SE. Instead, it or it own are used. (vii) Plural personal pronouns At least in Roatan and Guanaja, the morpheme all may be added to create distinctive pronominal forms: we-all, you-all, all-they and all-um: I’m savin we-all life You-all could help me after I’ve cut the land down All-they live off lobster All–um pull um (a seine-net) in together see.

1 plur. This is generally the same as SE, with preservation of the case distinction, though our is bisyllabic, with a labial approximant (see phonology).

World English Vol III.indb 135

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

136

World Englishes Volume III

On Utila, us is occasionally used as a subject pronoun. This is a strong candidate for retention from earlier Anglo-Caribbean. That was the cause of these great houses you see us got here The absolute form is either ours (acrolectal) or weez (lower or mid-range). 2 plur. In both Roatan and Guanaja, the form annuh is frequently heard. It belongs mainly to AfrBIE and is found in informal register, often for scolding or teasing. Annuh is used in subject, object and oblique cases, and is found in both singular and plural contexts. If annuh don hush a gon beat annuh [mother speaking to her small child] Ah have to put everything in annuh mouth [ditto] If that man hadna come we wudna seen one of annuh I’ll beat the two of ye annuh The use here of ye [ji], an old British dialect form, together with annuh is especially striking. On Utila Cays, the form among-you is used for subject, object and oblique case. That pastor of among you is hard to understand. 3 plural. With they, them and their, pronunciations with initial fricative or stop are both found, the latter at higher frequency in AfrBIE. A three-way case distinction is clear only where speakers preserve word-final [r]. This is generally the case for AngBIE speakers and variably so in AfrBIE. Them/dem sometimes occurs in AfrBIE  as Subject pronoun or as possessive.

C. Determinatives The singular demonstratives this and that are generally used as in StE, although they may sometimes be used with a plural noun. These and those are also found. Them is used with plural nouns and sometimes also with singular nouns. You could take your line an just throw it right out from the beach there an haul in them big ol mutton-snappers

World English Vol III.indb 136

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

137

Plenty of the fellas nowadays they comin in from them coast Some  Noun is used as in StE, though there is a tendency towards greater use of expressions showing emphasis, like (a) lotta  Noun. Other expressions too are used to convey emphasis. Plenty change-up make to these things They got a whole heap of Nicaraguan right here in Oakridge. Any is used in the interrogative, but is seldom used in negative statements, where negative concord is the dominant pattern. You na get no more of that Other quantity expressions are often used in place of any. He can’t do a piece better They can’t get no pile a hog these days The StE use of ‘any’ to signify unrestricted choice, as in ‘any book will do’, is lexicalized in BIE as either [iːðɪr]. When ah wuh kid ah Lord we didn punish either day fuh nothing to eat The negative counterpart of this, meaning ‘not any’, is neither. Ah got three half sista an one whole one an one half brotha, neither whole one Next [nɛks], always preceded by either a or the, may be used in place of (an) other. Why should he have to intrude on a neks man’s wife?

D. Adjectives (i) Certain words which in StE are adjectives referring to end-states are used also to refer to processes of achieving the state. dead  StE ‘dead’ or ‘died’: I lef him to dead full, ripe, rotten, hot: I’m hottin it up (ii) Double marking of the comparative is common.

World English Vol III.indb 137

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

138

World Englishes Volume III

The fees is more cheaper There is a tendency to regularize irregular StE comparative forms: much betterer, badder, worser. Also noted is the occasional occurrence of nor as the comparative subordinator. The spirit have more power nor a livin. (iii) Double marking of superlatives is common, for example, most beautifullest. The -est ending is extended to only (see ex. 3). (iv) It is common to find two or more adjectives as pre-modifiers. a lil young girl, a happy sweet life, one big old high house (v) A semi-productive process for adjective formation is the addition of -able to a noun, for example, ageable  elderly, workable  hard-working. The word furt ( ‘far’) appears to have been formed by back-formation from ‘further’.

E. Prepositions Prepositions are often absent, for example, I born Castilla, ah wen Oakridge Forms are generally the same as StE, with the exception of the variable use of inna in AfrBIE: Ah didn go inna that There are many distinctive non-standard usages. The following is a small sample. We went in Utila One of the girls was into the hospital there When you live to the cays, that’s one thing you gotta get used to All the people wuh for there [wuh  was/were indeterminate form] He spend the night by them [ ‘at their place’] The plane leaves three times for the day [probably Spanish influence].

F. Verbs (i) Some regularization of irregular StE past tenses occurs: for example, waked, builded, breaked. Sit and set have the same phonetic form [sɛt] thus settin  sitting, also the same past form [sɒt]. Broke and married are lexical base-forms, used where StE has an infinitive:

World English Vol III.indb 138

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

139

I wanta married now I don want to broke them The base-form [lɛf] [ ‘leave’] may take a progressive inflection: leffin  ‘leaving’. However, where StE uses the past participle ‘left’, BIE uses leave: one had leave ( ‘one was left’). (ii) Born means both the state ‘to be born’ and the process ‘to give birth’ (see 170) and with the latter meaning, can take progressive -in. (iii) In a few cases, the -in ending associated with the derived nominal form has become so closely associated with the verb-base that it has fused with it, with the resulting form acting as the base-form. This gives rise to the forms fishinin and huntinin. (iv) Also common to CECs generally, there is a strong tendency to intensify verbs by the addition of a particle, most commonly up and out. I quit up livin where ah was livin He steal them out [ ‘stole them all’] In a few cases, BIE uses a simple verb where StE requires a verb plus particle: look conchs  look for conchs. (v) Some verbs which are Spanish borrowings have been integrated into BIE, with the addition of the English progressive inflection, for example, pasearin, vagarin, cobrarin. A few borrowed verbs may take -s. They multas you if you don’t have an ID card Transfer from Spanish can also be seen in the expression of age. How old you say she have? (vi) English derivational suffixes are sometimes used to create new words. -ize: sailorizin  going to sea -ate: conversate  have a conversation.

G. Adverbs Certain focusing adverbs are derived from earlier English. Ah didn see but two people from Mangrove Bight today Ah done all my sewin for them their very socks and caps [very  ‘even’]

World English Vol III.indb 139

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

140

World Englishes Volume III

Certain forms are shared with CECs. He never used to talk English, lone Spanish Ah stayin here me one ( ‘by myself’) He not got no real responsibility and no mo take care of the ship when he on watch [no more  ‘just’] The durational adverbs always and sometimes are realized without final -s. Alltime is an alternative. Also striking is the use of ever, a clear survival of earlier English. When I’m here I ever bees workin hard In giving accounts of extended past time, phrases using from, before or ahead of are often used: from time  since; before days, before time, years aback  in those days; ahead of that  before that time. From young ah could handle myself Speakers with a low frequency of past-tense marking may use a construction with ‘that.’ Eleven years now that he die [ ‘since he died’] Soon is very often used as with the meaning of StE ‘early.’ The people goes to bed early an gets up soon Already may correspond to StE ‘yet.’ You eat tapado already? Directly does not always mean ‘immediately’, but is often closer in meaning to ‘in fact.’ Ah didn directly see but ah heard the child bawlin inside As suggested by the last example, adverb placement sometimes differs from StE. She gonna soon be here He was a good cook enough

World English Vol III.indb 140

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

141

The adverbs so ( ‘so much’) and too (corresponding to StE either used in a negative predication) may be placed pre-verbally. I don’t so like .the apples, I rather the grapes I don’t too like that plane fare.

H. Conjunctions For or [fʌ] may be used in the same way as StE ‘because’ or ‘because of.’ She used to climb up into one cocoplum tree to sleep, for the sandflies and mosquitos Because itself is sometimes used with contrastive meaning, though the short form coz always introduces a reason. It was a new house because it have no good now coz that [wʌ] belongs to one coloured woman but she dead now A number of conjunctions have alternate suffixed forms with -in. Commonest of these is becausin, which may itself become the base form, giving the variant becausinin. Other similar forms observed include iffin, forin and besidin. Iffin ah can get a chance ah would go up that way.

I. Interjections The terminal tags nuh or na are extremely common. They’s human like us nuh That was her rule na Acknowledging the truth of an assertion may be done by use of for true. But they live on the west for true All these tags also function as interrogative tags as well (224, 225).

The Noun Phrase A. Number marking on mass and count nouns In BIE, marking of plural on count nouns is not obligatory. All speakers use plural -s at least some of the time (in my sample of 25 speakers, frequency ranged from 25 to 97 per cent).

World English Vol III.indb 141

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

142

World Englishes Volume III

In the absence of inflectional plural marking, any plural element in the noun phrase, such as a number or a plural determinative, is sufficient to indicate that the noun has plural reference. He got four wife. Yeh he get like them king of olden days A high rate of zero-suffixed plural count nouns is one indication of a weakening of the count/mass noun distinction. Although in the great majority of cases, plural -s marking is applied to what in StE are count nouns, -s is sometimes extended to StE mass nouns as well. You’ll be able go and get little permit for certain games in the bush [i.e. to hunt ‘game’]. Another criterion distinguishing mass and count nouns in StE is that a nonplural count noun requires an article. This is not the case for many speakers of BIE. That wuh spirit spirit the devil A third indication of the weakening of the count/mass distinction is the neutralization of the contrast between much and many. In StE, mass nouns take the determinative much, while count nouns take many. In BIE, much is generally used for both categories of noun, whether inflected or uninflected for number. How much day you work for him? How much pantses you gonna buy? Likewise, to indicate a small number of entities, little is used, corresponding to StE few. Such a big building an such a little student One number-marking feature which is restricted to AfrBIE, and is commonest in AfrBIE, is the use of the post-nominal affix -them/-dem. This usually co-occurs with a noun denoting a human group, with definite reference shown by a definite article or by a possessive pronoun. Me an my breda-dem wuh there too a lot [breda  ‘brothers’] Sometimes postposed -them/dem co-occurs with inflectional -s.

World English Vol III.indb 142

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

143

All the folks-them wuh drunk-up, all Jamaica wuh drunk-up In contrast to the affix -them/-dem, all varieties of BIE make use of associative an them. This is usually found with a proper noun denoting a person (as in 79), but also sometimes with a more general associative meaning, as in 79 (‘girls as a group’). Oh they Bowman an them they was good plaiters in them days When he went the girl an them went too This general associative meaning can be compared with an thing, which is used with non-animates. In Roatan you know there’s a lotta drugs an thing that people need to punish for.

B. Use of Articles When the need for specifying a single entity exists, StE makes use of either the or a. BIE follows StE in using the for an entity already referred to or with a unique referent. However, for non-individuated reference, a alternates with zero article. This was illustrated in 72. The use of a is free from certain restrictions that apply in StE. First, it is normal to use a even with nouns beginning with a vowel sound, for example, a indian woman. Second, the use of a is not confined to singular nouns: a scissors, a teeth, a red beans, a ants. Third, it is possible to use a with someone or somebody: A streyn ( trained) nurse knows more than a someone that jus picked that up BIE speakers have an additional choice not available in StE: the use of one to draw attention to an individual occurrence. This can be termed the ‘indefinite specific determiner’. Note that one does not receive special stress in such cases. Ah get one accident on wharf one day Here, the first noun is individuated, as the prelude to telling a story. In contrast, one day is a conventional phrase, where one does not mark specificity.

C. Genitive Noun Phrases The relationship of possession, which in StE is conveyed by an inflectional suffix identical to the plural (but given an apostrophe in writing), can be conveyed

World English Vol III.indb 143

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

144

World Englishes Volume III

in BIE in two ways. One means is by simple juxtaposition of two nouns, for example, his sister daddy. Another possibility, available only where the possessor is human, is the use of a postmodifying phrase with for. a cay out there for a white man.

The Verb Phrase A. Copula absence and present and past forms of Be (i) The rate of copula absence varies widely. The three speakers (all AngBIE) with the lowest rates of copula omission averaged 7.6 per cent omission. The three highest in the sample averaged 76.1 per cent. In mesolectal CECs, a form of BE appears almost categorically before nouns, but variably before adjectives and locatives. This is also the case in AfrBIE. In other words, a form of be is mostly present in cases like 85, while there is greater variability between full and contracted forms of be and ø in cases like 86 and 87. She’s a English girl She not good at all He from Argentina The highest rate of omission comes with a following Ving. Here, be is an auxiliary, and auxiliary deletion is categorical in this structure for many speakers. They doin that here too This pattern of variation matches that found for two mesolectal CECs, Barbadian (Rickford and Blake 1990) and Trinidad (Winford 1992). Interestingly, the same pattern is found in AngBIE, though the average percentages are lower than in AfrBIE (26.2 per cent vs. 44.3 per cent). This shows that AngBIE grammar in this area has been subject to the same linguistic constraints that affect AfrBIE. Such data demonstrate linguistic convergence at work. Omission of non-finite be may also occur when it is an auxiliary verb in compound tenses, though to be is used as a verb complement, as in StE: I want to be . . . Ah’ll getting my own little family now.

World English Vol III.indb 144

11/26/2012 2:35:48 PM

English in Honduras

145

(ii) Non-past forms of Be Although both is and are and their contracted forms are widely used by BIE speakers, usage does not always conform with StE. At all levels of BIE, there is a strong tendency for the use of uncontracted is with NP Subjects, both singular and plural. All the mens-them is gone away In contrast, with a pronoun subject they, there is variation between ’ re, ’s and ø . When they’s ripe they make cake from them However,’s may appear not only with they, but also with subject we, and less commonly, you. We’s Hondureñans Today, in all varieties except AfrBIE, ’s with plural pronoun subjects is in competition with ’re and ø, giving rise to a complex pattern of variation.

(iii) Past forms of Be A past tense form of be is generally present, including in past progressive. It may be absent in conjoined verb phrases. One of my cousins couldn swim and she almost drownin Forms vary, but most common is a form that is neutral between was and were, often realized as [wʌ]. This I have transcribed as wuh. Where was and were are distinguishable (mostly in AngBIE and AfrBIE), was is more frequent than were, though, interestingly, both are found. I were beggin one to him.

B. Existential structures Both AngBIE and AfrBIE variably use it  is/was in existential structures, where StE uses there and finite be.

World English Vol III.indb 145

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

146

World Englishes Volume III

It’s a lotta money circulatin [ɪs] many young men roun here they pick this habit up It was so many people round the dock The use of existential structures with had or got is also found. They have or they got is general, while it had or got are confined to AfrBIE. It had a heavy rain this morning Got one other man that was smart.

C. Non-past verbal inflection and ‘finite be’ (i) A zero-inflected verb for third singular present is found at all levels of BIE to some extent, though its incidence varies from near 100 per cent in AfrBIE to close to 0 per cent in AngBIE. (ii) A pattern characteristic of all varieties except AfrBIE is the co-existence of StE patterns of zero inflection with variable use of the -s ending for persons other than third singular. This is commonest in third plural. The following examples illustrate They cut the chicharron, they cuts that, they cuts that up, they skins the hog, they get that skin an they fries that skin and then they fries some uh the meat too and then they sell some uh the meat fresh When the men working we haves the door open all the time They makes them but I don’t makeses none. 100 shows the typical alternation of bare form plural verb and s-suffixation. 101 shows the generalization of ‘non-concord’ V-s to have. 102 illustrates double inflectional marking, a sign that use of the V-s form with all persons is so fully internalized as to allow the suffixed form to function as a base. What unites all these uses is that a characteristic mode of behaviour or repeated activity is being described. This can be termed ‘habitual/iterative aspect’. In BIE, one way of coding for this is by suffixation of -s. The feature is less common in AfrBIE, where zero endings are the norm, but most speakers use it to some extent. It is noteworthy that speakers who conform to the StE norm for third singular (i.e. use concord V-s) may also be heavy users of nonconcord V-s with habitual/iterative meaning. (iii) finite be Finite be and bes [biːz] are used to convey habitual/iterative meaning. This is a well-known feature of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), but in the Caribbean, it is found only in the Bahamas. In AngBIE, there is a tendency to

World English Vol III.indb 146

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

147

favour bees, but both forms are in use, as in AfrBIE. AfrBIE does not appear to use bes, a feature shared with AfBahE (Reaser and Torbert 2008: 594–595), When she [i.e. a boat] be here ah be roun working on her every day The one that be in Calabash Bight she goin to the States They got a little one they call the parakeet that bes on the swamp too It don be many cars on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it bes two or three on Wednesdays The basic meaning of finite be and bes seems to be to denote a customary state of affairs, of regular or repeated occurrence. The negative form for all persons is don be.

D. Past tense verbal inflection There is a much higher rate of zero-marking of verbs with past time reference in AfrBIE then in AngBIE. The percentage of zero-marking in the AfrBIE group varies between 100 per cent and 17 per cent, with an average of 64 per cent, while the range for ‘whites’ is from 62 per cent to 7 per cent, with an average of 26 per cent (though more than half of these have an average of 15 per cent or less).19 The patterns of variation for AfrBIE are very similar to those found in mesolectal JC (Patrick 1999), which supports the idea that AfrBIE is an ‘intermediate’ variety in which inputs from both basilectal creole and non-creolized Englishes have both had a shaping role. The ethnic difference is most striking in the case of irregular verbs, although the two groups are similar in that zero inflection is most frequent among verbs that end in a consonant and form the past tense by the addition of a further consonant, /t/ or /d/, for example, stop, talk.

E. Future Often, there is no explicit marking of the future. Commenting on one young man paralysed as the result of a diving accident, one speaker described his future thus. When he go then he be happy The most common means of marking future time reference explicitly is by one of a range of pre-verbal forms derived from going to: gonna, [ɡon], go, a go, [ɑŋ], [ɑn], [ɑn]. The last five are characteristic of AfrBIE, though by no

World English Vol III.indb 147

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

148

World Englishes Volume III

means exclusive to this variety. Also found in AfrBIE is gwan, which is reminiscent of JC gwine. If annuh don hush ah gwan beat annuh The CEC form a go which is described by Winford (1993: 61) as a marker of ‘strong or immediate intention’ retains this meaning in AfrBIE. Ah say ah tell im ah’s a go make one bawmie fuh you now A secondary use of future markers in StE is to signify predictable behaviour. This is also found in BIE, using go or will. When you [kyɑːn] buy they go steal it.

F. Habitual and progressive In CEC’s, the marking of tense and aspect is often inexplicit, but a range of markers placed before the base form of the verb can make distinctions when this is judged necessary. Verbal aspect is more frequently marked than is tense. In BIE, the use of pre-verbal markers is combined with the variable use of inflected verb forms and auxiliary verbs, creating a complex pattern of variation.

(i) Habitual aspect A common means of denoting habitual activity or behaviour is by pre-verbal doz, or the shortened forms [ʌz] and [z]. Eliska doz take her round. She don be loose [referring to a dog] They stays with the heft of the money and then theyz keep a building theirself up 112 illustrates the close relationship between verbal -s and contracted doz, realized as enclitic [z]. Habitual doz utilizes the pre-verbal do found in earlier English, giving to it an unambiguous aspectual marking function. Similarity of forms probably led to the -s suffix being reanalysed as a bearer of habitual aspect. The use of duh, da or a is predominantly a feature of AfrBIE, although this is found also in the speech of some older whites. He duh say too many things he duh get me vexed I da put the honey too [to cure something] They just a come in an go back [the planes from La Ceiba].

World English Vol III.indb 148

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

149

(ii) Progressive aspect There is no clear evidence of a pre-verbal progressive marker. Progressive is indicated by V-ing, and unlike most CECs, there is no pre-verbal progressive aspect marker. In the negative, non-finite be or negative don be may combine with V-ing to give a ‘habitual progressive’. Don be makin nothing, all ma money just be goin on hogfeed In certain two-verb constructions, a is used with the general function of stressing the dynamic continuity of the activity. They say keep a drinkin them pill Ah was still young an probably ah was still a growin These are examples of the ‘a-prefixing’ that was formerly common in British dialects. It is found today in Appalachian English (Wolfram 1991), and has also been observed in traditional white speech on Anguilla (Williams 2003). (iii) Completive Aspect Pre-verbal done is used by all BIE speakers to mark the completion of an activity or sometimes with non-verbal predicates to mark an achieved state. It is found with verb base-forms, adjectives, and past tense or past participle forms. RG: I talked to him when he was in town S: Oh well you done see him When ah ready to come in, you done ready to come out You done had one [i.e. ‘why are you asking me for another one?’] Insertion of done in a had  Verb context is common, and the combination been  done  had is also possible. The man had done talk Sam about it All of them been done had rot [i.e. the mamey apples had already become rotten].

G. Pre-verbal marking of tense A number of pre-verbal markers associated with past time such as bin, min, di, did and had are found in CEC basilects and mesolects. These indicate ‘relative time’, where what is signalled is the general relation of an event to a reference

World English Vol III.indb 149

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

150

World Englishes Volume III

point, which may not always be made explicit. They are not simply past time markers, since their use is governed by pragmatic principles, such as signalling information as being relevant to a time prior to the present, or its status as background information in the course of a narrative (Winford 1993: 64–65). Acrolectal tense marking approximates that of StE and is based on chronological sequencing of events in relation to speech time or to another reference time established explicitly in the discourse context. The grammars of most BIE speakers combine aspects of both systems.

bin  ØVerb This form is used sometimes by AfrBIE speakers. The man weh [ who] raise me then he tell me this is your father, so ah’ve got ah bin meet im an get to know im In most varieties of BIE, bin may collocate with the negator didn, and some speakers may combine this with a lexical verb base-form. Ah didn bin too much too long with United Fruit Company no ah didn bin work for her too long. Convergence of grammars in mid-range BIE leads to the reclassification of bin as a function word which combines with V-ing progressives. At times, some of the semantics of Creole bin as an ‘anterior’ marker – its backgrounding function combined with distancing from the present – is still evident even in the bin  Ving structure. She died yeh but she bin livin with me from time she bin marrin. She (Øwould) have 26 years married now ah mean but she died you know Here bin marrin is an example of a ‘transitional form’ that appears when a speaker’s grammar has incorporated elements from two distinct grammars (the creole bin combined with a V-ing form from StE), giving rise to a new structure, but one which, in this case, retains the anterior meaning of bin followed by zero-verb. Distinct from pre-verbal bin, but undoubtedly related to it, is stressed 'bin. This form, known also in AAVE, is used by all speakers. It means that the state has lasted for a considerable period up to and including the present. It 'bin gone up the road (the taxi went up the road some time ago and has not come back yet).

World English Vol III.indb 150

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

151

di(d)  ØVerb The pre-verbal did has a somewhat indeterminate range of uses. Sometimes it appears to mark a degree of emphasis (128), sometimes an element of habituality (129); it may be used in a conditional clause (130); it regularly collocates with born 131); and perhaps most frequently, it collocates with neva (132): Ah forget that she did av a go down one hill [in a description of a bicycle crash] One time ago no black folk couldn do in the house mong the white, the white did run em back on the hill They would treat you and tell you now if we did give you something for a neks 24 hours or less an that an if that don do you no any better you’ll have to go to higher He born the thirteenth an ah did born the fourteenth Ah neva did use to see notes we useta see these silver lempiras.

woz  øVerb Woz/wuh is found with certain verbal predicates which describe a state or condition. Ah was descend from there ma mother was from there That wuh belong a neks Englishman For some AfrBIE speakers, it seems to function as a general pre-verbal past marker. Ah [wɑ] catch one of the turbo [ ‘I caught hold of one of the turbos’] Ah don think he was [mi] a slave. 20

Useta This is generally applied as in StE, but its range can also be extended, for example, to encompass non-past reference. He jus now use to go to the States This may be due to the influence of Spanish. There are also cases of extending useta to the past activities of someone now dead. In 138, an elderly speaker is referring to his great-grandfather, whom he had never known.

World English Vol III.indb 151

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

152

World Englishes Volume III

He useta come out pirate an [ʌd] come an get in this Gibson Bight Note here the use of [ʌd] ( would)  Verb to refer to past habitual behaviour: this is common in BIE at all levels, although would is often omitted (see e.g. 126): I be here all day with him [speaker is referring to her days spent looking after her father now deceased].

Pre-verbal Had Had is by far the most common pre-verbal past time marker. Its use does not always signal temporal anteriority to a past reference time, as in StE. At least for the majority of BIE users, the function of pre-verbal had is to signal explicitly that the predicate is relevant to the past time, which is currently the focus of discourse, but is not central in terms of developing the story-line. The time frame can be either distant or recent in time. Recalling her earlier life, one speaker says about herself and her friends ‘we had love dancin’, and about her husband, ‘he had love his fun’. The time spoken of is marked as being in implicit contrast with present restrained habits. Useta would of course mark this contrast explicitly in StE, but unlike useta, had can be used to refer to a single event where this is not itself a main event in a story sequence. Last Carnival we had dance at Casa Grande all night This is related as part of a general account of the previous year’s Carnival in La Ceiba. The dancing is just one component of the speaker’s memory of the whole event. Other uses of had as a past marker can be illustrated. The next examples show its use with an adjectival predicate (141), in a presentative structure (142), and in its typical collocation with name (143): She tell me he had dead [ sexually inert] but he not dead if she got a child by him It had a heavy rain this mornin My boss, Alexander Lopez he had name.

H. Perfect Aspect and other uses of have/had (i) Where StE uses present perfect, simple past or present structures are used instead.

World English Vol III.indb 152

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

153

She don’t come out yet [ hasn’t come] Today the Spaniard took it over I got about 26 years goin to the high seas She only had two years since she left home Even in the acrolect, the auxiliary is generally subject to ellipsis: The fishin business in this island been pretty poor Many mid-range speakers select had instead of have/has to express the StE present perfect. ah marry ah would say [ø at] 18 years an ah come in Diamond Rock, ah live here now 35 years. Ah had spent a pretty good life in Diamond Rock For some speakers at least, there is competition from be as a present perfect auxiliary. I’m helped so many people He are gone to the Cay This older British dialect feature (now very rare in the United Kingdom) is predominantly found in AngBIE. It is also found in older white Bahamian speech (Reaser and Torbert 2008: 595). (ii) The replacement of have by had can be seen also in its use as a lexical verb. In conjunction with auxiliary did, had is the preferred base form. We didn had the drinking water Mid-range speakers often use had as an ‘infinitive’, when the reference time is past. Some of them went to the coast to had their babies The pivotal role of had can also be seen in its use with modal perfect structures (see next section).

I. Modal Auxiliaries (i) The modal forms can (with negative [kja:n]) could, should, would, are all found in BIE and are used as in StE, although could is often used in place of StE can, and will can be used in place of would with past habitual meaning.

World English Vol III.indb 153

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

154

World Englishes Volume III

Some words ah could say in Spanish (referring to speaker’s present competence in the language) Any time he done he’ll holler n tell me to bring me the alcohol (referring to speaker’s father now deceased) The modals coulda, shoulda and woulda are used when the time being reported on is past (but coulda may also occur in non-past contexts, as in JC). You coulda throw down a sucker in them days Usually, when a past time is reported on, the modals are followed by had. The lexical verb may be in base form or inflected for tense. He might had bought some (reporting a possible past action) He shoulda had pull you over The same basic structure is maintained with epistemic gotta. One of them gotta had sell cheaper [ should by rights have sold cheaper] The modal woulda when followed by had  Verb conveys past conjecture. I didn think I woulda had see you again [irrealis past] In these examples, the function of had is to mark distancing from the present, or irrealis aspect. Another form of distancing, based on reporting instructions conveyed as information by a third party, underlies the use of must had. In a verb phrase that is subordinated to tell or say, conveying indirect speech with a directive function, must had is used. The people from town tell me we must had get one paper from him This means ‘the people from town told me we must get a paper from him’. Must had used in this way to express reported obligation is distinct from got(ta) had (159) and is also distinct from must used alone, which reports a command emanating directly from the subject of the matrix clause. The boss from down there aks im mus walk with im For the expression of obligation in the present, gotta is preferred to must or have to.

World English Vol III.indb 154

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

155

They makes a good cake but gotta have that thin (Øif) it wuh gon cook through Hadda is used to express past obligation. In the night we hadda put a net over us Modal structures with had (see above) are usually unambiguously past, but in the case of another set of structures with the modal followed by be, temporal interpretation often depends on context. She gotta be say it [ she must have said it] She might be works there [present time] She can’t be come yesterday [ she can’t have come yesterday] If you can talk it you oughta be can translate it [present time] In view of the use of these modal  Be forms in both past and non-past contexts, it seems best to regard them as fused forms with adverbial function. They seem to be formed by analogy with StE adverbial maybe. (ii) Double modals are found in the combination might(be)  can/could.or will I might be can put back enough to look after my children He thought she might couldn born it [ might not be able to give birth] We might be’ll make it a little better Such structures are characteristic of Scots and southern US speech. The double modals found in Jamaican Creole depart from the most common patterns found in Scotts and American dialects, but in contrast, BIE retains a small and consistent core set of Scotts patterns. The retention of just these patterns would seem to indicate the direct input of Scottish elements in the dialectal input to Anglo–Caribbean, rather than an autonomous development or dialect mixing.

J. Negation Bickerton (1975) refers to a ‘proliferation of negative markers’ in the Guyanese mesolect, and this is borne out by the comparative data from a wide range of CECs in Hancock (1987). Within BIE, the extensive variation that exists reflects the varying influences of creole and StE and the complexity of the transition between these. The forms most characteristic of AfrBIE are pre-verbal no and [du]. The origin of pre-verbal no may be either Belizean or Jamaican Creole; [du] may have arisen through reduction of JC [duon].

World English Vol III.indb 155

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

156

World Englishes Volume III

You no see im? ( ‘you hadn’t seen him’) It [du] be too thin, it be soft (referring to the texture of bawmie, a kind of bread made from cassava) The basic-level BIE vernacular negators are not and na. The former is found mainly in Roatan and the latter in Utila. Typical contexts for not/na follow. 174–175 are most likely in AfrBIE, while 176–178 are typical of BIE as a whole. She not get hurt ( ‘she didn’t get hurt’) The landlord not rent that ( ‘the landlord doesn’t rent that’) Ah not thinkin of picking it up ( ‘I’m not thinking . . .’) He not came back yet ( ‘he hasn’t come back yet’) Ah na talked to them since ( ‘I have not talked to them since’) As these examples show, not appears in contexts where StE requires do support or auxiliary be or have. The verb may be inflected or uninflected for past tense. Various forms are found in collocation with get/got: I ain get it yet ( ‘I haven’t received it yet’) The lobster ain got no season He not got nothing else to think about Ah na got no Blanquita I don’t got no special car. Either one come I take it You [du] got no money to get out of here [ ‘you don’t have any money . . . ’] As 180–184 illustrate, multiple negation is the norm throughout BIE, in line with many English dialects. But BIE goes further than most non-standard dialects and follows the Creole pattern in which ‘non-definite subjects as well as non-definite VP constituents must be negated as well as the verb’ (Bickerton 1981: 65). Nobody [nɒ] do us notn [ ‘nobody did anything to us’] It’s not neither year I don’t have breadkind [neither  ‘not any’] However, in contrast to African American English, negative inversion resulting in fronting of an auxiliary or ain’t does not occur. When reference to past events, the negator never [neva] is widely used (see also 132). She never came no further than Mexico [ ‘she didn’t come any further than Mexico’] He never gi mi neither a one [ ‘she didn’t give me any’]

World English Vol III.indb 156

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

157

Although such usages are common in British dialects, neva is extended in BIE to other constructions and tenses and may approach the status of a general negator. ah neva born here [ ‘I was not born here’] you neva need no cake for the people comin behind? [ ‘you don’t/won’t need any cake . . .’] I never been down there for two days now [ ‘I haven’t been there for two days’] For negation in future predications, two basic options are available. The first is the use of no, not or ain with one of various forms derived from going to (192–194), and the other is the use of not/na with elision of the future auxiliary (195–196). Ah [no an] put that She not gonna sell you neither one [ ‘she won’t sell you any’ (plantains)] Tomorrow ain goin be no good It’ll be a beautiful island for turis(ts) but you not get it Ah na gi ya neither book [ ‘I will not give you any books’]. Although don’t (and doesn’t in the upper continuum) are common, their incidence and use do not always correspond to StE. This is due to features of the grammar present at different levels of BIE. The following sentences illustrate habitual constructions (197–198), absence of present perfect (199) and merger of adjective and verb predicates (200): I dozn know many people on the island because I dozn go about [habitual meaning influencing choice of dozn over don] On Sunday it don be no schedule [habitual be] She don come out yet [ ‘she has not come out yet’] She’s up in the States if she don’t dead [adjectival/verbal predicate] BIE uses don instead of not in constructions that in StE involve an infinitive. This suggests that BIE may lack the distinction between finite and non-finite verbs. You better don go up that tree and fall down Similarly, didn may be used in non-standard ways. Ah didn bought it [ ‘I did not buy it’] Ah did never been there [ ‘I have never been there’] She didn had come yet [ ‘she had not come yet’]

World English Vol III.indb 157

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

158

World Englishes Volume III

K. Passive A common ‘passive’ form across a wide spectrum of BIE is the ‘basic passive’ formed by a transitive verb, where the subject is semantically incompatible with agent role. All the churches build close to the beach A similar structure is available with eat. They eats ripe [‘they’  small apple bananas] The get passive is available to all speakers. We got more or less populated from Caymans An impersonal structure with it is sometimes used with the function of passive. It’s governin from French Harbour for here In acrolectal speech, the StE passive in basic present and past tenses is used, though non-finite forms of be which are integral to the infinitive and compound forms of the StE passive are absent. Ah had her husband bring her to California to bury [ ‘to be buried’] He never got none the time they were makin [ ‘they were being made’].

L. Personal Dative An interesting correspondence between BIE and southern US vernacular speech (Christian 1991) is the occurrence of structures where a non-reflexive pronoun is used with a broadly benefactive meaning (benefitting the speaker). If ah had me a boat, ah’d like to own a freezer boat Ah dug me five nest of eggs that morning.

Clause types A. Declarative clauses There are differences from StE in terms of (i) omissibility of elements, (ii) finite and non-finite verbs and (iii) focalizing structures.

World English Vol III.indb 158

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

159

(i) Much more frequently than in informal StE, the subject is omitted if it is retrievable from context (see e.g. 116). The object may also be omitted, where this is inadmissible in informal StE. They calls (Øyou) a good diver if you find plenty of lobster Ah had done know the road so he couldn keep (Øme) there again no more (ii) The lexical verb in phrases with an auxiliary verb is very often a finite form, where StE requires the infinitive. It’s somethin that doesn’t goes into the wood The guy didn wan gave none In such ‘transitional’ structures, there is overmarking of tense: not only the auxiliary but also the verb complement is inflected. (iii) Basilectal CECs have a focusing construction in which a highlighter with a form identical to the equative copula is fronted. This ‘focalizer’ can bring into prominence any element, including a verb or adjective. In BIE, only a noun phrase can be focalized in discourse. This is done by placement of it’s or [ɪs] utterance initially, with a resumptive pronoun reiterating the subject. ( 96). [ɪs] many young men round here they pick this habit up There are vestiges of the creole focalizer in the following AfrBIE example. A what piece a cake you wan? Within a narrative, the focalizing device makes a topic salient. Other forms used are [ɪz/is] or it  is/was/wuh. . . . just in case he make a deal different you see [ɪz] a lawyer wuh telling me some time ago (Øthe) way these American people don understand . . . It was I see one big man sittin down on the road . . . There is a marked tendency towards fronting of adverbials of place and time, which extends across the entire range of BIE. Here in this place plenty thief now Three month hospital it had my leg in a cast.

World English Vol III.indb 159

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

160

World Englishes Volume III

B. Interrogative clauses Interrogatives use the same word order as declaratives. Rising intonation, generally placed on the last stressed word, distinguishes a question from a statement. You could come and live here? In the absence of intonational cues, a question may sometimes be signalled by the question tag nuh or not true [nɑt trʊ]. Nuh is also an emphatic tag (see 68, 69). You hear about Crawfish rock, nuh? You didn know im not true? Wh-questions maintain the order subject–verb, without subject–auxiliary inversion (226). Auxiliary ‘do/did’ is usually absent (227). What he was name? How a pigeon bawl?

C. Imperatives The structure generally follows StE. Often, so is appended to the first verb in a sequence. Rocky go so put the iron there under the bed Some AngBIE speakers may include you in the negative imperative. Don’t you cover that pot! There is scope for misunderstanding of negative commands, because the negative imperative in AfrBIE is often realized with [du] (see also 173, 184). Don’t stay [du steː].

D. Non-finite Clauses BIE lacks a clear distinction between finite and non-finite verbs (see 201, 215, 216), and the V-ing form rarely occurs as a complement, even in the acrolect. One strategy is to use a to-infinitive where StE requires a participle.

World English Vol III.indb 160

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

161

It wuh so much here to grow wild Another strategy is to use a finite form as a complement. You better stop teaches us It might seem that the category ‘infinitive’ is well established, yet the absence of an infinitive marker where this is required in StE suggests otherwise. I like sing for Jesus Also, as we have seen (in 201), BIE uses don’t instead of not to negate infinitive clauses. She told me to don’t hit hard Again, although pre-verbal to with non-finites is present in all speakers’ grammars, it is sometimes used in non-standard structures. Ah started to plantin trees Where the dependent clause expresses purpose, for or its variants fuh and fi are found in AfrBIE. That wazn fit fuh have no dance I neva use sweet soap fi bathe with yet you know The infinitive of purpose with for to is a fast-receding British dialect form, but it can be found in AfrBIE and possibly in AngBIE as well. They did that for to get disturb the people Finally, BIE follows a number of other vernacular dialects in the use of a coordinate verbal structure, where the to-infinitive is required in StE. They had started an sell there In such co-ordinate structures, the second verb is uninflected. Goin an  V is a favoured collocation. ah can’t go out there an snorkel too because they goes they goin an pull me in.

World English Vol III.indb 161

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

162

World Englishes Volume III

E. Relative clauses Both acrolectal and mid-range speakers use that as a relative pronoun, as in StE. But more commonly, variant forms of what are used, generally reduced forms. the biggest shark [wɛ] ah ever seen in my life the fellow what pitchin right now Unlike spoken StE, the relative pronoun referring to the subject may be omitted. The folks-them (Ø that) be roun the office ting they speak proper Alternatively, a resumptive pronoun may be used to ‘fill’ the gap. We gotta do what them they got money say.

F. Creole-type verb complementation The next two structures are regarded as typical of CECs. (i) Complementizer seh In AfrBIE, seh is found following verbs of speech, thought and perception. They tell im seh they was gonna shove his head in the sewerage The tourists-them don’t know seh Roatan is part of Honduras Ah heard seh they havin a little celebration Another word occasionally used in the same contexts as seh is as. ah tell im as ah go make one bawmie (ii) Serial verb constructions Serial verb constructions consist of two or more lexical verbs ‘brought together without a complementizer, conjunction or infinitive marker’ (Patrick 2004: 425). In BIE, certain structures come close to the Creole prototype. Show mek I see (used in the context of telling an Anancy story) Go say tell her Go so take full the bucket come back hurry

World English Vol III.indb 162

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

163

Evans (1966), in his study of French Harbour in Roatan, gives the term carry go bring come, referring to the transmission of malicious gossip. Some longer sequences show influence from serial verb constructions, though they are best regarded as paratactic, with ellipsis of the co-ordinator. He dive him in the sea come at night carry im home eat im A possible case of older British dialect influence appears in the structure take and Verb, which is found in AngBIE. Old Tom McField took an told that in court Similar examples from traditional dialects of the south and southeast of England, as well as Barbados, are cited by Niles (1980: 132).

Complex sentences A. Clausal linking Pronominal copying is used after a noun phrase subject (see 11, 79) or a topicalized noun phrase (see 96). A similar case is where the subject of the first clause has a relative clause postmodifier. The gringos that make dem they don know how big shark bes (see also 244) The most usual way of linking clauses is by use of conjunctions (see e.g. 66). That may be used as a conjunction (see also 57). I had an uncle stayin not very far from the graveyard that he had some fowl too After he get old that he resign off the ship he come back Loose co-ordination can also make use of whichin. When ah was comin up ah got the two (languages) at the same time whichin everybody here is not alike Subordinate clauses are almost invariably finite in BIE. Most subordinating conjunctions operate as in StE. The role of StE ‘unless’ is generally taken by except that and without. She gon to had no voice except that she marry Without you had consent for her, can’t compel you [ ‘(Øthey) couldn’t compel you to marry’].

World English Vol III.indb 163

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

164

World Englishes Volume III

B. Conditionals StE has if in the condition clause. This is frequently absent in BIE. A man [do] believe in God he not a man A form of go is commonly used in the result clause. Describing how a bucket on her head saved her from being brained by a falling coconut, one speaker comments. If ah didn put that bucket, ah believe it wuh [ɑŋ] kill me [didn put  ‘hadn’t put’] Acrolectal and many mid-range speakers use had or hada in the condition clause and would ad or [wʊda] in the result clause. I say brother that hada been me I woulda killed my turtle This type of conditional can be called ‘hypothetical past condition.’ It is associated with some hypothesized event in the past which did not occur. For nonpast hypothetical cases, BIE favours condensed expression without auxiliaries and with uninflected verbs. If this one fix up it be more closer to we here [StE: if this one were fixed up, it would be closer to us here].

Current trends in the Bay Islands The rapid changes that have taken place since the early 1990s are complex, in that they involve not only hispanization, but also the immersion of the islands in North American consumer culture due to tourism and the development of real-estate. In an earlier article on Bay Islanders cultural identity (Graham 2000), I referred to a growing unease among islanders about changes that had gathered momentum during the 1990s. There was disquiet about the massive immigration by mainlanders which had driven down wage levels and a feeling that mainlanders were taking jobs away from islanders. The cost of buying imported foods and other goods (hardly anything is produced locally), allied to the absence of a wage-earner in many households, were factors promoting increased levels of crime among islanders, although mainland gangs were held responsible for the worst crimes. Drugs were widely seen as a major problem. Issues related to the cost of living, employment and crime, and drugs in particular, continue to preoccupy islanders. A continuing source of discontent is

World English Vol III.indb 164

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

165

the high cost of electricity. All these issues need to be seen against the decisive shift in the basis of the economy from fishing to tourism and the increased inequality this has brought about. Tourism accounted ‘directly or indirectly’ for 64 per cent of GDP on the largest island, Roatan, in 2004,21 and this figure is probably around 80 per cent at the time of writing (mid-2011). The largest island has attracted huge investment from major tourist consortia and real-estate developers. Americans and Europeans have bought real estate and spend part or all of the year on the islands. The cost of land has increased astronomically, with beachfront lots in Roatan now costing over a million dollars an acre. These developments were ushered in by a 1990 decree of the Liberal President Rafael Callejas, which permitted an exception to the existing Constitutional ban on foreigners owning property. The islands were redefined as ‘urban areas’ and foreigners were allowed to up to 3000 m2 without the need to form a corporation. An even more contentious second clause allowed foreign companies to purchase as much land as was required for previously approved tourism projects. West Bay in the west of Roatan, a pristine coconut-fringed white beach accessible only on foot until the early 1990s, is now backed by large hotels and condos. Resorts have sprung up even in areas that are officially environmentally protected, such as Port Royal in the east of the island. Also, in the east, an exclusive new resort with an18-hole ‘designer’ golf course opened at the end of 2010, in an area adjoining a large area of mangrove swamp and the last unspoiled extended beach in the island. With the completion of two major cruise-ship facilities on Roatan, the island is now the third most important cruise-ship destination in the Caribbean, after Cozumel and Grand Cayman. It was predicted that over 830,000 cruiseship passengers would visit the island in 2011.22 The international airport, which opened in 1988, now has direct flights to a number of North American cities including Houston, Miami, Atlanta and Newark and Toronto as well as Milan, Italy. One major recent development has already had significant consequences. In December 2007, the Bay Islands was officially declared a ‘free-zone for tourism’ (ZOLITUR). Bay Islands residents now pay no taxes on imports of tourism-related items, and ZOLITUR-registered businesses pay no income tax on profits to central government. The free-zone status has provided a major boost to tourism, but ZOLITUR has also alienated the poor and helped to create what one journalist has referred to as ‘the fractured society.’ ‘While the island has a billionaire, probably around 60 plus millionaires, it also has around 40,000 people living at or below poverty level’ (Tomczyk 2009).23 The exponential growth in tourism and in real-estate development has thus had mixed effects for native Bay Islanders. A few wealthy islanders own resorts, while a good number have dive shops or small hotels, restaurants and food

World English Vol III.indb 165

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

166

World Englishes Volume III

outlets. But the majority compete with mainlanders for low-paid work in the tourism and construction sectors. Some islanders have made large one-off profits from sales of land, but others have been pressured into selling off land to developers, only to find that they have been cheated. Many feel that the islands have been ruined by the speed and scale of development. Environmental groups such as BICA (Bay Islands Conservation Association) point to damage to reefs and loss of marine life, also to the destruction of mangroves, the consequence of dredging, deforestation, and run off of red soil from road-building and uncontrolled construction work. The digging of deep wells has depleted the islands’ precious water supply and resulted in lowering of the water table. The municipalities seem powerless to prevent environmental damage, though they are charged with reviewing licenses for development. Meanwhile, government attitudes towards granting linguistic and cultural autonomy to English-speaking islanders remain guarded in spite of what one linguist referred to a ‘giro copernicano’ in official policy towards ethnic minorities in the early 1990s (Herranz 1996: 251). Official recognition of ‘el character pluricultural y plurilingüístico de la sociedad’ was given in a presidential decree of 1994, which expressed active support for ‘un bilingüísmo de mantenimiento para rescatar, conserver y desarollar las lenguas vernaculas’. Some progress has been made with the development of materials for Garifuna and Miskito students, but in spite of the availability of World Bank funding, very little has been done either for the Bay Islanders or for the ‘negros ingleses’ on the coast who consider English their heritage language. The Program for Bilingual Intercultural Education which started in the mid1990s, with heavy funding from the World Bank, has been mainly notable for its disconnection from the wishes of people from the affected ethnic minorities. As an illustration of this, the anthropologist who acted as the initial project consultant recommended that Bay Islands English be treated as a creole and urged the adoption of a phonetic orthography. This approach was endorsed by the Program’s Director, in spite of islanders’ repeated refusal to countenance anything other than education in Standard English. In the event, nothing was done. Starting in 2006, the funding for Bilingual Intercultural Education through the Interamerican Development Bank has formed part of a wider project called ‘Education for All’ linked to the achievement of the UN Millennium goals for education. As part of this, a number of Bay Islanders have received training in the teaching of basic-level English in government primary schools. It should be noted, however, that the public schools are all Spanish medium and the programme is essentially designed to teach English to Spanish-speaking children. No training for high school teachers is available on the islands. Many families still send their children to La Ceiba for secondary schooling (after completion of sixth grade), and, in some cases, families have moved there

World English Vol III.indb 166

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

English in Honduras

167

to facilitate this. Education is felt to be better on the mainland, despite the existence of a number of private bilingual schools on the islands. The first of these to be established (in 1983) was Roatan Bilingual School. Most of the others are associated with the Methodist and Adventist churches and the Church of God and operate at elementary and lower secondary level, though RBS goes higher than this, to 11th grade. There is widespread dissatisfaction with the chronically underfunded public school system, but the cost of sending children to a bilingual school places this option beyond the means of the majority of islanders. In some localities, parents pay for afternoon classes of English in the public school after morning classes have finished. The islands are well-served by cable television and internet. Local radio is limited in scope, offering mainly music and Christian content. Since 2003, an American presenter has hosted ‘the first English-speaking talk radio programming on the Bay Islands’ (www.roatanbruce.com). There is also a monthly magazine, Bay Islands Voice, which provides local news and opinion.

Future prospects for English in Honduras As in the rest of Central America, there is a growing number of highly proficient users of US English, in addition to returned migrants with a wide range of proficiency. English enjoys high prestige, and there is a high demand for places at the best bilingual schools. Many well-off Hondurans send their children to private bilingual schools, and a high proportion of these later attend college in the United States. Most stay on in the United States, so Honduras does not benefit directly. The historic English speakers have been largely sidelined by the recent surge in interest in English. The few remaining English speakers on the coast do not enjoy any special recognition. Special public educational provision for English-speaking Bay Islanders is limited to two PROHECO communitymanaged schools; there are, however, reports that PROHECO schools are subject to the endemic clientelism of two-party Honduran politics.24 Priority needs to be given to widening access to private English-medium schooling, through making more scholarships available for students from poor families. There is also a need for centres catering for the majority Spanish-speaking population, where English as a Foreign Language can be provided. The involvement of all four municipalities, together with funding from ZOLITUR, local foundations and private donors, is essential.25 It is hard to be optimistic about the prospects for English language in the public school system. Ideally, teachers in public schools, who are almost all mainlanders, should be recruited on the basis of having some proficiency in

World English Vol III.indb 167

11/26/2012 2:35:49 PM

168

World Englishes Volume III

English. It would also help considerably if appropriate teacher training were available on the islands. Teachers need to be trained in EFL and bilingual education methodologies, with differentiation according to the differing needs of first and second language learners of English. In the private schools, there should be recognition of the particularities of Bay Islands English and to the possibility of creative written expression in the local variety.

Conclusion The new status of the Bay Islands as a free zone has given the islands a certain degree of autonomy from central government. There is, however, a need for co-ordinated planning to ensure that the revenue from tourism, mainly from Roatan, is used to benefit disadvantaged areas across the islands. If some of the entrepreneurial opportunities opened up by the free zone are directed towards the development of its human potential, the future of English in one corner of Honduras can be assured. Somewhat paradoxically, it may be only then that parts of the English heritage of Honduras will begin to receive recognition in the nation’s schools as a valued part of the nation’s patrimony.26

Notes 1

2

3

Today, English in Honduras is primarily spoken in the Bay Islands, so that English in Honduras is often considered to be Bay Islands English. While the linguistic focus of the chapter is the English of the Bay Islands, the title emphasizes the wider geographical and sociohistorical contexts of the presence of English in Honduras, pre-independence and post-independence. The Scope of the present chapter is wider than the chapter entitled ‘Honduras/ Bay Islands English’ which appeared in Schreier et al. (eds, 2010); it is also more detailed in terms of the linguistic analysis of BIE. Holm (1983: 8) gives estimates of 300 English speakers in Honduran Mosquitia and 100 in Trujillo. This seems over generous. Few Miskitos in Honduras today have functional competence in English (Griffin, pc. March 2005). A very few English speakers remain in Puerto Castilla, and there are probably no more than 40–50 in all of La Mosquitia (the 2001 census gives fewer than 20 negros ingleses in Plaplaya, the main settlement founded by English speakers). Miskito’ refers today to non-ladino people sharing a common culture and an ethnic language of that name. Originally, the ‘zambo-Miskitos’ were a darkskinned subgroup of the Sumu people known as the Miskito. Concerning the origins of the zambo-Miskito, Floyd (1967: 22) comments: ‘Although the coming of the Negro to the Cabo is traditionally accounted for by the shipwreck in 1641

World English Vol III.indb 168

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English in Honduras

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

169

of a Portuguese slaver, bound for Cartagena, this event merely contributed a concentrated number of one of the three races already present’. It is quite likely that the earliest group of dark-skinned Miskitos was formed by black slaves who had escaped from the silver mines and married Sumu women. Griffin (n.d.: 2) observes that this would help to explain why similar African-based stories can be found today both in La Mosquitia and in the mining districts of the interior. ‘The British could not devise a valid case for establishing their own sovereignty over the region. So they bestowed sovereignty on the Miskito Indians, that is, on the hereditary ‘king’ of the Mosquitos, and formed an alliance with them’ (Naylor 1989: 46). For those captured by the romance of the ‘Brethren of the Sea’, it may be of interest that a long-time resident of Roatan, the anthropologist David K. Evans, gives a vivid fictional account of life among castaways on Roatan in the 1700s in the novel Red at Dawn (2009), available from the website www.redatdawn.com. The story is partly based on the experiences of Philip Ashton. Evans’ earlier novel The Judas Bird is also set on Roatan. Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua broke away from the Central American Republic in 1838. There were many in Belize who favoured annexation of the Bay Islands and the Mosquito Coast, in order to prevent rival countries such as the United States or France from gaining a toehold. One Belizean entrepreneur, Marshall Bennett, had gained the right of exploitation of the forests of the entire eastern Mosquito Shore through his friendship with Francisco Morazán. A Poyais legation office was open in London, and Poyaisian banknotes were prepared by a reputable company in Edinburgh ‘Promotional pamphlets lauded the ideal climate and great mineral wealth of Poyais, depicted as a civilized nation full of cathedrals, banks and government edifices’ (Gregg 1999: 10) A study by Garifuna teacher Fausto Miguel Alvarez (reported in Griffin n.d.: 3–4) identified Barra Patuca and Las Brisas (Belizean and Jamaican), Mangotara (Belizean) and Taracunta (Belizean); also, Benk on the Rio Kruta was a Jamaican logging settlement. Almost a century later, some residents of Utila still claimed British nationality (Adams 1957: 640). Griffin (n.d.: 3) observes that in Cauquira there are many ‘white Miskitos’, with Bay Islander surnames like McNab, Gough and Haylock. The Miskito variant of London Bridges contains a reference to ‘Mary Lynn’, a coded name for Mary Queen of Scots, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London. The dance that accompanies it is similar to a reel (Griffin, n.d.). This and ‘Have you seen a lassie?’ indicate early Scottish influence, possibly going back to the earliest Baymen. ‘The creoles are descendants of the Buccaneers (especially of Scotch nationality’ (Mueller 1932: 56). On the Kruta River in eastern Mosquitia, the dark-skinned Miskito that are there are still called ‘Sambuls’ by other Miskito (Griffin n.d.: 4). They are the descendants of the original zambo-Miskitos from near the Cape, but English is no longer spoken. In a 1993 conference paper, Glenn Gilbert proposed that Roatan speech could be modelled as a ‘convergence creole’ consisting of a continuum of lects. More

World English Vol III.indb 169

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

170

15

16

17

18

19

20

21 22 23

24

25

26

World Englishes Volume III

detail on the quantitative comparison of AfrBIE and AngBIE, and discussion of the extent of convergence at the level of linguistic features, can be found in Graham (2005). Lists of Anglophone ‘creole’ features have been compiled by linguists, enabling synchronic or diachronic comparisons to be made (see especially Hancock 1987; Schneider 1990; Baker and Huber 2001). I was able to verify this, thanks to the generous loan of four tapes from the Cayman Islands Memory Bank, for which I would like to thank the archive’s Director, Heather McLaughlin. It is important to note that the interviews on which the present study is based were carried out in 1990–1992. Details of data collection can be found in Graham (1997). The account given here thus represents the state of Bay Islands English at the beginning of the surge in tourism which has since transformed the island economy, and at a time before English speakers became a minority due to uncontrolled immigration from the mainland. Since that time, bilingualism among English speakers has become almost universal, and influences from North America have had a significant impact on island speech (although this has yet to receive study). An interesting parallelism exists between the Bay Islands and the Bahamas. In their analysis of Bahamian English, Reaser and Torbert (2005) identify ‘a persistent qualitative and quantitative ethnolinguistic division’ within the plurality of Englishes found across the Bahamas. They use the terms ‘Anglo-Bahamian’ and ‘Afro-Bahamian’ to classify systemic differences. The authors also distinguish ‘mesolectal’ and ‘basilectal’ varieties within AfBahE; these correspond roughly to my labels AfrBIE and AfrBIE. The very common verbs be, have and go are omitted from this count because pasttense marking is nearly categorical; also omitted are got (ambiguous form) and say (nearly always in the non-past form). This is the only instance in the data where [m] is substituted for [b]; it may represent a vestigial influence of Belize creole. This figure comes from a report in ‘Bay Islands Voice’ (December 2004). www.cruiseportinsider.com/roatan.html (accessed 9 May 2011). In May 2009, the French Harbour offices of ZOLITUR were burned down by rioters from the nearby ladino settlement of Las Fuertes. Polarisation of Honduran society had been increasing during the left-leaning presidency of Maduras, who was unseated by the military in late June. PROHECO  ‘Proyecto Hondureño de Educación Comunitaria’. It has been reported (Altschuler 2010) that after the National Party election victory in 2009, field staff in mainland Honduras put pressure on parents in the communitymanaged schools to award teaching contracts to party loyalists. The ‘Partners in Education Roatan’ website (www.pierroatan.org) contains information on educational projects, including a technical–vocational college. This website also contains a link to a 2007 report, ‘Vision 2020’, setting out objectives for improving public education. There is apparently no reference to the Bay Islands in the grade 1–6 textbooks produced by the Honduran Ministry of Education (Thomas Tomczyk ‘Educating the Island Nation’. Bay Islands Voice, August 2007).

World English Vol III.indb 170

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English in Honduras

171

Bibliography Aceto, M. (2008), ‘Eastern Caribbean English-derived language varieties’, in E. W. Schneider (ed.), Varieties of English 2: The Americas and the Caribbean, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 290–311. Aceto, M. and Williams, J. P. (eds) (2003), Contact Englishes of the Eastern Caribbean, Amsterdam, New York: Benjamins. Adams, R. N. (1957), Cultural Surveys of Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras (Scientific Publication no. 33), Washington, DC: Pan American Sanitary Bureau, Regional Office of the World Health Organization. Altschuler, D. (2010), ‘In Honduras, rural school jobs handed to President’s supporters’: 26 July 2010 blog, http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/1735, accessed 9 May 2011. Baker, P. and Huber, M. (2001), ‘Atlantic, Pacific, and world-wide features in English-lexicon contact languages’. English World-Wide 22(2), 157–208. Bickerton, D. (1975), Dynamics of a Creole System, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ––. (1981), Roots of Language, Ann Arbor: Karoma. Caiger, S. L. (1951), British Honduras: Past and Present, London: George Allen and Unwin. Canelas Diaz, A. (1999), La Ceiba: Sus Raices y su Historia. 1810–1940, La Ceiba; Tipografía Renacimiento. Cassidy, F. and Le Page, R. (1980), Dictionary of Jamaican English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Christian, D. (1991), ‘The personal dative in Appalachian speech’, in P. Trudgill and J. K. Chambers (eds), London: Longman, pp. 11–19. CIA Country Facts website. www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ geos/ho.html, accessed 19 May 2011. Conzemius, E. (1932), Ethnographical Survey of the Miskito and Sumu Indians of Honduras and Nicaragua, Washington, DC: Bureau of American Ethology. Dampier, W. (1998 [1697]), A Voyage Around the World, London: Hummingbird Press. Davidson, W. (1974), A Historical Geography of the Bay Islands of Honduras, Birmingham, AL: Southern Universities Press. Decker, K. and Henriksen, L. (2002), A Report on the English of the Bay Islands of Honduras. Summer Institute of Linguistics. Euraque, D. (2004), ‘Jamaican migrants and settlements in Honduras, 1870–1954’ Paper, Conference, Between Race and Place: Blacks and Blackness in Central America and the Mainland Caribbean, Tulane University, New Orleans, 11–13 November 2004. Evans, D. K. (1966), The People of French Harbour, Unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. Floyd, T. (1967), The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia, Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. Gilbert, G. (ed.) (1987), Pidgin and Creole languages: Essays in of memory of John E. Reinecke, Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii. ––. (1993), ‘Adverbial placement in acrolectal convergence creoles’, Paper Presented at SPCL Conference, Amsterdam, 10–11 June 1993.

World English Vol III.indb 171

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

172

World Englishes Volume III

Graham, W. R. (1997), Bay Islands English: Linguistic Contact and Convergence in the Western Caribbean, Unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida. ––. (2000), ‘The Bay Islands English: Stages in the Evolution of Cultural Identity’, in O. Marshall (ed.), English-speaking Communities in Latin America, London and New York: Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press. ––. (2005), ‘Partial creolization, restructuring and convergence in Bay Islands English’, English World-Wide, 26(1), 43–76. Gregg, R. T. (1999), Gregor McGregor Cacique of Poyais 1778–1845, or Gregor McGregor on the trail of the gullible, London: International Bond and Share Society. Griffin, W. n.d. The Past, Present and Future of English Speakers on Honduras’ North Coast, Unpublished monograph. ––. (2004), ‘The History and Culture of Bay Islanders and North Coast English Speakers of Honduras’, available from www.unmundo.org/files/Isleno.pdf, accessed 19 May 2011. Hancock, I. F. (1987), ‘A Preliminary Classification of the Anglophone Caribbean Creoles, with Syntactic Data from Thirty-Three Representative Dialects’, in Gilbert, G. (ed.), 1987, pp. 264–334. Harper, M. (2005), ‘When pirates ruled’, Bay Islands Voice, 3, 3. Harris, J. (1987), ‘On Doing Comparative Reconstruction with Genetically Unrelated Languages’, in A-G Ramat, O. Carruba, and G. Bernini (eds), Papers from the 7th International Conference on Historical Linguistics, Amsterdam: Benjamins. Henderson, Capt. G. (1811), An Account of the British settlement of Honduras . . . to which are added, sketches of the manners and customs of the Mosquito Indians preceded by the Journal of a voyage to the Mosquito shore, London: C. and R. Baldwin. Herranz, A. (1996), Estado, Sociedad y Lenguaje: La política lingüística en Honduras, Tegucigalpa: Editorial Guaymuras. Holm, J. A. (1982), The Creole English of Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast, Unpub. Ph.D. thesis, University of London. ––. (ed.) (1983), Central American English, Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag. Houlson, S. J. (1934), Blue Blaze: Danger and delight in strange islands of Honduras, Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill. Jones, C. (1989), A History of English Phonology, London: Longman. Jones, D. W. and Glean, C. A. (1971), The English-speaking communities of Honduras and Nicaragua, Caribbean Quarterly, 17(2), 50–61. Le Page, R. B. and Tabouret-Keller, A. (1985), Acts of Identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Leslie, E. (1988), Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls, London: Macmillan. Lord, D. (1975), Money Order Economy: Remittances in the Island of Utila, Unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Riverside. Matthews, W. (1935), Sailors’ pronunciation in the second half of the seventeenth century, Anglia, 39, 193–251. Meyer, H. K. and Meyer, J. H. (1994), A Historical Dictionary of Honduras, Metuchen, NY, London: Scarecrow Press. Mueller, K. A. (1932), Among Creoles, Mestizos, and Sumus: Eastern Nicaragua and its Moravian Missions, Bethlehem, PA: Moravian Christian Education Board. Naylor, R. A. (1989), Penny Ante Imperialism: The Mosquito Shore and the Bay of Honduras, 1600–1914, London and Toronto: Associated University Presses.

World English Vol III.indb 172

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English in Honduras

173

Neumann-Holzschuh, I. and Schneider, E. W. (eds)(2000), Degrees of Restructuring in Creole Languages, Amsterdam: Benjamins. Niles, N. (1980), Provincial English Dialects and Barbadian English, Unpub. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan. Patrick, P. (1999), Urban Jamaican Creole: Variation in the Mesolect, Amsterdam, PA: Benjamins. ––. (2004), ‘Jamaican creole: morphology and syntax’, in E. W. Schneider (ed.), pp. 609–644. Preston, J. (1988), Mosquito Indians and Anglo-Spanish Rivalry in Central America 1630–1821, University of Glasgow monograph. Reaser, J. and Torbert, B. (2008), ‘Bahamian English: morphology and syntax’, in B. Kortmann and E. Schneider (eds) (2008), A Handbook of Varieties of English, Vol. 2. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 391–406. Rickford, J. R. and Blake, R. (1990), ‘Copula contraction and absence in Barbadian English, Samana English and Vernacular Black English’, in K. Hall, J-P. Koenig, M. Meacham, S. Reiman, and L. A. Sutton (eds), Proceedings of the 16th Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 16–19 February 1990. Berkeley, CA, Berkeley Linguistics Society, pp. 256–268. Ryan, J. (1973), Blayk is white on the Bay Islands, University of Michigan Working Papers in Linguisticsm 1(92), 128–139. Schneider, E. (1990), ‘The cline of creoleness in the English-oriented creoles and semi-creoles of the Caribbean’, English World-Wide 111(1), 71–113. ––. (ed.) (2008), Varieties of English, Vol 2: The Americas and the Caribbean, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Schreier, D. and Trudgill, P. (2006) The segmental phonology of 19th century Tristan da Cunha English: Convergence and local innovation. English Language and Linguistics, 10, 119–41. Schreier, D., Trudgill, P., Schneider, E. W., and Williams, J. P. (eds) (2010), The Lesser-Known Varieties of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Stonich, S. C. (2000), The Other Side of Paradise: Tourism, conservation and development in the Bay Islands, Elmsford, New York: Cognizant Communication Corp. Strangeways, T. (1822), Sketch of the Mosquito Shore, Including the Territory of the Poyais, Edinburgh: Blackwood. Tomczyk, T. (2009), ‘The Powder Keg’ and ‘The Fractured Society’: articles in Bay Islands Voice, 7, 6, available online at www.bayislandsvoice.com, accessed 20 July 2009. Trudgill, P. (2006), New-Dialect Formation: The inevitability of colonial Englishes, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Trudgill, P. and Chambers, J. K. (eds) (1991), Dialects of English: Studies in Grammatical Variation, Harlow: Longman. Warantz, E. (1983), ‘The Bay Islands English of Honduras’, in J. A. Holm (ed.), pp. 71–94. Wells, J. (1982), Accents of English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Williams, J. (1987), Anglo-Caribbean English: A Study of its Sociolinguistic History and the Development of its Aspectual markers. Unpub. PhD dissertation, University of Texas at Austin.

World English Vol III.indb 173

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

174

World Englishes Volume III

––. (2003), ‘The Establishment and Perpetuation of Anglophone White Enclave Communities in the Eastern Caribbean: The Case of Island Harbor, Anguilla’, in M. Aceto and Williams, J. P. (eds), pp. 95–119. Winford, D. (1992), ‘Another look at the copula in Black English and Caribbean creoles’, American Speech, 67, 21–60. ––. (1993), Predication in Caribbean English Creoles, Amsterdam: Benjamins. ––. (2000), ‘ “Intermediate” Creoles and Degrees of Change in Creole Formation: The Case of Bajan’, in I. Neumann-Holzschuh and E. W. Schneider (eds), pp. 215–246. Wolfram, W. (1991), ‘Towards a description of a-prefixing in Appalachian English’, in P. Trudgill and J. K. Chambers (eds), London: Longman, pp. 11–19. Wolfram, W. and Schilling-Estes, N. (2004), ‘Remnant Dialects in the Coastal United States’, in R. Hickey (ed.), The Legacy of Colonial English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 174–204. Wright, J. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, Vol. I–VI, London: H. Frowde. Wyld, H. C. (1936), A History of Modern Colloquial English, Oxford: Blackwell. Young, T. (1842), Narrative of a Residence on the Mosquito Shore, with an Account of Truxillo and the Adjacent Islands of Bonacca and Roatan, London: Smith, Elder and Company.

World English Vol III.indb 174

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

Nicaragua

Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean Language Speaking Areas on the Nicaragua Caribbean Coast

World English Vol III.indb 175

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

World English Vol III.indb 176

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

Chapter 4

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua Arja Koskinen

Background of the Region The Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast, also known as the Atlantic Coast, comprises the relatively vast territory located east of Nicaragua, bordering Honduras in the north, through the Coco or Wangki River, Rio San Juan in the south, the Caribbean Sea in the east, which merges with the Atlantic ocean beyond, and the Departments of Jinotega, Matagalpa, Boaco and Chontales in the west. Geographically, the Caribbean Coast represents roughly 50 per cent of the national territory, estimated in some 121,428 square kilometres, yet, only approximately 14 per cent of the Nicaraguan population lives there.1 This region, with such low density of population, is home to most of the natural resources in this country: forests of the humid tropic, fine timber, underground precious metals and products of the sea, among others – one would imagine the Caribbean Coast to be a prosperous region. Paradoxically, it remains the poorest region in Nicaragua, holding also the lowest literacy rate in the country: the UNDP Report on Human Development on the Caribbean Coast (2001) estimated 2.1 years of schooling, compared to 6.6 on the urban Pacific Coast. The Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast is a multiethnic region, populated by six indigenous peoples and ethnic communities. The size of the populations shows a considerable variation in different sources. The most recent data is from a 2005 national census, showing radically different numbers compared to other sources. A careful revision would be needed at least in the cases of a drastic growth or reduction of the population, as for instance is the case of the Ramas and Sumu-Mayangnas. In the following list, the indigenous peoples and ethnic communities of the Caribbean Coast are represented from two sources of data: the first number is a commonly used approximation and the second number dates from the 2005 census: Mestizos (200.000/112.253), the Afro-Caribbeans or Creoles (35.000/19.890) and Garífunas, a mixture of Carib and Arawak Indians from the Lesser Antilles and tribes from western Africa (2.300/3.271). The three indigenous peoples are represented by the Miskitus (104.000/120.817), the Ramas (1.500/4.185) and the Sumu-Mayangnas (Panamahkas, Tuahkas and Ulwas: 16.000/10.454). Among the languages, Rama and Garífuna are in

World English Vol III.indb 177

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

178

World Englishes Volume III

the weakest position, approximately 30–40 speakers each,2 but revitalization efforts are in process in the corresponding communities. It is also important to highlight that the 2005 national census shows an increase of over 26 per cent in respect to the total population of the Autonomous Regions according to the national census in 1995 (716.236 vs. 566.393). The number of the Creole population varies drastically in different sources; for instance, an estimation by FADCANIC – HUMBOLDT FOUNDATION from 1991 gives a total of 50.000 Creoles in Nicaragua. Historically, the indigenous peoples of Nicaragua were subjected to two different models of colonization. Spanish conquerors imposed their language and culture on the indigenous peoples of the Pacific and Central regions, and as a consequence of war, diseases and slave trade, their population was drastically reduced. The case of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast was different. Contrary to the Spanish conquerors, the British colonizers used more subtle, and yet more effective, ways of domination through ‘contractual alliances’ and ‘protectorates’. This strategy allowed them to obtain cheap labour force from their ‘allies’ or ‘protectees’, which were in their best of interest to maintain. Under such conditions, many of the indigenous and Afro-Caribbean peoples of the once called Miskitu Kingdom3 were able to survive, and along with them, their languages and cultures. For several centuries, the Caribbean Coast was subjected to the most irrational exploitation of its natural resources and the marginalization of its people through different forms of colonialism. Through its historical development, the Caribbean Coast has successively passed from British domination in the early 1700s and throughout the eighteenth century to the economic enclaves of North American transnationals whose presence expanded from the early 1900s to the late 1950s. In 1894, yet another form of annexation took place with the so-called Re-incorporation of the Miskitu Kingdom to the Nicaraguan State. Thereafter, and for almost 100 years, the state of marginalization and impoverishment of the Coast continued affecting, among others, the development of the cultures and languages. Not until the 1980s, after the Sandinist revolution, were new perspectives of participation and development opened to the Coast people. This process was supported by a strong legal framework that involved several pertinent laws. The Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua (1987)4 establishes the multiethnic status of the Nicaraguan nation. The ‘Rights of the Communities of the Atlantic Coast’, including ‘the right to preserve and develop their cultural identity within national unity, choose their own forms of social organization and administrate their local issues according to their own traditions’, are contained in Chapter VI, articles 89 through 91 of the Bill of Rights. The approval of Law of Autonomy (Law 28, 1987) constituted the foundations for the establishment of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan

World English Vol III.indb 178

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

179

Atlantic Coast (RAAN and RAAS),5 ruled by an Autonomous Government regime, which restored unto the people their rights to preserve and promote their languages, arts and cultures and to choose their own forms of education. It also mandates the Autonomous Regional Governments to conduct the process of design and the administration of education so that it responds to the needs, interests and aspirations of the people, while establishing the right of the people to enjoy the benefits of their natural resources within the framework of sustainable development. As to the status of the languages, the Language Law (Law 162, Ley de Uso Oficial de las Lenguas de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua, 1993) establishes that, in addition to Spanish, Miskitu, Creole, Sumu, Garifuna and Rama are languages of official use on the Atlantic Coast. Thus, Creole is one of the official languages of the Caribbean Coast.

Linguistic Background and Contacts The majority of what is known today as the Creole population of Nicaragua is settled on the Caribbean Coast, although people of African descent can be located on the Pacific zone, mainly in Granada and Nandaime, as well. The origins of the Creole population date back to the arrival of the Europeans and their African slaves on the Caribbean Coast, where a number of indigenous peoples already lived. The Creole population thus represents a mixture of African, European and Amerindian peoples (Hale and Gordon 1987). The initial contacts occurred already in the late sixteenth century when the buccaneers and their African crew members visited Bluefields, Pearl Lagoon and Cabo Gracias a Dios, which were to become major Creole concentrations. The first settlement took place as the English Providence Company was founded on Providence Island in 1630, and the colonists with their slaves came to stay on mainland Nicaragua. Upon the destruction of the Providence Island settlement by Spanish forces in 1641, more African-descent people joined the mainland settlers, some mixing with the native Miskitus. The arrival of more Africandescent population to the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast continued for the next 150 years, some of them brought as slaves by their British masters settling on mainland and others as free men, having escaped from their captivity. Parallel to this, an increasing number of free men of colour arrived from Jamaica and other areas of the Caribbean and settled on the Coast. Among these were traders, merchant mariners, craftsmen and soldiers, all taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new settlements. As the immigrant population increased, so did the mixture between Europeans, Amerindians and African descents leading to the creation of a new social hierarchy, at whose top was a Creole elite who, like their former slave masters, though to a lesser extent, had acquired the status of land- and slave-owners (Hale and Gordon 1987; Gordon 1998).

World English Vol III.indb 179

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

180

World Englishes Volume III

The evacuation of the British as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1783 created a vacuum in the colonial oppression, insofar as Spain was never able to consolidate its presence on the Coast. Such vacuum was used by the new social elite to consolidate their political and economic control of the region until the annexation in 1894. It was also during this period that the term Creole began consolidating, first to refer to a small lighter-skinned elite and later to include ‘the entire free English Creole-speaking non-white population born in the Americas and living in the Mosquitia’. Of this merge, thus, evolved what is known today as the English-based Nicaraguan Coast Creole language and culture (Hale and Gordon 1987: 18–19; Gordon 1998: 39). In the meantime, the religious presence of particularly Moravian missionaries increased. The Moravians, originally from Bohemia, began their missionary work on the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast approximately in 1845. They emphasized the value of education and founded schools all over the Coast, first in English and later also in Miskitu and Sumu-Mayangna. The English-medium mission schooling, supported by a significant number of North Americans and British in the churches and company enclaves, started a decreolization process that led to a rejection of Creole as ‘bad English or ‘broken English’, strictly proscribed in the schools. Among the Creoles, the Moravian schools soon became a symbol of ‘best education’ and ‘best English’ and have been able to keep their position (see Freeland 2004: 109–114). After the annexation of the Miskitu Kingdom to the Nicaraguan State in 1894, the languages of the Coast were banned through a Decree of Law that imposed Spanish as the ‘official’ language and the language of instruction, both in the public as well as in the private schools. Although English was later admitted as a subject in the school (mostly in the Moravian schools), the contact to the lexifier language was gradually reduced and lost, also as a consequence of the withdrawal of the enclave companies from the Coast. By the 1980s, English was spoken with ease only by a small older minority, mainly among more prosperous, urbanized middle-class members (Yih and Slate 1985: 26). The majority of Creole speakers, however, use more basilectal or mesolectal variants, leading to a curious situation where the younger members of a speech community speak a more basilectal language than the older ones (see Freeland 2004: 111–113). The Creole identity consists of several elements. Edmund Gordon (1998: 192–193) identifies three simultaneous identities for the Creole people, depending on how they call themselves: (1) blacks for Creole black Caribbean diasporic identity; (2) Creoles for Creole Anglo diasporic identity and (3) costeños for Creole indigenous identity. The Anglo-European identity gives them superiority in relation to the other autochthonous groups but creates, at the same time, tension between the black identity (African presence) and Costeño identity (fight for autonomy, solidarity and equity between all the Coast people). These identities and the tensions between them are closely connected to the attitudes of the Creoles towards their language.

World English Vol III.indb 180

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

181

Linguistic Description of the Components of the Grammar Very little research exists on the Nicaraguan Coast Creole. The most important work is the unpublished PhD dissertation of John Holm from 1978, The Creole English of Nicaragua’s Miskito Coast: its sociolinguistic history and a comparative study of its lexicon and syntax, where the author presents a wide documentation and analysis of the main grammatical structure and lexicon of the language. Other sources are an article by Guillermo Mc Lean and Ray Past from 1976: Some characteristics of Bluefields English, and, additionally, two studies on Rama Cay Creole (Assadi 1983; Young-Day 1992). I will use Holm (1978) as the main source of verification in my findings that are contemplated in this linguistic description. The examples have been taken from interviews with Creole speakers in Bluefields, Kukra Hill, Orinoco and Corn Island in August–September 2006 and from stories and other materials elaborated by Creole-speaking students and teachers in workshops and courses in Creole at the University URACCAN during the years 2002–2006.6 Given in the following is a short presentation of the most central linguistic features of the Nicaraguan Coast Creole: its sound system, orthography, morphological and syntactic aspects and lexicological features.

Orthography Nicaraguan Coast Creole (NCC), as many other creoles, has until recently existed only as an oral language. Although there were attempts to write Creole already in the 1980s, mainly by Creole poets from the Caribbean Coast, it was only in the year 2001 when the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast, URACCAN, started to work on establishing an orthography for the Creole, supported by the FOREIBCA Project of the Finnish Government.7 The first orthographical chart was elaborated by a team of linguists of the University URACCAN together with Creole teachers and technical staff of the Intercultural Bilingual Program of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. An expert from the Belizean Creole Project was invited to present the experiences of Belize in the elaboration of orthography and materials in Creole and to support in the establishing of the NCC orthography. Already during the first workshop, however, the Coast participants found the rule-based phonemic model used in Belize at that time too complicated and chose the principle of One sound – One symbol as the base of the NCC writing system8. The NCC alphabet has the following vowels and consonants

Vowels Short vowels: a – e – i – o – u – y pat ‘pot’; tel ‘tell’; hit ‘hit’; kot ‘cut’; put ‘put’; yu ‘you’

World English Vol III.indb 181

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

World Englishes Volume III

182

Long vowels: aa – ii – uu faas ‘fast’; iizi ‘easy’; muuv ‘move’ Diphthongs: ay – ai – ie – ou – uo faya ‘fire’; hai ‘high’; plie ‘play’; kou ‘cow’; nuo ‘know’

Consonants b – ch – d – f – g – h – j – k – l – m – n – ng – p – r – s – t – v – z – zh bai ‘buy’; chrai ‘try’; ded ‘dead’; frii ‘free’; gyal ‘girl’; hat ‘hat, hot’; jraiv ‘drive’; kaal ‘call’; luk ‘look’; mous ‘mouse’; nais ‘nice’; dong ‘down’, drap ‘drop’; ron ‘run’; smail ‘smile’; taal ‘tall’; hevi ‘heavy’; zip ‘zipper’, okiezhan ‘occasion’. Exceptions to the rule of one sound – one symbol are ch, zh and ng, where a combination of two consonants represents one sound. Further writing rules is to mark words with a short e in word-ending position with a -h: weh ‘where; what’; tudeh ‘today’. Also, the pronouns ih ‘he, she, it’ and A(h) carry the word-ending -h.

Nouns and the Noun Phrase The morphology and syntax of the NCC has been influenced by African, especially West African, languages whereas the Amerindian languages, especially Miskitu, and recently Spanish have mostly been the source of lexical borrowings. Holm (1978: 240–241) lists, in his work, 20 syntactic and morphological features whereof eight are shared by both West African languages and English. Most of these features will also be presented in this description.

Use of articles The indefinite article in NCC is wa(n). Also, the more acrolectal form a (invariant before vowels) is commonly used. Aal a dem tink da mi wa gud aidia. (KRS) ‘All of them thought that it was a good idea.’ Ih kech a king fish. ‘He caught a king fish.’

Nominal plural formation The plural formation with the plural marker dem after the noun is a common feature for most of the creoles and has apparently its origin in the West African

World English Vol III.indb 182

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

183

Languages (Holm 1978: 277–278). It expresses definite plural where the noun is commonly preceded by the definite article di. Indefinite plurals are expressed without a marker. Pluralization can also be expressed by a preceding quantifier (adverb or number) without a following marker. In collective plurals and in more acrolectal forms, the suffix -s (-z) can be added to the root noun. Di bwai dem ron huom faas faas. ‘The boys ran home very fast.’ Yu hafu bai plenti buk fa di klaas. ‘You have to buy a lot of books for the course.’ A gat faiv breda an tuu sista. (B-BLU) ‘I have five brothers and two sisters.’ Weh mi shuuz deh? Where are my shoes? NCC dem is also used to pluralize proper nouns giving them the meaning of a social group or family. Also, this structure has parallels in West African languages: Mis Telma dem ‘Miss Telma and her family/friends’. The plural marker is clearly related to the pronoun dem ‘they, them’ (see Holm 1978: 278–279). Another plural determiner used in NCC is neh that functions also as the thirdperson plural pronoun in subject, object and possessive use. So ih gaan iin di ruum an tek out aal di uol shuuz neh tu tek out aal di shuuz suol tu gi di devl. (KRS) ‘So he went into the room and took out all the old shoes to take out all the shoe soles in order to give them to the devil.’ A waa help mai famali neh. (B-KH) ‘I want to help my family.’ The first example here has a double plural with suffix -s and the determiner neh.

Nominal possession When the possessor is a noun, it is preceding the possessed noun without connective elements. This construction is usual also in West African languages (Holm 1978: 286). Breda Anansi fren niem Taiga. ‘Brother Anancy’s friend’s name is Tiger.’

World English Vol III.indb 183

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

184

World Englishes Volume III

Adjectives and adverbs The multifunctionality is a common feature in NCC as in other creole languages. Hence, the adjectives and adverbs are mostly identical and for instance -ly forms for adverbs of manner are rarely used. Dis pruogram gud. ‘This program is good.’ Lisn gud nou! (M-ORI) ‘Listen carefully now!’ The comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs are usually formed with suffixes -a and -is. However, double comparatives with muo ‘more’ and suffixation are very frequent. Di Bluufiilz tiim muo beta dan Laguun; dem ron muo faasa. (M-BLU) ‘The Bluefields team is better than Pearl Lagoon’s; they run faster.’ Wi don staat taak bad den, so wai fa taak muo bada den. (B-ORI) ‘We have already started to talk badly, so why to talk worse then.’ Note also superlative forms such as So deh gaan an pripier di besis fuud jos wat di baas a di restorant laik iit. (KRS) ‘So they went to prepare the best food, just what the boss of the restaurant likes to eat.’ Dis iz di onglies klaas tudeh. (W-CI) ‘This is the only class today.’ Where English uses lexical elements, usually adverbs, to intensify the meaning of an adjective, NCC often uses reduplication of adjectives. Di bwai shiemi shiemi den. (B-ORI) ‘The boys are very shy.’ ‘Hel, bwai,’ ih seh veks veks veks. (KRS) ‘Hell, boy’, she said very angry. Also lexical items and phrases are used to express intensification Di gyal uova miiga. ‘The girl is very skinny.’ Dis ting nuo ih hevi. (M-ORI) ‘This thing is very heavy.’

World English Vol III.indb 184

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

185

Pronouns In basilectal NCC, the subject and object forms of the personal pronouns are identical. The same pronouns are used as possessives as well.

first person second person third person

singular mi yu im

plural wi unu dem

The same basic system exists also in Jamaican Creole and has resemblances to the personal pronoun system in Yoruba and Mandinka, for instance, in distinguishing between the singular and plural forms of the second person and not making gender distinction in any of the persons including the third (Holm 1978: 280). Sari mi lov, mi kyaan help yu. (KRS) ‘Sorry, my love, I can’t help you.’ Wi gwain aks im if da chruut im iz yu raidin haas. (AS) ‘We are going to ask him if it is true that he is your riding horse.’ ‘So unu no gwain gi mi non?’ ‘So you are not going to give me any?’ Dem kaal wananada Breda. (AS) ‘They call each other Brother.’ This basic set has variants, most of them acrolectal: A and Ai for the first-person singular, ih and shi (also ar for object and possessive forms) for the third-person singular and deh, neh for the third-person plural. Nou A si yu simpl fa chruut, kom outa deh an mek A shuo dem piipl hou fa iit. (AS) ‘Now I see that you are really simple, come out of there and let me show these people how to eat.’ An ih ron iina di ruum an si ih biebi. (KRS) ‘And he ran into the room and saw his baby.’ Di monki no mi gat niem niida so shi kaal shiself ‘Lov gyal’. The monkey didn’t have a name either, so she called herself ‘Lov gyal’. A nuo shi gud gud. (M-ORI) ‘I know her very well.’ Deh no mi nuo weh fu du wid di pus weh deh no mi laik. (KRS) ‘They didn’t know what to do with the cat that they didn’t like.’ An wen neh mama no waa mek neh kom out, neh kos out di mama. (G-KH) ‘And when their mother doesn’t want to let them come out, they curse the mother.’

World English Vol III.indb 185

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

186

World Englishes Volume III

As to the possessives, the combination with fa/fu/fi  pronoun is mostly used nominally; adjectival use is not very common in the Nicaraguan Creole (see also Holm 1978: 286) Di kuoko kiek fa mi an di stik-tu-mi-ribs fa yu. ‘The cocoa cake is mine and the cassava cake is yours.’ Bot Miss Du get fraitn bikaaz wen shi luk da fu shi uol man di fait di rajabul. (KRS) ‘But Miss Du got frightened because when she looked, that her old man was fighting the ‘rajabull’.’ So ih tek out aal a Breda Botaflai uon dem, an put iina fu him uon an gaan bak go sliip. (AS) ‘So he took out all of Brother Butterfly’s fish and put in his own and went back to sleep.’ The most commonly used relative pronoun in NCC for both personal and nonpersonal use is weh: David da a bwai weh luus ih ai. (KRS) ‘David is a boy who lost his eye.’ Ih get wos, so deh kaal di dakta fa si weh ih kuda du, bot ih get wosa. (KRS) ‘She got worse, so they called the doctor to see what he could do, but she got even worse.’ Consequently, weh is also the primary interrogative pronoun for non-personal use in NCC; wa(t) and wich are also used, belonging to the more acrolectal register. The pronoun hu ‘who’ (fa hu ‘whose’) is in personal use, whereas hou has the meanings ‘how’ and ‘what’ Weh yu du ih fa? ‘Why did you do it?’ Jak woz a man hu yuustu fuul piipl. (KRS) ‘Jack was a man who used to fool people.’ Hu di biebi fa? – Ih fa mi. ‘Whose baby is this? – She/he is mine.’ Hou di likl bwai niem? ‘What is the name of the little boy?’

Verbs and the verb phrase NCC basic verbs are usually derived from the infinitive of English verbs, although there are some exceptions: the infinitives lef ‘to leave’, brok ‘break’ and laas

World English Vol III.indb 186

11/26/2012 2:35:50 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

187

‘lose’ are derived from the past participle of the English verb. The verbs can be divided into two main groups: (a) dynamic or action verbs (taak ‘talk; speak’, plie ‘play’, ron ‘run’) and (b) stative verbs; including adjectival predicates (lov ‘love’, shua ‘to be sure’, fried ‘to be afraid’; di pap hat). NCC makes most temporal, modal and aspectual distinctions by means of preposed verbal particles, which is a common strategy in creole languages.

Copular verbs In NCC, as in many other creole languages, adjectival predicates are treated as stative verbs without a copula (see Holm 1978: 264). Unu tu hagish. (KRS) ‘You are too greedy.’ Ih waif niem Esta. (KRS) ‘His wife’s name is Esther.’ If copula is used, it can be either da (mesolectal) or iz (acrolectal; note that there is no congruens between the subject and verb). Da is the usual Belizean form for equative copula and not so common in NCC (see Holm 1978: 268–269). An ih seh tu im, yu da Pampilo, an Ah da Jan. (KRS) ‘And he said to him: you are Pampilo and I am Jan.’ Yu iz mi bes fren. (KRS) ‘You are my best friend.’ If the sentence has a locative meaning, the copula deh is used. Weh yu mama deh? (M-BLU) ‘Where is your mother? Mi son deh Karawala. (W-KH) ‘My son is in Karawala.’ Deh is also the adverb ‘there’. Holm (1978: 266) explains the etymology of the copula as representing a convergence of English ‘there’ and similar forms in West African languages (Twi dè, etc.). In the following example, both locative copula and adverb are used. Weh mi kyap deh? – Ih deh deh. (M-BLU) ‘Where is my cap? – It is over there.’

World English Vol III.indb 187

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

188

World Englishes Volume III

The temporally unmarked verb Following the pattern of other creole languages, also in NCC, the verb forms are often temporally unmarked: the same form serves as present, past tense and future, the meaning being derived from the context. Im iit plenti. ‘He eats / ate / will eat a lot.’ (PRESENT / PAST TENSE / FUTURE) Dis maanin Breda Taiga wiek op hongri an Breda Nansi get op tu. (KRS) ‘This morning Brother Tiger woke up hungry and Brother Anancy got up too.’ (PAST TENSE) A fiks it op tumaaro. (M-ORI) ‘I’ll fix it tomorrow.’

Past/Anterior tense marking The anterior tense – meaning simply relative time ‘before X’ than absolute time ‘before now’ – can be marked with verb particles preposed to the basic or progressive verb form to specify past or anterior tense. The particles that are used in NCC are mi, di or a combination of the two mi di. According to Holm (1978: 248–254), the creole anterior markers refer to action before the time in focus, having a wide range of functions, for example, hypothetical, conditional and progressive, throughout the Caribbean. Ih neva nuo dat di gyal dem mi piipin aan deh, bot Anansi mi nuo. (AS) ‘He didn’t know that the girls were looking at them, but Anancy knew.’ A mi lukin fa yu bikaaz mi puor uol mama iz ded. (KRS) ‘I was looking for you because my poor old mother is dead.’ Wi mi di luk fa yu duori aal diiz diez. (KRS) ‘We were looking for your dory all these days.’ One of the few verbs with a past tense form is the verb go: gaan. Di panga gaan lang taim. ‘The boat left a long time ago.’ In a copulative sentence, only the anterior marker expresses the time. Ih mi a big laya. (KRS) ‘He was a big liar.’ Di tuu a dem mi di pan di siem ship. (KRS) ‘The two of them were on the same ship.’

World English Vol III.indb 188

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

189

Future marking In addition to using the basic, neutral form of the verb, immediate future can be expressed with the form gwain preposed to the verb. Weh yu gwain kuk tudeh? (M-ORI) ‘What are you going to cook today?’ Note that gwain is also the progressive form of the verb go. Weh yu gwain? – A gwain maakit. ‘Where are you going? – I am going to the market.’ General future is expressed with wi, wa(a) or a A wi ker yu huom. (M-ORI) ‘I will take you home.’ Luk laik ih waa rien tudeh. (W-BLU) ‘It looks like it is going to rain today.’ Wi a mek wi mama chrai chrii taim fa ges wi nyuu niem (KRS) ‘We’ll let our mothers try to guess three times what our new name is.’

Aspect The progressive suffix -in is commonly used to express progressive aspect. Waiz ih waakin ih si wa griin lait. (AS) ‘While he was walking, he saw a green light.’ The habitual actions are expressed with aspectual markers stodi in present tense and yuustu/yuuztu in past tense. Also doz/daz is used as a marker for habitual aspect. Holm (1978: 262) classifies it as an anterior habitual, but it seems to be used also in a more general time frame. Dem stodi taak bad about neks piipl. (M-BLU) ‘They are always saying bad things about other people.’ Ih stodi du dat. ‘He always does that.’ Mi papa yuustu kech plenti fish. (M-ORI) ‘My father used to catch a lot of fish.’ Ih gaan an dig a big huol weh di taiga daz paas an put som stik an liif uova it. (KRS) ‘He went to dig a big hole where the tiger used to pass and put some sticks and leaves over it.’

World English Vol III.indb 189

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

190

World Englishes Volume III

Somtaim yu daz fiil liezi iin klaas an yu dazn fiil fa go klaas. (B-ORI) ‘Sometimes you feel lazy in class and you don’t feel like going to class.’ Shi doz plie evri die. (W-BLU) ‘She plays every day.’ The completive aspect refers to actions that are already completed and ‘done with’ – or will be so in the future. It is marked with the preverbal particle don Aafta Anansi don mek di chrik, Taiga get veks veks. (KRS) ‘After Anancy had made the trick, Tiger got very angry.’ Di man don ded. (KRS) ‘The man is already dead.’ Wen dem don iit, dem kyan go out. ‘When they have eaten, they may go out.’ Aafta di muun kom op di kususa don, so evribadi gaan huom. (KRS) ‘After the moon came up the rum had finished, so everybody went home.’ To mark anterior completive aspect, the verbal particle di is preposed the aspect marker: Di fuud di don kom bot di bier neva di fiks yet. (M-PL) ‘The food had already come but the beer wasn’t at place yet.’ Iin a tach hous di sik uman di don instaal. (KRS) ‘In a house with palm-thatched roof, the sick woman was already installed.’

Modal auxiliaries The expressions of modality in NCC are mostly based on the modal auxiliaries of English, like wuda – wudn ‘would – wouldn’t’, kyan – kyaan ‘can – can’t’, kuda – kudn ‘could – couldn’t’, shuda – shudn ‘should – shouldn’t’, mos(i) – mosn ‘must – mustn’t’, hafu ‘have to’. A wuda biit im til ih stap it. (W-BLU) ‘I would beat him until he stops it.’ Ih kuda riid Kriol gud gud. ‘He could read Creole very well.’ Den di piknini staat hala ‘bot mi kyaan si!’ Di dakta seh ‘bot mi kyan!’ (KRS) ‘Then the child began to cry ‘but I can’t see!’ The doctor said: ‘But I can!’ Ih mosi kriezi fa du dat. (M-ORI) ‘He must be crazy to do that.’ Di piknini dem shudn taak doti. (W-BLU) ‘The children shouldn’t speak in a dirty way.’

World English Vol III.indb 190

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

191

In past tense forms, the modal auxiliary is followed by the past tense marker di  basic verb form, or, as to the verb go, with the form gaan: Yu shuda di aks yu mama fos. ‘You should have asked your mother first.’ Di gyal kuda di gaan wid wi iin di panga. (W-ORI) ‘The girl could have gone with us in the panga.’

Passive voice Real passive constructions hardly occur in creole languages (Holm 1988). In NCC, passive is usually expressed simply by using active forms with impersonal meaning. Another alternative is to use the verb get as an auxiliary followed by an active verb form. Dem biit di bwai bad bad. (M-BLU) ‘The boy was very badly beaten.’ Ih get ih leg kot. ‘His leg was cut.’

Serial verbs Serial verbs occur in creole languages and are also commonly used in West African languages. A serial verb construction can have up to three verbs joined together without connectors and with only one subject. Usually, the first verb bears the tense and aspect information. The first example has the construction sen kaal ‘send for; summon’, which, according to Holm (1978: 227), can also be found in the creoles of Belize and Costa Rica and also in the Sierra Leone Krio. Mi mama sen kaal mi fa kom huom. (W-BLU) ‘My mother sent for me to come home.’ Fraideh paas gaan an im stil deh. ‘Friday has passed already and he is still there.’ NCC go – gaan can in addition to ‘motion away’ meaning ‘motion away in order to do something’, associating go with purpose (ibid.): Anansi an Taiga gwain go fishinin tumaaro maanin. (AS) ‘Anancy and Tiger are going for fishing tomorrow morning.’ Wen maaning kom, tuu a dem get op an gaan go haal dem net. (AS). ‘When the morning came, both of them got up and went to haul their net.’ Yeloman ron huom gaan get ih gon an kom bak kwik. (KRS) ‘Yellowman ran home to get his gun and came back fast.’ Di waif get veks an seh: ‘go bak go bring di fish!’ The wife got angry and said: ‘Go back and bring the fish!’

World English Vol III.indb 191

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

192

World Englishes Volume III

Prepositions introducing the infinitive In NCC, the most common prepositions to introduce infinitives are fa and fu; fi occurs especially in older peoples’ speech. The preposition tu is used in more acrolectal forms. Yu nuo hou fa mek A laaf! ‘You know how to make me laugh!’ Deh neva gat notn fa iit. (KRS) ‘They didn’t have anything to eat.’ Den deh get iin di duori an gaan Awas fa fishin. (KRS) ‘Then they got into the canoe and went to Awas to fish.’ Evribadi pie fu si dem daans. (KRS) ‘Everybody paid to see them dance.’ Anansi bigin tu ron. (AS) ‘Anancy began to run.’

Negation In NCC, there are three main negation particles: no, neva and non. Also, the more acrolectal forms nat and niida are in use. Neva as a negator is very frequent; there is a similar use of neva in several Caribbean Creoles and also in Gullah (Holm 1978: 264). Non is used independently, without a verbal element. Double negation is commonly used. Dat da wai ih no gud fa bii tu hagish. (KRS) ‘That’s why it is not good to be too greedy.’ Di ada die di rat dem mi gat wa miitn, deh no mi nuo weh fu du wid di pus weh deh no mi laik. (KRS) ‘One day the rats had a meeting; they didn’t know what to do with the cat that they didn’t like.’ Double negation is commonly used. Dem no nuo notn. (B-KH) ‘They don’t know anything.’ Yu no seh notn, weh yu tink bout di plan? Yu no got notn fu seh? (KRS) ‘You don’t say nothing, what do you think about the plan? You don’t have anything to say?’ Wen neh get big, neh neva kyaan rait nat wan ting. (B-KH) ‘When they get big, they can’t write anything.’ [Fuud?] Wi no gat non. (M-ORI) ‘[Food?] We don’t have any.’

World English Vol III.indb 192

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

193

Prepositions Some of the frequent prepositions in NCC are iina ‘in, into’, pan ‘upon’, fu – fa – fi ‘for’. The preposition iina expresses both location and movement towards it. Lang taim a go iina wa komyuuniti yuustu liv a likl torkl aal di taim iina di waata. (KRS) ‘A long time ago in a community there was a little turtle that used to live all the time in the water.’ ‘Mama, grani, Rompe drap iina di baril hedwie.’ (KRS) ‘Mama, granny, Rompe fell into the barril on his head.’ Wan taim a taiga an a kusuko gaan wok pan a ship. (KRS) ‘Once a tiger and a kusuko went to work on a ship.’ Fos ting di waif du afta ih fiks op wa kwik fish tii fi di piknini dem, iz ih sen ih hozban fa go sel di fish. (KRS) ‘The first thing that the wife did after making a fast fish soup for the children was to send her husband to go and sell the fish.’ In many cases, the prepositions are omitted, especially in adverbial phrases of place and time, where the meaning is implicit in the verb. Di saafbaal tiim gwain Tasba tumaaro. (W-ORI) ‘The baseball team is going to Tasbapauni tomorrow.’

Repetition and Reduplication Repetition can be defined as a syntactic device and reduplication as a method of word formation. Both of them are common and partly overlapping in NCC. Repetition usually involves a verb whereas reduplication can be used to intensify the meaning of the basic word as already presented in the area of adjectives – or adjectival verbs as in copulative sentences – and adverbs. This structure has most likely its roots in the West African languages (Holm 1978: 294–295). Ih pagl an pagl an pagl, til ih grab mi an put mi iina di duori an gaan bak tu di buot. (KRS) ‘He paddled and paddled and paddled till he got a hold of me and put me in the dory and went back to the boat.’ Dem waak an waak an waak. (KRS) ‘They walked and walked and walked.’ Yu hav a son an di biebi priti priti, an wait wait. (KRS) ‘You have a son and the baby is very pretty and very white.’ Dem staat ron an ron faas faas. (KRS) ‘They started to run and run very fast.’

World English Vol III.indb 193

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

World Englishes Volume III

194

Grammatical Agreement In NCC, the subject–verb concord does not exist: the nominal plural may be left unmarked and the verb has no marking for person and number. Mi aanti kuk gud. (W-CI) ‘My auntie is a good cook.’ Ah iz a big schrang man. (KRS) ‘I am a big strong man.’

Imperative Sentences or Commands The most common type of commands is directed at the second-person singular or plural. In negative imperatives, the negation particle no preposes the basic verb. No moles mi, man! (M-ORI) ‘Don’t bother me, man!’ Main yu uon bizniz an no faas wid ada piipl praablem. (KRS) ‘Mind your own business and don’t interfere in other peoples’ problems.’ As to the first and third person, NCC has partly adopted the English construction let’s  verb: the English construction is treated as one word, les, followed by a personal pronoun in imperatives of the first person plural. Les wi riid dis stuori tugeda. ‘Let’s read this story together.’ Because of its frequency, first person with go is often treated as one word. Lego daans! (W-BLU) ‘Let’s go dancing!’ A command which can be interpreted as causative or permissive according to the context and person (only first and third) is constructed with mek  pronoun. Mek A go check. ‘Let me go and check.’ Mek wi laan di sang gud. (W-CI) ‘Let’s learn the song well.’ A special type of command is constructed with the verb main Main yu kot yuself! (M-ORI) ‘Mind that you don’t cut yourself! ( Be careful so you don’t cut yourself)

World English Vol III.indb 194

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

195

Interrogative Sentences In yes/no questions, NCC maintains the constituent order of affirmative sentences without using auxiliaries and marks the question with a rising intonational curve. Unu laik di stuori? ‘Do/did you like the story?’ Yu waa raid Breda Taiga? (KRS) ‘Do you want to ride Brother Tiger?’ Questions initiated by interrogative pronouns or adverbs maintain the word order of an affirmative sentence. Weh yu gwain nou? (W-CI) ‘Where are you going now?’ Weh yu tink bout di plan? (KRS) ‘What do you think about the plan?’ Wai wi shuda taak laik dem? (B-BLU) Why should we speak like them?

Existential subject and slot-fillers Existential subjects and slot-fillers as in English (there, it) are not used in NCC; other syntactic constructions are used to express the contents more directly. Tu moch piipl iina dis niebahud. ‘There is too much people in this neighbourhood.’ Corn Island gat plenti priti biich. (W-CI) ‘There are many beautiful beaches in Corn Island.’ Ah tink iz taim tu hav mi biebi. (KRS) ‘I think that it is time to have my baby.’ A gwain tu Anansi rait nou fa si if iz chruut. (AS) ‘I am going to Anancy right now to see if it is true.’ So iz yu iin deh; wen yu no kech kuaku, yu kech ih shot. (KRS) ‘So it is you in there; when you can’t catch the kuaku, you’ll catch its shirt’ ( If you can’t get the one you want, you have to take the next best thing.)’

Subordinated Clauses In NCC, clauses introduced by a general subordinating conjunction are most frequent in the function of a direct object, depending on a verb of saying or a cognitive verb. According to Holm (1978: 247), the conjunction seh appears in

World English Vol III.indb 195

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

196

World Englishes Volume III

several Creole languages and could be a convergence of English say and the Twi quotative se, reinforced by some other quotation marks formed with the verb ‘say’ in other African languages. In NCC, seh and dat ‘that’ are often used parallely in the same utterance. Mi no nuo seh im neva kom yestudeh. (W-KH) ‘I didn’t know that he didn’t come yesterday.’ Mama gaan ful spiid op toun bikaaz shi hier seh donieshan kom. (KRS) ‘Mama went in a big hurry to the town because she heard that a donation had come.’ Di bwai hala seh dat di panga komin. (M-ORI) ‘The boy shouted that the boat is coming.’ The conjunction can also be left out. Dem gyal hala dem waa sii yu. ‘Those girls are shouting that they want to see you.’

Lexical Features The Nicaraguan Coast Creole contains a significant amount of vocabulary from different African languages as a living testimony of the history of the Creole people. On the other hand, also the Amerindian languages – especially Miskitu – and more recently Spanish have served as a source of lexical borrowings. In the following, some words of African origin in NCC are presented: tita ‘a woman of the same age; aunt, sister’(< ewe, yoruba, etc.); sorosí ‘climbing plant with medical uses’ (< twi), baami ‘manioc cake’ (< adangme, ewe), fufu ‘a dish made from grated manioc’ (< twi, mende, ewe, ga); anansi ‘spider; trickster in Anansi Stories’ (< twi, ewe); uobia ‘obeah, black magic’ (< efik, twi); doko ‘small, short’ (< bambara); unu ‘you’ (< igbo); kunkanteh ‘cut, dried banana o cassawa; a porridge prepared from it’ (< ga, twi); sosó ‘only’ (< yoruba, igbo); cho ‘(expression of impatience or rejection)’ (< ewe) (Holm 1978: 195–225; Bartens 2003: 137–166). Borrowings from Miskitu are, for instance, suupa ‘Gulielma utilis, beach palm’ ( M supa); kungkas ‘(larger) fly’ (< M kungkas); wiiwi ‘leaf-carrying ant’ (< M wiwi); tungki ‘small marine catfish’ (< M tungki); ishili ‘brown lizard (< M iswili, isuli); kyaaki ‘agouti’ (< M kiaki); waari ‘white-lipped peccary’ (< M wari) (Holm 1978: 343–359). The most recent group of lexical borrowings is the Spanish loan words. In most cases, verbs are borrowed adapting them to the morphosyntactic system of NCC, using the inflectional suffix of progressive aspect -in.

World English Vol III.indb 196

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

197

Dem jos baagosin roun, no duin notn. (B-BLU) ‘They are just hanging around, doing nothing.’ Yu waa go paseaarin iin di iivnin? ‘Do you want to go for a walk in the afternoon?’ One exception from the system is the verb faltar ‘to lack (something); to be missing’, which apparently has been borrowed in its third person form. The subject of the sentence comes normally after the verb. Falta ongl wan pasinja fa wi go. (M-BLU) ‘Only one passenger is missing so we could leave.’ Nouns, often names of institutions or technical terms but also words referring to common, everyday things, are frequently borrowed from Spanish in free speech: alkaldiia ‘the Mayor office’, tarea ‘homework’, barrio ‘neighbourhood’, fresko ‘juice’, noveela ‘soap-opera on tv’, chamba ‘extra work’, etc.

Media Use of Creole and English Most of the spoken media in RAAS present a mixed use of Creole and English. Several radio stations, especially the community radios in Pearl Lagoon and Corn Island, have programmes, advertisements and announcements in Creole or mixed Creole and English. One radio station, Radio Rhythm/Riejo Riddim in the Old Bank neighbourhood in Bluefields, uses Creole in all their programmes – mostly music programmes. Some programme leaders have clear intentions to use English, resulting in a more acrolectal version than what they normally would use with mixed pronunciation and linguistic structures. This happens frequently also in Bluefields Creole News, a daily programme in the local TV-channel, ‘Channel 5’, in Bluefields. It is known that this programme, in spite of its name, often receives calls from annoyed Creole persons claiming that they should ‘clean’ their language and not interview people who ‘can’t talk properly’ – meaning who are not speaking English. As for the print media, there are actually no newspapers or regular magazines on the Coast. The existing magazines and newsletters, published irregularly by different local or regional institutions and organizations, often have bilingual or trilingual numbers using regional indigenous languages and English in summaries and translations. Also, the periodical magazine WANI (Revista de la Costa Caribe Nicaragüense; CIDCA-UCA) sometimes publishes articles in English. It is also important to mention the effect of cable TV in English. Even if many Creole communities in the more rural areas of the Coast have limited or no access to electricity, most of them still have a possibility to watch cable TV with the help of generators. English, thus, is getting a wider impact in the life of the Creole-speaking communities.

World English Vol III.indb 197

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

198

World Englishes Volume III

Current Trends Bilingualism and trilingualism The Creole population on the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast is widely bilingual in Creole and Spanish. As mentioned before, there is a small number of older people who can use English with ease, and a number of younger generation who have had English as a subject in school (especially the Moravian schools) or as a medium of instruction in the intercultural bilingual programme in the primary school. It is, however, striking to notice how well the children and teenagers manage basilectal Creole not only in the communities but also in urban areas. They, especially the teenagers, also show pride in their language in spite of the negative attitudes that often are expressed by teachers and other adults, labelling Creole as ‘bad English’, ‘broken English’ or ‘bastard English’ and wanting to ban the use of it, especially in the schools but also outside, in the street and home surroundings. As for the influence of Spanish, many people consider the use of Spanish loan words in Creole speech as negative and harmful. It is important to bear in mind, however, that code-switching and borrowing are communication strategies that are widely used by speakers of languages in a contact situation and, as such, it should be seen as a natural phenomenon in bilingual surroundings – not as a threat to the existence of a specific language.

Creole and English in education In order to understand the role of Creole and English in the school system of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast today, we have to go back approximately 25 years in time, to the 1980s. After the Sandinist revolution in 1979, a new Law on Education in the Languages of the Atlantic Coast (Law 571, 1980) led, first, to a literacy campaign in the native languages of the region (1980) and later to the establishment of a bilingual education programme (1984–85). Along with the indigenous languages, Miskitu and Sumu (Panamahka), Creole was incorporated into the intercultural bilingual education programme (in the beginning called the ‘bilingual bicultural education program’). However, although pro-Creole ideology was behind the programme and Creole teachers carried it out, the materials were elaborated in English as the Creole was not yet established as a written language and as some of the Creoles showed a clear resent to the use of Creole in teaching (‘if yu waa tiich wi, tiich wi gud’ – see Freeland 1993, 1995). The 1987 Law of Autonomy, a unique model in the Latin American context, provided a legal framework for the educational process at large. In order to implement the law, approximately in 1995, a long process of planning for a new, pertinent model of education for the Caribbean Coast was started with a strong support of the URACCAN University. This process led to the constitution

World English Vol III.indb 198

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

199

of a Regional Autonomous Education System, SEAR (for its Spanish initials), which, in 2006, was included as a chapter in the new General Law on Education for Nicaragua. The base of SEAR is the intercultural bilingual and multilingual education (IBE/IME) for all the indigenous peoples and ethnic communities of the Coast. As already mentioned, Creole is one of the official languages of the Autonomous Regions of Nicaragua and the mother tongue of numerous Creole populations as well as the mother tongue of Garifunas, Ramas and Miskitus in RAAS. Accordingly, the SEAR establishes education in Creole to the Creole-speaking population. As a curriculum reform for the intercultural bilingual education programme was initiated for the preschool, primary school and teacher training in the Autonomous Regions in 2000, Creole was finally given its rightful place in it. In the current IBE-model, the oral part of the teaching is in Creole but the reading and writing is supposed to be in English, in most of the cases resulting in a mixture of both languages even by the teachers. This dual system causes a confusion in the minds of the children and shows its negative effect on learning in the low academic achievements of the Creole children in their ‘mother tongue’. Commissions consisting of teachers and technical staff of the Ministry of Education, Secretaries of Education of the Regional Governments and URACCAN were formed for each integrated curricular area, and the new programmes for preschool, primary and teacher training as well as a part of the corresponding text books have been elaborated in Miskitu, Panamahka, Tuahka, Ulwa and Creole. The area of Language and Communication contemplates Spanish as a second language to the indigenous children and, additionally, English as a second second language to the Creole-speaking children. The Teacher Training Schools of the Caribbean Coast (in Bluefields, RAAS and Bilwi, RAAN) are now finishing their fourth year of piloting and implementing the new curriculum where Creole is being taught to the Creole-speaking students as their mother tongue. The second languages for these students are Spanish and English. The Creole teachers have reported enthusiasm among the students but also reactions from parents that do not agree with the teaching of Creole. However, the teachers have been able to explain to them that Creole is a language in its own right and that the students are definitely also learning English. In addition, Creole is a subject in the Bachelor studies in Intercultural Bilingual Education, offered by the URACCAN University.

Social, political and economic impact of Creole and English English is the language of international communication, economy and business and, as such, is necessarily learned by everybody. At the same time it

World English Vol III.indb 199

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

200

World Englishes Volume III

should be recognized that every child has the right to learn its mother tongue: to maintain, study and develop it and use it as a medium of learning (see UNESCO 1953: Empleo de las lenguas vernáculas en la enseñanza and UNESCO 2003: La educación en un mundo plurilingüe). The intercultural bilingual education model is, rather than a mere language programme, a social and political project based on strengthening the identity and self-esteem, acknowledging the endogenous knowledge and promoting the autonomy process and empowerment of indigenous and Afro-Caribbean peoples. As such, it is important to empower all the regional languages and cultures without exception and turn the negative attitudes towards them to positive acknowledgement and respect of the diversity. As for the economic impact, it is often omitted in the discussions that not only the English skills but also the use of Creole can have a positive effect on economy and business. Tourism, for instance, is a common work opportunity in the Caribbean, and the aspiration of many younger Creoles is to go ‘ship-out’, to work on a cruise-ship. This working possibility is often used as an argument for teaching English and not Creole; many tourists, however, express that precisely hearing the local Creole – not American or British English – is an essential part of the flavour of their trip to the Caribbean. The potential of both languages could and should be used in a much wider perspective as what is the case at the moment. Another socioeconomic effect of using English-only programmes for Creole children in the primary schools is the high rate of repetition and drop-out and, as a result of it, the high costs of basic education for the state. The advantages of using the mother tongue of the children as a medium of instruction is not only a question of linguistic human rights but also an issue of public costs.

Future implications of Creole and English in the region There are several possible scenarios for the development of Creole and English in the Caribbean Nicaragua. At the moment, there is no severe threat to the survival of Creole as a language, although some language shift might occur as a result of interethnic marriages and migratory movements: Creoles moving to the Spanish-speaking Pacific and uncontrolled immigration of Spanish-speaking Mestizos to the Caribbean Coast as a result of the advancing agricultural frontier and land speculations in the territory of the indigenous and Afro-Caribbean peoples. The legal framework protecting the regional languages of the Caribbean Coast is strong and gives the people the opportunity and the right to save and develop their languages and cultures. The on-going globalization is mostly seen as a threat to small languages and cultures, but it can also have an opposite effect: many European countries have experienced that the globalization process has raised people’s awareness of their genuineness and pushed people

World English Vol III.indb 200

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

English-Lexifier Creole in Nicaragua

201

to search for their roots in order to avoid losing identity. The best of scenarios would be that the resistance towards Creole as a language reduces and disappears little by little and that both Creole and English live side by side in the Caribbean communities.

Notes 1 2 3

4

5

6

7

8

Census 2005, INEC – The National Institute of Statistics and Census. The number of Garifuna speakers refers to Nicaragua only. The Miskitu Kingdom or Mosquitia was the name of the territory which is known today as the Autonomous Regions. The National Constitution of Nicaragua was reformed in 1987 to incorporate the rights of minority groups such as the ones stated above. RAAN and RAAS stand for Region Autónoma del Atlántico Norte and Region Autónoma del Atlántico Sur, respectively. The interviews are marked simply notifying the categories of sex, age and place: B  boy, G  girl, M  man, W  woman; BLU  Bluefields, KH  Kukra Hill, ORI  Orinoco, CI  Corn Island. The stories are referred to as KRS  Kuos Riijan Stuoriz; AS  Anansi Stuoriz. Examples without reference are constructed by the same Creole participants of the courses and workshops. FOREIBCA stands for Fortalecimiento de la Educación Intercultural Bilingüe en la Costa Atlantica, Strengthening the Intercultural Bilingual Education on the Atlantic Coast. The Project was financed by the Finnish Government and carried out by the URACCAN University in the period of 2000–2004. The current Belize orthography is presented on p. 49–50 of this volume. Various options to writing Creole languages, including the ‘rule-based phonemic model’ and ‘one symbol – one sound’ are presented in Decker 1994.

Bibliography Assadi, B. (1983), ‘Rama Cay Creole English’, in J. A. Holm (ed.), pp. 115–122. Bartens, A. (2003), A contrastive grammar islander – Caribbean Standard English – Spanish. The Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae 3227, Gummerus, Saarijarvi. CIDCA/Development Study Unit (1987), Ethnic Groups and The Nation State: The Case of the Atlantic Coast in Nicaragua, Stockholm: University of Stockholm. Decker, K. (1994), ‘Orthography development for Belize Creole’, in F. Ingemann (ed.), 1994 Mid-America Linguistics Conference Papers, Vol. 2, Lawrence, KS: The University of Kansas, pp. 351–362. Freeland, J. (1993), ‘I Am a Creole, So I Speak English, Cultural Ambiguity and the “English”/Spanish Bilingual-bicultural Programme of Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast’, in David . Graddol, L. et al. (eds), Language and Culture, Clevedon: BAAL/ Multilingual Matters, pp. 71–83.

World English Vol III.indb 201

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

202

World Englishes Volume III

––. (1995), ‘ “Why go to school to learn Miskitu?”: changing constructs of bilingualism, education and literacy among the Miskitu of Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast’. International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 15:3, Oxford: Elsevier Science Ltd, pp. 245–261. ––. (1999), ‘Can the grass roots speak? The literacy campaign in English on Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast’, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2(3), Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd, pp. 214–232. ––. (2004), ‘Linguistic rights and language survival in a creole space. Dilemmas for Nicaragua’s caribbean coast creoles’, in J. Freeland and D. Patrick (eds), Language Rights and Language Survival. Sociolinguistic and Sociocultural Perspectives, Encounters, Vol. 4, Manchester: St Jerome Publishing. Gordon, E. T. (1998), Disparate Diasporas. Identity and Politics in an African-Nicaraguan Community, Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas Press, Austin. Hale, C. R. and Gordon, E. T. (1987), Costeño Demography: Historical and contemporary demography of Nicaragua’s Atlantic coast: An historical overview, In CIDCA 1987. Holm, J. (1978), The creole English of Nicaragua’s Miskito coast: Its sociolingusitic history and a comparative study of its Lexicon and Syntax, Unpubl. Ph.D. dissertation University of London. Holm, J. (ed.) (1983), Central American English. Varieties of English around the World, T2, Heidelberg: Gross/Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Holm, J. A. (1988), Pidgins and creoles, Vol. 1: Theory and structure, Cambridge University Press. McLean, G. and Past, R. (1976), Some characteristics of Bluefields English, Third LACUS forum, R. J. Di Pietro and E. Blansitt (eds), Columbia, South Carolina. UNDP (2001), Desarrollo Humano en la Costa Caribe de Nicaragua, Managua. Yih, K. and Slate, A. (1985), “Bilingüismo en la Costa Atlántica: ¿De Dónde Vino y a Dónde Va? (La Zona Especial II),” Una revista para la Costa Atlántica WANI No. 2–3. CIDCA: Managua. Young-Day, B. (1992), Rama Cay Creole: A comparative analysis of a Nicaraguan Creole, MA thesis, University of Oregon.

World English Vol III.indb 202

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

Limonese Costa-Rica

World English Vol III.indb 203

11/26/2012 2:35:51 PM

World English Vol III.indb 204

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Chapter 5

Limonese Creole English Elizabeth Grace Winkler

Geographical Position Along the eastern shore of Costa Rica, there are a variety of forms of English. These forms range from a highly localized variety of English to what Holms described as Western Caribbean Creole English (1983). Speakers shift from creole to some variety approximating the standard when presented with social situations that require different varieties of language. An overlapping range of speech varieties exists between the two poles of the creole continuum, and therefore, it is impossible to draw a firm line between English and creole. Limonese Creole English (LC) is spoken primarily in the Caribbean province of Limón, which stretches from Panama in the south to Nicaragua in the north. The province of Limón is one of Costa Rica’s largest: over 9,000 square kilometres. Near the sea, it is tropical: the average daytime temperature is over 90˚ Fahrenheit, and the province receives up to 200 inches of rainfall a year. The province has one of the lowest population densities in the country. The government has set aside a considerable area in Limón as reserves, both for preserving the country’s exquisite tropical and cloud forests, and for residential areas for indigenous peoples including the Cabecar and the Bribri Amerindian groups. These reserves attract tourists, and the ability of the Limonese people to speak a creole variety of English has helped make the area popular among English-speaking tourists.

Demographic Data The Afro-Costa Ricans are primarily descendants of workers who immigrated to Costa Rica in the late 1800s to work for Standard Railroad and later on the banana plantations of the United Fruit Company (UFC). The great majority of the immigrants were from Jamaica, although some came from Barbados, Trinidad and other areas of the Caribbean (Purcell 1993). The term Afro-Caribbean is used to distinguish Blacks in Costa Rica before 1948 when they were finally made citizens by a change in the constitution. Afro-Costa Rican is used to refer to Black Limonese after this date.

World English Vol III.indb 205

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

206

World Englishes Volume III

Ethnically, Limón is the most diverse province of Costa Rica containing not only the majority of the Afro-Costa Rican population but a large Chinese community, as well as the indigenous groups for parallel structure. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Afro-Caribbeans constituted an overwhelming majority of the population of Limón; however, there has been a shift in ethnic group domination. In 1927, Afro-Caribbeans made up 57.1 per cent of the population and Spanish-Costa Ricans only 37.6 per cent. Just twenty years later, the populations reversed: Spanish-Costa Ricans made up 62.7 per cent and Afro-Costa Ricans only 33.2 per cent of the population (Herzfeld 1978). Since then, migration of Spanish-Costa Ricans, and more recently, Nicaraguans and Columbians to Limón, has continued to grow, whereas immigration from Jamaica is more limited. Although the province is becoming increasingly urban, the majority of the population still lives in the towns and villages that serve the banana companies, which are located by the railroad lines along the coast and to the capital San Jose. The urban population is concentrated in four cities: Puerto Limón (56,719),1 and three smaller towns, Turrialba (23,500), Siquierres (15,700), and Guapiles (9,400).2 The population of the province of Limón is 376,209.3 In 1948, the Costa Rican government amended its constitution and eliminated its armed forces. Not having a standing army has benefited Costa Rica in several ways. First, it is one of Central America’s most stable democracies. In addition, the money saved on military expenditures has been invested in its infrastructure, including highways and ports as well as expanding social services, making it a relatively prosperous and well-educated country when compared to its neighbours.4 Tourist brochures proudly proclaim, ‘Costa Rica has more teachers than soldiers.’ In addition to universal education, health care is available to all citizens; as a result, life expectancy is high.5 Nevertheless, the overall health and prosperity of Costa Rica does not extend to Limón, which is the poorest and least educated province. Some people in Limón attribute this, accurately or not, to discrimination against Blacks by the government. Opportunities for employment are quite limited in Limón; thus, many Limonese migrate to other provinces, Panama or the United States in search of employment where their ability to speak a variety of English provides them access to jobs.

Historical Background Typical of the Spanish colonies in the New World, Costa Rica experienced very little in the way of slavery. The Spanish created ranches and small farms that did not require the massive number of workers that plantations required (McWhorter 1995). Estimates of slaves in Costa Rica were never more than 200 people throughout the time slavery was legal (Olien 1967). Most people of

World English Vol III.indb 206

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

207

African descent came to Costa Rica after 1871 when the owners of the Standard Railway Company recruited tens of thousands of Caribbeans as immigrant labour. In the 1870s, a US citizen named Minor Keith was hired by the Costa Rican government to build a railroad from Limón to the capital, San Jose (Purcell 1993; Wright-Murray 1982). The government failed in previous attempts to build the railroad with local labour because of the difficult conditions including excessive heat and humidity as well as malaria. Thus, Keith decided to import workers from countries that had similar tropical conditions, and he arranged for the immigration of Afro-Caribbeans primarily from Jamaica, but also from other parts of the Caribbean. Government documents show that at least 33,000 Jamaicans emigrated between 1881 and 1921. Immigration peaked in the 1930s and ended with the departure of the United Fruit Company from the Atlantic coast a decade later. Throughout this period, the Afro-Caribbean population was dominant in the province, both numerically and culturally (Herzfeld 2004). When the railroad was completed in 1890, Keith focused his attention on the banana plantations that he had started as a side business to feed his workers (Biesanz and Biesanz 1945). In 1899, Keith founded the United Fruit Company (UFC), which remained in Limón until the 1940s (Herzfeld 1978). The Costa Ricans referred to the UFC as Mamita Yunaí [Little Mother United] (Fallas 1941), an appropriate name because the company controlled every aspect of its workers’ lives providing them with housing, stores and schools. The UFC was the defacto government in Limón, which was not just tolerated by the Costa Rican government, but encouraged. In fact, the Afro-Caribbeans, even those born in Costa Rica, were not legal citizens of the country. One Afro-Costa Rican explained how the system worked.6 B: Firs taym Costa Rica law, pipl fram outsayd wer der maada an faada baan, dat is yer nashunality. E: So even if you were born here you weren’t Costa Rican? B: Afta 48 [1948] now yu baan ier, yu is Tico. But firs taym, if yu is baan outsayd yu av to tek da nashunality. If yu come fram Jamaica, yer Jamaican. The UFC presence lasted until the 1940s when the banana crops were destroyed by monilia (Panama disease), and the company left Limón for the disease-free west coast (Herzfeld 1978). Bryce (1993) reports that the Costa Rican government, not wishing to have another province dominated by AfroCaribbeans, passed strict laws to limit their employment to Limón cutting the Afro-Caribbeans off from their UFC jobs, devastating the community. Limón was a company town; therefore, the loss of tens of thousands of jobs resulted in the breakdown of existing social structures.

World English Vol III.indb 207

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

208

World Englishes Volume III

A short time after the UFC departed, the plague was eliminated, and Spanishspeaking Costa Ricans restarted the banana business (Herzfeld 1977). Since that time, contact has intensified between Spanish- and Afro-Costa Ricans. In 1948, an important step towards integration of the communities occurred when Blacks supported the popular political revolution, thereby gaining the support of the new government of President José Figures Ferrer. After the revolution, Blacks were finally accepted as Costa Rican citizens. There was little social integration into the Costa Rican society during the first sixty years that the Blacks were in the country. At best, prior to the 1948 revolution, the relationship between the Afro- and Spanish-Costa Ricans can only be described as dismal. Racial stereotypes and strong prejudices were held by both groups. Because of their British heritage and their positions with the UFC, Blacks considered themselves culturally superior to Costa Ricans. They held dreadful beliefs concerning the ‘Spaniards’ cleanliness and attitudes towards work. One older gentleman put it this way: Wen da Spaniard start to ier firs, dey was fill of lice. Dey were veri raw, iit dat lard. So, da Black pipl was afreid to sen der kids to skuul so dat dey ketch dos lice . . . Yeah, low class. And da Jamaican was veri fiesty pipl —veri proud . . . Wuz low real low low Spaniard. Dey sleep siem place, spit siem place, do everiting siem place, duon mean nutin to dem. These attitudes were exacerbated by the fact that both the UFC and the Costa Rican government encouraged the Afro-Caribbeans to see themselves as Jamaicans, not Costa Ricans. The English-speaking managers encouraged Blacks to keep speaking the English creole, and few Spanish-speaking Costa Ricans came to Limón because the company preferred to hire English creole speakers. The ramifications of this difficult early relationship resound today in the multi-cultural society of Limón as well as other African diasporic communities across Central America. Though, speaking of Nicaragua, Freeland (1993) points out that the conflict between the culturally, racially and linguistically distinct groups was perpetuated by governments as well as companies like the UFC. At different points in history, these influences affected relationships between the Spanish and English groups, ‘giving rise to the complex of inter-ethnic divisions and rivalries which characterize costeño [coastal] society today’ (p. 72). Until the 1948 revolution, Limón was less a part of White, Catholic, Spanish-speaking Costa Rica than a part of the Black, Protestant Englishspeaking communities in Jamaica, Belize, Honduras, Panama and the English-speaking islands of the Caribbean. Almost forty years ago, Bryce asserted that these people were ‘neither typical Jamaicans nor typical Costa Ricans, a safe synthesis would be to consider them just plain “creole” coloured speakers of principally Jamaican descent, but who are in the process of “Costaricanization” ’ (1962: 100).

World English Vol III.indb 208

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

209

Sociocultural and Linguistic Background The lack of integration into Costa Rican society had one positive result, which was the maintenance of an LC-speaking community in Spanish-speaking Costa Rica, helping to preserve a language that might otherwise have been lost. Because most Blacks believed they would one day return to Jamaica, they perceived themselves as a temporary community; therefore, few learnt much Spanish. In addition, because the community established schools in which English was the language of instruction, the Afro-Caribbeans did not send their children to the Spanish schools. The English schools were mostly operated by the local Protestant churches. In the 1930s and 1940s, access to English was also provided by the Jamaican Gleaner and the Panama Tribune, two English language West Indian newspapers (Bryce 1962). English gave one access to employment, education and social prestige; therefore, for more than fifty years, the creole, and local approximations of Standard English were the languages of choice in all domains of use for Afro-Caribbeans. Outside of school and contact with the American officials, however, the creole dominated daily life. Over time, as immigration from Jamaica lessened, the language began to diverge from Jamaican Creole (Herzfeld 1977). Limonese Creole (LC) changed both in terms of its structure and domains of use quite quickly. When the UFC left the province, the linguistic isolation of the community abruptly ended. Thousands of Spanish-speaking Costa Ricans came to farm the land abandoned by the company. Thus, the population shifted in favour of monolingual Spanish speakers. As this happened, Blacks found themselves increasingly marginalized as Spanish became the dominant language, and they found that without Spanish, they had lost access to political power and the economic and educational opportunities they had previously enjoyed (Bryce 1962). For a long time, there was only limited interaction between the Afro-Caribbeans and the Spanish-Costa Ricans. At present, the rigid divisions separating the communities have, for the most part, broken down. For example, neighbourhoods in Limón are now almost completely integrated, though some have remained predominantly Black, like Cristobal Colón, still called Jamaica Town, by older residents. When I lived in this neighbourhood, most conversations among older neighbours took place in LC. However, I heard older people speaking in LC to young people who sometimes responded in Spanish or sometimes in halting LC. A neighbour explained that although most young Blacks understand LC, some either do not want to speak it or cannot. Many are able to understand LC due to the fact that Standard English is being offered in the Spanish-language schools, so these Black children are acquiring English as a second language formally. C: Dey learnin bikaas now all di skuul give English. E: They didn’t learn it at home?

World English Vol III.indb 209

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

210

World Englishes Volume III

C: No, di grand dem didn learn it at huom. Dem learn it at skuul now layk ow . . . Di likl boy . . . im nuo English bikaas yu spiik English to im, an im nuo English. Yu tel im dis niem so an dat niem so. Yes, hii understan, but hii won speak it. When yu aks im eniting in English, im ansa in Spanish, but im nuo wat yu tel im. The integration of the two communities was neither immediate nor without strife. Even after the departure of the UFC, the Afro-Costa Ricans continued to operate private schools, for their children, in which English was the language of instruction. Many Blacks resisted sending their children to the Spanish schools. My elderly neighbour reported that her mother thwarted efforts by authorities to enrol her: ‘No, dey neva sen us to Spanish skuul. Wen dey kom aron to chek da houses, dey alwez hayd us unda da bed.’ In 1953, the government passed a law prohibiting the English schools in an effort to force the Afro-Costa Ricans to integrate into Spanish society. Nevertheless, the schools survived as a late afternoon activity. Spence (1992) relates how she used the back door of an English school to avoid the displeasure of her Spanish-speaking teacher who lived across the street. Finally, the teacher’s complaints resulted in her parents withdrawing her from the English school. Currently, most Afro-Costa Rican children attend Spanish-medium schools, which not only ensures that these children speak Spanish, but has also contributed to a rise in Costa Rican nationalism among young Blacks, many of whom identify themselves solely as Costa Rican rather than Afro-Costa Rican (Winkler 1998). In addition, exogamy is increasingly common, creating a mixed race group of children. Interracial mixing is resented by many older Afro-Costa Ricans who feel that the children of these unions abandon Black culture and language in favour of the dominant culture. According to one informant: ‘. . . enytaym a Black woman ar Black man marid to a Spaniard, dey adapt de Spaniard culcha.’ Furthermore, although these children may appear racially Black, they may not identify themselves as Afro-Costa Rican. The following conversation concerns an internationally known Limonese soccer player that the speakers feel does not acknowledge his Black culture sufficiently. M: Can enibady obligate Ledisma to asept hisself either as Black ar wayt? F: To me, Ferdinand Ledesma duon av a chois, im is a Black buoy. A: But im gruo Spanaird. M: But der is where . . . but where we gwain get dis kuntrii fram if wii did not gruo! F: Im duon av di Black kulchur but im is a Black person. M: But I’m tellin you dats wayt kulchur . . . dats exactly reason why I pointed out to yu dat wan yu nuo. Ow yu going to tell dis guy to luv Limón. To liv Limón. To tink laik Black pipl if im duon gruo Black!

World English Vol III.indb 210

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

211

A: He’s a Spaniard. F: I understan dat but gotta luk at imself in di glass an im sii im Black. M: But which kulchur? The rich racial and ethnic diversity in the country is often played down by members of the dominant culture, which contributes to the sense of alienation felt by many middle-aged and older Afro-Costa Ricans. White Costa Ricans frequently asserted to me that their country is unlike the rest of Latin America, that it is a European culture with no racial problems. This belief is so ingrained that it even surfaces in academic texts: Costa Rica does not suffer from the severe racial, linguistic, and geographic differences so characteristic of several other Latin American nations. . . . Racial, linguistic, and regional factors are not importantly affecting the integration of Costa Rica, nor do they adversely affect either vertical or horizontal social mobility. (Denton and Carlos 1971: 12) One only needs to walk the streets and speak with people in the capital to give the lie to this belief. There are significant numbers of Amerindians, Asians, West Indians, Lebanese and Afro-Costa Ricans, not to mention the growing number of primarily mestizo Nicaraguans and Columbians who have settled all over Costa Rica. Because they are culturally and linguistically different, racial tension between them and the Costa Rican majority is not uncommon.7 Blacks in Limón expressed contradictory attitudes concerning racism: some claimed that there are no racial problems, and yet later would recount some racist incident they had experienced. One Afro-Costa Rican woman reported, ‘Well, its a kanfushan bekaas wen yu go to San Jose, dey duon luk pan mi as a Costa Rican. Dey luk at mi as di color of mai skin.’ In addition, reports of racial strife between light and dark skinned Blacks were reported. A young Afro-Costa Rican man told me: Evenchulii da Black kulchur will be at a complete extinshun, yu nuo. In a few yier fram dis, der will be no mor full-blood Black man, bekaas da sistem tiiches da Black man dat hiz nobady if hiz nat cleara dan di oder bradas. An yu nuo dat is di complex of inferiority dat baan witin di famili dat weneva wan iz darka or wan iz cleara, dey show a difference der so by treatin di brownies, da Brown wan betta dan da Black wan. Thus, it is not surprising that some Afro-Costa Ricans feel alienated from the dominant culture of the country. They have been raised with a belief in social equality and equal opportunity, and yet, when they try to advance, they may face

World English Vol III.indb 211

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

212

World Englishes Volume III

discrimination, sometimes blatant, mostly subtle. White Costa Ricans, not unlike Whites in the United States, would prefer to believe that discrimination has mostly disappeared. Upon hearing a professor tell me that there is no discrimination, a Black woman immediately and emphatically responded that he did not see racism because he is White. Then she spoke about being denied a job that she had been offered over the telephone. It was only after the employer met her, and realized that she was Black, that the job offer was rescinded. Afro-Costa Ricans make up 20–30 per cent of Limón’s population (Purcell 1993), many of whom are bilingual, but some are Spanish monolinguals. The 1950 census counted 13,749 ‘West Indians’ in Limón (Purcell 1993: 27). In the late 1990s, GE World Source lists the number of Blacks at just over 120,000.8 However, statistics on the number of LC speakers or even Afro-Costa Ricans are suspect at best due to a number of issues. Accurate figures are not available because the government made it illegal to define people by racial categories for the national census (Purcell 1993). Second, even if there were an accurate count of Afro-Costa Ricans, race cannot be used to account for the number of LC speakers because currently there are some Blacks who speak no variety of English, as well as a great number of mixed-race people who may or may not speak LC or count themselves as Afro-Costa Ricans (Winkler 1998). Finally, because creole and Standard English are two ends of a continuum, it is not possible to draw a line between the two. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that even the most basilectal9 speakers frequently identify their speech as English and not LC. Herzfeld claimed 40,000 speakers of LC in 1978. The Ethnologue website (most recent figures provided are from 1986) reports 55,100 speakers of LC. How either Herzfeld or the SIL arrived at these figures is not specified. SIL classifies use of LC as ‘vigorous’. Sadly, a realistic current estimate of LC speakers may be smaller than that proposed by either Herzfeld or SIL, due to the almost complete loss of the monolingual LC community over the last 20 years as well as the shift of many young Blacks to Spanish.

Linguistic Description of the Components of the Grammar Herzfeld (1978) describes LC as a transplanted version of mesolectal Jamaican Creole (JC). She believes it is derived from the Jamaican mesolect because many of the positions at the UFC required the ability to read and write and the English-monolingual UFC managers would have more easily understood mesolectal speech. Linguistic evidence supports her assertion because the skewed distribution towards the mesolect resulted in the absence in LC of some structures characteristic of JC basilect. For example, the use of be for the copula, common in basilectal JC, was not found by Herzfeld in 1978 nor in my 1998 corpus.

World English Vol III.indb 212

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

213

The change in the linguistic designation from JC to LC reflects a political reality in the basilectal JC features as well as the changes stimulated by contact with Spanish are what truly make LC a distinct variety. The name Limonese Creole is a convenient linguistic designation and nothing more. It is only rarely used by native speakers and is not widely recognized. When asked what language they speak, the locals respond ‘English.’ When pushed to give a different name to their local variety, I heard Broken English, Local English or Flat English. Most of the time, my informants made it clear that they considered the question a bit silly and they are right. I am well aware that neither myself, nor my friends from home, if asked what we spoke by some foreigner, would answer Appalachian English, and not simply English, Thus, why should we expect creole speakers to do differently? Although some speech communities do have commonly used and generally accepted names for their local variety, the Limonese do not. One name, Mek-ay-tel-yu, is especially problematic. When I used this name in Limón, I was told repeatedly, and often vehemently, that Mek-ay-tel-yu was what the Paña (Spanish-Costa Ricans) called LC and that it was insulting. No, no, no! What really happen here is dat we gruo up spiikin English an ders time when spiikin to each oder yu cut da word shat. Dey tol yu in San Jose dat yu have Mek-ay-telyu. Ders no Mek-ay-tel-yu language! It’s layk da Spaniard dat somtayms dey cut da word short to mek a juok wit da kuntri man, jus cut da ting short, but is jus da siem Spanish.

The LC Sound System Consonants Herzfeld (1978) lists 22 consonants for basilectal LC. However, in Winkler 1998, I noted that LC seems to have developed a voicing contrast between /f/ and /v/, unreported by Herzfeld. This may be a recent development, possibly attributable to renewed contact with Standard English (SE) through media, tourism and formal schooling. In terms of consonant placement, all consonants can occur before the nucleus of the syllable. The only exceptions to this are [ŋ], [ñ] and [ʒ], which are limited in their distribution. The velar nasal [ŋ] can only occur in syllable-final position. The palatal nasal [ñ] is only found in words borrowed either as permanent loans or codeswitches from Spanish. The most commonly heard word with this sound in LC discourse is mañana (tomorrow). The affricate [ʒ] is only found in syllable-initial position, as in words like pleasure but is not found in word-initial position. Syllable-initial [r] as well as [r] as the second sound in a consonant cluster are present across the continuum of varieties; however, in the speech of mesolectal

World English Vol III.indb 213

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

World Englishes Volume III

214

and basilectal informants, syllable-final [r] may not be present in words where it is found in the acrolectal variety, the most common examples of which are the words neva (never) and faada (father). Finally, velarization of medial alveolar consonants is a feature of LC as it is for JC, though it is generally only present in basilectal LC speech. The most common examples of this process noted in the corpus were the words turtle and little. Wen da turkl ar laid dey com an get da turkl eggs on, trow dem back to da sii, wen dey born. But I’m gwain to tek a likl nap now since yu av somebadii to taak wid. Limonese Creole Consonants

Bilabial

Stops Fricatives Affricates Nasals Laterals Semivowels

Labiodental

p, b f, v m w

Alveolar t, d s, z ʧ, ʤ n l, r

Alveopalatal

Velar

Glottal

k, g ʃ,ʒ ñ

h ŋ

y

LC vowels According to Portilla (1993), the LC vowel system is made up of five short vowels: /i/, /e/, /u/, /o/ and /a/, three long vowels /ii/, /uu/ and /aa/, and four diphthongs: /ie/, /uo/, /ai/ and /ou/. The distinction between the two sets of vowels is one of length and not a tense/lax differentiation. The vowel system of LC does not differ significantly from JC; the full set of double vowels parallel the vowel system described by Bailey (1966) for Jamaican Creole. All vowels occur syllable and word initially, medially and finally. The double vowels occur in complementary distribution with their singular counterparts as can be noted from these examples. LC [dag] [si] [tu]

SE dog (noun) see too

LC [daag] [sii] [tuu]

SE dog (verb, to follow) sea two

Syllable structure There is a preference for CV syllables (open), in that final consonants, in the last syllable of a word, may often be null. This is especially common in unstressed syllables or words ending in a consonant cluster, more so if the

World English Vol III.indb 214

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

215

final consonant is unvoiced as in the words important, just and don’t in the following examples. Iz importan to kiip teachin da children Inglish at uom? ‘Is it important to keep teaching the children English at home?’ Yu jus cut da werds so yu duon put togeda. ‘You just cut the words short so you don’t put them together.’ Nevertheless, consonant clusters are not uncommon in word-initial position in either two- (pl-sp-and gw-among others) and three-letter (str-) combinations as in the words pleez, spot, gwain and striit. It is not uncommon for the more basilectal speakers to heavily aspirate words whose initial segment is a vowel when the syllable is stressed (angry becomes hangrii). The [h] is likely to be absent when the syllable is unstressed or a onesyllable word does not have sentence stress. Wen yu get hangrii, wen yu vexed? ‘When you get angry, when you are vexed?’ I baan ier. ‘I was born here.’ Yu av to try an reach high. ‘You have to try and reach high.’

Suprasegmentals Upon arriving in Limón, I found the basilectal speech quite difficult to understand. As time passed, and I became adjusted to the music of the language, it was quite clear that the grammar and vocabulary were not as challenging as the radical differences in stress, intonation and tone. According to Lawton (1963), JC has lexical tone. Nevertheless, when Herzfeld tried Lawton’s test for tone on LC, she felt the results were inconclusive at best (1978). A more recent study by Portilla (1995) provides support for a lexical function for tone. He describes a two-tone system (rising/falling) and offers as evidence the existence of both monosyllabic and disyllabic words that differ only in their tonal pattern. LC /án/ /wélkàm/ /fáadà/

World English Vol III.indb 215

SE hand welcome (noun) father (parent)

LC /àn/ /wèlkám/ /fàadá/

SE and welcome (verb) father (priest)

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

216

World Englishes Volume III

Samuel Obeng (p.c.) a native speaker of Akan and Ghanaian English, remarked on what he considered the obvious presence of tone in LC and its resemblance to tone in both African languages.

Orthography One difficulty every creolist confronts is effectively representing creole speech in writing. The choice of an orthographic system is fraught with problems not the least of which is that many speakers of LC range from basilect to acrolect in the same utterance. I chose Cassidy and LePage’s convention of using ‘eye dialect’ for representing Jamaican Creole because it is the mother language of LC and to illustrate as many phonetic features as possible so that readers would acquire a more accurate sense of the sound of LC. However, by representing much of the speech in eye dialect, I am concerned that it misrepresents the dynamic nature of the community’s speech by representing acrolectal speech as well as mesolectal and basilectal in eye dialect. Many words are pronounced the same across the continuum. Finally, I have little doubt that some LC speakers would be offended by this written representation. According to one informant, for LC speakers, speech and writing are distinct. ‘So he understan wat yu mean to se. But if hiz gwain to wrayt it, he duon wrayt Mek-ay-tel-yu, he wrayts English.’ At present, other than the poet, Eulalia Bernard, I am unaware of anyone intentionally using creole in formal writing genres.

General lexical and morphosyntactic structures The word order for sentences in LC, including interrogatives and negative constructions, is generally SVO. In terms of verbal structures, the base form of the verb is the most frequent used because, like most creoles, a variety of markers and adverbials are employed rather than bound inflectional affixes to express the full range of tense and aspect. The presence of bound inflectional or derivational morphemes, though less numerous than for SE, are more common than with more radical creoles like Saramaccan. The recent development of derivational and inflectional morphology is probably due to increased contact with the acrolect.

Noun phrases Noun phrase word order in LC is: (det) (adv) (adj) N or (PN); however, certain elements in the NP – especially determiners and plural markers – are extraordinarily fluid in their positioning as well as being null in some cases or

World English Vol III.indb 216

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

217

doubly marked in others. LC has both definite (phonetic variants: di, da, and the) and indefinite determiners (a, an); however, their usage does not necessarily parallel SE, as can be seen in the second example in which a determiner is used where none is necessary in SE. So der were Negro ier bifor dey brat in di contrak in da Atlantic zone. ‘So there were Negros here before they brought in the contract in the Atlantic zone.’ I’ve picked up so much of the Spanish, so involved with the Spanish, dat it is difficult for mii to hold a real conversation in English, because I’m always trying to put in the Spanish. Wen yu go to Ø funeral? . . . When yu go to Ø laadg? ‘When you go to a funeral? . . . When you go to the lodge’?

Pronouns In LC acrolectal speech, the subject, object and possessive pronoun inventory is similar in form to SE. However, many speakers use only one set of pronouns for all three functions. In the first example below, the speaker shifts three times between the two forms for the four subject pronouns used. In the final example, LC im ‘him’ is used in the subject position, and subject pronoun we appears in the object position. Dey av di feriada. Dem av di diays, but laik se, wen dem kom, dey go muor to di beach. ‘They have vacation. They have days, but when they come, they usually go to the beach.’ Oh, yu jus put mii aside, let I get my exercise. ‘Oh, you just put me aside, let me get my exercise.’ Im got it far we. ‘He got it for us.’ Shii tek gud kier a we. ‘She took good care of us.’

Noun morphology There is little in the way of either inflectional or derivational morphology for LC nouns. Inflectional suffix usage is erratic at best. For example, pluralization is as likely to be marked lexically as through a suffix, though on occasion, nouns may be doubly marked. Pluralization is expressed through the use of the determiner dem (them) or by the addition of the plural affix -s to the root noun. Plural morpheme -s may even be added to nouns that are inherently plural (childrens). Dem is found in

World English Vol III.indb 217

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

218

World Englishes Volume III

either (or both) pre- or post-posed positions, as depicted in the following examples. Buoy, yu kyaan wit dem woman, dem raketiering woman dem. ‘Boy, you can’t with those women, those racketeering women.’ All a dem, all dem childrens, now dem maada av to go in an do fa dem. ‘All of them, all those children, now their mother has to go in and do for them.’ Note that sometimes the definite or indefinite and plural status of a noun are marked separately, as in the example below in which the pre-posed singular definite determiner di is accompanied by the post-posed plural marker dem. Dat taym yu pap di English; di bad werd dem not so sweet in Spanish. ‘At that time, you pop in the English; the bad words are not so sweet in Spanish.’ Firs taym pipl dem, dos ol taym pipl didn laik dem children go to Spanish skuul. ‘The early people, those old time people didn’t like their children to go to Spanish school.’

Derivational morphology The use of derivational morphology is not particularly productive in LC. A number of suffixes (-tion, -ity, -ize, -ary, -al, -able and -ly) and prefixes (un-, il-, im-, dis, mini- and sub-) are heard commonly and have varying degrees of productivity. They even get attached in unique ways as in: An it drap quietable (And it fell quietly). The suffix -tion is the most productive and generally LC usage parallels SE. The suffixes -ity , -ly and -ize are fairly common, and a number of LC words exist which are not part of SE including casuality (accident) and disiplinaize (disciplined), indicating that these suffixes are productive. Derivational prefixes are almost non-existent in LC. Especially interesting was the almost total lack of negative prefixes. Examples of negative prefixes include un-, im, ir- and il-. The word unfortunately occurred in my corpus only once, uttered by an informant immediately after I said it. The negative prefix disoccurred in the speech of six informants a total of fifteen times; however, twelve of the occurrences of disappear were in response to the question: Do you think creole is going to disappear?

Possessive constructions Possession may be expressed in a number of ways in LC with a great deal more variety than in SE. The possessive may be formed by affixing an -s to a root word.

World English Vol III.indb 218

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

219

However, possession may be indicated by simply placing the possessor in front of the possessed, but without a possessive marker. . . . an Jamaica’s pipl duon layk Spanish; dey call it bud language. ‘. . . and Jamaica’s people don’t like Spanish; they call it bird language.’ Dat is dis president faada. ‘That is this president’s father.’ LC possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her, ours, der)10 may be used to mark possession. However, object pronouns may be used in place of possessive pronouns. My faada came to werk an da rielruod but my maada braada waz ier already. ‘My father came to work on the railroad but my mother’s brother was already here.’ Anancy eat an full im belly an went uom. ‘Anancy ate and filled his belly and went home.’ . . . an me maada dead nineteen tirti six, fort a July. ‘. . . and my mother died 1936, fourth of July.’ There is one noteworthy restriction on the use of the third-person feminine forms of the possessive pronouns. In the first two examples below, from the same conversation, the masculine possessive, the object pronoun is used, but for the feminine, the subject pronoun is. To test the extent of this, the final pair of examples was solicited directly during sessions with a native speaker informant. What im niem? ‘What is his name’?

We she niem? ‘What is her name’?

A fi im book. ‘It is his book.’

A fi she book. ‘It is her book.’

Further questioning revealed that A her own it is ungrammatical, whereas A him own it is grammatical. Thus, there seems to be some general rule concerning the use of she in the object position, even outside of possessive constructions. Furthermore, the sentence Musabe her is ungrammatical, whereas Musabe she is fine. Perversely, Musabe him is considered grammatical.

Compounding of nouns Compounding is commonly used by creole languages to expand their lexicons, and their meanings are generally transparent. Combining two nouns is

World English Vol III.indb 219

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

World Englishes Volume III

220

quite common. The meaning of plantintaat, a delicious local pastry, ‘plantain tart’ is completely transparent. Three other compounds, duormout ‘door opening’, eyewata ‘tears’ and rivaeye ‘spring or river source’, seem to be calques from West African languages that contributed to the English-based West Atlantic creole languages (Winkler and Obeng 2000). For example, in Yoruba, a Kwa language spoken in Nigeria, the word for tears is omu l’oju literally water from the eye (Allsopp 1996).11 One unusual set of compounds, made up of two nouns, does not seem to compound semantically; for example, ratbat ‘bat’ and ruokstone ‘rock’ or ‘stone.’ This happens with two LC lexemes as well as with several mixed LC/Akan pairs. Three of these sets are types of yams for which an Akan word for a variety of yam is combined with the noun yam. According to Obeng (p.c.), these Akan words are not compounds, but single words. A non-yam example exists in which a phonetic variant of the Akan word ‘pig’, prako, is prefixed to LC pig resulting in the compound brachapig. Akan nkamfɔ bayerε bokyire

LC kyamfa yam yeri yam bochile yam

Null subjects and objects Full subjects are sometimes null in LC discourse, which is surprising considering the poverty of grammatical marking on verbs. However, existential pronouns (it, there) are deleted with great regularity. In addition, null objects are quite common especially in passive constructions like the first example below. Objects of any type may be left out, if meaning is recoverable from context. I’d two gringos for maaket yesterday, but Ø was skierd a mii. ‘I had two gringos in the market yesterday, but they were scared of me.’ Yeah, but rayt now Ø kyaan do dat. Ø too ol. ‘Yeah, but right now I can’t do that. I am too old.’ Ø is der I staat out me work. ‘It is there where I started my work.’

Adjectives The phonetic form and distribution of adjectives varies from speaker to speaker; however, the word order for NPs containing solely LC lexical items is the same as for SE. Mixed LC/Spanish NPs follow a different set of rules, which will be discussed in detail in the section on borrowing.

World English Vol III.indb 220

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

221

Yu an yer bruder av a gud resemblance. ‘You and your brother resemble each other.’ Very nice, an yu get da fut an it mek nice rich soup too. ‘It is very nice, and you get the foot which makes a nice rich soup too.’ El racismo12 was very very hard. ‘Racism was very very hard.’ Individual adjectives may combine to create compound structures, though this is a much less common occurrence than two nouns combining to form a compound noun. One common one in LC is bigeye ‘greedy.’

Prepositions LC has relatively the same inventory of prepositions as SE; however, their collocation and phonetic form do vary somewhat. For example, for is usually rendered fi, fa or far. In addition, prepositions are often deleted in contexts in which they are not used as locatives and contribute no additional information to aid in interpreting the utterance. I mean sell da shap fi go awe. ‘I mean sell the shop for to go away.’ Go brin dat glass de fa gi me. ‘Go bring that glass there in order to give it to me.’ Dis Miss Tisha go Ø Cuba, an a da yier when shii went Ø Cuba, shii se dat evribadi use to wear lang dress, an if yu jus lif up yu clos an dem see yu knee, yu get a tweny dalla. ‘This Miss Tisha went to Cuba, and the year she went to Cuba, she said that everybody used to wear long dresses, and if you just lift up your clothes and they can see your knee, you get twenty dollars.’

Verbal structures: Tense and aspect Tense and aspect marking is highly variable because there is a wide range of forms available, and each speaker may range through the continuum of forms within any speech sample. As with other creoles, the base form of the verb is the most frequently used. As Holm (1988: 150) points out, ‘the simple form of the verb without any pre-verbal markers refers to whatever time is in focus, which is either clear from the context or specified at the beginning of the discourse.’

World English Vol III.indb 221

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

222

World Englishes Volume III

Past tense The base form of the verb may be used to designate an action completed in the past. Past tense may be marked by the pre-verbal marker did or lexically by adverbial phrases. The past tense is generally unmarked, thus the -ed suffix only rarely occurs. Firs taym pipl dem, dos ol taym pipl dem didn laik dem children go to Spanish skul . . . ‘The original settlers, those old time people didn’t like their children to go to Spanish school.’ Bikaas wans ago, six, seven monts behin, some Americans guys comes ova, dey come to have a meetin wid dis zone, dey want to nuo, wat it is dat so much banana is in dis zone. ‘Because a while ago, seven months ago, some Americans came over, they came to have a meeting with this zone; they want to know why there are so many bananas in this zone.’ Past-tense marker -en, present in JC, is absent from current varieties of LC, further supporting Herzfeld’s (1978) contention that LC grew out of mesolectal and not basilectal JC. Stative verbs are realized through the base form of the verb. According to Holm (1988), stative verbs are ‘open-ended’, whereas the action of non-stative verbs tends to be fixed in one point in time. Bickerton asserts that ‘states have by definition an extended duration’ (1975: 34). Although stativity plays a role in verbal marking, though limited in JC the mother language of LC, the role that it plays in LC is inconclusive. This may be due to LC being a mesolectal variety of JC that has been affected by contact with acrolectal varieties of English. Note the variety of past-tense forms (both stative and non) used in the following speech. A: I heard of some of di history . . . an I baan here an I receive da old taym parents. E: Were your parents born here also? A: No, dey were baan in Jamaica.13 Dey are Jamaican heritage, but dey die here. Dey came here an contract tru plantations an rielroads. Well, on account of havin kids, we didn wan to go to Jamaica, dey decide to stie here . . .Whoo! Tousan of dem stay rayt here. Died rayt here. This speaker uses both regular past tense -ed (died) as well as irregular past tense (came, heard). However, the majority of the past-tense verbs are unmarked (baan, receive, die, decide, contract); past reference is established through conversational context. In the following conversation recorded during a domino game, the past

World English Vol III.indb 222

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

223

forms are quite varied (did goin, duon couple) and almost all the verbs lack affixation. C: I believe yu did have four, yes, yu did. D: Im play four. How did game goin? B: Me winning pan ace. I sen da first deuce, an im sen ace, an im make two ace wit it. An im plie . . . im duon couple, im plie. I sen back deuce again. Ace, deuce, an im pass you know; im pass. Translation C: ‘I believe you did have four, yes, you did. D: He played four. How is the game going? B: I’m winning by one. I sent the first double, and he sent a single. An he made two singles with it. And he played; he didn’t pair up, he played. I sent back the double again. Single, double, an he passed, you know, he passed.’ Alternations between was/were are also not uncommon. . . . an tuk her ova where hii were, hii an hiz wife. ‘. . . and took her over where he was, he and his wife.’

Present tense Like the past, the present tense is generally unmarked and must be recovered from the context of the discourse or from adverbial markers. Generally, present-tense third-person singular -s is not used with verbs accompanying pronominal subjects he and she, as can be noted in the examples below. Interestingly, third-person -s, occasionally shows up with first- and third-person forms, both singular and plural. The lack of consistent agreement marking extends to present and past forms of the verb be for which the singular and plural forms seem to be interchangeable. He study in the nayt, an he works. ‘He studies at night and he works.’ I jus knows him in pictures, foters an so forth. ‘I just know him from pictures, photos, and so forth.’ All my children dem is a strong guys. ‘All of my children are strong guys.’ Da pipl trow wata on im, hat wata dey trow on im. He go an steal. ‘The people throw water on him, hot water they throw on him. He goes and steals.’ In present reference, stative verbs operate in the same way as dynamic verbs (stay and sleep); and they occur in the base form just as they do in past

World English Vol III.indb 223

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

224

World Englishes Volume III

references; however, a stative verb may be null if meaning is recoverable from context. Da woman dem stay alone da mos of da taym. ‘The women stay alone most of the time.’ It duon trable mii to sliip bikaas layk how my room Ø to di back . . . ‘I don’t have any trouble sleeping because my room is to the back . . .’ I Ø huom all die takin kier a dem. ‘I stay/was home all day taking care of them.’

Future tense There are many ways to get across futurity in LC. Speakers can use some form of the present progressive combined with an adverbial (like tomorrow or next time) that locates the action in the future. The progressive used to indicate future, may be formed by the verb in present participle form or a  the base form of the verb. This form of the future, retained from JC, was probably acquired by slaves on plantations with Irish English overseers and other workers. It is still quite common in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in southern Ohio where I grew up, where many Irish English speakers settled, as heard in the sentence in ‘I’m a fixin to go.’ Mii a go a Limón tamara. Mii gwain tamara a Limón. Next time yu comin yu mus bring somting fa mii. Well taym will tell if wat we doin is ok. In the first example following, futurity must be derived solely from context. In the second, the base form of the verb is used in combination with an adverbial of time to indicate future action. Anitaym, anitaym yu ready, yu Ø fin mii rayt hir. ‘Anytime, anytime you are ready, you will find me right here.’ A chil is gud, but yu ar far too ol now, yu soon kyaan av enimor! ‘A child is good, but you are far too old now, soon you won’t be able to have a child anymore!’

Progressive aspect The progressive aspect is generally formed by the use of the -ing form of the verb. Occasionally, the copula will accompany a progressive verb, but it is null in most utterances: ‘He runnin down di daag.’ Herzfeld (1978) notes that the

World English Vol III.indb 224

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

225

progressive may be marked by a  the base form of the verb, and I noted a number of examples of this construction in more basilectal speech samples. Mi a staat diz ier stuori laik ow fi mi grani alweiz do. ‘I am going to start this here story like my grandmother always does.’ She no gwain grew no talla dan dat. She gwain get stouta, but no talla. ‘She is not going to grow taller than that. She is going to get stouter, but not taller.’ I gwain an do a mandado. ‘I’m going to do an errand.’ The only productive inflectional ending is the progressive affix -ing, realized phonetically, as /In/ in sentences like the following: ‘. . . so derfor yu av veri little Inglish spiikin persens in Limon.’ It is clear that the progressive marker is productive, not only from the frequency of occurrence with core lexical items, but because it is regularly affixed to borrowed Spanish verbs (i.e. basilarin from Spanish basilar ‘to fool around’). For example, after my neighbour’s grandson got us wet while playing with a hose, she said, ‘im basilarin.’

The completive aspect The completive aspect is accomplished via context, the use of adverbs, or with completive markers, the most common of which is don (done), although Herzfeld (1978) asserts that finish operates as a marker though less frequently. I found no evidence of finish as a completive marker in my corpus. I nuo a wayt girl don rent it. ‘I know a White girl has already rented it.’ Dey don dead already. ‘They are already dead.’

The habitual aspect The habitual aspect is not marked grammatically, but lexically with adverbial expressions like all di taym, or usta, that show an action or state is constant. All di taym I workin. I works 28 years for di company. ‘I was always working. I worked 28 years for the company.’ Der usta av a lot of big ones. ‘There used to be a lot of big ones.’

World English Vol III.indb 225

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

226

World Englishes Volume III

Negation Negation is fairly patterned, and the same negative structures are used for questions and statements, for both the past and non-past. The negative marker appears pre-verbally (NP  NEG  VP). The most commonly used negative markers for all LC speakers are no, duon and neba. I get rayd in di nayt taym fram Limón to Cahuita, but depends, bikaas da pipl dem know mii, but if dem no know mii, duon kier wat hawas dem pass if dem neba know mii, dem duon pick mii up. Dem know mii so . . . But if dem no know yu, layt hawas ar no layt hawas, no worry youself. ‘I can get a ride in the night time from Limón to Cahuita, but it depends, because the people know me. But if they don’t know me, it doesn’t matter at what time they pass if them don’t know me, they don’t pick me up. They know me so . . . but if they don’t know you, daytime or not daytime, don’t worry yourself.’ Two shat a tequila, I no waak no more. ‘Two shots of tequila and I don’t walk anymore.’ The negator no may also be used preceding a noun in place of any. Dat taym yu duon niid no passport. ‘At that time you didn’t need any passport.’ An dats hard to fayn bikaas no grandmaada takin up no responsibility wit kids now. ‘And that’s hard to find because no grandmother is taking up any responsibility for kids now.’ Another negative marker is the modal kyaan (can’t), which precedes the base form of the verb in most utterances. Because word-final unstressed [t] is often not realized, the negative of kyan (can) is differentiated solely through vowel lengthening: kyaan. LC speakers report the same difficulty hearing the difference between the two as SE speakers do with can and can’t in fast speech. I really kyaan tell yu bout dat bekaas I wasin baan dos taymz. ‘I really can’t tell you about that because I wasn’t born in those times.’ . . . shii kyaan feel di siem ting dat I feel for Limón. ‘. . . she can’t feel the same thing that I feel for Limón.’ Double negatives are quite acceptable in speech and occur quite commonly in normal discourse. Double negatives can be formed by two negative markers or by the combination of a negative adverb no and a negative noun.

World English Vol III.indb 226

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

227

Duon trow no stuon at di dag! ‘Don’t throw any stones at the dog!’ . . . bekaas we duon nuo bout no African kulchur. ‘. . . because we don’t know anything about African culture.’ Dem no pick up nutin. ‘They don’t pick up anything.’

Passive voice Full grammatical passive (be  past participle) occurs most frequently in expressions relating to birth, though it also occurs when the agent of the action is obvious to the conversation’s participants. I was baan an riez ier. ‘I was born and raised here.’ The be auxiliary may even be null as in the following utterance. In nineteen faati five da war Ø done you nuo.14 ‘ In 1945, the war was over you know.’ There are some uses of the passive that do not fit the grammatical pattern but appear to be semantically passive, i.e. the agent of the verb is null and the true object is in the subject slot. Had Black pipl bekaas da rielruod was mekin. An da dock was workin. ‘There were Black people because the railroad was being made and the dock was being worked.’

Modal auxiliaries LC manifests a full range of modal auxiliaries, which combine grammatically with the base form of the verb to show degree of certainty, futurity and ability. There are two periphrastic modal constructions commonly found in LC but not in SE: a fi (have to) and mus a (must). Jus di Inglish corriente wat wii would spiik. ‘Just the street English that we would speak.’ Mii a fi go to Limón. ‘I have to go to Limón.’

World English Vol III.indb 227

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

228

World Englishes Volume III

Evritaym I kom a fi kiari Majorie wid mi evriwe. ‘Everytime I come, I have to carry15 Majorie with me everywhere.’ Yu mus a fin dos pipl dos baan in da interia. ‘You must find those people who were born in the interior.’

Copula use There are three possible realizations of the copula: equative (or identificational), predicative and locative. The equative is used to link the subject and an object (She is the teacher), the predicative before predicative adjectives (I am cold) and the locative to denote the location of an object (It is here). For LC, zero copula constructions are not uncommon, especially in locative constructions. For predicative constructions, the copula has two forms: a and various forms of be which is by far the most common form used. The be copula appears as is, wuz and were, though these seem to be just stylistic variants for many speakers and do not consistently reflect tense or person differences. Di house (dat) bon dan a no fi mii. ‘The house that burned down wasn’t mine.’ I duon nuo if yu waz in Costa Rica dos taym, but . . . ‘I don’t know if you were in Costa Rica in those times, but . . .’ How ol are shii? ‘How old is she?’ The copula used equatively or identificationally links two nouns indicating a relationship of identity. The copula is often deleted in these constructions. Yu know wat iz coconat? ‘Do you know what coconut is?’ Bikaas laik ow shii American citizen, shii av to go back in wan yier an spen a taym . . . ‘Because since she is an American she has to return for a year and spend some time . . . ’ Forms of be are the most commonly used for locatives as well. Locative de, found commonly in JC, occurred very infrequently in the LC corpus. One example was uttered during the telling of an Anancy story, as illustrated by the first example below. Because these stories are part of the oral tradition of many African groups in the diaspora, the use of what may be an archaic form is not particularly surprising. In general, the use of de is limited to a locative adverb. We im de? ‘Where is he?’

World English Vol III.indb 228

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

229

Dey was ier wit mii. ‘They were here with me.’ Da uol a dat pliez de so, belang to da Turrialba man dem. ‘The whole of that place there belongs to the men from Turrialba.’ Despite these examples, frequently, the copula is null, especially when accompanied by a predicate adjective or when used locatively, which according to Arends, Muysken and Smith (1995), is common across Caribbean creoles. My gringa ø lost, yu duon sii her? ‘My gringa is lost. Haven’t you seen her?’ I wan to get fat too, bekaas luk, mi ø hongri . . . ‘I want to get fat too, because look, I am hungry . . . ’ All des likl fly wat Ø on di wall, dem ketch it. ‘All these little flies that are on the wall, they catch them.’

Serial verbs Serial verbs occur in LC, as in other creole languages and the African substrate languages from which they are derived, though their use in LC is infrequent. According to McWhorter (1997) serial verbs may have only one explicit subject and no markers of coordination or subordination. Only one verb may be marked for tense and aspect or both verbs must be marked equally, and finally, the second verb in the expression ‘is not obligatorily subcategorized for by the first verb’ (p. 22). Limonese serial verbs follow two patterns; with some, the function of the first verb is to specify the manner in which the second verb is performed, and for the rest, the meaning of the phrase derives from the sum of the parts. When it use to rein plenti, den it run come, an it flow on di pieza. ‘When it used to rain a lot, then it came running, and it flowed on the porch.’ I hear yu wuz hier, I had to run come an sii yu. ‘I heard that you were here and I had to run to come and see you.’ In each of the previous examples, the verb run tells how the subject of the sentence comes – quickly, thus serving an adverbial function. In the following example, gwain serves to indicate progressive and non-completive aspects. But ya aftaward, now it gwain dyin awt bekaas nobady didn intrested in di English. ‘But later afterwards, now it is dying out because nobody is interested in English.’

World English Vol III.indb 229

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

230

World Englishes Volume III

In the next two examples, the meaning of the two verbs is compounded, each carrying equal weight and indicating successive actions. I comin turn to kom tru di duor to go to di office. ‘I was coming and turning to come through the door to go to the office.’ Go kierii bring dat ting fa mii. ‘Go get that thing for me.’

Adverbials The adverbial suffix -ly is rarely used by LC speakers. Creole languages often employ one form for more than one grammatical purpose; therefore, using the adjective form for both adjectives and adverbs is simply economical. This is a feature of many non-standard varieties of English and has become so common that usage of -ly in more formal environments is disappearing, even in the speech of standard SE speakers: note the CNN logo: Real News, Real Fast, in which the second use of real is adverbial. Dey ar aktin very violent. ‘They are acting very violently.’ Yu av to av a likl clear color, nat real Black. ‘You have to have a little clear color, not really Black.’ Well the ones dats attend me she a real nice. ‘Well the one (nurse) that attend to me, she’s really nice.’

CLAUSAL STRUCTURES Interrogative structures The inventory of interrogative pronouns and adverbials is similar to that of SE; however, there is variation in both their phonetic form and grammatical usage. For example, auxiliaries are usually omitted from questions. Bombi we is Elizabeth? We is Eli? Ø shii gone? ‘Bombi, where is Elizabeth? Where is Eli? Has she gone?’ At wat o’clock Ø yu reach ier? ‘At what time did you get here?’ Wat happen? Why yu luk so Black? ‘What happened? Why do you look so Black?’ LC interrogative clauses often lack subject/verb inversion, the lack of which is typical of English-lexifier creoles (Holm 1988). Context, rising intonation, accompanied by a question word in first position in the sentence, suffice to mark the sentence as an interrogative.

World English Vol III.indb 230

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

Limonese Creole English

231

So, where it is? ‘So, where is it?’ Why yu duon spiik Spanish? ‘Why don’t you speak Spanish?’ Yes/No questions may be formed via sentence-final rising intonation. Auxiliary support, especially do-support, only rarely occurs, and does so only in the more acrolectal speech samples as in: Do yu tink English iz lost? Auxiliaries are null for most questions. An Ø shii gettin on gud? ‘And is she getting on well?’ I se, Ø yu gonna sell mii? ‘I said, Are you going to sell to me?’

Tag questions The structure of tag questions in mesolectal and basilectal varieties of LC differ from acrolectal instances specifically because of the lack of subject/auxiliary verb inversion. Rather than employ a full tag like ‘isn’t she’ LC speakers substitute a one-word tag like right?, no? or verdad? The latter two both are borrowed from Spanish. Verdad translates as truly, and the inflectional contour of no is clearly Spanish. Tag question usage is quite distinct by gender, which I will not go into here but is discussed in detail in Winkler (2009). Tag questions are used for a variety of functions including verifying information of which the speaker is unsure, as in the following example in which the speaker is confirming with a friend the date of an earthquake. Siks yier naw, verdad? Siks yiers, naytiin etiwan. ‘Six years now, correct? Six years, 1981.’ Speakers also use them for confirming a shared experience. This utterance came in an exchange about the difficulty of being black students in an allSpanish high school. . . . wen wii go on di bus dey halwayz mekin mack av us, no? ‘ . . . when we went on the bus, they were always mocking us, weren’t they?’ Expressing tentativeness concerning an assertion is another common usage of a tag question. Biikas ay tink dat iz fram ar kulchur, rayt? ‘Because I think that is from our culture, right?’

World English Vol III.indb 231

11/26/2012 2:35:52 PM

232

World Englishes Volume III

Finally, tags are often used to soften a threat to face. The following sentence was uttered in response to a particularly ignorant question I asked when I first arrived in the community. The second tag question was uttered by an older man who was trying to warn off a younger man who was cutting in on his territory. Yu duon nuo nutin much abowt Limon, no? ‘You don’t know much about Limon, right?’ Jus weit an giv mii a chans wit da liedii, no? ‘Just wait and give me a chance with the lady, no?’

Imperatives Grammatical imperatives are formed with a null subject combined with the base form of the verb. They are quite common in LC and can often be heard in adult/child interactions. In the first example, however, an older man recounts an argument with his nurse. So, shii com an shii saw da coffee I going to tek and shii se to mii, ‘Don’t drink dat coffee! Don’t tek it!’ I se, ‘yes, why?’ She se ‘No, dats black coffee’. I se ‘Dats wat I tek all di wayl’. She se, ‘I’m telling yu, don’t tek it!’ I says, ‘Well, tek it away!’. Hermenia, duon scream, jus trust to da gud laad.

Relative clause formation The formation of relative clauses, though similar to SE, vary in that the relative pronoun deletion is more widespread than in SE. The first four examples below were specifically solicited to test what words served as relativizers and to find out when they are optional. Optional relativizers are shown in parentheses. In the forthcoming examples, se is a relativizer, which seems to have been retained from the African substrate. Di house (dat) bon dan a no fi mii. ‘The house that burned down wasn’t mine.’ Di man (what) dem kill a no fi me husban. ‘The man that they killed was not my husband.’ Da man we kill da pikni dem no fi me husban. ‘The man that killed the children is not my husband.’ Di man (we) se kill di pikni dem no fi mii husban. ‘The man that they say killed the children is not my husband.’

World English Vol III.indb 232

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

233

Is der Ø I staat out mii work. ‘It is there where I started my work.’ I nuo Ø we appreciate all what shii had done. ‘I know that we appreciate all that she had done.’

Reduplication Reduplication is a grammatical structure in which, according to Bright (1998), a phonetic unit as small as a syllable may be repeated, which results in a new word that contrasts in some way with the single iteration of the phonetic string in the original word. Reduplication is a common feature of LC, frequently used to intensify the word it precedes. Like serial verb constructions, this particular structure is most likely a feature retained from the West African substrate language that contributed to the formation of Jamaican Creole. I duon nuo why dis rokoroko man luk pan mii fa. ‘I don’t know why this very old man with a face like a rock is looking at me.’ Im a bierbier man. ‘He has a heavy beard.’ Well, is nat der fault, is da parens fault bekaas wii av a likl likl buai der now, seven yierz, growin up wit us, dats Loisa’s son. ‘Well, it is not their fault, it is the parent’s fault because we have a very little boy there now, seven years old, growing up with us, who is Loisa’s son.’ The following examples show how reduplication has a predicative function: its use is iterative. . . . all dem guy da Rasta dem dodging, dodging, dodging, dodging awt to da duor, wan to the next duor waa16 sii if dem kud pick up somting. ‘. . . all the Rasta guys they are dodging dodging dodging dodging out of the door, out of the next door, to see if they could pick up something.’ Y que colera, verdad? De uno we yu av to wieting weiting, cho!17 ‘How frustrating! From one that you have to be waiting and waiting, cho!’

Current trends What makes LC unique when compared to other English-lexifier creoles is how it has changed due to the increasing bilingualism of its speakers in Spanish. Ever since the middle of the past century when contact between Spanish and

World English Vol III.indb 233

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

234

World Englishes Volume III

Limonese Creole-speaking Costa Ricans increased, LC speakers have borrowed Spanish lexemes and structures (Herzfeld 1977; Winkler 1998, 2000). The influence of Spanish on LC results in a wide variety of language mixing behaviours ranging from the occasional loan of a single word to intense intrasentential codeswitching in which speakers freely move back and forth between LC and Spanish as if they were one system. Currently, Spanish is spoken, along with LC, in most domains of use by the majority of Afro-Costa Ricans. Only the oldest speakers in my 1998 study claimed to use LC exclusively in most domains of use. By contrast, the usage of the youngest informants is radically different; there are a number of domains in which no young person reported exclusive use of LC, for example, with neighbours or friends, and in the market, though the majority of young people still claim to use LC exclusively with grandparents. As the predominantly LCspeaking oldest generations die, domains of use that are strictly LC for all speakers may disappear. The amount of borrowing is contingent on certain factors including level of bilingualism with Spanish, gender, place of rearing and age. Borrowing Spanish lexicon and morphosyntactic structures has increased due to a variety of social factors, including positive attitudes towards Spanish, a rise in Costa Rican nationalism and a large immigration of Spanish speakers into the area (Herzfeld 1978; Winkler 1998). In fact, for the majority of LC speakers, speech containing elements of Spanish is now more common than monolingual LC speech. The mixing of the languages appears to be the unmarked choice of this community. What is difficult for researchers to tease out is whether the Spanish identified in LC speech is solely codeswitching, the ability of bilingual speakers to temporarily use features of one language in the other, or whether the Spanish words and structures are becoming part and parcel of LC, in essence, being borrowed. Some Spanish words and structures have clearly become integrated into LC; whereas others are more transient. The challenge is to, qualitatively or quantitatively, differentiate uses of Spanish that have not affected the core system from those that have. In highly bilingual communities, like Limón, a clear demarcation between codeswitching and borrowing is difficult, if not impossible to establish. In 1993, Myers-Scotton (p. 21) asserted that, ‘A continuum of relationships exists between borrowing and all forms of codeswitching, so that codeswitching and borrowing are not distinct phenomena as some have suggested.’ Using integration to delineate between them is complicated by the fact that few monolingual speakers of LC exist; therefore, the presence of Spanish words and structures in their speech will not be available as a test for integration for much longer. Two other criteria have been used: frequency of use and loss of native lexemes. Myers-Scotton (1992) set the standard for borrowing at three uses by different speakers, which as she points out, is arbitrary; however, until a better method of determination is made, it does provide a common reference point for researchers. I posit additional criteria: I compared Spanish lexemes in

World English Vol III.indb 234

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

235

my corpus with the LC synonym to quantify levels of usage. Finally, I characterized Spanish-origin lexemes as loans based on the amount of morphophonological integration with LC.18

Lexical borrowing The majority of loans from Spanish are discourse markers. Haugen (1956: 66) pointed out that the structural ‘degree of boundness’ has much to do with how easily a word is borrowed. Discourse markers, like bueno ‘good’, por ejemplo ‘for example’ and entonces ‘so’, are easy to borrow because they are syntactically unconnected to the rest of the sentence. One quite frequently borrowed Spanish discourse marker is es que ‘it’s that’, the use of which is so rampant that one of my older informants referred to the younger people who frequently use it as eski pipl dem. Wid da cow is cowbuai, es que yu av, wid da harsis yu av este . . . ‘With the cow, it is cowboy, it’s that you have, wid the horses you have this . . .’ Nutin da matta wit becausin yer sista is ah, bueno er faada is a wayt native man. ‘Nothing is the matter, because your sister is, ah, well, her father is a white native man.’ Yu av a taym, layk se, wen it dry, layk ow is plentii sun, entonces, yu duon fayn dem a lot. Wen it rien plenti, yu duon fayn di likl fine fly. ‘There is a time, for example, when it is dry, there is plenty of sun, so you don’t find them a lot. When it rains a lot, you don’t find the little fine fly.’ These borrowings are commonly heard; however, ya is the most frequently borrowed word of any category making up 25 per cent of discourse markers identified in the corpus. Although it translates enough or finally, the meaning in Spanish goes well beyond any English translation. Ya transmits an emotional aspect of frustration or sense of finality that enough lacks. According to Butt and Benjamin (1994), ya signifies considerable levels of frustration or impatience, inevitability or acquiescence. The word usually gets strong sentence stress as well. But, ya evribady big, work an married. ‘But finally everybody is big, works and is married.’ I use to do some work, but ya I not doin it eniimor, only fa ma family. ‘I used to do some work, but no more, I’m not doing it anymore, only for my family.’ The borrowing of verbs has generally been limited to loans of the infinitive form as in Mii a fi recolectar mii buk dem, ‘I must collect my books.’ However, in addition to these simple loanwords, there are many loans that Haugen (1956)

World English Vol III.indb 235

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

236

World Englishes Volume III

has termed ‘adjusted loanwords’, which are Spanish root morphemes that have LC inflectional affixes which show a high degree of morphological and phonological integration. The most common were pasearin (hanging out) and basilarin (fooling around). In addition to these loans, some loan shifts (calques) were identified, in which a creole word takes on the Spanish meaning. The most frequent are college (high school) and taym ‘time.’ The word college may have shifted meaning due to the influence of Spanish colegio ‘high school’, a word that repeatedly occurred in the interviews I conducted (At first, if yu go to da colleges, yu sii plenti plenti Negros). However, in some varieties of British English, the word college can be used to refer to secondary school. The Limonese people use the word when referring to either the local Spanish or English language schools. Another common example of loan shift is the extension in meaning of taym to include the meaning weather, as the Spanish word tiempo does. Di taym chieng up. ‘The weather is changing.’ Di taym luk layk it a rain. ‘The weather looks like rain.’ Another frequent calque is the shift from be to have expressions for the reporting of age. This most likely reflects Spanish influence as in Tengo cincuenta años (I have 50 years). When im av one year, im maada buy it. ‘When he was 1 year old, his mother bought it.’ When I had 10 years, I nuo to rayt on machine . . . ‘When I was 10 years old, I knew how to type . . .’ The borrowing of morphosyntactic structures is much less frequent than lexical borrowing. Thomason and Kaufman (1988) assert that generally a couple hundred years of intense contact is necessary before structural borrowing becomes significant, and intense contact in Limón has been going on for little more than half a century. One structure that seems to be affected, however, is in the placement of the adjective within the noun phrase (NP). Whenever a Spanish noun or adjective is borrowed into an NP, it causes a shift in word order with the adjective post-posed as in Spanish. I tell er se, shii kia montar it an to a cuadro, becaa dat wid luk betta montar on to a cuadro wid da fondo green. ‘I told her, she can mount it on to a frame, because that would look better mounted on to a frame with a green background.’

World English Vol III.indb 236

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

237

Wud se autoestima low ar wud se dey duon kier. ‘I would say low self-esteem or I would say they don’t care.’ . . . jus di English corriente wat wii wud spiik ‘. . . just the street English that we would speak.’ So, shii studii der an shii gradjiet as secretary bilingüe. ‘So, she studied there and she graduated as a bilingual secretary.’ This word order has become so common, that it has even affected sentences in which there are no Spanish loans, indicating that this change has gone deeper than simple borrowing of Spanish lexemes. Well, if I sii a Black . . . sombodii, a person Black, I feel gud bekaa im not bugging mii because im Black. ‘Well if I see a Black . . . somebody, a Black person, I feel good because he is not bugging me because he is Black.’ In the following examples, the Spanish NP rule is being used for NPs containing only a calque from Spanish, but no true Spanish lexeme. The second example is interesting because of the -s plural marker on the adjective nationals, which is consistent with Spanish adjective agreement rules. If yer maada bad to yu, yu gettin ah agression sicologic, ar yer gettin agression physic. ‘If your mother is bad to you, you’re getting a psychological aggression or you’re getting a physical aggression.’ An da problem wii av wid da rielruod iz dat da nationals economies av da kuntries, dey iz whoz involve in di rielruod. ‘And the problem with the railroad is that the national economies of the countries, they are who is involved in the railroad.’ There were only a very few instances in the corpus in which LC word order was maintained within the NP when Spanish nouns or adjectives were borrowed. These occurred in the speech of solid bilingual speakers, thus it cannot be explained by LC dominance alone. As yet I have no explanation other than the obvious fact that it is the normal order for LC. Dat iz corriente Black pipl duon nuo nutin. ‘Those are street Black people who don’t know anything.’ Probablii, yu duon wan a likl fresco? . . . im av a likl chail, a likl girl. ‘Probably you don’t want a little drink? . . . He has a little child, a little girl.’

World English Vol III.indb 237

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

238

World Englishes Volume III

An yu put di colorante, red colorante. ‘And you put the colouring, the red colouring.’ Another interesting structural borrowing concerns the verb faltar, which is distinct because it is the third-person form of the verb that is always borrowed, not the infinitive as with all other Spanish verbs borrowed. In the first example below, two men are commenting on the arrival of a bus; in the second, a woman is talking about the replacement of her floor tiles after a flood. A: How much falta? ‘How long till it gets here?’ B: Falta twenty minutes. ‘It lacks about twenty minutes.’ Yu kyaan sii it falta da edges. Dis wan duon kom up an den duon kom down, so we av it on di flat. See it? Falta all ier. ‘. . . you can see it is lacking the edges. This one doesn’t come up and then it doesn’t come down. See it? It lacks everything here.’ The verb faltar operates differently from most other Spanish verbs because the subject occurs post-verbally and refers to third-person singular and plural objects. What is of note is that in LC, borrowing is limited to the singular. As number is frequently unmarked on LC verbs, this may indicate that the LC rule for null number marking trumps Spanish overt number marking. However, along with borrowing faltar, speakers have borrowed the sub-categorization frame from Spanish. The depth of Spanish borrowing and codeswitching across most of the community, as well as shifts across the continuum of Englishes, is startling. It is especially astonishing because it so often happens in contexts in which there are no Spanish monolinguals present. One Sunday, I attended a service at an all-Black Anglican church with my neighbour. When we entered the church, she greeted several people in LC and then introduced me to one of the women in Spanish. The people sitting behind me spoke in highly basilectal LC. The minister soon began to talk in Spanish. During the service, the minister said a prayer in Spanish for two members who were having birthdays, after which the congregation sang the English version of Happy Birthday. When the youth choir sang, it did so in Spanish; the adult choir sang in LC accented SE. The communion song, Let us break bread together on our knees, was sung in English until the last two verses, during which they switched to Spanish. The announcements were made in both LC and Spanish. Later, the choir director announced, in LC, that the minister would be travelling and asked the congregation to pray, but the prayer that followed was Spanish. The pastor then welcomed me, and the congregation sang a welcoming song, both in Spanish. The final liturgy was performed in Spanish followed

World English Vol III.indb 238

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

239

by a benediction in English. After church, everyone visited. Most of the talk was in LC or SE, often depending on whether or not the speakers were addressing me or each other. Throughout my stay, and on all return visits, almost everywhere I went, I noted their effortless incorporation of Spanish into their already complex linguistic systems. LC, SE, and Spanish, and their fluid mix, provide these speakers with a wealth of linguistic tools for negotiating their daily experiences in their multi-cultural world. Yu jus basilarin. Tamara wii spen di ol diay pasearin. He sacarin im venganza. Luk layk im quedaring.

‘You’re just fooling around.’ ‘Tomorrow we’ll spend the whole day hanging out.’ ‘He’s taking his revenge.’ ‘Looks like he’s staying.’

Future of English in the region When bilingual speakers feel that one of their languages no longer serves them in important ways, they may shift to another language for certain domains of use. If speakers give up use of a language in enough domains, that language may eventually be lost. Whether or not this will happen in Limón is not yet clear; there are three options: (1) speakers may shift to Spanish and give up LC, (2) they may maintain stable bilingualism with little change to LC or (3) LC will undergo more lexical and structural changes due to the intense contact with Spanish. The linguistic situation in Limón is particularly interesting because it is more than just a simple case of borrowing or language shift because LC speakers are confronted with what I have termed as a ‘double contact-double shift situation’. In many countries in which there is an English-lexifier creole language, and there is sufficient contact with the lexifier, creole speakers are pressured to shift their speech towards the more acrolectal end of the creole continuum until there is little difference, other than accent, from international varieties of English. Bajan is a good example of this type of decreolization. When the Jamaicans first immigrated to Limón, the presence of the UFC and the schools provided creole speakers a model of Standard English, and this contact influenced their speech. However, the direction of change was altered when the language of prestige in the community shifted to Spanish. Herzfeld (1978) believes that LC was in a privileged position compared to other creoles because the lack of access to English in that time precluded decreolization, thus, speakers maintained more basilectal forms of LC. However, in the last couple of decades, SE has again become available to the community and has begun to re-exert pressure on LC causing some decreolization.

World English Vol III.indb 239

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

240

World Englishes Volume III

Effect of SE on LC: Decreolization English is available to the community through a variety of mediums; for example, a sizable portion of the community works in English-speaking environments outside of Limón many months of the year. In my 1998 study, many community members reported having relatives who live part-time in Limón but work ‘outside’ part of each year. During World War II, many Afro-Costa Ricans went to Panama to work in war-related jobs. Since the 1950s, many have gone to the United States to work as contract labourers and on cruise ships for which their ability to speak a variety of English is certainly advantageous. When these workers return to Limón, their prestige as money-makers and as travellers in the greater English-speaking world is linked to continued prestige for English. Their contact with SE alters the variety they speak, possibly contributing to decreolization in the LC community. In addition, because of the importance of English in trade and technology, there has been a recent increase in the number of bilingual schools in Limón. In 1997, the government passed legislation requiring the teaching of English in all schools. Paradoxically, some Afro-Costa Rican children who do not acquire the creole natively are learning English as a foreign language at school. Cable television in English is now widely available in Limón province, providing additional access to English. This increased exposure has bolstered the position of LC within the community which has once again provided LC speakers with access to a variety of English that has prestige and currency worldwide. In Jamaica, varieties of creole and standard have both managed to survive and find a place within the national culture. Creole has gained a level of acceptance via standardization and study. For Jamaican Creole (JC), there are reference materials (grammars, dictionaries) and literary works (novels, dub poetry), and television and radio programmes which are widely available across Jamaica. JC has even gained some notoriety and a measure of acceptance worldwide through the music of Bob Marley and others. The LC situation however differs in significant ways from that of Jamaica; for example, in the widely held perception among young people in Limón, that acquiring Spanish is more important than LC or SE. LC differs widely from JC in its levels of standardization and acceptance. Very few published or unpublished works are available, most of which are master’s theses and doctoral dissertations which are not of general appeal to the local community. There are several collections of Anancy stories written in LC,19 and one poet, Eulalia Bernard, writes in LC or in the rich mixture of LC and Spanish that reflects the multilingual Afro-Costa Rican experience.

Effect of Spanish on LC: Language shift At present, practically all young Afro-Costa Ricans speak Spanish. Many speak LC as well; however, the number of parents transmitting the creole to children

World English Vol III.indb 240

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

241

continues to diminish. Sadly if LC continues to decreolize, and parents no longer transmit LC to their children as a native language, then it is likely that, at some point, LC will be lost to the community either by collapsing with SE or through a total shift to Spanish. In addition, a community-wide increase in exogamy has created a group of biracial and bicultural children with the twofold effect of lessening the transmission of LC and decreasing the number of people who identify solely as Afro-Costa Ricans. DeCamp (1971) says that one factor contributing to the desire to learn the standard is the partial breakdown of the rigid social structure that had previously limited the upwards mobility to creole speakers. Currently, for LC speakers, it is primarily Spanish that facilitates upwards mobility and only secondarily English. Language shift to Spanish is exacerbated by the loss of a community connection between the Afro-Costa Ricans and their ancestral homeland, Jamaica. Many older Afro-Costa Ricans reported that their parents never planned to stay in Costa Rica; they intended to return to Jamaica one day. This confusion of identity continues even today, as the youngest generation of Afro-Costa Ricans struggles with its cultural identity. According to Duncan, ‘They no longer believe in the old myths of a paradise lost in Jamaica. They are in rebellion, looking for a way to combine their two identities’ (1996: 11). Young LC speakers are not alone in confronting the clash of culture and language; English-based creole speakers throughout Central America are facing the same issues: Central American English bears signs of being the language of bilinguals now: the inroads of Spanish into its vocabulary, phonology and even syntax are startling to the outsider. Yet, despite the increasingly Hispanic orientation of each succeeding generation of English speakers, English will certainly survive for many more decades – and possibly many more centuries – in Central America (Holm 1983: 11). Dorian (1980) points out that a community can shift from being a majority to a minority group very quickly; however, this is a less likely scenario than a slow shift, as little by little, some members of each generation shift to the dominant language of the community, which seems to be the case in Limón where the use of Spanish has become common in homes in which LC was once the language of choice. Dorian also asserts that the use of the prestige language at home signals that shift is imminent, no matter how large the current population is because the parents have failed to create a ‘replacement generation.‘Although LC is still commonly heard throughout Limón among middle aged and older members of the community, it is in Spanish that many young Blacks most often communicate. LC native speaker and linguistics professor Marva Spence (1992) posits that LC speakers are shifting their language loyalties. A transitional stage may take place in advance of a complete community-wide shift to the dominant language during which speakers of the subordinate language borrow from the newly dominant language. In Limón, as LC has ceased to be the politically dominant language in the province, most, if not all, of its domains are now shared with Spanish. Herzfeld (1977), who has written extensively on LC, points out: ‘These people are in the process of restructuring their

World English Vol III.indb 241

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

242

World Englishes Volume III

rules, incorporating more and more elements of the prestige language into their grammars’ (p. 205). Borrowing of lexicon is rampant; morphosyntactic borrowing is still limited to a few structures, but quite noticeable. Nevertheless, due to recent renewed contact with SE, LC speakers are incorporating more Standard English features into their creole speech as well. The dominance of English worldwide and the recent move by the Costa Rican government to introduce English classes into the school system could mitigate some of the overall influence of Spanish. These changes have had a powerful linguistic effect: practically all Afro-Costa Rican children learn Spanish as a native or co-native language. Regrettably, transmission of LC as a first language to children is no longer a given. Currently, only the middle and older generations are LC dominant, and few monolingual creole speakers remain. Conversely, some Black youth have little or no ability to communicate in LC, although some are learning SE as a second language at school. They do not acquire the creole for numerous reasons; however, one oft stated reason given by parents for not teaching it to their children is fear that their children will be discriminated against for using LC. Despite this concern, the children’s lack of ability to speak their community’s language may have nothing to do with anyone’s attitudes, as Rottet points out: Undoubtedly, in most cases, there is not necessarily any overt hostility toward the minority tongue, in principle, and the people involved in these conscious choices probably do not realize they are playing a role in the eventual extermination of their minority language. In each case individuals simply choose what they feel is best for themselves or their families. Perhaps in some cases there is no conscious choice at all, and people simply do what they see their neighbours doing, e.g. speaking the dominant language (1995: 27).

Factors to support LC survival At present, although LC is clearly an embattled language, it is not in danger of immediate extinction. A number of factors have contributed to its maintenance, including: covert prestige for the vernacular, the co-referential link between LC and SE, domains of use both public and private in which LC can still be used, identification of LC as a marker of Afro-Costa Rican identity and recent cultural identification with other African communities in the diaspora stimulated by both the popularity of African cultural movements and the worldwide popularity of reggae and Afro-pop. In addition, immigration of young people from Jamaica has recently increased bringing Jamaican Creole back as a model. I noted large numbers of them in Limón during my last several visits, and it was clear that local young people were copying their speech. The abandonment of LC by the community is also slowed because the local variety is linked to the standard by its speakers. Thus, the very fact that many

World English Vol III.indb 242

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

243

LC speakers do not make a distinction between LC and English is a positive force for the continued maintenance of LC. Their ability to shift across the continuum of varieties available to them makes it unnecessary for them to abandon LC. Studies by Bryce (1962), Purcell (1993), Spence (1992) and Winkler (1998) all show positive attitudes towards the local variety exist, though preference for LC is strongest in the rural areas and also among the oldest residents. Winkler (1998) showed that 88 per cent of women and 66 per cent of men expressed favourable attitudes towards the local variety of English/LC though I still maintain that separating the two for statistical purposes is suspect at best. Although speakers may express preference for a language, it does not always translate into action. Spence found that 90 per cent of her respondents said it was important to keep LC and 82 per cent said that they preferred LC to Spanish. Paradoxically, 86 per cent of the respondents in this same study said they did not want their children to learn LC (1992: 134–135) because it may hinder their upwards mobility. However, Spence asserts that the use of Spanish may be perceived as ‘putting on airs’ when the entire group in a conversation speaks LC. She believes that the use of more standard forms of English also contributes to social distance between the interlocutors: the use of the SE for everyday conversation is taken as being pretentious, insincere and boastful. Within the community then, there is lot of pressure to use less acrolectal varieties as a sign of solidarity (1992: 102).

Conclusion In the last 50 years, the Afro-Costa Rican community has undergone radical changes in its socioeconomic position, cultural identity, and language use patterns. These speakers have had to accommodate to a complete shift in demographics in Limón favouring Spanish-speaking Costa Ricans. Because of this shift, the Afro-Costa Ricans were virtually cut off from economic opportunities and political power. Thus, little by little, over the last fifty years, the Afro-Costa Ricans have chosen to adopt the Spanish language, and to a much lesser degree, Spanish culture as a part of their ongoing process of assimilation into Costa Rican society. This community has not yet abandoned the traditional community language; however, patterns of acquisition and use have shifted from LC dominant to Spanish dominant. Although, intensity of contact is significant in language shift, many groups have faced intense pressure to abandon their languages and have managed to maintain them; for example, Catalan speakers under Franco or Kurdish speakers in present-day Turkey. Therefore, it may be more useful to define a set of characteristics that mitigate the effects of intensity of contact, and either prolong the duration of the shift or create

World English Vol III.indb 243

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

244

World Englishes Volume III

conditions for stable bilingualism. Based on the relative success of the Limonese community, this set of factors might include: (1) a perceived relationship between the local vernacular and a prestige language, and in the same vein, (2) the ability of community members to range across a continuum of varieties, at one end of which is the most basilectal form of the community’s language and at the other the acrolect, a variety useful for international communication, (3) a connection to other minority languages that share a similar heritage and possibly even structure and (4) strong community loyalty for the minority language, which may take the form of covert prestige. Of these, the co-referential link between the local vernacular and a prestige language is the most crucial. However, even though community bilingualism is high because LC speakers perceive correctly that speaking Spanish is critical to their success in Costa Rica, English is often considered more prestigious than Spanish, not only by the majority of LC speakers, but by many Spanish speakers as well because of the growing importance of an exonormic variety of English as the world’s language of business and technology. Furthermore, because the Afro-Costa Rican community considers LC and SE to be essentially the same language, the prestige associated with SE facilitates the continued use of both varieties. For the last 50 years, Limonese Creole speakers have been in intense contact with Spanish and, recently, they have regained greater access to Standard English. It is this double contact with two prestige languages, locally prestigious Spanish and globally prestigious Standard English, and the resulting influence on Limonese Creole that makes this contact situation unique. In 1980, Herzfeld asserted that the future of language change in LC was difficult to predict; however, she suggested two possibilities: that subsequent generations of LC speakers would abandon LC and adopt Spanish as their native tongue; or that LC would undergo re-lexification, resulting in a Spanish-based creole. More than twenty-five years later, the more likely scenario seems to be a lengthier transitional period in which LC, SE and Spanish are maintained in a state of stable bilingualism with both Spanish and SE continuing to transform some of the features of LC.

Notes 1

2005, Europa Encyclopedia, p. 1335. 2002, World Book Encyclopedia, p. 1082. 3 2005, Europa Encyclopedia, p. 1335. 4 Costa Rica’s literacy rate is 94 per cent, compared with 40 per cent for Nicaragua. 5 1997, Europa Encyclopedia. 6 All examples were recorded by Winkler and Reid Chambers in 1997 unless otherwise noted. The results of this study will be referred to as the 1998 corpus. Marcia Reid Chambers was my native speaker research assistant. 2

World English Vol III.indb 244

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

245

7

I was frequently challenged by Spanish-Costa Ricans as to the value of working in Limón and often told ‘No hay nada mala de Limón fuera de que está lleno de Negros’ [There is nothing wrong with Limón except that it is full of Blacks]. 8 geosource.ac.uk.worldguide/html. 9 The term basilect refers to the point on the creole continuum of speech varieties that is most distant from the lexifier language. Mesolect refers to the midpoint and acrolect, the variety most similar to Standard English. The continuum is not representing a fixed set of varieties, solely a conceptualization of the overlapping range of varieties possible in a creole community. 10 SE its does not occur in LC. 11 Alleyne (1993) asserts that influence of the Akan on Jamaican Creole, the progenitor of LC is evident. 12 Spanish loans or codeswitches in LC speech will be italicized. Meaning can be recovered from the gloss. 13 The speaker may be copying the use of the SE past form from the question I asked him. 14 Another possibility is that this is simply completive ‘don.’ 15 Carry for take is also common in Appalachian English and Southern White Vernacular English. 16 waa seems to be functioning here as some sort of clause marker, in order to. 17 ‘cho’ is an exclamation denoting surprise maintained from Ewe or Yoruba. 18 For extensive discussion of this see Winkler (1998). 19 Anancy stories are oral folk tales that originated with the Akan of Ghana and were brought to the New World by West African slaves.

Bibliography Alleyne, M. C. (1993), ‘Continuity versus creativity in Afro-American language and culture’, in S. Mufwene (ed.), Africanisms in Afro-American Language Varieties, Athens: University of Georgia Press, pp. 167–191. Allsopp, R. (ed.) (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, New York: Oxford University Press. Arends, J., Muysken, P. and Smith, N. (1995), Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction, Amsterdam: Benjamins. Bailey, B. L. (1966), Jamaican Creole Syntax: A Transformational Approach, London: Cambridge University Press. Bickerton, D. (1975), Dynamics of a Creole System, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Biesanz, J. and Biesanz, M. (1945), Costa Rican Life, New York: Columbia University Press. Bright, W. (ed.) (1998), International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bryce-Laporte, R. (1962), Social Relations and Cultural Persistence (or change) among Jamaicans in a Rural Area of Costa Rica, San Juan: University of Puerto Rico dissertation.

World English Vol III.indb 245

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

246

World Englishes Volume III

–– . (1993), ‘A lesser known chapter of the African Diaspora: West Indians in Costa Rica’, in J. E. Harris (ed.), Global Dimensions of the African Diaspora, Washington, DC: Howard University Press, pp. 137–158. Butt, J. and Benjamin, C. (1994), A New Reference Grammar of Modern Spanish, London: Edward Arnold. Cassidy, F. G. and Le Page, R. (eds) (1967), Dictionary of Jamaican English, London: Cambridge University Press. DeCamp, D. (1971), ‘Toward a generative analysis of a Post-creole speech Continuum’, in D. Hymes (ed.), Pidginization and Creolization of Languages, London: Cambridge University Press, pp. 349–370. Denton, L. and Carlos, F. (1971), Patterns of Costa Rican Politics, Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Dorian, N. C. (1980), ‘Language shift in community and individual: The phenomena of the laggard semi-speaker’, The International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 25, 85–94. Duncan, Q. (1996), ‘Introduction’, in E. Bernard (ed.), Ritmoheroe, San Jose, Costa Rica: Editorial Costa Rica. Europa World Yearbook, (1997, 2005), Costa Rica, London: Europa Publications Ltd; Fallas, C. L. (1941), Mamita Yunai, Habana, Cuba: Impr. Nacional de Cuba. Freeland, J. (1993), ‘I am a Creole, so I speak English. Cultural Ambiguity and the ‘English’/Spanish Bicultural Programme of Nicaragua’s Atlantic Coast’, in D. Graddol, L. Thompson, and M. Bryan 1993 (eds), Language and Culture, Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, pp. 71–83. Gumperz, J. (1982), ‘Social networks in language shift’, in J. J. Gumperz (ed.), Discourse Strategies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 59–99. Haugen, E. (1956), Bilingualism in the Americas: A Bibliography and Research Guide, Alabama: American Dialect Society, University of Alabama Press. Herzfeld, A. (1977), ‘Second language acrolect replacement in Limón Creole’, Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics, Lawrence, KS: Linguistics Graduate Student Association, pp. 193–222. ––. (1978), Tense and Aspect in Limón Creole: A Sociolinguistic View towards a Creole Continuum, Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, Ph.D. dissertation. ––. (2004), Mekaytelyu: La Lengua Criolla de Limón, San José, Costa Rica: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica. Holm, J. (1983), ‘Central American English: An Introduction’, J. Holm (ed.), Central American English, Heidelberg: Verlag. pp. 7–27. Lawton, D. (1963), Suprasegmental Phenomena in Jamaican Creole, Ypsilante, MI: Michigan State University, Ph.D. dissertation. McWhorter, J. (1995), ‘The scarcity of Spanish-based creoles explained’, Language in Society, 24, 213–244. —. (1997), Towards a New Model of Creole Genesis, New York: Peter Lang. Myers-Scotton, C. (1992), ‘Codeswitching as a mechanism of deep borrowing, Language Shift, and Language Death’, in M. Brenzinger (ed.), Language Death: Factual and Theoretical Explanations with Special reference to East Africa. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 31–58.

World English Vol III.indb 246

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Limonese Creole English

247

—. (1993), Social Motivations for Codeswitching: Evidence from Africa, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Obeng, S. G. and Winkler, E. G. (2002), ‘A Comparison of Reduplication in Limonese Creole and Akan’, in S. Kouwenberg (ed.), Twice as meaningful: Morphological Reduplication in Pidgins and Creoles, London: Battlebridge Press. Olien, M. (1967), The Negro in Costa Rica: The Ethnohistory of an Ethnic Minority in a Complex Society, Eugene: University of Oregon dissertation. Portilla Chaves, M. (1993), ‘Fonemas segmentales en criollo inglés de Limón’, Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 19, pp. 89–97. ––. (1995), ‘Tono en el criollo inglés de Costa Rica’, Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 20, pp. 135–139. Purcell, T. W. (1993), Banana fallout: Class, Color, and Culture Among West Indians in Costa Rica, Los Angeles, CA: Center for Afro-American Studies. Rottet, K. (1995), Language Shift and Language Death in the Cajun French-speaking Communities of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes, Louisiana, Bloomington: Indiana University dissertation. Spence, M. J. (1992), A Case Study of Language Shift in Progress in Port Limon, Costa Rica, Washington, DC: Georgetown University dissertation. Thomason, S. G. and Kaufman, T. (1988), Language Contact, Creolization, and Genetic Linguistics, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Winkler, E. G. (1998), Limonese Creole: A Case of Contact-induced Language Change, Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, Bloomington. —. (2000), ‘Cambio de códigos en el criollo limonense’, Revista de Filología y Lingüística, Universidad de Costa Rica, 26(1), pp. 189–196. ––. (2001), ‘Cambio de códigos en el criollo limonense’, Revista de Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 26(1), pp. 189–196. —. (2003), Limonese Creole: a rose by any name, Southern Journal of Linguistics, 25, 16–27. —. (2009). A Gender-based Analysis of Discourse Markers in Limonese Creole. Sargasso: A Journal of Caribbean Literature, Language & Culture. Special Issue: Linguistic Explorations of Gender and Sexuality. pp. 53–72. Winkler, E. G. and Obeng, S. G. (2000), West Africanisms in Limonese Creole English, World Englishes, 19(2), 155–171. Wright-Murray, F. (1974), Limón Creole: A Syntactic Analysis, San José: La Universidad de Costa Rica dissertation. ––. (1982), ‘Problemas y metodos para la enseñanza del ingles como segunda lengua a los hablantes del Mek-a-tel-yu en la provincia de Limón’, Filología y Lingüística de la Universidad de Costa Rica 8, pp. 129–135.

World English Vol III.indb 247

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

World English Vol III.indb 248

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Panama

Communities of English Speakers in Panama

World English Vol III.indb 249

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

World English Vol III.indb 250

11/26/2012 2:35:53 PM

Chapter 6

English in Panama Peter Snow

Geographical Position The Republic of Panama is the southernmost of the Central American nations and is located east of Costa Rica and west of Colombia on the narrowest part of the Isthmus of Panama that links North America and South America. Bordering both the North Pacific Ocean and the Western Caribbean Sea, this S-shaped part of the isthmus is situated between 7° and 10° north latitude and 77° and 83° west longitude. Slightly larger than Ireland, Panama encompasses approximately 77, 082 square kilometres, is 772 kilometres in length and is between 60 and 177 kilometres in width. The Isthmus of Panama is the shortest overland route between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Because of its unique geography, Panama has long been used as a crossroads. Spain, England, the United States of America and France, all came to recognize the value of the isthmus as an international trade route and, as a result, Spanish, English, American and French claims on Panama have influenced the region’s culture, economy and language in ways that are quite apparent. Frequently overshadowed by these European and American minority claims, however, is the fact that the majority of the labourers who guaranteed the success of the various multinational railroad, canal and banana ventures on the isthmus came from across the Caribbean. The West Indian influence on Panama’s culture, economy and language is therefore central to any description of the English language in the region. The construction of a trans-isthmus railroad and canal in the nineteenth century required a sizeable labour force. European and American administrators therefore turned to the nearby Caribbean – especially the island of Jamaica – to recruit tens of thousands of manual labourers.1 In addition, Panama’s tropical climate and vast stretches of flat, coastal lowlands in the provinces of Bocas del Toro and Chiriquí provided an excellent environment for the establishment of enormous, labour-intensive banana plantations. A new wave of Caribbean immigrants migrated to these areas in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century along with West Indians who had previously worked on the railroad and canal projects. Panama’s geography, topography and proximity to the West Indies have played an important role in the migration of English speakers to

World English Vol III.indb 251

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

252

World Englishes Volume III

the region and have had a lasting influence on the location of English-speaking communities on the isthmus. The varieties of Creole English spoken today in Panama are a result of the English, Spanish and French presence in the region dating to the sixteenth century,2 the ongoing American presence since the nineteenth century and the immigration and importation of labourers from all parts of the West Indies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Panamanian Creole English (PCE) therefore has both Eastern and Western Caribbean Creole English features and has been influenced by contact with varieties of English, Spanish and (to a lesser degree) French. There are significant populations of PCE speakers in three general areas in the Republic of Panama: Panama City, Colón and the province of Bocas del Toro. Creole-influenced English is also spoken in a number of communities in the former Panama Canal Zone and there may be a small group of PCE speakers in the Pacific coast city of Puerto Armuelles in the province of Chiriquí (see Herzfeld 1983b). In Panama City, varieties of urban PCE are spoken in the neighbourhoods of Chorillo, Calidonia, Rio Abajo, Pueblo Nuevo, Parque Lefevre, Juan Diaz and Pedregal. In the former Canal Zone, Creole-influenced English is spoken in the townships of Paraiso, Pedro Miguel, Gamboa and Rainbow City. In the rural province of Bocas del Toro, varieties of PCE are spoken on Isla Colón (locally known and hereafter referred to as ‘Bocas’, and not to be confused with the city of Colón at the Pacific terminus of the Panama Canal), in the mainland port of Almirante and in the village of Old Bank on the island of Bastimentos. In addition, there are significantly smaller populations of Bocatoreño PCE speakers in Changuinola, Base Line and Guabito near the Costa Rican border, on the islands of Guana Key (Shepherd’s Island) and Careeneen Key (Carenero), and in a few small, extremely remote villages east of the Peninsula Valiente on the Golfo de los Mosquitos. A small community of Chiricano PCE speakers lived in the Barrio La Playa, Finca Blanco and Silver City neighbourhoods in Puerto Armuelles thirty years ago, but the survival of this particular speech community has not been recently confirmed. While earlier research on PCE treated the Creole as if it were a single entity spoken throughout the country without regional variation (see Cenci 1960; Cohen 1976; Herzfeld 1983a, b; Holm 1989), in recent years researchers have begun to suggest that PCE varies across Panama (Thomas-Brereton 1992) and even, perhaps, within the province of Bocas del Toro (Aceto 1995, 1996b). Speakers of PCE in Panama City (Thomas-Brereton 1992) and Colón have described the variety of Creole English in Bocas del Toro as different from their own, while speakers of PCE in Bocas del Toro have voiced the same belief about the Creole spoken in urban parts of Panama, especially in Colón. Thomas-Brereton (1992: 204) points out that Bocas del Toro ‘is a remote area

World English Vol III.indb 252

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

253

by Panamanian standards and has a history that is wholly separate from that of Colón and Panama City’. The relative isolation of the rural PCE speech communities in Bocas del Toro has historically limited contact with Spanish (see Cenci 1960). In recent years, the development of international tourism and the arrival of English-speaking retirees in Bocas del Toro have contributed to increased contact with varieties of English (see Snow 2003, 2004a). The urban PCE speech communities in Panama City and Colón have always been characterized by extensive contact with Spanish. In the former Canal Zone, speakers of Creole-influenced English are experiencing reduced contact with American English and increased contact with Spanish since the departure of US military personnel and civilians. As a result, language change in PCE speech communities throughout Panama is proceeding along multiple dissimilar trajectories across geographic regions.

Demographic data The official language of Panama is Spanish. English is the major second language, but, counterintuitively, it is not as widely spoken as one might expect, given the long United States presence in the country and Panama’s role in world commerce and finance. A nationalistic emphasis on Spanish, combined with the exodus of US civilians and military personnel after the Americans relinquished control of the Canal Zone in 1999, has led to the erosion of Creole English speech communities in some parts of Panama, particularly in urban areas. The urban West Indian immigrant communities in Colón, Panama City and the former Canal Zone are showing clear signs of shift to Spanish. Afro-Panamanians of West Indian descent in these areas have significantly more contact with the Spanish language and are becoming more fully assimilated into Panamanian mainstream culture. In rural areas in Bocas del Toro, however, varieties of PCE continue to thrive due to the region’s isolation and a recent influx of English-speaking international tourists and retirees (see Snow 2003, 2004a). The actual number of speakers of varieties of English in Panama is uncertain. Estimates of the number of PCE speakers range from 100,000 (Holm 1989) to 268,000 (Gordon 2005).3 In 1987, Panama’s population was estimated at 2.3 million (Castro 1999). In 1989, Holm posited that Panamanians of West Indian descent made up 8 per cent of the country’s population. This suggests that PCE speakers may have numbered approximately 184,000 in the late 1980s. According to the CIA World Factbook (2006), Panama’s population is currently estimated at 3.2 million and ‘English’ is now spoken by 14 per cent of the population or 446,600 people. Unfortunately, it is unclear what is meant by the term ‘English’ in this document and which varieties of English (i.e. Creole English, Standard English, English as a second language) the authors have included in their calculations.

World English Vol III.indb 253

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

254

World Englishes Volume III

Historical background The English language arrived in Panama in the early nineteenth century by way of the British West Indies. The first significant populations of English-speaking Afro-Antilleans in Panama were the slaves of wealthy British and American landowners who settled in the Bocas del Toro region.4 The Shepherd brothers, Samuel, Julian and Peter, settled the small island of Guana Cay5 or Shepherd’s Island in Almirante Bay with a large number of West Indian slaves in 1818 (de Piante 1952). These settlers were dedicated to agriculture, fishing and trade; there were no English or European women in the settlement and the Englishmen therefore engaged in miscegenation with their female slaves and local indigenous women. The slaves and their offspring were taught to read and write in English and were introduced to Methodist religious practices (de Piante 1952). The actual settlement in the town of Bocas del Toro in 1826 is generally attributed to the Brown brothers, English-speaking colonists from the island of San Andrés who were attempting to establish themselves in the region. In the first years after its establishment in 1826 by settlers from San Andrés, Bocas del Toro was little more than a camp of tortoise shell merchants and traders, some of whom were from the United States. When the New Granada6 government formally created the canton of Bocas del Toro in 1837, establishing a customs house, garrison, and civil administration, the settlement included traders and adventurers of a half dozen distinct nationalities who had been attracted both by the thriving commercial activity and by the “land grants” so generously bestowed by the Miskito King (Parsons 1956: 35, 39). When slavery was abolished in the Anglophone Caribbean in 1838, these former slaves settled in the islands of Bocas del Toro where they farmed, traded and subsisted on what the sea had to offer.7 The number of Afro-Antilleans in Panama increased dramatically in the midnineteenth century when firms based in France and the United States arrived in the region to construct a trans-isthmus railroad and canal and to establish banana plantations. Migrating to work on the US railroad project (1850–1855) and the French (1881–1898) and US (1904–1914) canal projects, West Indians made isthmian migration one of the largest in the circum-Caribbean region (see Frederick 2005). The construction of a railroad across the isthmus was spurred by the discovery of gold in California in 1849. Of the 5,000 workers the Panama Railroad Company administrators recruited to clear land and lay ties and trestles, the great majority came from the island of Jamaica (Conniff 1985). After the completion of the railroad in 1855, many Jamaican labourers settled in Colón and Panama City, the railroad’s terminal cities (Frederick 2005). The next wave of Caribbean labour migration to Panama began in 1881 when French entrepreneurs attempted to construct a canal across the isthmus. Two

World English Vol III.indb 254

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

255

separate companies, the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique (1881– 1888) and the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama (1894–1898), put together a sizable work force of manual labourers, the majority of whom (approximately 50,000) were from Jamaica. The French companies also recruited in Barbados, St. Lucia and Martinique (Newton 1984). When the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama ultimately failed to complete the canal and sold its rights to the United States government in 1898, the Americans also recruited laborers in Barbados, though the project eventually drew workers from all parts of the Caribbean. By November of 1905 ‘more than 14,000 men were carried on the [payroll] of the Commission and the Railroad, almost all of them from the Caribbean’ (Major 1993: 82). It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine how many West Indians ultimately migrated to Panama to work on the construction of the canal, but Conniff (1985) suggests that the total number of Caribbean workers was larger than the official accounts indicated. Officially, canal authorities brought over 31,000 West Indian men and a few women. But in fact, between 150,000 and 200,000 men and women must have migrated during the construction era, for in most years some 20,000 West Indians were on the canal payroll, and turnover was high . . . These figures are staggering when we recall that in 1896 Panama City had only 24,000 inhabitants and the country as a whole 400,000. The West Indian migration to Panama constituted a demographic tidal wave, the largest yet in Caribbean history (1985: 29). Eventually, many West Indian canal laborers migrated across the isthmus to the province of Bocas del Toro, where the first English-speaking Afro-Antilleans had settled some seventy years earlier. A significantly smaller number of canal laborers migrated to Puerto Armuelles in the province of Chiriquí in search of work opportunities in the banana industry. Bourgois (1989: 49) points out that there were two major migrations of West Indians to Bocas del Toro. The first wave of migration occurred in 1888 when the Compagnie Universelle du Canal Interoceanique went bankrupt. As a result, thousands of West Indian laborers who had come to Panama to work on the canal project migrated up the isthmus to work on Minor Keith’s railroad construction projects in Bocas del Toro and across the border in Costa Rica. At the same time, in 1890, three American brothers arrived in Bocas del Toro and founded the Snyder Brothers Banana Company. The company planted banana trees all along the shores of the Chiriquí Lagoon. As a result of its central location, Bocas became the headquarters for the operation. In 1899, the United Fruit Company arrived in Bocas and bought the Snyder Brothers Banana Company. In the following years, the United Fruit Company, and smaller independent growers who sold their bananas to United Fruit, established vast banana

World English Vol III.indb 255

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

256

World Englishes Volume III

plantations stretching from the islands of Bocas del Toro onto the mainland and well into Costa Rica. The second wave of labour migration to Bocas del Toro occurred in 1914 when the Panama Canal was completed. According to Bourgois (1989), 5,000 of the 10,000 West Indian laborers who were laid off by the canal authorities were absorbed by the United Fruit Company’s Bocas and Limón (Costa Rica) divisions. While it may be convenient to label these workers ‘West Indians’, a number of ethnic and national groups were differentiated among the West Indians themselves in the early twentieth century, along both linguistic and cultural lines. In the Bocas and Limón divisions most workers were from Jamaica but significant numbers came from Barbados, Trinidad, the Leeward Islands (St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, and Grenada), and the French-speaking colonies of Martinique and Guadeloupe (Bourgois 1989: 61). Bourgois (1989: 62) points out that a social hierarchy existed that placed English speakers above French speakers and Jamaicans above other English speakers. It was stated in the Costa Rican press at the time that the ‘Barbadians bring thievery and pillage; they are much inferior in conduct to the Jamaicans who are always so respectful’ (La Prensa Libre 1910: 3, cited in Bourgois 1989: 62). Beneath the Barbadians in this hierarchy were the French-speaking immigrants, especially the Martinicans, who, according to the ‘elderly folk’ cited by Bourgois (1989: 62), spent most of their time ‘engaged in fishing, gambling, and thieving.’ Attitudes towards the English language and its use in Panama have changed over the past 300 years as the nature of the contact between languages and cultures has evolved. While fine-grained distinctions between the various West Indian ethnic groups may no longer be transparent, the clash of ‘English’ and ‘Spanish’ ideologies in Panama is readily apparent across domains. Since World War II, immigration from the Caribbean islands has been negligible. Nevertheless, the Afro-Antillean community in Panama continues to be marked by its immigrant, West Indian origins.

Sociocultural and linguistic background English-speaking Afro-Panamanians of West Indian descent were originally united by their loyalty to the British crown, to which they had owed allegiance in their home islands. Many West Indians migrated to Panama with the intention of returning home as soon as they had earned enough money to permit them to retire. This apparently transient status, coupled with linguistic and cultural differences, further separated them from the local Spanish-speaking populace. Another alienating factor was the hostility of Hispanic Panamanians,

World English Vol III.indb 256

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

257

which increased as the Afro-Antilleans prolonged their stay and became entrenched in the canal labour force. The ability of many West Indians to communicate in English and the perception that, as ‘foreigners’, they would not be loyal Panamanians, caused resentment among the Spanish-speaking Panamanian population. Their precarious status was underscored by the fact that the 1941 constitution deprived Afro-Panamanians of West Indian descent – ‘the negro race, whose native language is not Spanish’ (Parry and Sherlock 1974: 291) – of their Panamanian citizenship (it was restored by the 1946 constitution). The challenges English-speaking West Indians faced in Panama welded them into a discrete minority united by the cultural antagonisms they were forced to confront. Throughout Panama, Afro-Antillean cultural and linguistic practices reflect West Indian patterns. Afro-Panamanian women of West Indian descent, for example, are less submissive than their mestizo counterparts. Afro-Panamanian children of West Indian descent are frequently born to unwed mothers and raised by their grandmothers, great-grandmothers and other female members of their extended families, a pattern that reflects West Indian family structure (see Clark 1957; Smith 1962; Snow 2004b). Most Afro-Panamanians of West Indian descent are Protestant and attend services at English-language churches. In recent years, however, there has been increasing pressure on younger generations to conform to the linguistic and cultural norms of Spanish-speaking Panama. The cleavage between older and younger generations is particularly marked in urban areas. Younger Afro-Panamanians of West Indian descent in Panama City and Colón who opt for inclusion in Spanish-speaking Panamanian society generally reject their parents’ religion and language. Newer generations educated in Panamanian schools and speaking Spanish identify with the national society, enjoying a measure of acceptance there. Nevertheless, there remain a substantial number of older residents of Afro-Antillean descent who were trained in schools in the former Canal Zone and who speak what is essentially a Creole-influenced variety of American English as a first language. They are currently adrift without strong ties to either the West Indian or the Panamanian Hispanic culture. Isolated from mainstream Panamanian society and increasingly removed from their Antillean origins, they exist, in a sense, on the margins of three societies. In common with Spanish-speaking Panamanians, Afro-Antilleans value education as a means of advancement. Significantly, however, Spanish is the medium of instruction in Panamanian public schools. Afro-Panamanian parents of West Indian descent ardently hope to give their children as good an education as possible since education and occupation underlie the social hierarchy of the Antillean community (see, e.g. Smith 1962), but receiving a Panamanian education increasingly results in the abandonment of West Indian linguistic and cultural practices.

World English Vol III.indb 257

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

258

World Englishes Volume III

Linguistic description of the components of the grammar Panamanian Creole English is an English-based Creole spoken by Panamanians of West Indian and mixed descent in the Republic of Panama. PCE is frequently classified as a variety of Western Caribbean Creole English along with the mutually intelligible varieties of Creole English spoken in Jamaica, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and on the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia (see Holm 1989). Linguistic descriptions of PCE and analyses of the sociolinguistic situation in PCE communities are limited to the following studies: Aceto (1995, 1996a, b, 1998, 1999, 2002); Bishop (1976); Cenci (1960); Cohen (1976); Herzfeld (1983a, b); Keener and Keener (1998); Ocran (1976); Snow (2000a, b, 2003, 2004a, b, 2005), Spragg (1976) and Thomas-Brereton (1992, 1993). Three factors distinguish PCE from other varieties of Western Caribbean Creole English. First, PCE, like the Creole varieties spoken in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and on the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia, currently co-exists with a national language of Spanish (see Snow 2000b). So, unlike the situation in Jamaica and Belize where varieties of Creole English are in contact with a national language of English, in Panama, there is no lexically related national language to exert a so-called ‘decreolizing’ or ‘normalizing’ influence on the Creole’s lexicon, phonology and syntax (see Aceto 1995, 1996a, 1998, 1999).8 Instead, ongoing contact with Panamanian Spanish has resulted in widespread bilingualism and the Hispanicization of PCE phonologically, lexically and syntactically. Second, the varieties of PCE spoken throughout Panama are the result of multiple migrations of many different West Indian groups to the isthmus in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The descendants of West African slaves immigrated to Panama from Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad, San Andrés, Providencia, St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Haiti, St. Croix, Montserrat, Martinique and Guadeloupe (see Bourgois 1989; Frederick 2005; Herzfeld 1983a; Thomas-Brereton 1992). Unlike the relatively homogeneous settlement patterns in other parts of the Western Caribbean, this heterogeneous social matrix led to contact between speakers of English-based and French-based creoles from both the Eastern and Western Caribbean and has resulted in regional varieties of PCE characterized by features that may be traceable to the influence of these different West Indian groups. Third, varieties of PCE are spoken in geographically disparate regions across Panama, separated by hundreds of kilometres and a variety of isolating features. This dispersion of varieties is in contrast to the situation in other countries where Western Caribbean Creole varieties are spoken. In Jamaica and Belize, for example, Creole English serves as a lingua franca nationwide; in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and on the Colombian islands of San Andrés and Providencia Creole speakers are members of geographically concentrated linguistic minorities.

World English Vol III.indb 258

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

259

The physical distance between PCE communities and, perhaps more importantly, the extreme isolation of some of those communities, suggests that PCE is not a single, homogeneous entity and that assessments of diachrony in PCE must take this regional variation into account (see Aceto 1999).

Phonological characteristics The chart below lists both PCE consonants and vowels. In an effort to remain accessible to the largest possible audience and maintain the phonological integrity of spoken PCE, I employ a modified form of Rickford’s (1987) phonemic spelling system for Guyanese Creole English. Unlike the International Phonetic Alphabet, this phonemic orthography is restricted to the letters of the English alphabet and while some of the resulting spellings may be unusual, reading and pronouncing the words should not be a problem for non-specialists who take a few moments to acquaint themselves with the system. The characters in this system and their values are as follows. Phonemic characters are italicized and followed by articulatory descriptions, phonemically transcribed PCE examples and Standard English glosses in single quotation marks.

Consonants b p d t g k gy ky m n ng ny v f dh z s zh sh j ch l

voiced bilabial stop voiceless bilabial stop voiced alveolar stop voiceless alveolar stop voiced velar stop voiceless velar stop voiced palatal stop voicless palatal stop bilabial nasal alveolar nasal velar nasal palatal nasal voiced labio-dental fricative voiceless labio-dental fricative voiced interdental fricative voiced alveolar fricative voiceless alveolar fricative voiced alveopalatal fricative voiceless alveopalatal fricative voiced alveopalatal affricate voiceless alveopalatal affricate alveolar lateral

World English Vol III.indb 259

/biit/ /plie/ /dash/ /tek/ /bag/ /kuouknat/ /gyal/ /kyaan/ /flim/ /neva/ /giang/ /nyuu yaak/ /siev/ /waif/ /biedh/ /bikaaz/ /sii/ /mezho/ /shii/ /juouk/ /chuouk/ /luk/

‘beat’ ‘play’ ‘dash’ ‘take’ ‘bag’ ‘coconut’ ‘girl’ ‘can’t’ ‘film’ ‘never’ ‘gang’ ‘New York’ ‘save’ ‘wife’ ‘bathe’ ‘because’ ‘see’ ‘measure’ ‘she’ ‘joke’ ‘joke’ ‘look’

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

World Englishes Volume III

260

w r y h

labio-velar approximant/semi-vowel alveolar approximant/semi-vowel palatal approximant/semi-vowel voiceless glottal fricative

/awie/ /kyar/ /yuustuu/ /huoul/

‘away’ ‘car’ ‘used to’ ‘hole’

high, tense, front unrounded lower-high, lax, front unrounded mid, tense, front unrounded lower-mid, lax, front unrounded low/open, short, central unrounded low/open, long, central unrounded falling diphthong short, central unrounded, unstressed falling diphthong long, mid, back-rounded lax, lower-high, back-rounded tense, high, back-rounded falling diphthong

/wii/ /ting/ /biek/ /wen/ /bak/ /taan/ /taim/ /bot/ /hous/ /moon/ /buk/ /skuul/ /smuouk/

‘we’ ‘thing’ ‘bake’ ‘when’ ‘back’ ‘torn’ ‘time’ ‘but’ ‘house’ ‘moon’ ‘book’ ‘school’ ‘smoke’

Vowels ii i ie e a aa ai o ou oo u uu uou

There are a number of interesting features in the PCE consonant system that illustrate variation between PCE varieties. In Bocas del Toro, the voiceless, alveopalatal affricate /ch/ is not differentiated from the voiced /j/. Therefore, Standard English ‘joke’ is pronounced /chuouk/ in many rural PCE communities. /shii git fraitin nouw bot ai wo de run chuouk wid ar/9 ‘she’s getting frightened now but I was joking with her’ In Panama City, however, where the phonological impact of Spanish contact on PCE is much more apparent, the affricate /č/ frequently receives a fricative pronunciation, /š/, especially among the city’s youngest residents. This pronunciation is more common in word-internal intervocalic position than wordinitially. Lipski (1994: 299) points out that among native Spanish speakers in Panama City, the fricative variant is used most frequently among young, female, middle-class residents and this appears to be true among PCE/Spanish bilinguals as well. /wii noo gat miisha bred uai/ ‘we don’t have micha bread [a variety of Panamanian bread] hoy [today]’ /im did bild a shalit/ ‘he built a chalet10 [single level cement block house]’

World English Vol III.indb 260

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

261

Additional contact-induced consonantal variation in PCE involves (1) the bilabial pronunciation, /b/, of the labio-dental /v/ and (2) the voiceless pronunciation, /s/, of the voiced /z/ and (3) the elision of word-final /s/: (1) /mii noo kowad gad sieb mii/ ‘I’m not a coward, God saved me’ (2) /im did liv in di soon laang taim/ ‘he lived in the Zone for a very long time’ (3) /shii git fraitin nouw bot ai wo de run chuouk wid ar/ ‘she’s getting frightened now but I was joking with her’ These Spanish-influenced PCE pronunciations are quite common among younger PCE/Spanish bilinguals throughout Panama.11 PCE is also characterized by the reduction of syllable-final consonant clusters. This reduction is frequently accompanied by the lengthening of the preceding vowel, as in the following example where Standard English ‘can’t’ is pronounced as /kyaan/. /oonoo kyaan doo dat, oonoo mos biedh/ ‘you [plural] can’t do that, you must bathe’ The preceding example also illustrates how the voiceless interdental fricative /ȧ/ is replaced by the alveolar stop /d/ in word-initial position (Standard English ‘that’ pronounced as /dat/) and the voiced interdental fricative /dh/ in word-final position (Standard English ‘bathe’ pronounced as /biedh/).12

Lexical characteristics Unlike some of the other varieties of Western Caribbean Creole English, the lexicon of PCE is heavily influenced by Spanish and, to a lesser degree, by French. Not surprisingly, most of the terms borrowed from Spanish are connected with those domains where the Spanish language dominates: government, education and modern life (especially food and technology). The impact of Spanish on the lexicon of PCE is most apparent at the discourse level in the form of code switches, adlexification, loanshifts and verb phrase calques. At the discourse level, inter-sentential code switches between PCE and Spanish are most common during interactions involving PCE/Spanish bilinguals and monolingual Spanish speakers from outside the community. In addition, code switching is frequently employed during interactions between PCE speakers involving reported speech of Spanish speakers. PCE adlexification involves the intra-sentential use of Spanish lexical items for which PCE terms do not exist. These words are typically associated with government, education and modern life.

World English Vol III.indb 261

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

262

/salbabiida/ /tarea/ /alcalde/

World Englishes Volume III ‘salvavidas’ (Spanish) ‘tarea’ (Spanish) ‘alcalde’ (Spanish)

‘life jacket’ (English) ‘homework’ (English) ‘mayor’ (English)

PCE loanshifts involve the intra-sentential use of English lexical items that have undergone semantic shift as a result of the influence of false cognates in Spanish. /kalij/ /surbis/ /taim/ /maak/

‘colegio’ (Spanish) ‘servicio’ (Spanish) ‘tiempo’ (Spanish) ‘marca’ (Spanish)

‘high school’ (English) ‘toilet’ (English) ‘weather’ (English) ‘brand’ (English)

Verb phrase calques involve the incorporation of verb constructions patterned on Spanish into PCE. /gwain fa/ ‘going for’

‘ir  para’ (Spanish expression used when telling age)

/houw much yiirs yoo gat/ ‘how old are you?’

‘¿cuantos años tiene?’ (Spanish)

The most exhaustive survey of PCE vocabulary is Thomas-Brereton (1993). The following lexical items represent some of the hundreds of borrowings in PCE that are derived from Spanish (Sp), Panamanian vernacular Spanish (PSp) and French (Fr), though the list is far from complete. /aishan/ /aitiianoo/ /alcalde/ /aparador/ /banyuou/ /bariada/ /basii/ /basiilon/ /batiida/ /besiina/ /biibo/ /biiriil/ /biiyetero/ /bodega/ /boiio/ /bombero/ /bote/

World English Vol III.indb 262

Haitian Haitian mayor china cabinet bath residential community to make fun of someone fun police action during curfew neighbour one who tries to outsmart others variety of bread lottery ticket salesman liquor store thatched roof shelter firefighter a free ride in a motor vehicle

Fr Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp PSp PSp PSp Sp Sp PSp PSp PSp PSp Sp PSp

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama /boteya/ /chiicha/ /chiicharong/ /chiichong/ /chiiva/ /cholo/ /chombo/ /dairekshan/ /diiske/ /diiskoshan/ /dooro/ /eskoviish/ /fantasiiya/ /fiiyesta/ /flouwta/ /friitura/ /goma/ /gwana/ /gwain fa/ /intiiriiya/ /kaarchii/ /kalij/ /karnavaal/ /kamaron/ /karnet/ /kesekwando/ /komadre/ /komiiks/ /konkolon/ /kompoota/ /kwaderno/ /kriiouol/ /kwadriil/ /kwartel/ /laope/ /mashet/ /maliiante/ /mariikong/ /mediio-mediio/ /niikolas/ /nuout/ /ohalda/

World English Vol III.indb 263

one who receives pay for doing little or no work a drink made from fruit deep fried pork rind bump on the head small bus indigenous person West Indian person address pre-quotation complementizer argument flavored ice pickled fish costume jewelry party variety of bread fried vegetables hangover iguana expression used for telling age countryside outside of Panama City warning siren or whistle high school four days preceding Lent temporary job identification card this and that term of address for females in a Parent–godparent relationship cartoons rice that remains stuck to the bottom of the pot computer notebook West Indian person folk dance police precinct boy machete hoodlum homosexual so-so, not very good term for someone who eats and leaves soon after grade on test or report card fried flour dough

263

PSp PSp Sp PSp PSp PSp PSp Sp Sp Sp PSp Sp Sp Sp PSp Sp Sp Sp Sp PSp Sp Sp Sp PSp Sp Sp Sp PSp PSp Sp Sp Sp Fr Sp Psp Sp PSp PSp Sp PSp Sp PSp

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

264

/pab/ /palanka/ /paleta/ /panya/ /patakones/ /patooa/ /pecho/ /pesao/ /piiliinkii/ /platiiyo/ /preke/ /priimariia/ /pulpo/ /rekreo/ /representante/ /sal/ /salbabiida/ /shalit/ /sejoola/ /sekundariia/ /seguuro/ /surbis/ /skabiich fish/ /taim/ /tarea/ /ya/

World Englishes Volume III to cut class, play hooky someone with influence who obtains jobs of favors flavored ice on a stick person of Spanish descent fried green plantains French-based Creole bony part of beef used for soup cool, handsome stingy bottle cap trouble, quarrel elementary school octopus/hard worker school recess elected community representative to have bad luck lifejacket single level one family house Identification card high school government issued benefits toilet pickled fish weather homework already

PSp PSp PSp Sp PSp Fr Sp PSp PSp PSp Sp Sp PSp Sp Sp PSp Sp PSp Sp Sp Sp PSp Sp Sp Sp Sp

Morphosyntactic characteristics The most sophisticated syntactic analyses of PCE are those of Aceto (1995, 1996a, 1998, 1999). Aceto (1995) presents data on variation in PCE and a secret/play language called ‘Gypsy’ on the island of Bastimentos and illustrates the range of variation possible in this variety of PCE. Aceto (1996a) argues that syntactic variation in the preverbal past-tense markers /woz/ and /di(d)/ in the Bastimentos variety of PCE may be the result of internally motivated language change (or at least the result of both internally and externally motivated change). Aceto (1998) describes the emergence of a new future-tense marker, /gwainan/, in the Bastimentos variety of PCE and argues that it is most likely a local innovation unrelated to areal contact phenomenon. Aceto (1999) pulls all of this evidence of internally motivated change together to argue that diachrony in Creole-speaking communities, or at least this one particular community, may be accounted for without relying on decreolization (i.e. contact with a lexically related metropolitan variety) as an explanatory model. There are a number of interesting syntactic features in PCE that have emerged as a result of contact with Panamanian Spanish. Aceto (1996a) discusses the

World English Vol III.indb 264

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

265

pre-verbal past-tense markers /woz/ and /di(d)/ that are currently in variation in the Bastimentos variety of PCE and argues that the presence of /woz/ is not necessarily traceable to Barbadian immigrants as Herzfeld (1983a) and Holm (1989) suggest. Aceto argues convincingly that /woz/ in PCE is the result of language-internal change, not contact-induced change. However, it now appears that the past-tense marker /woz/ is now being affected by contact with Spanish in a two part process that is, perhaps, the result of the tendency of PCE/Spanish bilinguals to (1) pronounce voiced /z/ as voiceless /s/ and (2) elide word-final /s/. The diachronic progression for the evolution of this innovation is as follows. /woz/

 /wos/

 /wo/

The form /wo/ is well attested in my database from Bocas del Toro before both stative and non-stative verbs. /shii git fraitin nouw bot ai wo de run chuouk wid ar/ ‘she’s getting frightened now but I was joking with her’ /ai no wo de drap it/ ‘I wasn’t dropping it’ The Spanish adverb ‘ya’ (‘already’) has been incorporated into varieties of PCE in Bocas del Toro with its grammatical function as a marker of completion despite the existence of PCE grammatical equivalents (/don/ and /aredii/) (Examples 1 and 2). This may be due to the fact that ‘ya’ functions pragmatically as a directive to stop (because the point of completion has been reached) while /don/ and /aredii/ do not function pragmatically (Example 3). (1) /ya i don riez aredii/ ‘it already raised’ (2) /flouwa riez op ya/ ‘the dough already rose’ (3) /no no no maan ya ya/ ‘no no no man stop stop’

English usage within the region Panamanian Creole English may be subdivided into four regional varieties: (1) the Bocas del Toro variety, (2) the Colón variety, (3) the Panama City variety and (4) the Creole-influenced former Canal Zone variety.13 It may be possible to further divide these regional varieties into the following subareas, but more data are needed to ascertain discreteness. The following varietal distinctions, therefore, are posited provisionally. It should be pointed out, however, that the

World English Vol III.indb 265

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

266

World Englishes Volume III

labelling of discrete regional varieties is fraught with problems as even welldefined communities concurrently reveal a range of what are sometimes referred to basilectal, mesolectal and acrolectal features (see Bickerton 1980; DeCamp 1971; Rickford 1987). As Aceto (1999: 110) points out, the fact that a single, well-defined speech community is usually associated with a single variety ‘might be more a function of the limitations of labels associated with the Creole continuum than an accurate description of any single Creole-speaking community.’ In Bocas del Toro, there appear to be two varieties of PCE and a French Creole variety spoken in the following areas. (1) The following islands in the Chiriquí Lagoon: Bastimentos/Old Bank, Bocas, Careeneen Key and Guana (or Wata) Key; (2) Almirante and the Line Towns: Base Line, Bluefield, Torres Bluff, Patterson Key, Pigeon Key, Changuinola and Guabito and (3) Patwa Town, a small community of French Creole speakers of Martinican, St. Lucian and Haitian ancestry on the outskirts of Almirante.14 In Colón, it is difficult to further delimit PCE varieties by neighbourhood or other regional boundaries since the West Indian population is scattered throughout the city. Moreover, many individuals in Colón other than those of West Indian descent speak PCE. Nevertheless, the variety of PCE that is spoken in Colón is distinctive. My informants in Bocas del Toro claimed it was very easy to recognize ‘colonenses’ by their pronunciation and intonation. In Panama City, there appear to be two varieties of PCE spoken in the following areas. (1) The Rio Abajo area including the neighbourhoods of Rio Abajo Pueblo Nuevo, Parque Lefevre, Juan Diaz, Carrasquilla, Sabanas and the Panama Viejo environs and (2) the Calidonia-Marañon area including Cabo Verde, Guachapali or San Miguel, Marañon and stretching from Balboa Avenue to Calidonia as far as National Avenue in Santa Cruz. PCE and Spanish currently co-exist in a relatively stable diglossic relationship in Bocas del Toro (Snow 2000a). Spanish is the high-prestige language in the region and it is generally used in formal domains (i.e. education, government), while PCE is the low prestige vernacular and it is generally used in informal domains. Almost all Afro-Panamanian residents of Bocas del Toro are bilingual in PCE and (to varying degrees) Spanish (see Snow 2000a, b). Some of Bocas del Toro’s oldest residents, however, are monolingual Creole speakers. PCE continues to be learned by most children as their first language in the home and some children speak very little or no Spanish when they arrive at kindergarten. Schools in Bocas del Toro currently use Spanish as the medium of instruction, but up until the 1960s many children in the region attended English-language schools staffed by Methodist teachers from Jamaica. Some of the older residents are thus literate in both English and Spanish. Since the demise of the English language schools some 40 years ago, however, children have been receiving their formal education only in Spanish and most are literate only in Spanish. The Panamanian educational system does not recognize

World English Vol III.indb 266

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

267

Creole as the native language of some students and as a result many children have a hard time adjusting to school culture. Very few teachers in Bocas del Toro are PCE/Spanish bilingual natives of the region; most teachers are monolingual Spanish speakers from mainland Panama. Teachers are officially forbidden to use PCE in the classroom, but frequently find that they must, especially with younger children. Children use PCE surreptitiously in the classroom when speaking among themselves and frequently vex their Creole-speaking teachers by failing to switch to Spanish when addressing them. The dropout rate is extremely high in Bocas del Toro, especially in rural villages such as Old Bank on the island of Bastimentos. Most children in Old Bank do not continue their schooling past the sixth grade. Those children who do go on to attend the secondary school on the nearby island of Bocas are predominantly female. In the past, most males would drop out of school after the sixth grade and spend their early teens hunting and fishing before starting work loading bananas onto ships in the mainland port of Almirante (where PCE, not Spanish, is the lingua franca on the docks). The recent decline of the banana industry in the region, however, means that this particular career route is no longer an option for most young men. Unlike the contact situation in the Bocas del Toro region, PCE speech communities in the former Canal Zone, Panama City and Colón are very unstable and characterized by signs of incipient shift. It is becoming increasingly common for Afro-Panamanian children of West Indian descent to acquire Spanish as their first language in the home in these urban communities. Many of these children understand PCE when their parents and older relatives speak it, but rarely speak it themselves in any domain. There are private schools in Panama City and Colón that are conducted in English, but most Afro-Panamanian children of West Indian descent attend Panamanian public schools where only Spanish is used. Hispanicization is well underway in the former Canal Zone, Panama City and Colón and as a result most Afro-Panamanian children of West Indian descent have become almost completely assimilated culturally and linguistically.

Media use of English Media use of the English language varies across Panama and is currently in a state of flux. While most television and radio programmes are broadcast in Spanish, until 1999 it was possible for residents of Panama City, Colón and the Canal Zone to receive US military television broadcasts in American English. Such English language programming, however, was aimed primarily at US military personnel stationed in Panama and was of little interest to Panamanian citizens. This programming ended with the departure of the US military in 1999. However, satellite dishes for personal use arrived in Panama at about the same time. The use of satellite dishes in Panama is far more common in urban areas than

World English Vol III.indb 267

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

268

World Englishes Volume III

in rural areas, but it is now possible for Panamanians to receive a number of channels broadcast in varieties of both British and American English anywhere in the country. Historically, television and radio broadcasts of Spanish language programmes have played an important role in exposing native Creole-speaking children of pre-school age to Spanish in both insular, urban PCE communities in Panama City and Colón and remote, rural PCE communities in Bocas del Toro. For some children, especially in remote PCE communities like Old Bank on the island of Bastimentos, television and radio programmes still represent virtually their only exposure to the Spanish language prior to starting school. It is possible to receive shortwave radio broadcasts in varieties of both American and British English (e.g. the BBC World Service) and many older Creole-speaking residents listen to news programmes on such stations. Younger generations of Creole speakers, however, tend to listen to primarily Spanishlanguage music on FM radio stations broadcast in Spanish from Panama City. Most Panamanian newspapers are published in Spanish and a higher percentage of PCE-speaking newspaper readers may be found in urban areas where there are higher Spanish literacy rates and there is greater access to newspapers. In contrast to the situation in Panama City, for example, very few PCE-speaking residents of Bocas del Toro read Spanish language newspapers (or newspapers of any kind, for that matter) on a daily basis. There is a growing number of English-language newspapers in Panama written by and for the burgeoning expatriate communities in Panama City, Boquete (Chiriquí) and Bocas del Toro, but these papers are of little interest to native residents. Internet access is now widely available in urban areas and it is possible to find internet cafés in any good-sized town in Panama. Not surprisingly, the level of internet use in Panama neatly corresponds with the age and education level of the user and since most younger PCE-speaking residents received their literacy education in Spanish, this is the language they generally use for internet access (though some of my informants send me emails in their own orthographic approximations of PCE).

Current trends and future implications of English in the region PCE is disappearing from some Panamanian communities and thriving in others. Shift to Spanish in the urban PCE communities in the former Canal Zone, Panama City and Colón is well underway and is likely to be complete in the next generation or two. In the rural province of Bocas del Toro, however, PCE is being maintained, particularly in the village of Old Bank on the island of Bastimentos.15 As the economy in Bocas del Toro shifts away from bananas, international tourism is emerging as the industry of the future (see, e.g. McLane 2001;

World English Vol III.indb 268

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

269

Reynolds 2001). This economic shift and concomitant cultural contact are having a significant impact on language use and language change in the region. Prior to 1995, most outsiders visiting Bocas del Toro were monolingual Spanish speakers from the Panamanian mainland. This meant that PCE and Spanish coexisted as two discrete linguistic systems (Snow 2000a, b). In recent years, however, significant numbers of international tourists have begun to arrive, many of them speaking lexically related varieties of English (e.g. American, Australian, British and Canadian). This new type of social contact with English-speaking tourists means residents no longer have to use only Spanish when communicating with outsiders. Indeed, preliminary data suggest that English, in one form or another, may be emerging as a more pragmatically useful code when it comes to resident/tourist interactions (Snow 2003, 2004a), a fact that would appear to bode well for the survival of PCE in this remote part of Panama.

Acknowledgements This paper has benefited greatly from the comments of the editors. I would like to thank Douglas Gordon, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Christopher Newport University, for providing me a Dean’s Office Grant to complete this research. Any errors or shortcomings are my responsibility alone. Place names to be identified on map(s): *Panama City *Colón *Panama Canal (Zone) *Puerto Armuelles *Province of Bocas del Toro *Almirante *Changuinola *Isla Colón (Bocas) *Isla Bastimentos (Old Bank)

Notes 1

Knowing the hot and wet climate, most native peoples refused to work on the projects. Labourers were also recruited from China, Ireland, Colombia and India, but ill health and suicide made these foreign recruits less reliable than their West Indian counterparts (see Newton 1984).

World English Vol III.indb 269

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

270 2

3

4

5 6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

World Englishes Volume III

British buccaneers such as Drake and Morgan were attracted to the region as early as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, but they made no attempt to colonize the isthmus. Holm (1989) does not provide the sources of his data. Gordon’s (2005) figure comes from the World Christian Database. I use the cultural designations Afro-Antillean and West Indian interchangeably. Following Aceto (1996: 19), I use the term Afro-Panamanian of West Indian descent to refer to their Creole-English speaking descendents. In Panama, the term Afro-Colonial (see Castro 1999: 3) refers to the Spanish-speaking Panamanian descendents of the African slaves of Spanish colonists who do not speak Creole English. Modern-day residents of Bocas del Toro also refer to this island as Wata Cay. The Republic of New Granada was a former Spanish viceroyalty of northern South America including present-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela. It was under Spanish rule from the 1530s to 1856. According to Parsons (1954), Abraham Lincoln wanted to establish a homeland for freed American slaves on the Chiriquí Lagoon in what is today the province of Bocas del Toro, but the project was never carried out. It should be pointed out, however, that the Creole-influenced English spoken in the former Canal Zone has been heavily influenced by decades of intense contact with Standard American English. As a result, it is lexically, phonologically and syntactically much closer to Standard American English than the other varieties of PCE spoken in Panama. This example also has syntactic implications that will be examined in the section on syntactic characteristics. Borrowed from French, the Spanish word for a single-level cement block house is pronounced /chalet/. Though it is beyond the scope of the present study to examine the Spanish speech of PCE speakers, it is important to keep in mind that the effects of the contact between Spanish and PCE go both ways. Lipski (1994: 300) points out that: ‘The [Spanish] of Afro-Antilleans at times reveals the effects of West Indian creole [sic] English. Frequently, voiced obstruents remain as occlusives, even intervocalically, and intervocalic /d/ may emerge as [r].’ Aceto (1995) presents data on phonological variation in PCE and a secret/play language called ‘Gypsy’ on the island of Bastimentos. As was pointed out earlier, there may be a small community of PCE speakers in Puerto Armuelles, but the survival of this group of speakers has not been recently confirmed. Though not a variety of PCE, this French Creole speech community warrants a mention since, to my knowledge, it has not been linguistically documented. It seems quite likely that it is related to the nearly extinct variety of San Miguel Creole French spoken in Panama City. I do not mean to suggest that there is any institutional support for PCE language maintenance efforts in Bocas del Toro, but rather that PCE is being ‘maintained’ as a result of geopolitical and socioeconomic factors (e.g. the rise of international tourism) that are in some ways beyond the consciousness and control of the speakers.

World English Vol III.indb 270

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

271

Bibliography Aceto, M. (1995), Variation in a secret Creole language of Panama, Language in Society, 24, 537–560. ––. (1996a), Syntactic innovation in a Caribbean Creole: The Bastimentos variety of Panamanian Creole English, English World-Wide, 17, 43–61. ––. (1996b), Variation in a variety of Panamanian Creole English, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Texas at Austin. ––. (1998), A new future tense marker emerges in the Panamanian West Indies, American Speech, 73, 23–43. ––. (1999), Looking beyond decreolization as an explanatory model of language change in Creole-speaking communities, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 14, 93–119. ––. (2002), Ethnic personal names and multiple identities in Anglophone Caribbean speech communities in Latin America, Language in Society, 31, 577–608. Allsopp, R. (1996), Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Bickerton, D. (1980), Decreolisation and the Creole continuum, in A. Valdman and A. Highfield (eds), Theoretical Orientations in Creole Studies, New York: Academic Press, pp. 109–127. Bishop, H. (1976), Bidialectal traits of West Indians in the Panama Canal Zone, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College. Bourgois, P. (1989), Ethnicity at Work: Divided Labor on a Central American Banana Plantation, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Cassidy, F. and Le Page, R. (2002), Dictionary of Jamaican English, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press. Castro, G. (ed.) (1999), Panamá en Cifras, Panama: Direccion de Estadistica y Censo. Cenci, D. (1960), El Idioma Nacional y las Causas de su Degeneración en la Provincia de Bocas del Toro, Panama: Imprenta de la Academia. Central Intelligence Agency (2006), The World Factbook, Washington, DC: The Central Intelligence Agency. Clark, E. (1957), My Mother Who Fathered Me: A Study of the Family in Three Selected Communities in Jamaica, London: George Allen & Unwin. Cohen, P. (ed.) (1976), Primeras jornadas Lingüísticas: El Inglés Criollo de Panama, Panama: Editorial Universitaria. Conniff, M. (1985), Black labor on a white canal: Panama, 1904–1981, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. DeCamp, D. (1971), Toward a generative analysis of the Post-Creole Continuum, in D. Hymes (ed.), Pidginization and Creolization of Languages, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 349–370. Frederick, R. (2005), ‘Colón Man a Come’: Mythographies of Panama Canal migration, Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. Gordon, R. (ed.) (2005), Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed, Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Herzfeld, A. (1983a), Limon Creole and Panamanian Creole: Comparison and Contrast, in L. Carrington (ed.), Studies in Caribbean language, St. Augustine, Trinidad: Society for Caribbean Linguistics, pp. 23–37.

World English Vol III.indb 271

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

272

World Englishes Volume III

––. (1983b), The Creoles of Costa Rica and Panama, in J. Holm (ed.), Central American English, Heidelberg, Germany: Julius Groos Verlag, pp. 131–156. Holm, J. (1989), Pidgins and Creoles, Volume 2: Reference Survey, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Keener, A. and Keener, L. (1998), Survey Report for Costa Rica and Panama Creoles, Unpublished manuscript. Lipski, J. (1994), Latin American Spanish, London: Longman. Major, J. (1993), Prize Possession: The United States and the Panama Canal, 1903–1979, New York: Cambridge University Press. Marshall, O. (ed.) (2000), English-Speaking Communities in Latin America, London: Institute of Latin American Studies. McLane, D. (2001), It’s ‘English spoken here’ on an island off Panama, The New York Times, 4 March. Newton, V. (1984), The silver Men: West Indian Labour Migration to Panama, 1850– 1914, Mona, Jamaica: Institute of Social and Economic Research of the University of the West Indies. Ocran, M. (1976), El idioma inglés y la integración social de los panameños de origen afro-antillano al caracter nacional panameño, Revista Nacional de Cultura, 5, 23–43. Palmer, P. (1993), ‘What happen’: A Folk History of Costa Rica’s Talamanca Coast, San José, Costa Rica: Publications in English, S.A. Parry, J. and Sherlock, P. (1974), A Short History of the West Indies, London: Macmillan. Parsons, J. (1954), English-speaking settlement of the Western Caribbean, Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, 16, 2–16. ––. (1956), San Andres and Providencia: English-speaking islands in the Western Caribbean, University of California Publications in Geography, 12, 1–84. de Piante, E. (1952), Colonización inglesa de Bocas del Toro, Panamá-América, Dominical, Junio. Reynolds, C. (2001), Last chance for Eden, The Los Angeles Times, 2 December. Rickford, J. (1987), Dimensions of a Creole Continuum: History, Texts, and Analysis of Guyanese Creole, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Smith, M. (1962), West Indian Family Structure, Seattle: University of Washington Press. Snow, P. (2000a), The case for diglossia on the Panamanian island of Bastimentos, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 15, 165–169. ––. (2000b), Caribbean Creole/non-lexifier contact situations: A provisional survey, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 15, 339–343. ––. (2003), Talking with tourists in a Panamanian Creole village: An emerging site of production, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 18, 299–309. ––. (2004a), Tourism and small-language persistence in a Panamanian Creole village, International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 166, 113–128. ––. (2004b), What happen: Language socialization and language persistence in a Panamanian Creole village, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles. ––. (2005), The use of ‘bad’ language as a politeness strategy in a Panamanian Creole village, in B. Migge and S. Mühleisen (eds), Politeness and face in Caribbean Creoles, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 23–43.

World English Vol III.indb 272

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

English in Panama

273

Spragg, M. (1976), Nature of the English Dialect of Colón, in P. Cohen (ed.), Primeras Jornadas Lingüísticas: El Inglés Criollo de Panama, Panama: Editorial Universitaria, 153–187. Thomas-Brereton, L. (1992), An exploration of Panamanian Creole English: Some syntactic, lexical, and sociolinguistic features, Unpublished doctoral dissertation, New York University. ––. (1993), Dictionary of Panamanian English, Panama: Libreria Universitaria. Westerman, G. (1980), Los Inmigrantes Antillanos en Panama, Panama: La Impresora de la Nación.

World English Vol III.indb 273

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

World English Vol III.indb 274

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

Colombia

English in the Colombia Archipelago of San Andres

World English Vol III.indb 275

11/26/2012 2:35:54 PM

World English Vol III.indb 276

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

Chapter 7

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres Marcia L. Dittmann

Introduction San Andres, Providence and St. Catalina Islands, although belonging to the Spanish-speaking country of Colombia, South America, were originally settlements of English-speaking colonists from Jamaica and other parts of the English-speaking Caribbean, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The introduction of African slaves from Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean and directly from Africa led to the use and continued development of an English Creole language similar to those varieties found in Jamaica and along the Caribbean Coast of Central America. A majority of the current population descending from this process of colonization still speak English Creole in their daily family and community interactions. Most of the adults also speak Spanish, and many have some knowledge of formal English although Spanish is now the main language of government, commerce and education. This chapter deals, principally, with the history and English-based Creole of this population as well as the present and future of English in the Archipelago. Such a large number of continental Colombians have made their homes on the Archipelago over the past 50 years that the original inhabitants have become a minority on the island of San Andres. So, in order to distinguish between these two cultural and linguistic groups, we will refer to the descendants of the English-speaking colonization as native Islanders and their community language as Islander Creole. Several studies have been made regarding the structure, phonology and vocabulary of San Andres and Providence Island Creole: Central American English (Holm 1984); Jay Edwards’ 1970 PhD thesis in anthropology; William Washabaugh’s studies between 1977 and 1983, including his 1975 Ph.D. thesis; and the native San Andrean educator, Oakley Forbes, in his Master’s thesis and many articles and papers on bilingual education and Island language and culture. More complete basic linguistic studies published in the form of books were carried out by Marcia Dittmann (Universidad del Valle, published in Spanish, 1992) and Carol O’Flynn de Chaves (Universidad de los Andes, published in Spanish, 1991). The description of the grammar in these studies is basically the

World English Vol III.indb 277

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

278

World Englishes Volume III

same, although O’Flynn’s (1990) contains much more complete and detailed descriptions of the grammar.

Geographic Position The Colombian Archipelago of San Andres and its ‘sea of seven colors’ is located in the western Caribbean Sea, 180 km. off the coast of Central America to the east of Nicaragua. The Archipelago is a 250,000 sq. km. maritime territory, 480 km. to the north of mainland Colombia, South America and 400 km. to the southwest of Jamaica. It consists of three relatively small inhabited islands and numerous smaller keys and atolls. The largest, well-known cays are Cayo Bolivar, Serrana and Serranilla. San Andres, the largest island (27 sq. km.), is a long coraline island with a low hill-ridge rising sharply in the north and tapering off towards the south. Although there are some forested areas, the greater part of the rural area is covered with coconut palms. Coconut and copra, along with sweet oranges, were the main commercial export products from the 1850s to the 1930s. Some 50 km. to the northwest are the sister islands of Providence and St. Catalina (Katleen). Providence is 18 sq. km. and St. Catalina is about 1 sq. km. They are circular islands of volcanic origin; the highest elevation of some 330 m is called ‘Peak’. St. Catalina is connected to the north end of Providence by a 50 m long foot bridge and was at one time connected by a mangrove swamp. A channel was opened in the seventeenth century and was later enlarged to permit maritime passage between the two islands. These islands are largely covered by trees, brush and old grazing areas. There are small patches of original Central American vegetation, although we mostly find plants and trees imported during the long process of colonization.

Demographic data According to the latest census,1 the Archipelago has a population of 59,450 legal residents. However, there is admitted to be a quite large, but undetermined, number of persons residing on San Andres without the appropriate authorization (residence card) issued by the regional office of population control. Some 23,000 persons on San Andres are native Islanders in contrast with Providence and St. Catalina, where 5,000 of the 5,600 inhabitants are native Islanders.

San Andres Island On San Andres Island, the native Islander population of Anglo-Afro-Caribbean heritage has become a minority in its own land. Many native Islander families

World English Vol III.indb 278

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

279

have refused to give up their traditional homes and property. They continue to live mostly in the traditional areas of settlement of The Hill, Barrack and Lynvale-Cove sections along the road, running through the centre of the island and towards the Cove on the western side of the Island; and San Luis and Sound Bay sections along the central eastern coast. To a lesser extent, there are those swallowed up within the migrant resident population of North End. North End is the present centre of commerce, government and tourism. The Hill has long been the traditional cultural centre of San Andres, having grown up around the First Baptist Church. San Luis was originally the traditional centre of commerce and government. This section is now an extensive residential area into which ever-larger numbers of non-native Islanders are moving in an attempt to avoid the overcrowded neighbourhoods of North End. The rural areas of the south central and southern extreme of the Island, as well as the Western Coast, are still scarcely populated (see map). In 1953, the Island was declared a Free Port and an airport was built. The development of a tourist economy was promoted by the Colombian government giving rise to the construction of large tourist hotels by investors and construction workers and their families from continental Colombia. Most of these immigrants came from the Atlantic Coast areas of Colombia, especially the construction workers. Lesser numbers of immigrants came from the interior of Colombia, especially from cities such as Medellin, Bogota and Cali and their surrounding areas. A small group of Jewish, Syrian, Lebanse and Palestianian merchants and their families, some arriving directly from their homelands, and others from Barranquilla and Antioquia in Colombia, set up shops with products imported mainly from Panama. They soon came to control a great part of the commerce on the island. A sprinkling of foreign residents from France, Germany, Italy and Spain and from Central American countries such as Nicaragua have also settled on the Island over the last few decades. The majority of these more recent arrivals (from continental Colombia and other countries) have established themselves at the north and north-western end of the Island, near the commercial and hotel section of North End, which they also control economically. The poorer immigrants from continental Colombia have built homes on lands obtained for them by local politicians and/or purchased from native Islanders, forming ever-growing urban-type residential neighbourhoods and slums. These communities maintain their national languages and regional dialects and cultures. They have, in great part, remained separate from the native Islander community. Only the earlier immigrants made an effort to learn and practice native Islander language and customs. As a result of this immigration, we now find a large number of first-, second- and third-generation continental Spanish-speaking Colombians and their families as well as persons from the Middle East who consider themselves San Andreans and participate in and strongly influence local politics.

World English Vol III.indb 279

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

280

World Englishes Volume III

Considering its size, San Andres is now the most populated island in the Caribbean.2 With over-population have come the accompanying problems of insufficient fresh water and other public services, as well as a lack of job opportunities, extreme unemployment and cultural conflict and destruction. In 1987, the Colombian government established legislation and controls to limit population growth through immigration. Only those persons who are needed to fill job openings on the Islands that cannot be filled by permanent residents may be hired on contract and request temporary residency status, which is renewable year by year. After three consecutive years of employment, these persons may request permanent residence status, the approval of which depends on the decision of the Board of Directors of the Office of Population Control (OCCRE). Some attempt has also been made to promote and finance the return of resident families to their point of origin in Colombia, and to find and ‘deport’ persons and families who do not fulfil residency requirements. Nevertheless, in spite of this government policy, it has been difficult to control Colombian immigration to the islands. Due to the very difficult political and economic situation of Colombia’s Atlantic Coast areas, the original home for many of the legal and illegal immigrants, it is also difficult to promote a policy of relocation.

Providence and St. Catalina Islands The population of Providence and St. Catalina Islands is at present around 5,600 persons, of whichabout 10 per cent are not native Islanders. The native Islander population has increased, as in San Andres, approximately five times since the 1951 census. But, these islands have not developed a real tourist economy and so have not experienced the exponential growth of San Andres created by workers from continental Colombia and their families. Inhabitants are concentrated in small ‘villages’ along the circular road that runs around the Island (see map). The inner, hilly region sports small areas of cultivated land (mostly yucca, yam/ ‘nyame’ and plantain) and hillside cattle-grazing areas, but it is mostly forest land and home to the black crab, lizards (iguana, ishili roco, ‘piany’, ‘squeegy’), a few snakes (wola/small boa and tiny silver snakes), a nearly extinct land turtle (morocoy) and a large variety of species of small birds and insects (especially ants and termites, or wood lice, in amazing variety). St. Catalina’s population of about 150 persons, mostly fishermen and their families, lives along the pedestrian walk that runs from east to west on the southern coast of the small island facing Providence. Land in the interior of this small island is dedicated to the cultivation of yucca, yam and plantain, and there are many mango trees and coconut palms as well as bushy areas. Migration to Providence and St. Catalina has been limited by distance, lack of job opportunities and a terrain that makes a large airport impossible. Nevertheless, immigration, especially from San Andres, is now being severely controlled in order to try to avoid some of the cultural and overpopulation problems of

World English Vol III.indb 280

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

281

this sister island. The non-native Islander population is composed mainly of Spanish-speaking continental Colombians, as well as a few French, German, Italian and North American immigrants, who have arrived over the last 25 years or so. Some have married and established families with members of the native community and many of them and/or their children have learnt to speak the local English Creole along with Spanish.

Tourists and Temporary Residents in the Archipelago Tourism accounts for 343,000 temporary visitors with peak seasons from December through February, Easter Week and June–August. Most tourists are Colombian nationals, but international tourism increased over 10 per cent, to 74,138 persons, between 2004 and 2005.3 Most of the tourists in San Andres stay at the all-inclusive hotels located in North End and San Luis and other large hotels offering tourist packages. A large percentage of foreign tourists are Canadians, arriving on direct charter flights during tourist season, especially during the winter months. A small but growing number of cruise ships have begun to drop anchor in the Cove area of San Andres, sending their passengers ashore by motor boat for a quick tour of the Island. Tourism on Providence and St. Catalina Islands, although never very intensive, has been on the decline recently. The number of visitors is severely limited by the 2 to 3 daily flights (5 during high season) of a small 19-passenger plane and high transportation costs. The 900-bed capacity of the Islands’ small, cabintype hotels is seldom, if ever, filled. Nevertheless, these islands continue to insist on promoting the development of tourism as a means of creating economic development and stability. Presently, tourists may remain on the Archipelago for up to four months a year. Families owning summer homes may request a special status which permits them to spend up to six months a year on the Islands.

Historical Background Pre-Colombian Habitation and European Discovery Material remains of lithic tools demonstrate that Pre-Colombian peoples once inhabited the islands, at least temporarily. However, the first European sailors and later visitors from the fifteenth century onwards ‘saw no indians’. Records state that Misquito people from the Central American Coast came to these islands to hunt the turtles that have long stopped laying their eggs on the now heavily populated islands of the Archipelago. These earliest visitors, as well as the Dutch shipbuilders who arrived in the fifteenth century must have used the giant cotton wood trees, which once covered the islands, to build their boats or canoes. There is much field work to be done here on Pre-Colombian habitation.

World English Vol III.indb 281

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

282

World Englishes Volume III

The islands were first charted in 1527 on an anonymous chart (Parsons 1964) and, for a short while, seem to have been included in the domains granted by the king of Spain to one of Christopher Columbus’ descendants. Over the next 100 years, we only find mention of Dutch captains and boat builders such as Captain Bluefields (Blufelt), who established a town on the coast of Nicaragua, and Captain John Haine, who left his name in San Andres on sites such as Haine’s Cay and Haine’s Bight on the eastern coast of San Andres. According to local Sanandrean historian Walwin Peterson (2001), the Dutch also established a dry dock on Providence for shipbuilding and repair as well as exporting timber to Holland.

Puritans and Pirates The first settlements were established on San Andres (first known as Henrietta) and Providence (sometimes known as Katleen and later as Old Providence) between 1627 and 1629. The first colonists were English Puritans brought from Bermuda after strong storms forced them to give up their colonizing attempt there. In 1631, more Puritans arrived directly from England on the Sea Flower of the Providence Island Company (in some documents referred to as the Company of Merchants and Adventurers of New Westminster).4 These Puritan settlements were organized and financed by companies set up to promote migration to the New World. Although the main purpose of these Companies seems to have been the successful development of commercial enterprises, the settlers would also be free from the religious persecution they suffered in England, Wales and Holland. Colonization of the Caribbean would also open the way for the establishment of English presence in the Caribbean and Central America (Robinson 1996). The Company of Merchants and Adventurers of New Westminster directed the colonization of Providence and Henrietta (later known as San Andres) between 1631 and 6 May 1641. At that time, the Spanish, under General Francisco Diaz-Pimienta, conquered the Island for the Spanish crown and removed the existing population. Most of the colonists on San Andres had moved to Providence in 1632 as its topography made it easier to defend, and the land there was supposedly more productive. Lewis Morgan, the first minister of the settlement, wrote of the abundance of ‘fish, parrots, tobacco, cedars, fustig, wild vines and fig trees and that the oranges, lemons, vines, fig pomegranates and rhubarb they had planted had prospered’, comparing Providence to ‘the Eden of God’ (Robinson 1996). Because of its rather flat terrain, San Andres did not figure prominently in the struggle for control of the Caribbean between the Spanish navy and the English privateers. The colonists planted tobacco, sugarcane, indigo and cotton with the help of indentured servants. There were also craftsmen who were to produce textiles for the Company. In 1631, settlers began to bring in slave labour, thus turning away from the religious precepts of the original colonization. According to historical

World English Vol III.indb 282

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

283

documents cited in the various books referring to the history of this period, the colony did not turn out to be very profitable economically. Many men turned to privateering, smuggling and the construction of defences against the Spanish. English and Dutch pirates were also attracted to the island of Providence due to its possibilities of defence and its location between Jamaica and the Central American Coast. Some 12 fortified sites were constructed during this period. Most certainly, the privateering and piracy originating from this Island were what caused the Spanish to finally conquer it in 1641. Captured colonists were sent back to England through Spain. Many men (both free and slaves) escaped to San Andres, the Corn Islands and the coast of Central America in small boats. The captured slaves were kept by the Spaniards for their own use. Although sources differ, there were between 400 to 500 Englishmen and 450 to 600 slaves on Providence at that time (Parsons 1964). The Spanish attack did not include San Andres. Thus, the Puritan colonists there, reinforced with the free men and slaves (many becoming Cimarrons) escaping from Providence in 1641, continued to develop their Caribbean way of life, many bringing in Misquito women as wives. The inhabitants of San Andres lived mainly by shipbuilding, farming and fishing. Between 1641 and 1677, when the occupational wars between Spain and England terminated, the island of Old Providence changed hands several times. The Spanish occupied the island for 21 years and the British for 15. For a few months, the famous English pirates, Sir Henry Morgan on his way to sack Panama in 1670/71 and Edward Mansfield (Mansvelt) in 1677, took the Islands from the small Spanish garrisons they found there. Neither of them was reported to have interfered with the few colonists and their wives, slaves and Misquito people living there. Morgan never returned, although possibly some of his men did. Nevertheless, both Puritans and pirates, especially Morgan, remain in the historical memory of native Islanders as an important part of their heritage. Little published information has been found regarding the next hundred years of the history of these Islands (1670s to 1770s). It seems that although belonging to Spain, there was little permanent activity and settlement. According to ships that periodically reported passing by, there were no noticeable villages. A document written by Captain Kemble, which appeared in 1780, states that 12 families resided in San Andres, the majority of them mulattos. They grew food crops, raised cattle and cultivated cotton for export.

From the Jamaican colonization (1786/87) of Providence to formal adhesion of the Archipelago to the Republic of Colombia (1822) Most of the native Islander population of the Archipelago traces their occupation as native inhabitants back to the 1780s. In 1787, Captain Francis Archbold, a Scottish sea captain and slave trader, with his little daughter, Mary, and some slaves, arrived on Providence from Jamaica. They were soon joined by other

World English Vol III.indb 283

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

284

World Englishes Volume III

planters and their slaves from Jamaica. Still others arrived from San Andres and Bluefields. According to a 1793 document by Don Jose del Río of the Royal Spanish Navy, there were 391 inhabitants on San Andres composed of English, black slaves and some Misquito women. This included 37 families of planters and 281 slaves. About 32 people lived on Providence including 4 families and 21 slaves who belonged to Francis Archbold and lived in Bottom House (Robinson 1996). By 1806, there were an estimated 1,200 people on San Andres, 800 of whom were slaves. As a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1786, Spain had ordered all English colonists to abandon all of the Misquito Coast including this territory. Nevertheless, in 1789, Captain Thomas O’Neill, an Irish Catholic from the Canary Islands, was sent to the Archipelago as an interpreter for the Spanish. He convinced the inhabitants to swear allegiance to Spain, as well as agree to adopt the Catholic religion and cease trade with Jamaica in exchange for the Spanish government’s granting of land titles to them. O’Neill finally obtained the land grants for them in 1795 and many more colonists began to arrive in Providence. (Of course, the colonists did not really hold to the agreement.) The Vice Royalty of New Granada placed Captain O’Neill in charge of the entire Misquito Coast. Later, when he saw that Spain was about to lose its colonies, O’Neill retired from his position and remained on San Andres as a private citizen becoming founder of one of the prominent families on San Andres.5 In 1818, French adventurer, Luis Aury, arrived on Providence with 400 men and 14 ships. He established himself on Katleen Is. and the area of St. Isabel on Providence. He recruited hundreds more men from all over the Caribbean and from England, and brought in Caribbean women for his men, not wanting to interfere with the resident population. Aury’s goal was to fight against Spain and obtain privateering profits. So, they fortified the island, rebuilding the forts that Henry Morgan had destroyed before leaving for Panama. Aury was also interested in joining with Simon Bolivar and his struggle against Spanish domination. But, three years later, in 1821, he fell from his horse and died and most of his men disbanded. Aury recorded that the people of Providence were colonists and planters who had black slaves and cultivated coffee, cotton, sugarcane, corn, tobacco, bananas, manioc, yucca, tamarind, pimiento, oranges, watermelon, pepper and coconut. The colonist’s homes were surrounded by the shacks of their black slaves (Robinson 1996). Significantly, in 1822, the ‘people’ of Providence (17 of Aury’s French military officers under the leadership of Colonel Jean Baptiste Faiquaire and 6 local residents) formally declared allegiance to Colombia. They accepted the recently promulgated Constitution of Cucuta, which included a declaration incorporating San Andres, Providence and the Corn Islands into the Republic of Colombia. Soon afterwards, the centre of government was transferred from Providence

World English Vol III.indb 284

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

285

to the more populated San Andres Island where it has remained until today. Faiquaire governed as Prefect (i.e. similar to governor) until 1826 when he was replaced by a Colombian, Antonio Cárdenas.

Slaves and Free Men From the time of the early Puritan settlement in the 1600s, African slaves were brought to San Andres and Providence from other Caribbean Islands, principally Jamaica. Robinson (1996) mentions that Morgan acquired slaves there before attacking Panama in 1670. Little is known about slavery on the islands between 1670 and 1780. As stated previously, the present population of the Archipelago traces their heritage to the 1786/87 arrival of Captain Francis Archbold. Archbold brought slaves from the Caribbean and directly from Africa to Bottom House in Providence. Slavery developed as an important aspect of the socioeconomic environment of the islands, and Providence also served as a centre for slave trade between Jamaica and Central America. Although slavery was a significant element in the history and social formation of the islands, it is a period that most Islanders do not wish to recall. So, there is little written information on slavery between 1786 and 1853. According to historians describing this period, slaves were a larger percentage of the population on San Andres where more cotton was cultivated than on Providence. It is also recorded that two small slaves’ revolts occurred on San Andres. On San Andres, many slaves lived in barracks and cultivated lands on the eastern side of the Island. The main port was at the Cove and small boats docked at North End (Vollmer 1997). Phillip Beekman Livingston Jr. (son of Mary Archbold), at his mother’s request, freed the family slaves on both islands: Providence on August 1, 1834 and San Andres on August 1, 1838.6 He divided half of his land among them and kept half for his family. He also gained the love and appreciation of the freed slave population by teaching them and their children to read and write under a tamarind tree on the Hill in San Andres. This man later went on to become the Archipelago’s first Baptist minister, ordained in the U.S.A. in 1844. He continued to struggle for many years to convince his fellow Islanders to free their slaves. However, most of them did not do so until the Colombian government, under President Jose Hilario Lopez, officially decreed an end to slavery in 1853 and put pressure on the slaveholders to comply. As an exception, a French planter by the name of Pomaire who had immigrated from Martinique with his slaves, upon learning that the French government had decreed the abolition of slavery in their colonies in 1848, freed his slaves on San Andres. The other slave owners made him promise to send these freed

World English Vol III.indb 285

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

World Englishes Volume III

286

slaves off the island. He put them on a ship that went aground trying to get through the channel at the south-western end of the island. The ship sank and many of the ex-slaves survived, swimming back to shore and establishing themselves in the bush (Parsons 1964). The Pomare (spelling used today) family is still prominent on the southern part of the Island, especially around Smith Channel.

From Coconut Economy (1853) to Free Port (1953) The end of slavery also saw an end to the production and exportation of cotton on both San Andres and Providence. San Andres replaced cotton with coconut and sweet oranges, as the main export products, over-planting the entire island with coconut trees. Providence was known for producing and exporting oranges and other fruit, horses, chickens and farm products to Central America and the coast of Colombia. Many of the men were also dedicated sailors, fishermen and turtle hunters. On San Andres, many of the freed slaves had refused to work for their old masters, so freed black men were brought from other parts of the Caribbean to work on these farms. On Providence, many freed slaves returned to work on the lands of their former owners, especially for the Robinson-Archbold family on the southern end of the Island. They worked 6 hours a day for pay and then worked their own small plots of land in the evenings. According to Robinson (1996), this could explain why even today the traditional work day is six hours and it has been very difficult to enforce an eight-hour work day. Coconut continued to be a major crop on San Andres until the 1940s, when coconut blight killed all of the adult trees on San Andres. Providence was also hit with a long drought that lasted for several years (oral tradition and Peterson 2001). Islanders migrated in great numbers to the coast of Colombia, Panama and the United States. Thus, the large farms that had prospered with paid labour were practically abandoned. Today, only some subsistence agriculture is practised and, many Islanders prefer to purchase imported fruits, vegetables, meat and milk at the local shops and supermarkets.

Sociocultural and Linguistic Background The English influence The Archipelago has been a political division of Colombia since the founding of the Republic in 1822. In spite of periodic control of the islands by Spanish military personal during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the language of most of the native Islanders has always been some variety of English or English Creole. Most of the colonists brought their dialect of English with them and others probably learnt English or a more creolized version after arriving.

World English Vol III.indb 286

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

287

Both Parsons (1964) and Eastman (1986) refer to Jose del Rio’s 1793 document on the population of the Archipelago that includes the names of the colonists and their economic activities. Of this population, including 37 families of colonists or planters, only 4 families resided on Providence. Among them were 22 farmers, 6 sailors, 3 carpenters and 1 ironsmith. The most numerous families recorded were the Taylors, the Forbes and the Browns. The families with most slaves were Lever (William and Isabel with 50 slaves); Anderson (Diego, sailor and farmer and Sara with 42 slaves); Bowie (Torcuato with 16 slaves); and Pratt (Juan with 12 slaves). Of these, Pratt is the only last name no longer found on San Andres. According to Robinson (1996), the first English settlers (especially Scotch and Irish) on Providence were Archbold, John, Brown and Hygges from Jamaica. Soon after, John Britton, the first Bryan, the first Downs, and the brothers John and Thomas Taylor came from Bluefields through San Andres, and a sailor by the name of Phillip Livingston also came to stay. Theodore Birelski, a soldier who had probably fought in the Polish contingent in Haiti, arrived in Providence in 1805, changed his name to John Robinson and became the founder of one of the largest families on Providence. C. R. Robinson (1996) also proposes that the first McKeller, Hawkins, Howard and Newball may have been among those who arrived to accompany Aury (1820s) and chose to remain and settle down; also a Captain McBean who was documented as an official in Aury’s army. Between the 1830s and the 1880s, Cayman Islanders (mainly turtle hunters) joined the population of the Islands in large numbers. They settled on Providence especially, contributing the following last names: Bush, Huffington, Whittaker, Watler, Watson, McLaughlin, Conolly, Hyman and Rankin. Many of the Cayman Islanders originally established themselves in the section known today as Lazy Hill or Salt Creek and, according to Island oral tradition, kept themselves separate from the rest of the population. Anglo-Caribbean customs were perpetuated by the families settling on the islands during the 100 years between 1787 and 1887. Their values and traditions have been strengthened around the churches that became established on the islands, especially the Baptists churches. The first Baptist churches were founded in the mid-nineteenth century. They were instrumental in integrating the freed slaves and their descendants into the English-speaking culture of the Archipelago and have continued to be the centre for maintaining English, offering religious services and Sunday School in English. This is especially true of the Hill section in San Andres and Bottom House in Providence, the two traditionally Baptist areas where you will find that dark skin is not necessarily an impediment to ‘respectable’ living and speaking good English. In the twentieth century, United States Baptist missionaries also imported the celebration of Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day as well as the Southern Baptist

World English Vol III.indb 287

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

288

World Englishes Volume III

Hymnals of the 1950s and 1960s that are still in use today, thus contributing to a feeling of cultural brotherhood with the people of the United States. Some scholarships were also awarded to the Islanders to study at Baptist colleges, such as Baylor, in the United States, a practice that continues today. Both Catholic and Adventist English-speaking missionaries arrived and converted large sectors of the population during the first decades of the twentieth century. These latter churches have become more ‘Colombianized’ than the Baptist churches, offering most church services in Spanish, especially in San Andres, in order to serve the large Spanish-speaking population there. Of course, Baptist churches have also been established on San Andres to attend to the Spanish-speaking population. Despite religious prohibitions of some practices such as dancing, long-standing traditions and cultural influences from outside have had their impact on island culture. Traditional European dances such as the schottische, the waltz, the polka, etc. have worked their way through the Caribbean and have remained as part of the folk culture of the islands. Afro-Caribbean rhythms and songs such as mento, calypso and socca, and more recently reggae and some ‘reggeaton’ (a Spanish version of reggae-rap) are sung in English or Creole. Also, Country and Western music from the United States is very popular, especially among people over 50 and particularly on Providence. Some traditional Irish songs are still sung as part of island traditional music (ex: ‘Danny Boy’, ‘The Green Hills of Home’ and ‘With a Rose in her Hair’). Other Irish melodies accompanied by guitars, a small violin or mandolin, maracas, tub and jaw bone were given new lyrics referring to island events such as the song about musician Alvin McLean’s first ride in an ‘American Aeroplane’. All Islanders today tend to consider themselves as having ‘English’ ancestry, even though in reality their last name may just be a ‘title’ inherited from slavery. Different from the United States, in the Archipelago, one drop of white blood, thinner lips, a more ‘aqualine’ nose and straightened or straighter hair make one ‘white’: not so much the colour of the skin. And traditionally, these qualities are some thing to be considered when looking for a husband or wife or for female reproduction in general.

From African Slaves to Free Blacks The slaves brought to these islands were of varying backgrounds, but a majority seem to have originally come from the West Coast of Africa, speaking the languages of the ethnic groups found there. Possibly, some of them already spoke an English Creole. As was mentioned previously, the first Archbold is said to have brought slaves from Jamaica and also directly from Africa at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century. So, it can be expected that those slaves coming from Jamaica would include slaves from

World English Vol III.indb 288

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

289

some of the first areas of slave trafficking, for example, from what is now Gambia and Sierra Leona: Mandinga, Wolof, Mende, Twi and other linguistic groups. Those brought directly or later from Africa would most likely be from farther south: Ibo, Igbo, Yoruba, then the Congo and places as far as Angola and Zambia. Oral tradition information from Providence does mention some of these cultural groups ‘The slaves were a group called ‘Mangola’ (‘Bangala’/ ‘Mangala’)7 and another group called ‘Kramanti (Koromanti)’. There were also Ibo and Montete. But the Kramanti, their eyes were red. They say they were great witch doctors (obiaman) and studied a lot of science they brought with them from Africa . . . they always tried to escape from the white man . . . one of the big red eye, Kramanti man, he set all of them in a ring and talk to them in their language . . . . The Ibo and the Mangala, if you do them anything . . . they call it ‘Jakoto’ . . . they set ‘duppy cap’ (a mushroom) and they call it ‘Jakoto’ (that will make your nose and mouth drain water) . . . and they have some weed here they call ‘broom weed’ . . . that will squeeze you (until you tell the truth)’. 8 The aforementioned document also includes a story from slavery days about two Mangala men, Thomas Ori and Old Jacob who spoke together in their African language. It tells that Thomas ran away from his master who beat him too much and threw himself into the sea and drowned. When his friends found Old Jake’s body, ‘Thomas lashed him many times (an African tradition to make certain the spirit left the body before burying him), repeating ‘jigri bogarai’ . . . and they carried him off to be buried in the infidel burying ground in South West Bay Beach’. This story implies that at least one African language and some African cultural traditions were present on Providence during the period of slavery. Older persons in Bottom House on Providence have also said that there used to be people there who spoke differently but that they have since died (heard in the 1970s). They could be referring to an African language but more probably to a more basilect Creole or to a different Creole language or dialect. After the liberation of the slaves, black workers also arrived from various parts of the Caribbean through Central America or were brought, in some cases, to work on the coconut plantations. Jamaicans also came as teachers and farmers. Some influences from African culture remain today in Islander culture. The practice of ‘obeah’ still exists. The horse’s jaw bone (an Ashanti instrument) is used in the traditional music groups that play mento, socca and calypso. The attempt to eliminate or deny the existence of African culture was enforced to the point that even today many people will tell you that the drum never existed in the Archipelago ‘because as you can see they are not used in our ‘traditional’ music’. Nevertheless, according to Lisandro Pomare, present director of the Fondo Mixto de Cultura Departamental, his father told him of making his last drum out of tree trunk and goat skin in the late 1950s or early 1960s. Wooden barrils were also used. Providence men who are descendants of slaves also refer to

World English Vol III.indb 289

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

290

World Englishes Volume III

listening to drumming in their youth. So, there was a drum somewhere although it was not used by the groups playing the traditional ‘European’ dances and more recent Caribbean rhythms. The jaw bone snuck in and stayed as the instrument of percussion. (Some oral tradition says it was brought from Nicaragua while others say a native Islander just invented it.) Reggae was what really brought the drum back to stay. Nevertheless, the reggae musicians of the 1970s and 1980s were at first considered to be counter-culture or degenerate by the native Islander movement that was trying to protect their English heritage from the onslaught of Colombian language and culture. Reggae is still considered ‘foreign’ by many older Islanders although the schottise, polka, the waltz, mento, calypso and soca are not.

The English Creole Language Together with their masters, the slaves used and developed their local varieties of English and Creole in the Archipelago. Due to the historic relationships, one would expect there to be similarities between spoken language in Jamaica and the Caribbean Coast of Central America. The deepest Creole (basilect) is called ‘Bende’ but use of the term has been dying out over the last couple of decades. The more basilect or mesolect Creole is still popularly referred to as ‘bad English’. The term ‘Creole’ has only in recent years been applied to the community language although older people do refer to their ‘Creole culture’. Native Islander speech is also called ‘Our English’, ‘Caribbean English’ or, more recently, ‘Islander’. There is a great resistance amoung many to consider their way of speaking to be a language different from English. This is especially important for them as a defence against what they consider the imposition of Spanish as a language of power on the Archipelago and the tendency of the Spanish-speaking population to discriminate against their way of speaking as a non-language or ‘not English’ Today in the Archipelago, English Creole is the daily community language of the native Islanders. English has been replaced in most domains by Spanish such as for formal dialogue in places of employment, banks, schools, government, etc. The people of San Andres and Providence and St. Catalina speak in a similar manner, although differences are recognizable to native speakers. The extended families of Islanders, especially according to the section of the Island where they live, have some distinguishable oral characteristics although no study has yet been done on these aspects. More mesolect or acrolect Creole speakers tend to involve some Standard English pronunciation, accentuation and intonation in an attempt to eliminate stigmatized features and sound more ‘English’ (in agreement with Washabaugh’s proposal, 1974). This may account for what Edwards (1970) described as very complicated patterns of speech. Natives call this ‘Yanking’ or ‘putting a tail on words’.

World English Vol III.indb 290

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

291

San Andres and Providence Island Creole Phonology Generally, the phonology is similar to that of the other English Creoles of the region. The consonants are basically the same as in English although, in most cases, we find the the distinctive African use of the glottis instead of the lips for modulation. Islander Creole speech merits much research regarding supersegmental aspects and sociocultural differences in semantics, articulation, pitch and tones. No previous phonological studies have been carried out regarding local differences (probably the result of the point of origin of the various families), or comparatively with Jamaican and Central American Coastal Creole dialects. However, in general, the way of speaking is more similar to that of Bluefields and Puerto Limon than to that of most parts of Jamaica, although not as flat. One distinctive characteristic is the inversion of diphthongs (ex. ‘boat’ becomes /buot/, ‘rain’ becomes /rien/, etc.) also found in parts of Jamaica and the Misquito Coast. And, some persons/families from the San Luis section of San Andres produce very strong glottalization at the end of words or syllables ending in vowels. There are also differences in modulation,9 intonation and discourse style between the more basilect and the mesolect speakers who consider themselves ‘more cultured’ or more ‘white’. As mentioned previously, local differences between San Andres and Providence are found, as is to be expected, in use of vocabulary and idiomatic phrases as well. And, it is most certainly the way of talking (pronunciation, intonation and stress, as well as supersegmental aspects and use of vocabulary and local expressions) that create the most difficulties for the non-native or non-Creole English speaker since the basic grammatical structure is quite easy to adapt to with practice.

Consonants The following Table 7.1 shows the distribution of consonants according to point and mode of articulation (Dittmann 1988).

Table 7.1

Vowels

Point of Articulation O B S T R U C T

Labial Alveolar Post-Alv. Alv.-Pal. Palat. Velar Oral* Glottal**

Mode: Occlusive

p b

t d

Fricative

f v

s z

ʔ

k g ʃ

h

(continued)

World English Vol III.indb 291

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

World Englishes Volume III

292

Table 7.1

(Continued)

Point of Articulation

Labial Alveolar Post-Alv. Alv.-Pal. Palat. Velar Oral* Glottal**

I V E

Africative

S O N

Nasal

m

O R O

Approximates

w

U S

Lateral

*

ʧ ʤ n

ñ

ɹ

ŋ

j

l

Oral. The [h] is located in a variable position in the oral resonator, not in the pharynx.

** The glottal stop is often added to the velar occlusives, especially at the end of syllables. It was also heard after other sounds in some lects, especially in parts of the San Luis area on San Andres.

Phonetic representation of vowels (Dittmann 1992): aa a ɛ ii i ɪ o ɔ

/haat/ – ‘heart’ /hat/ – ‘hat’, ‘sad’ /sɛl/ – ‘sell’ /risiiv/ – ‘receive’ /riŋ/ – ‘ring’ /sɪ(t)/ – ‘sit’ /kom/ – ‘come’ /kɔt/ – ‘cut’ /bɔd/ – ‘bird’

uu /fuu(l)/ – ‘fool’ u/ʊ /ful/ – ‘full’ ai /taim/ – ‘time’ ei/ie /keik/, /kiek / – ‘cake’ /siem/, /siem/ – ‘same’ ou/uo /oul/, /uol/ – ‘old’ /bout/, /buot/ – ‘boat’

Comments: a. Both lax and tense vowels are included in this Creole system. For example, we find /e/ in dipthongs but /ɛ/ in other environments. Ex. /siel/ for ‘sail’ (tense) and /g ɛt/ – ‘get’ (lax). We find /i/ in /siŋ/– ‘sing’ (tense) but /ɪ/ in /sɪn/ – ‘sin’ (lax). Both English and many West African languages have vowel systems that include tense and lax vowels. b. aa, ii and uu are cases of vowel re-duplication and drop tone on the second vowel. This idea was tested after reading David Lawton (1963).10 I asked native Islanders to identify words I pronounced in pairs such as ‘fool’ and ‘full’, and ‘heart’ and ‘hot’ by translating to Spanish. I discovered that they did not hear a difference when I lengthened or tensed the vowel but only when I produced a re-duplication with a drop tone in ‘fool’ and ‘heart’.

World English Vol III.indb 292

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

293

c. -or, -ur and -ir become an ‘open o’ – / ɔ / as in third, bird, turn, burn . . . d. The diphthongs /ei/ and /ou/ are commonly inverted. Ex. /kien/ for ‘cane’ and /suo/ for ‘sew’. These inversions were found in some regional dialects of English from the period of colonization. e. The /ɑ/ is formed as in Standard English but farther back in the throat, especially at the end of syllables or words that end in -er or -or in Standard English. Ex. /aktɑ/ – ‘actor’, /talɑ/ – ‘taller’.

Comments on syllable structure and distribution of phonemes Although a vowel alone may produce a syllable such as /i/ for ‘it’, the most common syllables are CV, CVC and CVVC. Nevertheless, the vocalic nucleus may be preceeded and/or followed by more than one consonant such as in /aks/ (VCC) for ‘ask’, /griep/ (CCVVC) for ‘grape’. It is possible to hear words such as /straik/ (CCCVVC) for ‘strike’ but speakers usually reduce the initial consonants to two, eliminating the initial s-. According to O’Flynn (1990), the general formula for syallables is ((C3) C1 (C2)) V1 (V2) ((C5) C4 (C6)) Distribution of vowels. Both tense re-duplicated and lax vocalic phonemes may occur as the nucleus of closed syllables such as /sɛl/ ‘sell’ , /han/ ‘hand’, /haan/ ‘horn’, /fiil/ ‘feel’, etc. However, the lax vocalic phonemes are not found at the end of open syllables, only tense vowels and diphthongs: /di/ ‘the’, /guo/ ‘go’, / siel/ ‘sail’, /se/ for ‘that’, for example. Distribution of consonants. All of the consonants except nasal velar /ŋ/ are found at the beginning of a syllable. The only consonants not found alone in a post-nuclear position of the syllable are /h/, /ñ/ (nasal palatal ‘nyam’), /r/, /w/ and /y/.

Comments on historical changes or influences and other phonological phenomena John Holm’s Ph.D. Thesis (1978) presents a very interesting study of influences of English dialects of the period of colonization and African languages on the phonology, grammar and vocabulary of Caribbean English Creoles. The following distinctive characteristics, among others, were noted in my field work (Dittmann 1992) and/or that of O’Flynn (1990). a. /p/, /t/ and /k/ may be followed by a glottal stop (a strong glottal, occlusive implosion) in some lects at the beginning or end of an emission or end of syllable. This could be Scottish and African influence. b. /ñ/ is a variation of /n/ at the beginning of an emission before /i/ due to the influence of point of articulation.

World English Vol III.indb 293

11/26/2012 2:35:55 PM

294

World Englishes Volume III

c. /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/ occur in free variation at the end of words or may be reduced to a nasalization of the preceding vowel. /kom/ – /koŋ/, /wen/ – /wẽ/. d. /y/ is considered a semi-vowel, and the point of articulation of /k/ and /g/ is influenced by the following vowel, commonly adding the semi-vowel /y/ before /a/. Ex. /gyal/  ‘girl’, /kyan/  ‘can’ and /kyaan/  ‘can’t.’ e. /r/ is usually similar to Standard English but further back in the mouth, and at times may be trilled as in Spanish. f. /r/ is non-existant where, in Standard English, there would be /ar/ or the British lengthened /a/. There is re-duplication of the vowel but with a drop in pitch. Ex. /faa˕ ma/ for ‘farmer’. Here, the second /a/ drops in tone from the first /a/. The third /a/ (a separate syllable at the end of the word) is similar in pitch to the second and is produced farther back in the throat. /r/ occurs in syllable-final position, as in Standard English, in other environments. g. The syllable-final /l/ found in many words in Standard English has been dropped, as in /skuu(l)/ – ‘school’, /fuu(l)/ – ‘fool’, /pena’ti/ – penalty. h. Standard English alveolar fricatives /θ/ and /ð/ have shifted to /t/ and /d/ respectively. The absence of these Standard English consonants is a strong mark of creolized speech. For example, /tiŋ/ for ‘thing’ and /dєn/ for ‘then’. Those native Islanders wanting to avoid the creolized speech will attempt to use the Standard English pronunciation here. i. There is an inversion of -sk. For example, /diks/ for ‘disk’ and /aks/ for ‘ask’. j. We find a consonant transformation before /l/ common to some English and Caribbean Creole English dialects. For example, little – /lik’l/, saddle – /sag’l/, bridle – /braig’l/ , turtle – /tork’l/. Apical consonants /d/, /n/, /l/, /r/ are related in a number of West African languages. It appears that in the development of some words there was a metathesis of sounds and stops shift back in the mouth, thus d  g, etc. k. The final /t/ and /d/ of Standard English words ending in -nd and -nt such as ‘send’, ‘and’ and ‘tent’ are eliminated and the /n/ often remains only as a nazalization of the vowel. Ex. ‘send’ – /sen/ – /sẽ/, ‘tent’ – /ten/ l. In words that begin with s  another consonant, the /s/ is sometimes lost. For example, ‘skin’ – /kin/, and /panya/ from ‘Spaniard’ used to refer to a Spanish speaker, usually meaning Colombian nowadays. m. Thr- and tr- words become more like chr-. Ex. /čru/ – ‘true’, /čot/ – ‘throat’.

San Andrean Creole Orthography Both Carol O’Flynn de Chaves (1990) and myself (1992) had promoted the possibility of writing in Creole using a modified phonemic system (one symbol for each sound) in our books on Islander Creole and had spoken about this possibility in conferences and conversations with native Islander educators and

World English Vol III.indb 294

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

295

leaders. We felt that this would be especially useful for recording oral tradition and for use in the schools to teach initial reading and writing in the language the children speak when entering school. In 1997, when the recently founded Christian University learned of an orthography project in Belize, the academic staff became interested in the possibility of writing in Creole. Linguist Ken Decker was invited from Belize to present the orthography being developed there and it seemed appropriate to the native Islanders who participated in the workshops and worked on developing a proposal. These first workshops were held in 1997 on both San Andres and Providence Islands with a good amount of community participation. (Of course, many native Islanders felt, and still feel, that Creole should not be written.) An orthography commission was formed on San Andres which met several times during 1997 and 1998. Its more active members became part of the Christian University Trilingual Education Project, a pilot programme to be carried out in three public primary schools. This project received funding from the Colombian government in 1999, and linguists Ron and Lois Metzger and Dr Ron and Diane Morren,11 at the invitation of the Christian University, were sent by SIL International to participate in the development of the programmes and materials in Creole. All of the materials were produced by the native Islander teachers from the three pilot schools with the help of local writers and educators under the direction of Ron and Diane Morren. This group first produced an ABC Story Book and a Short Story Book in Creole with translations to Standard English for use in pre-school and elementary school courses. The group then produced the material in Creole to be used in language arts, natural science and social science in first grade. Diane Morren also designed the mathematics materials for first grade, and an oral English programme and materials for use in first and second grade. The orthography used, similar to the one originally adopted in Belize, combined IPA symbols and English orthography in an attempt to simplify a later transition to Standard English12 orthography for writing in English. Nevertheless, the teachers in the pilot project had difficulty combining what were really two systems of rules and, therefore, although they read to the students, they were not secure enough to write much and to teach writing in Creole. So, a new proposal was made, adapted and adopted, and the materials were rewritten and published in the new orthography in 2001(see Appendix for sample story). The orthography actually in use is basically a phonemically written system with a one-symbol to one-sound approach and the reduction of the vowels to the basic a, e, i, o, u letters. ‘Sh’, ‘zh’ and ‘ch’ are used instead of the phonetic symbols for these sounds. Presently, the ‘h’, as a lightly aspirated sound as in ‘hafi’ and ‘hous’ is sometimes used to indicate nazalization and to differentiate some homonyms. (Ex. ‘wen’, ‘weh’ and ‘wehn’ and ‘dem’ and ‘dehn’ . . .). For esthetic purposes, the word-final vowel sounds /i/ and /u/ are represented by the letters ‘y’ and ‘w’ respectively. Proper nouns (names, places, days and

World English Vol III.indb 295

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

296

World Englishes Volume III

months of the year) and numbers are written in Standard English. The revised alphabet consists of 24 basic letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y and Z (see Appendix for chart of sequence of letters to be taught in Islander Creole in first grade).

Word classes Nouns In describing Islander, it is worthwhile to note several features concerning nouns. As with all other varieties of Caribbean English Creoles, there are both count nouns and non-count nouns. There are also some interesting retentions from an older form of English and from African languages. Some nouns in some Caribbean English Creoles, including Islander Creole, have adopted a singluar form derived from the plural: /tiit/ for ‘tooth’; /šuuz/ for ‘shoe’; /piiz/ for ‘pea’ or ‘bean’; /irz/ for ‘ear’; or, oppositely, /fut/ for ‘feet’. Some non-count nouns seem to have become count nouns, at least in cases where Standard English indicates singular by adding an initial count phrase. /gi mi wan bred pliiz/ Give me a loaf of bread, please.

/wi pik toti kaan dis maarnin/ We picked thirty ears of corn this morning.

/ah niid wan kat’n fi čred di nig’l/ I need a piece of thread to thread the needle. As in Standard English, nouns as generic categories are found without an article: /lov biutifol/ ‘Love is beautiful’; /rien gud fi di plaan dem/ ‘ Rain is good for the plants’. Also, singular count nouns may occur without an article to generalize a plural concept: ex. /kloud wait/ ‘Clouds are white’. /wi hatu kier čier in/ ‘We had to bring in chairs.’ A number of nouns come from dialects of English from the period of colonization such as ‘uman’ for ‘woman’, ‘bubby’ for ‘breast’, ‘bury in’ for ‘funeral’, ‘set up’ for ‘wake’, ‘title’ for last name and ‘plat pole’ for May pole.13 Also, / iivin/ ‘evening’ is used instead of ‘afternoon’ and /nait/ ‘night’ comes after 5 p.m. although many people now use the more standard designations. A large number of African words are still in use on the islands.14 The Islanders do not usually recognize them as African. Some of the most commonly heard are kata (a woman’s head dress), kanga (braids also called ‘plat’), sorosi (a plant used to control sugar in the blood), kongolala (a plant used on Providence for bronchial problems); breda anansi and nansi stuori (‘Brother Nansy’, the Ashanti spider trickster, and Anansi Stories), konkante (‘porridge’ although the younger generation does not know the word), uobia (‘witchcraft’), dopi (‘spirit’ or ‘ghost’) and bongi (type of canoes).

World English Vol III.indb 296

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

297

There are also many African calques, some of which may have also been reinforced by similar phrasing in Scottish and other English dialects during the period of colonization, such as bieby a’ di ai (pupil), ai waata (tears); noz hol (nostrils), kct ai (a disrespectful way of looking at someone); fut (‘foot’ referring to the whole leg) and han (‘hand’ referring to the whole arm). Articles The definite article. As in other Caribbean Creoles, /(d)i/ is the singlular definite article and the third-person plural /dєm/ is affixed to the noun to indicate plurality as in /di gyal dєm/ ‘the girls’. According to Holm (1978), the addition of the third-person plural pronoun after the noun is a common way of forming plurals in several West African languages (ex. Mandinga, Twi, Vai, Yoruba). This is true in Islander also. /dem/ is used as a plural article before a noun or for plural formation after a noun. The indefinite singular article is /wan/ although /a/ is also often used, especially in Providence: /ah wã wan buk fa Krismas/ or /ah wan a buk fa Krismas/ ‘I want a book for Christmas’. /som/ is the indefinite plural: /som bwai kom hia las nait/ ‘Some boys came here last night.’ Table 7.2

Pronouns

Person

Subject and object

Possessive

Examples

First-person singular

‘mi’ but can also alternate ‘fi mi’ You may with ‘ah’ or ‘ai’ as subject or also hear ‘mai’ even for style in the same sentence.

/mi no laik fi do dat/ I don’t like to do that. /mi nou wat ai laik/ I know what I like.

Second-person singular

‘iu’

‘fi iu’

/iu na mai fren no mo/ You aren’t my friend anymore.

Third-person singular

‘(hi)im’ for male and female but can also alternate with ‘shi’ in attempts to use more Standard English forms or for style. ‘ih’ for animals and inanimate objects.

‘fi im’ You can also hear ‘fi shi’ and ‘fi ar’

/im gwain marid wi richar/ She’s going to marry Richard. /ih neva rien plenti we(n) crab taim/ It usually doesn’t rain a lot during crab season.

First-person plural

‘wi’

‘fi wi’

/wi hafi aaganaiz wan paati fi wi las die a klas bikaz fi wi tiicha naiz/ We must organize a party for our last day of class because our teacher is nice.

Second-person plural

‘unu’ *

‘fi unu’

/unu no kom huom an taim tinait pupa gwain biit ala unu/. If you don’t come home on time tonight, Dad will beat all of you. (continued)

World English Vol III.indb 297

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

World Englishes Volume III

298

Table 7.2

(Continued)

Person

Subject and object

Possessive

Third-person plural

‘dem’ can also alternate ‘fi dem’ with ‘dey’ in attampts to use more Standard English forms or for style.

Examples /dem no nuo we dey cyan du ontil dem trai ih/They don’t know what they can do until they try.

* [unu] from the Ibo language is used in most English-based Creoles.

Demonstrative pronouns /dis ya/ literally ‘this here’ /dat de/ literally ‘that there’ /dem ya /– literally ‘them here’ /dem de/ – ‘those’, literally ‘them there’ To make these pronouns emphatic, /da/ is placed before the pronoun (O’Flynn 2000). For example, /da dati bway/ ‘That very boy’, /da dєm ya bway/ ‘These very boys’ Relative pronouns /wẽ/ is generally used for ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’ or ‘that’ in the introduction of relative clauses. For example, /di gyal wẽ ah si an di bie . . ./ ‘The girl that (who) I saw on the beach . . .’ Adjectives Some adjectives used in Islander are now rather archaic in Standard English or dialectal, such as ‘meager’ pronounced maaga for ‘thin’, and the use of /nєks/ ‘next’ to mean ‘another’, /maniš/ ‘manish’ meaning ‘impudent’ or ‘with rough manners’, /uonlies/ for ‘only’. Colour classification seems to have influence from West African languages where /r єd/ is used to refer to a range of tones that include red, yellow and some tones of brown and beige. However, this has mostly disappeared among younger persons. ‘Red’ in this sense is used most often to refer to skin colour (different tones of light brown and reddish brown). Prepositions. There has been very little study of prepositions in Caribbean Creole vaieties. A few observations may be made as to actual uses found in the Creole. /bai/ is used after ‘go’ similar to ‘at’ or ‘to’ or to indicate visiting a person. For example, /Jan gaan bai di ierfiil luk fi im muma/ ‘ John went to the airport to look for (pick up) his mother’, and /ah gwain bai Marlen hous dis iivin/ as in ‘I’m going to Marlen’s house this evening’ or ‘I’m going by Marlen’s house this evening.’ (informal in the sense of visiting) /ina/ instead of /in/ is used with directional verbs much as we use ‘into’: /anansi ron af ina di bush/ ‘Anansi ran off into the bush.’

World English Vol III.indb 298

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

299

/pan/ is used for ‘on’ and/or ‘upon’. /don spit pan mi/  ‘Don’t spit on me!’ /da/ indicates location much like ‘in’. /Carlos da Bogota/ ‘ Carlos is in Bogota.’ The particle /fi/with its possible variations /fa/ and /fo/ was quite thoroughly studied by William Washabaugh on Providence Island.15 /fi/ is used as ‘for’ in Standard English, sometimes the variation /fa/, which may be a more mesolect form, is used: /ah wi wach di šap fi iu/ or /ah wi wač di šap fa iu/ ‘I will watch the shop for you.’ /fi/ is also used as ‘to’ in Standard English before a verb complement. /unu mosi work fi liv/ ‘You must work in order to live.’ /iu šuda prie fi fain wan beta jab/ ‘You should pray to find a better job.’ Prepositions appear as particles added to some verbs as in Standard English but not always in the same way (see section on verbs). Verbs Today, we find many verbs in the Creole language, especially in the more rural sectors, and the Caribbean-style English spoken by the elders, which are now archaic in Standard English although still found in some dialects of English. For example, ‘vex’ for ‘angry’, ‘fetch’ for bring, /tros/ or /čros/ for ‘lend (cash)’, ‘breed’ as in to get a woman pregnant, ‘molest’ for ‘bother’, ‘favor’ for ‘resemble’, ‘hot’ for ‘heat’(food), ‘carry’/kier(i)/ for ‘accompany’ or ‘take’ a person, /ber/ ‘bury’, ‘out’ for ‘put out’ a fire or ‘turn off’ the light, ‘share’ means ‘serve’ food or divide something among several people, ‘back’ is ‘carry’ something, ‘plat’ for ‘braid’, /mek/ instead of ‘let’. Although the simple present is generally the verb form used in the verb phrase, some verbs use the past form of the Standard instead. For example, /lef/ from ‘leave’, /ful/ from ‘fill’, /brok/ from ‘break’ . . . /guo/, /gaan/ and /gwain/ from English ‘go’ are all in common use. Different from Standard English, ‘look at’ is just /luk/ and ‘thinking about’ is just /tink/; ‘tie to’ is /tai an/, ‘pass down’ is /pas čruo/, ‘go to’ is /guo bai/, /wel/ or /wel op/ ‘cure’, as well as other verbs to which the use of the prepositional or adverbial particle is not the same. To indicate location or existence, similar to ‘be’ in English, /de/ is used in the present and /wen de/ in San Andres, /me de/ in Providence, in the past.16 Adverbs Adverbs may be placed at the beginning or end of a sentence or as part of the verb phrase. /suun/ ‘soon’ is used for ‘early’: /him get op suun da maarnin/. /uova/ ‘over’ is used with adverbs and adjectives as we use ‘very’ in English: /tidie ova hat/.

World English Vol III.indb 299

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

300

World Englishes Volume III

Conjunctions The most common conjunctions are /an/‘and’, /ar/‘or’, /bot/‘but’, /wẽ/ (relative ‘that’/‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’), /se/(connective ‘that’), /if/ or /єf/ ‘if’, /dєn/ ‘then’, /bikaz/ ‘because’, /fram/ ‘since’. /se/ is a conjunction (connective pronoun) similar to ‘that’ in Standard English. Ex. /mi no nou se iu ha tu breda/ ? ‘I didn’t know that you have two brothers.’ It is also used in the phrase /laik se/  ‘as if’. /laik se mi gwain marid/  ‘as if (for example) I were going to get married’. /fra(m)/ is used where ‘since’ is found in Standard English. For example, /wi hia de wo(r)k frã maanin/ ‘We’ve been here working since morning.’ Interjections Some common expressions are Aarait! (A greeting in passing, or ‘All right!’). Rait de! (‘You’ve got it!’). So wat? (A greeting like ‘What’s new?’).

Some Additional Comments on Vocabulary On Providence, there are old time expressions still in use, such as /him gaan ova yanda/, literally, ‘He went over yonder’ for, he left the Island; /iu waakin out, mis marsha?/ similar to ‘Are you going for a stroll (or walking from one section of the island to another), Miss Marcia?’; /alang de so/ similar to ‘down that way’, ‘along the road’, ‘over there’. /iz out hir so/ for ‘it’s out here’ instead of the more brusk /da out hia/. Different from Standard English, the adjective /neks/ does not mean ‘the following’ but ‘another’. /giv mi a neks mango pliiz/  ‘Please, give me another mango.’ The grammatical particles /fi/, /w(b,m)en /, /da/, /de/, /se/ seem to have a structural origin in West African languages (Holm 1978). The typical San Andrean greeting and answer also have an African flavour. Question greeting: /ho yo (iu) de ?/ (How you  indicator of existence or location) Reply: /rait hia/ (Right here!).

Basic grammar structures The most distinctive aspects of the grammar in contrast with formal English are found in the use of pronouns, the verb tense-aspect structures and certain sentence structures (emphatic, questions . . .) as well as the uses of ‘/fi/fa/fo/’ (extensively dealt with in William Washabaugh’s studies) and /se/ where English uses the relative pronoun ‘that’, re-duplication of adjectives and verbs for emphasis and the use of the double negative.

World English Vol III.indb 300

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

301

The basic sentence structure of subject – verb – complement is common to most West African and also to the European languages giving rise to Caribbean Creoles such as English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. According to Givon (1984), it is a most natural, basic structure where new information is added piece by piece to the object or complement of the sentence. Thus, the basic sentence can be described in either of the following manners. subject – verb – complement ex./wi laik bredfrut/ We like breadfruit

noun phrase – auxiliary – verb phrase /wi Ø laik bredfrut/ We like breadfruit

But, since emphatic inversion (where the sentence complement, or part of it, is placed at the beginning of the sentence) is also quite common in daily expression, the first of the two descriptive possibilities would seem to be more appropriate. /mai granprienz ai de liv wi’ mai granprienz dem / My grandparents, I am living with my grandparents. /al di staaz las nait wen brait/ All of the stars were bright last night.

/aal di die him wok on di ruod/ He works on the road all day.

/Ina di bokit, da twenti kraab/ There are twenty crabs in the bucket. The interrogative structure, as well as the affirmative, is subject – verb – complement and may also add an initial, but optional, interrogative marker /da/ at the beginning and place strong stress on the last syllable. /(da) wẽ iu guo las nait ?/ Where did you go last night?

/(da) iu fi hu?/ Whose are you?

or

/(da) hu fi iu pupa?/ Who is your Dad?

In this type of sentences, we may find /iz/ or /ent/ instead of /da/. The noun phrase nucleus is composed of a subject pronoun, or a noun alone or with a grammatical determiner. As in Standard English, descriptive adjectives are also placed before the noun and the main noun may also be followed by prepositional phrases and/or relative phrases or clauses. The order of the modifiers and/or modifying phrases seems to be more flexible, the order being changed for emphasis of certain characteristics. The pluralizer ‘dem’ is placed directly after the noun: /di tiicha dem gwain get vekieshan neks wiik/. ‘The teachers are going to go on vacation next week.’

World English Vol III.indb 301

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

302

World Englishes Volume III

When demonstrative pronouns are modifying a noun, the noun is usually placed between the two parts of the expression. For example, /dem gyal de/ ‘those girls’. But you may also hear /dis (ia) bway fi mi kosin/ with or without the second part of the demonstrative pronoun. Another feature that is not used in Standard English is the emphatic re-duplication of adjectives (as well as verbs and adverbs). /da wan big big buot de/ That’s a very big boat there.

/di drɛs im gat an r ɛd r ɛd/ ‘The dress she’s wearing is very red.’

The possessive structure may appear with or without the particle /fi/, the /fi/ seeming to emphasize the act of possession. For example, /(fi) unu fren dem/ ‘your friends’, /di pikni muma/ or /fi di pikni muma/ ‘the child’s mother’. A proper name plus ‘dem’ indicates a collective family, team or group relation. For example, ‘Jon dem’ meaning John and his friends or John and his family. As in English, we do find nouns modifying other nouns in a manner that indicates some type of possession or belonging and descriptive phrases and clauses after the main noun. Ex. /di lik’l uol paña man we liv doun di bie/ ‘The little, old Spaniard man17 who lives down along the bay . . .’ The prepositional phrase (prep.  noun phrase) may be used in both subject and complement of sentences modifying a noun or a verb. Ex. /di kyaa in di garaj we mi wen bay frã Jamie maš op ina di goly las nait/ ‘The car I bought from Jamie crashed in the gully last night.’ Verb structures (In this section, the (S) or (P) after certain transcriptions indicates that the word or structure is more common to either San Andres (S) or Providence (P).) The attributive structure (where English uses ‘be’) has no verb or the adjective can be considered to have verbal function in the present and uses the anterior marker /wen/ (S) or /me/ (P) in the past.

World English Vol III.indb 302

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres Present /di skai Ø kluodi/ The sky is cloudy.

Past /di piknini dem wen naizi dis maanin/ The children were noisy this morning.

/di gyal Ø maaga/ The girl is thin.

/Jan me fried a di harakien/ John was afraid of the hurricane.

303

The copulative /de/ is used in the present and /wen de/ (S), /me de/ (P) or /ben de/, /ben a/ in the past to indicate location in time or space, or existence. For example, /dem de de/ They are there.

/dem wen de ina di si/ (S) They were in the sea.

/no čer bena de/ (P) There were no chairs.

/we iu de?/ Where are you?

/mi me de an di plien/ (P) I was on the plane. / gaad de/ God exists

The copulative /da/ indicates a relation of identity between subject and predicate, a relation of inclusion in a class or the idea of a strictly temporal location (O’Flynn 1990). For example, /Archbold da govna/ ‘Archbold is (the) governor’. /da mi/ ‘It’s me.’ /ishili da lizar/ ‘The ishili is a lizard.’ In typical Creole style, to express state in the present or action in the past, only one form of the verb is used, usually the simple form (i.e. /ron/, /tak/, /kuk/), although in a few cases such as /marid/ for ‘marry’ and /lef/ for ‘leave’, the past tense form is used. In other words, there is no /-s/ on the third-person present singular verb form as in English and no past tense markers (such as -ed) are affixed to the verb. For example, /him laf al di taim/ ‘He laughs all the time.’

/him laf plenty yestidie/ ‘He laughed a lot yesterday.’

/dem iit plenti fish/ ‘They eat a lot of fried fish.’

/yesidie dem iit plenty fish/ ‘They ate a lot of fish yesterday.’

The anterior marker is used to refer to an action that has taken place before another action or in relation to the present or point of reference of the speaker. On San Andres Is., the typical anterior marker is /wen/. On Providence, /me(n)/ is common and many times denasalized. /di(d)/ is also often used on Providence,

World English Vol III.indb 303

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

304

World Englishes Volume III

possibly because it is considered more ‘English’. If the /n/ is not pronounced in /wen/ and /men/, the vowel is nazalized: /wẽ/, /mẽ/ although /me/ seems to be in a process of denazalization. For example, /dem wen iit bifa wi get/ (S) ‘They ate before we arrived.’ /las nait di staa dem wen brait/( S) ‘The stars were bright last night.’ /wen taim karnaval, wi me danz ontil maarnin/ (P) ‘At Carnaval time, we danced until morning.’ /dem did sing gud ina di chorch las krismas/ (P) ‘ They sang well at church last Christmas.’ /im did work yesidie bot di basman no pie im/ (P) ‘He worked yesterday but the boss (supervisor) didn’t pay him.’ The marker of continuous or progressive action is /de/, although, many times, it is replaced by the gerund form of the verb (i.e. gwain, fishenin, tinkin) in more mesolect-type speech, especially on Providence Island. For example, /luk di daag de ron afta di kyaa/ /luk di daag ronin afta di kyaa/ Look! The dog is running after the car /ah laik iit siem taim mi de stodi/ I like to eat when I am studying.

/mai ant livin Bogota/ My aunt is living in Bogota.

The past or anterior progressive is usually /wen de/ or sometimes /ben de/ on San Andres and /me(n) de/ on Providence and Katleena. /wi ben de liv op de so/ (S) We used to live up that way.

/mi muma wen de kuk fi sell/ (S) My mother used to cook and sell (food).

/mai sista wen de sou di frak fa mi/ (S)/di haas dem me de ries lang di bie/(P) My sister was sewing the dress for me. The horses were racing along the beach. Future time is expressed by placing /guo/, /gwain/ or the more formal or more mesolect /wi/ or /will/: /mi gwain gou skuul tumaro/ I’m going to go to school tomorrow.

/ši guo si ŋ ina karnaval dis yir/ She will sing in the Carnival this year.

/ah wi kal iu lieta/ I will call you later.

World English Vol III.indb 304

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

305

The negative of the verb is produced by placing /no/, /neva/  no  /wen/ or possibly /di(d)n / before the verb. /wi no laik iit miit fraidie/ /im neva nuo we dem de du/ ‘We don’t like to eat meat on Friday.’ ‘She didn’t know what they were doing.’ /dem neva gaan dans satudie/ /im didn gaan dans wi fi him gyalfren/ They didn’t go dancing on Saturday. He didn’t go dancing with his girlfriend When the verb is negative, the negation can carry over to the rest of the sentence. For example, /dem no gat no moni/ ‘They don’t have any money.’

/fi im breda no ha (no) moto/ ‘His father doesn’t have a motorcycle.’

The passive voice in the Creole is expressed by a noun, which receives the action plus the verb. Another form is to include the verb /get/ as an auxiliary before the verb. /di kaan plaan yesidie/ / ih cyaan fix/ or /ih cyaan get fix/ The corn was planted yesterday. It can’t be fixed. Serial verbs such as /go/, /kom/, /se/ have compounding functions in the verb phrase.18 For example, /dem kom kong sing fa di set op/ They came and sang at the set up (wake).

/ mi gwain guo guo sliip aal di die/ I’m going to go and sleep all day.

/dem gaan gaan iit/ ‘They went to eat.’(‘They went and ate.’)

/ im se se fi im data sik/ ‘He says (that) his daughter is sick.’

/mi bway gaan supamaakit gaan bai som bredkain fi kuk di rondon/. ‘My boy went to the supermarket to buy some bread kind to cook rondon.’ Re-duplication of verbs (as with adjectives) is done for emphasis: /fi im muma gwain biit im, biit im/ ‘ His mother’s going to really beat him.’ /im lai lai/ ‘She does lie!’ Auxiliary verbs of aspect.19 As we have seen, the unmarked form of the verb (i.e. present and past) presents no indication of time or development of the action, only aspect; /wen/ can express either a state in the past or an action previous to another action; /de/ indicate an action in process but not the time (past or present). The following auxiliaries are also used on the Islands.

World English Vol III.indb 305

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

306

World Englishes Volume III

– /don/ before a verb indicates a completed action: /dem don pie mi/ ‘They already paid me.’ – /stie/ as an auxiliary (of aspect) indicates permanence in a certain state: /maria stie sik/ ‘Maria continues to be sick.’ – /stap/, /staat/ also function as auxiliaries of aspect as in English although the main verb after does not take the indicator of continuous. – /gɛt/ is used with adjectives and may come after a continuous auxiliary: /Marcia get maaga/ ‘Marcia got skinny.’ /Marcia de get fat/ ‘Marcia is getting fat.’ – /ton/ ‘turn’ indicates processes that take place over a rather long period of time with more permanent results than with /de get/: /Jan ton thiif/ ‘John became a thief.’ /kom  adj// ‘become’ similar to /ton/ but more so. – /suun/ ‘soon’ (imminent) and /gwain/ (prospective) are auxiliaries that refer to aspects of future time: /di dakta suun kom/ ‘The doctore will soon come.’ /ah gwain ded/ ‘I’m going to die.’ – /doz/ and /yuustu/ (past) indicate habitual actions: /wi doz iit plenty bredfrut/ ‘We usually eat plenty breadfruit.’ /wi yuustu veks wi di uol man/ ‘We used to be angry with the old man’. Auxiliary verbs of modality can appear in a certain order when they are combined with other auxiliaries in the verb phrase. We have /maita/, /mos-mosa-mosi/ (variations) for possibility, probability, compromise; /wi/ and /gwain/ for future and /wuda/ for past volition; /fi/, /hafi/ (present), /šuda/(past) for duty or obligation; /kyan/(present) /kuda/ (past) for potential; /niid/ for necessity and /waan/ for desire. /wen/ can come before any of the above auxiliaries which relate to the concept of anterior. For example, /im wen fi kom huom/ ‘He should have come home.’ But, it may be placed before or after /maita/, /mosa/, /kuda/, /wuda/ and /shuda/. Tag Phrases. The most common tag phrases are /na tru?/  Isn’t that so? /ii/ with a raised tone on the second /i/ to indicate affirmative or a lowered tone on the second /i/ to indicate negative. For example, /iu laik bushi, ii/ ‘You like bush rum, don’t you?’ To answer a yes-no question: /iu wan guo wi wi?/ ‘Do you want to go with us?’ /ii/ with raised intonation  ‘Yes’, and /ii/ with lowered intonation  ‘No’. E Relative or descriptive phrases and clauses may complement a noun. For example, /tanks fi di buk we unu gi’ mi/ ‘Thanks for the book that you gave me.’ Or forming compound or complex sentences: for example, /mi bwayfren don gaan wen mi get/ ‘My boyfriend had gone when I got there.’ They may appear with or without the relative or connective pronoun (/ju/, /se/, /we/) as in /mi neva nuo (se) him kyaan swim/ ‘I didn’t know (that) he

World English Vol III.indb 306

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

307

couldn’t swim.’ /aladem, wi neva se se aladem kuda/ ‘We didn’t say that all of them could come.’

Discourse Features In basilect Islander Creole, syllabic accentuation is the prominent feature of spoken discourse. Affirmative sentences intensify and lower the tone of the last syllable of the phrase. Yes/No questions and final interrogative phrases raise the tone on the last syllable. There may also be extreme variations of pitch and emphasis in dialogue to indicate or express different states of emotion. The most noticeable differences in the Creole are to be found between what were once the more rural sections or ‘lower class’ sections of San Andres and Providence settled by freed slaves. A more basilect creole is normally used that contains more African qualities of modulation, intonation and use of tone. More archaic English vocabulary and expressions are heard on Providence and St. Catalina than on San Andres. This is what some have referred to as ‘beautiful Elizabethan English’ when combined with the ‘non-African’ way of speaking, which is produced more towards the front of the mouth, eliminating the African language characteristics of glottal instead of labial modulation. Until recently, you could hear two men talking on Providence – a boss talking to a worker, for example – one using his personal Caribbean English or mesolect Creole and the other, his deep African-style Creole. It should be noted that stigmatized forms have tended to be eliminated when recognized as such. As the father of one of my now deceased friends used to tell her when she was a child: ‘/ah don wan hir yu tak dat wende, bende roun hir/’ I don’t want to hear you talk that ‘wende, bende’ around here.

Spanish Influence on English and Creole Spanish influence on oral English and English Creole are present but not to the extent of making a notorious change in grammar and vocabulary. On the Islands, conversations between the Islanders are usually in Creole with no, or almost no, use of Spanish, especially on Providence and Santa Catalina. But, since most Islanders are proficient in some degree of bilingualism, code switching happens frequently, especially concerning activities that came along with the Free Port such as banking, tourism, education and government as well as modern household appliances. These activities brought in Spanish vocabulary that was not present in the English Creole of the Archipelago. So, we find words like ‘grabadora’ for ‘tape recorder’, ‘nevera’ for ‘refrigerator’ (some of the older people know ‘ice box’), ‘cajero’ for ‘bank teller’, ‘bora’ from ‘borrador’ for ‘eraser’ and many more where there was usually no previous knowledge of an English equivalent. The African basilect forms /muma/ and /pupa/ are still in

World English Vol III.indb 307

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

308

World Englishes Volume III

use but being generally replaced by ‘mama’ and ‘papa’ from Spanish, or the more formal /mada/ and /fada/ are used. ‘Es decir’ (‘I mean’) is a common interjection in Creole speech. There is much more Spanish interference in more formal vocabulary and written English, usually in words of three or more syllables which come from similar roots in French and Latin – for example, ‘superate’ from ‘superarse’ meaning ‘to improve oneself’ (educationally); ‘consign’ from ‘consignar’ meaning to deposit in a bank account. Since very few people are writing in English, many compound and complex sentences are at times even direct translations from Spanish. This can be seen in the writing of teachers and the articles published in ‘English’ in the local Spanish-language newspapers, which sometimes seem to use a translating programme not adapted to the topic. Even the English teachers who are native Islanders or who have lived on the Islands for a long time are not usually aware of some of this interference since they speak both languages and have few model speakers for the Standard. More research into Spanish interference at this level is important and would be useful for English teachers working in the bilingual and trilingual educational programmes, as well as for the community in general and local press, radio and television.

The Archipelago after 1954 Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Airport and the Free Port Economy The Colombian government made several attempts at Colombianizing the native population before the establishment of the airport and the free port with little success. But, beginning in the 1950s, education in English, even in the private Baptist Church schools, was prohibited. Public schools and Catholic schools with government support were strengthened. In order to obtain government jobs, including jobs as teachers, persons had to suscribe to the Catholic religion. Protestant marriages were not even considered acceptable (legal) for a time and Island children were given Spanish names on their birth certificates. But, feeling that the economic future of the Islands was looking up, families who had migrated began to return, and a number of Islander students were given scholarships to study at Colombian high schools and universities on the continent. Upon graduating, many returned to take up positions in the local government, but others remained on the continent only to return on vacation or when they retired. At the same time, the Colombian government promoted the migration of businessmen and construction workers to San Andres to create the infrastructure and conditions for an economy of tourism and commerce for continental Colombians. Unfortunately, this type of development was foreign to the life style of the native Islander community of San Andres. Furthermore, they became a minority on their own Island. This has led to cultural confusion and

World English Vol III.indb 308

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

309

destruction and conflict. Providence, due in great part to distance and geographical conditions, has remained more traditional. However, on Providence, the people experience serious problems created by a decline in agriculture over the last decades, increased population and a lack of adequate educational and employment opportunities for the younger generations. Further problems have resulted from the ‘drug economy’: increased use of illegal drugs and the employment of large numbers of mostly young islander men by drug cartels from the Atlantic Coast of Colombia. The men are used to transport cocaine by sea in fast motor boats from Colombia to the coasts of Central America, Mexico and the United States.

A linguistic and cultural minority in their own land Caribbean forms of English and Creole English remain the language and dominant culture of the native Islanders. This is due in great part to the distance from the Colombian mainland and its sociohistorical, commercial and economic relations with Jamaica, the United States and the English-speaking coast of Central America. Unfortunately, many who live in the North End and Sarie Bay sections of San Andres have replaced Creole with Spanish. This has happened mainly among the children who have mostly Spanish-speaking playmates and who attend Spanish-language-only schools. The majority of residents in these areas are not native Islanders although most of them have been born on the Island. The shear number of migrants during the second half of the twentieth century did not permit them to be integrated into the native language and culture, and they have ‘learned’ to discriminate against it. As mentioned before, the Baptist Church on the Islands has been the main support for the continued use of Caribbean-style formal English. Nevertheless, since Spanish has become the language of government, education and power on these islands, more standard forms of English have practically disappeared from everyday life with the exception of those native Islanders who work with tourist agencies and the teachers trained to work with the bilingual education programmes established over the last decades (since 1980). Most Island professionals have been educated in Colombia and tend to use Spanish in their professional life and mesolect Creole when speaking ‘English’. Many of their children were taught Spanish at home as a first language and attend the private Spanish-language schools. Both language and cultural customs have made it very difficult for the native Islanders to integrate into the local job market, which requires acceptable Spanish and working for a boss who does not even speak your language – something not usual for independent housewives, farmers and fishermen, especially if they are descendents of masters or slaves. It is reported that the ex-slaves, after obtaining their freedom, swore never to work for anyone again and their descendants still do not accept taking orders kindly. Being polite and attentive

World English Vol III.indb 309

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

310

World Englishes Volume III

to outsiders was considered demeaning. Due to this original difficulty and the Colombian custom of family first, most of the hotels and other establishments brought in family, friends and employees from mainland Colombia to work in the hotels, restaurants and other business. Younger generations of native Islanders want work but are, many times, left out due to their faulty academic preparation resulting from an educational system that has treated them, their language and customs as inferior or, worse yet, non-existant. The Colombian Constitution of 1991 has given minority communities, such as the native Islander population, the right to autonomous development within the Colombian State. But the native Islander population has not yet found a way to successfully unite and develop the knowledge and community organization necessary for the success of such a process. The Departmental Government, although governed by native Islanders at present, still responds to a Colombian tradition of political parties and leadership. Even though most of the native government employees on the Islands speak Creole among themselves, the language of government is Spanish and the culture Colombian. A sense of community seems to have been lost and the resulting cultural confusion of those professionals educated in Continental Colombia with little knowledge of Standard English has separated them from their own people and culture more than they would like to admit. In spite of the presence of local, national and international educational consultants, and their advice and proposals regarding education, little has effectively been done to rectify patterns established over the last 50 years. According to nationwide government examinations, the Islands’ schools are at the bottom of the list in achievement. Spanish is the first language in the schools and native teachers have not received adequate training in educational methodology, Caribbean history and culture, Creole languages, English (reading and writing, especially) and bilingual education at a graduate level in order to be able to envision and direct a new educational process for Islander families and their children. The only university degree programmes offered on San Andres in education were undergraduate programmes for pre-school and primary school teachers. Teachers do not have the economic possibility of leaving the island to study and young people do not wish to become educators. Teachers must receive appropriate training and have the opportunity to visit quality schools. Adequate national and international support is needed by the small universities on San Andres (the Christian University Corporation and the National Technological Institute (INFOTEP), which have not been able to become economically stable and to send local teachers for training abroad.

Afro-Anglo-Caribbean Identity Today The native people of these Islands, both the darker and lighter-skinned (there are no longer any ‘pure white’ Englishmen), feel a strong relationship of

World English Vol III.indb 310

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

311

brotherhood with Jamaica and even more directly with the Creole peoples of Central America and the Cayman Islands. The last English ship had docked in 1904, and, unfortunately, before the World War II, trade with Jamaica, the United States and Central America by ship was already declining. In the 1950s, the Free Port and General Rojas Pinilla Airport turned the island more firmly towards Spanish-speaking Colombia. The government made considerable effort to ‘Colombianize’ the Islanders linguistically and culturally by strengthening the public Spanish-only school system, supporting the Catholic schools and ‘importing’ a great number of continental Colombians. By 1964, education in English had been forcibly eliminated from even the Baptist schools. Nevertheless, on a community level, the Afro-Anglo-Caribbean heritage is still very much alive. Many of the Baptist churches, and more lately some Catholic churches, continue to hold religious services in English. Community leadership, basically revolving around the Baptist Churches, has been searching for ways to develop relations with educational and human rights organizations in various Caribbean countries, especially Jamaica, Barbados and Nicaragua. Over the past four years, Islanders have begun to commemorate Emancipation Day on 1 August. The festivities include a week of cultural programmes, activities, sports and food sales and end with a march through the native Hill section of San Andres. Guest speakers from countries such as Jamaica, Nicaragua and Barbados have come to speak. 1 August was also declared a civic holiday by the Departmental Assembly last year. When the finances allow, the local cultural Department invites reggae and folk music groups from Jamaica to local music and cultural festivals to complement the native musicians. Surprisingly, mento and socca are still popular dance rhythms on Providence and younger mucicians still learn to play these rhythms, many of which include local compositions. The native community in San Andres celebrates the Colombian national holidays of 20 July in North End and 7 August in San Luis with a parade where all the schools participate in dress uniform, ‘military’ bands with a Caribbean accent and the ‘march of the slaves’ (imitating the chains by dragging one foot from behind on the fourth beat). Each school tries to outdo the other and win the prize for the best band, dress, etc. Here is where the drum comes into its own and is played as loud as possible. The marches end with cultural activities on a bandstand or in the San Luis coliseum. There used to be more fair-type activities such as food sales, tree-climbing and coconut opening contests, and horse races. 12 October is celebrated in a similar way on the Hill, replacing Tree Day. It should be mentioned that these ‘patriotic’ celebrations on San Andres replaced the local sectional fairs or festivities. On the continent, Colombians do not celebrate in this way today. Usually, there is a military parade in the major cities on those first two dates, especially 20 July. Providence celebrates 20 July with a parade by school children and food sales and cultural activities on South West Bay Beach, but the big celebration is a rather recent Folklore Festival (1980s) held around the end of June to commemorate

World English Vol III.indb 311

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

312

World Englishes Volume III

becoming a part of Colombia. There are various cultural activities, traditional dance and music group presentations, (reggae, the Colombian vallenato, and now some reggaeton) until daylight, sports, horse races and boat races. This is topped off by the election of a local queen, where each section or group of sections of the Island presents a candidate. This ‘karnaval’ is the local event of the year.

A Native Community College In 1997, a group of native Islanders established the Christian University of San Andres, Providence and St. Catalina under the direction of Pastor George MayMitchell. This native community-church college was founded in an effort to promote ethnic group pride and progress. The University offers teacher training programmes in English and bilingual education. In coordination with community and church organizations, it contributes to the promotion of Creole culture and community organization. Together with the regional environmental agency, Coralina, it offers a technical programme in Reef and Coastal Management and a programme (Ondas) to promote student research in local public schools. An undergraduate degree programme (1997–2004) prepared some 60 elementary school teachers with a solid base in their language and culture. As mentioned in the phonology section of this article, the Christian University Corporation with financial support from the Colombian Ministry of Education also designed and carried out a first attempt to develop trilingual (Creole-English-Spanish) education in three pilot schools on San Andres. This proposal has not yet been validated through an ongoing classroom process. However, many teachers and parents have discovered the joy of reading in their own Creole language and the positive reaction of the children to an increased use of their home language at school. In 2006, the Colombian Ministry of Education contributed a small amount of financing for teacher training, reproduction of materials and the initiation of the trilingual curricular proposal in several schools on San Andres and Providence. Hopefully, this time, the process will continue to receive government and community support.

Media use of English The Island of San Andres has several radio stations, which transmit programmes mostly in Spanish. However, Islander English and Creole have been making inroads on some of the stations in the form of music programmes and talk shows, religious programmes, and a Saturday morning cultural magazine. There is also a Saturday morning news and cultural programme from Providence Island in English, Creole and Spanish. This is transmitted by telephone hook up through San Andres on a station that covers both Islands. It has been difficult for most of these programs to be aired consistently due to costs of radio space.

World English Vol III.indb 312

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

313

San Andres has a local TV channel that has also had problems of financing and programming. It receives some support from the National Television Commission and is presently being reorganized. The community hopes that quality community-directed programming, with at least 50 per cent of programmes in English and Creole, will become a reality. This station is local and is not received on Providence. On San Andres, it is also possible to join one of the two Cable TV systems which include Colombian, United States and some regional stations brought down from satellites. On Providence, there are now two small, quite recent, local cable TV systems that bring down some Colombian and US channels. The Cable systems show programmes in both English (more channels recently) and Spanish.20 Many Islanders prefer the Colombian channels, except for baseball and religious programmes, as they have a difficult time understanding the US English in movies and children’s programmes.

English in the Archipelago Today, as in all over the world, English in the Archipelago is considered to be the most important language of international communication, business, science and technology. Everyone speaks of its importance. Law 47 of 1993 decreed Spanish and English (‘as spoken on the Islands’) to be official languages and necessary to obtain local government posts. There has not been a clearly defined distinction between English Creole and formal or Standard English, and since the schools in their attempt to ‘Colombianize’ the native population practically eliminated English from the school curriculum, most island inhabitants, both Creole and Spanish speakers, have very poor or nonexistent skills in the Standard. Since the late 1970s, there has been an attempt at the public school level to return to some type of bilingual education for the native population and those Spanish-speaking children whose parents wish them to attend. In the 1980s, the government established a bilingual education office, now called the Ethnoeducation Group to design and supervise the bilingual programme. There are presently three school systems (pre-school through high school) participating in this programme. But, due to periodic government reorganization of school programmes and student populations, these schools do not presently service only native Islander children and the teachers are finding it difficult to develop an adequate bilingual programme. The teachers also require more adequate training, appropriate programmes and materials for teaching the various academic subjects in English. Recently, the government-supported Catholic schools, and other private schools, have begun to promote English as an important subject, and the government-sponsored informal educational institution, SENA offers free English classes on both San Andres and Providence for as many students a term as they can handle (some 250 students) in basic level language courses. A few attempts have been made to set up private language institutes but they

World English Vol III.indb 313

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

314

World Englishes Volume III

have generally been economic failures. Lately, some banks and hotels have paid for some of their employees to study English. The Caribbean Institute of the National University of Colombia is also offering a series of teacher training courses in English with the support of the national government and the British Council. As mentioned previously, the Christian University Corporation periodically offers both teacher training programmes and open courses in English. These courses have been attended mostly by native Islander teachers, young Islanders interested in studying in the United States and non-native Islanders wishing to improve their prospects for employment. In spite of the difficult economic situation of most of the inhabitants of the Islands, interest in studying and learning English is strong and many people are making a great effort to pay for classes. If the national and local governments continue to show real interest in sponsoring programmes and materials, and if local radio, television and press continue to develop and expand programming in English and Creole, a trilingual future for Islanders may become a reality.

Notes 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

2005 Census. Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísticas (DANE), Colombia. According to DANE, 1951 to 2005 population figures of the Archipelago are the following: 5,675 (1951); 16,731 (1964); 21,147 (1973); 31,624 (1985); 50,094 (1994); 59,455 (2005). Information on tourism was obtained from the Archipelago’s Departamental Secretary of Tourism report for 2004 and 2005. The Sea Flower was ‘sister’ ship to the Mayflower of the Massassechutts Bay Company, which carried the colonists to establish their Puritan colony in what is now the United States. In Clemente (1991), O’Neill governed between 1795 and 1797, and then again from 1801 to 1811. Between 1797 and 1801, he carried out other duties for the Spanish Crown. Mary Archbold resided in Jamaica at the time and therefore wished to free the family slaves when the British declared an end to slavery in 1834. These terms, or different spellings, appear in different documents and at times in the same document but seem to refer to the same ethnic group or tribe. The above quotes have been taken from a mimeographed document, Oral Tradition of Providence Island, 1980, dedicated to the annual meeting of Colombian Governors in Sincelejo. These are said to be transcriptions of recordings made by Bill Washabaugh and his wife, although the document is just signed Bill and Mary. Many Islanders received copies of this document. When being polite, speakers may speak so softly that it is difficult to understand them. Shouting and yelling are also distinctive sociolinguistic factors as well as modulations of laughter, typical in Afro-American communities.

World English Vol III.indb 314

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres 10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

315

David Lawton (1963) in his thesis, Supersegmental Phenomena in Jamaican Creole, proponed that what we really have is not a lengthening of the vowel but rather two productions of the sound in different tones, the second lower than the first. Part of Dr Morren’s time on San Andres was funded by a Fulbright Senior Scholar Lecture/Research Grant. International English is the term used in the Christian University Corporation materials. This activity and celebration no longer exist although sometimes it will be performed at a cultural event. Holm (1978) estimates about 4% of the vocabulary of Central American Creoles have African origins. They are basically the same African words or calques as found in Jamaica (i.e. found in the Dictionary of Jamaican English). Documents such as John Holm’s (1978) and Jay Edwards’ (1970) doctoral dissertations, as well as Dittmann’s (1992), mention many of these words and phrases along with probable languages of origin. On both San Andres and Providence, the most usual form is /fi/, especially as used in the possessive noun and pronoun phrases mentioned earlier (/fi mi bway/  my boy; /fi Jan wiaf/  John’s wife although at times the /fi/ is not included. /ben de/ and /ben a/ have also been recorded on San Andres and Providence, respectively, but are not commonly heard. The term ‘paña’ was once used to refer to Spaniards or Spanish-speaking people but now basically means continental Colombians or Spanish-speaking Colombians living on the Islands. The literal meanings of these three verbs (‘come’, ‘go’, ‘say’) would seem to support Comrie’s (1976) hypothesis that these verbs function as action markers, a phenomena found in African languages and Bickerton (1981) who proposed that they are serial verbs in the process of becoming complement markers: /go/ and /kom/ for verb complements and /se/ for verbs of perception. For a very complete explanation with examples of Aspect and Modality, see O’Flynn (1990), pp. 121–80. In San Andres, there are also two channels in Arabic, as well as some programming in French, German and Italian.

Di two travla Wan taim Breda Nancy an Breda Taiga wende travl, an Breda Taiga faal dong iina wan huol. So Breda Taiga tel Breda Nancy, ‘Sen dong yu tiel mek ah klaim op pan ih’. Breda Nancy sen dong ihn tiel, an breda Taiga huol pan ih. Wen Breda Taiga haal di tiel, Breda Nancy pout di didi! Den Breda Taiga se tu Breda Nancy, ‘If yu didi so ‘swiit’, we yu tink a yuself?’ So wen Breda Nancy hier dat, ihn se, ‘Di muo gud yu du, di les tanks yu get!’ So Breda Nancy se tu Breda Taiga, ‘Klap yu han’. Wen ihn klap im han, ihn wehn hafy let go di tiel. So wen ihn klap, Breda Nancy haal op ihn tiel an lef Breda Taiga, an gaan liv op pan wan trii. Den Breda Taiga fain out se Breda Nancy wehn uonly de plie trik pan im. So ihn trai an trai til ihn kom outa di

World English Vol III.indb 315

11/26/2012 2:35:56 PM

316

World Englishes Volume III

huol, an den fram dat taim ihn get shiem an gaan liv iina di bush. Dat da wai Breda Nancy liv op pan wan trii an Breda Taiga liv iina di bush.

Standard English Version The Two Travelers Once upon a time, Brother Nancy and Brother Tiger were travelling together and Brother Tiger fell into a hole. So, Brother Tiger told Brother Nancy, ‘Send down your tail and let me climb up on it.’ Brother Nancy sent down his tail, and Brother Tiger held onto it. When Brother Tiger pulled on the tail, Brother Nancy shitted! Then, Brother Tiger said to Brother Nancy, ‘If your shit is so sweet, what do you think of yourself?’ When Brother Nancy heard that, he said, ‘The more good you do, the less thanks you get!’ Then, Brother Nancy said to Brother Tiger, ‘Clap your hands.’ When he clapped his hands, he had to let go of the tail. So when he clapped, Brother Nancy hauled up his tail, left Brother Tiger (in the hole) and went to live up in a tree. Then, Brother Tiger found out that Brother Nancy was only playing a trick on him. So he tried and tried until he got out of the hole. Then, after that he became ashamed and went to live in the bush. That’s why Brother Nancy lives up in a tree and Brother Tiger lives in the bush. A Story from the ABC stuoriz book.

G g Di Guos we Kuda Plie Gitar Di likl gyal wehn glad bikaaz evry June wen vakieshan kom, him and ihn big breda go dong da dehn granfaada an granmada. Wan Saturday maanin, wen dehn gaan vizit dehn granpierans, dehn gaan grong wid dehn grandaada. Dehn gaan luk fi mango an guava. Wail dehn wehn gwain lang de waak, di grandaada tel dem wan stuory bout wan big wait guos. Di siem taim dehn hier wan gitar de plie iina di bush. So dehn granfaada gaan si da wat. Wen ihn get iina di bush, ihn uonly fain di gitar an nonbady neva de plie ih. Den ihn se da mos wan guos wende plie ih. Di two pikniny wehn so fraitn dehn staat ron an hala, an neva stap til dehn get bak huom we dehn granmada de!

English version The Ghost that Could Play a Guitar (Once there was) a little girl who was glad because every June when vacation came, she and her big brother would go down to their grandmother and grandfather’s place. One Saturday morning, when they had gone to visit their grandparents,

World English Vol III.indb 316

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

317

they decided to accompany their grandfather to his field. They went to look for guavas and mangos. So, while they were walking along with their grandpa, he began to tell them a story about a big white ghost. At the same time, they began to hear the strumming of a guitar in the woods. So, their grandpa went to investigate. When he got into the woods, he found the guitar and no one was playing it! He told his grandchildren that it was probably the ghost who had been playing the guitar. The two children were so frightened that they started to run and holler, and didn’t stop until they got home where their grandma was waiting for them! Table 7.3 Sequence of Letters to Be Taught in San Andres, Providence and Kathleena Creole, February 2001 No. and Name of Story

Consonants Vowels

Keywords

Conventions of Print

1. Ah Kyaan Stan Pikniny S P

Short i (and word final y)

Sono pikniny likl sombady

Every sentence begins with a capital letter.

2. Misa tom, da wehn wan gud uol man

M T

UO (long o)

Misa Tom uol

People’s names are proper nouns and begin with a capital letter.

3. Misa John guol tiit

G Ks

ii (long i)

guol beks tiit

Telling sentences end with a period.

4. Misa Tom and di Wait Rat

Sm H

ou/uo dipthong

smaal huom pouda

Names of places are proper nouns and begin with a capital letter.

5. Johnny di monky

J F

OU (con’d) word final ow

Johnny fried out kow

Use quotation marks to show the words that people say.

6. Di Rat an di Chiiz

R Ch Z

A (short a)

Rat Chiiz A(h)

Asking sentences end with question marks.

7. Byron Sielin Buot

B L

IE (long a)

Byron likl sielin

Every sentence has a complete thought.

8. Breda Nancy an Breda Taiga

N Ny Br

E (short e)

Nancy nyuz breda se, ded, yet

Titles before a proper name begin with a capital letter. (continued)

World English Vol III.indb 317

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

World Englishes Volume III

318

Table 7.3

(Continued)

No. and Name of Story

Consonants Vowels

Keywords

Conventions of Print

9. Di King Daata

W D

AA (double short a)

Wan daata faamly

Review ‘asking sentences and question marks.’

10. Pairat Morgan

K Ky Kw Zh

v-hn (nazal vowel)

king kyapn kwik trezha wehn

Review ‘every sentence begins with a capital letter.’

11. Wan Lagahed Raid

Pr Dr Gr

AI (long I)

problem droundid grab raid

The word ‘A’ (first-person singular pronoun) always begins with a capital letter.

12. Di Likl Gyal We Get Laas

Gy Gw

O (short 0)

gyal gwain op, so

Review ‘every sentence has a complete thought.’

13. No Go iina di Bush!

W Bw

U (short u)

waak bway bush

Exclamation marks are used to show excitement.

14. Di Yong Gyal We When Waan go Skuul

Y V

UU (double u)

yunifaam vizit skuul

People’s names are proper nouns and begin with a capital letter.

15. Di Guana

Sh -ng

I (short i repeated)

shiek dong prity

Review ‘names of places are proper nouns and begin with a capital letter.’

Bibliography Alsopp, R. (1977), ‘La influencia africana sobre el idioma en el Caribe’, Africa en America Latina, Siglo XXI Editores and UNESCO, University of the West Indies, Barbado and Trinidad: Essays in Linguistics. Bailey, B. L. (1996), Jamaican Creole Syntax: A Transformational Approach, Doctoral thesis, Cambridge University Press. Baruch, E. (1978), A Tonal Grammar of Eskato, Berkley, CA: University of California Press.

World English Vol III.indb 318

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

English in the Colombian Archipelago of San Andres

319

Bickerton, D. (1975), Dynamics of a Creole System, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Cassidy, F. G. and Le Page, R. B. (eds) (1980), Dictionary of Jamaican English, 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press. Christian University Corporation of San Andres, Providencia and Sta. Catalina. 2001–2004, Trilingual Education Project Materials in Islander Creole: Shaat Stuoriz, An Islander English Reader; ABC Stuoriz; 3 first grade language arts books big books; 2 first grade social studies big books; 2 first grade natural science big books; first grade math book; second grade oral English book; 1 first grade CD with children’s songs in English; 2 second grade CD’s with children’s songs in English. Clemente, I. (1991), Educacion, politica educativa y conflicto politico-cultural en San Andres y Providencia, 1886–1980, Universidad de los Andes. Bogota, Colombia. Codazzi, A. (1973), Memorias de Agustín Codazzi, Talleres del Banco de la Republica, Bogota, Colombia. Comrie, B. (1976), Aspect, an Introduction to the Study of Verbal Aspect and Related Problems, London, England: Cambridge University Press. Craig, D. (1979), ‘Bidialectal Education: Creole and Standard in the West Indies’, in J. B. Pride (ed.), Sociolinguistic Aspects of Language Learning and Teaching, Oxford University Press. Desir, L. (1989), Between Loyalties: Racial, Ethnic and National Identity in Providence, Colombia, Ph.D. Dissertation, Johns Hopkins University. Dittmann, M. (1988), ‘El habla sanandresano: ¿lengua o dialecto?’ en Lingüística y Literatura (Journal of the Department of Linguistics and Literature, Universidad de Antioquia), pp. 93–106, Medellín, Antioquia, Colombia. ––. (1992), El Criollo Sanandresano, Lengua y Cultura, Investigación, Colección de Edición Previa, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia. Dittmann, M. and Forbes, O. (1988), ‘Una introducción etnolingüistica al ingles criollo sanandresano’ en Ponencias del Simposio de Lingüística Aftoamericano, (45° International Congress of Latin Americanists, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, 1985), Instituto Lingüisitco Caro y Cuervo, Bogota, Colombia. Early, P. (1981), The Sack of Panama, New York: Viking Press. Eastman, J. C. (1986), Archipielago de San Andrés y Providencia: historia de una frontera, Collection of documents and commentary, Colombian Institute of Anthropology, Bogota, Colombia. Edwards, J. 1970. Sociolinguistics in San Andres Island. Ph.D. Thesis. Tulane University. USA. Floyd, T. (1967), The Anglo-Spanish Struggle for Mosquitia, Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico Press. Givon, T. (1984), Syntax: A functional-Typological Introduction, Vol. 1, Amsterdam, Holland: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Holm, J. (ed.) (1984), Central American English, Heidelbug, Germany: Julius Groos Verlag. Holm, J. A. (1978), The Creole English of Nicaragua’s Misquito Coast: Its Sociolinguistic History and a Comparative Study of Its Lexicon and Syntax, Doctoral Thesis, University of London, London College. England.

World English Vol III.indb 319

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

320

World Englishes Volume III

Jessop, W. Secretary of the Providence Company, Letterbook, England: British Museum. Kupperman, K. (1993), Providencia Island, 1630–1641, Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Lawton, D. (1963), Suprasegmental Phenomena in Jamaican Creole, (unpublished dissertation), Michigan State University. pp 289–291. Newton, A. P. (1986), Providencia: Las actividades colonizadoras de los puritanos ingleses en la Isla de Providencia, Banco de la Republica, Colombia. O’Flynn de Chaves, Carol. (1990), Tiempo, Aspecto y Modalidad en el Criollo Sanandresano, Centro de Estudios de Lenguas Aborígenes de Colombia, Conciencias-Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia. Oral Tradition of Old Providence. (1980), (Mimeograph publication for the annual meeting of governors in Sincelejo, Colombia) by Bill (Washabaugh) and Mary. Copies in the North End Cultural Center and Bank of the Republic Documentary Center, San Andres Island, Colombia. Parsons, J. J. (1964), Una geografía social de las islas de San Andrés y Providencia del Caribe Occidental Colombiano (Translation), Bank of the Republic, Bogota, Colombia. Peterson, W. (2001), The Province of Old Providence, Christian University Corporation of San Andres, Providence and Sta. Catalina. Richardson, B. (1989), ‘Caribbean Migrations: 1838–1985’, in Modern Caribbean, F. Knight and C. Palmer (eds), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and London Press, pp. 203–229. Robinson, J. C. (1996), Providencia Island, Its History and Its People, San Bernadino, CA: The Borgo Press. Ruiz, M. (1984), ‘Música, un elemento de identidad y resistencia cultural en la Isla de San Andrés’, Department of Anthropology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia. San Andres y Providencia (Report of the parliamentary commission that visited the Island of San Andres, 1937), Copy in the Library of the Colombian Academy of History (in Spanish), Bogota, Colombia. Tournaga, L. C. (1975/77), Our Island Heritage, Baptist Seminar – Historical Commission of the Colombian Baptist Mission, Cali, Colombia. Vollmer, L. (1997), La historia del Poblamiento del Archipielago de San Andres, Vieja Providencia y Santa Catalina (English-Spanish text), Ediciones Archipiélago. San Andres Island, Colombia. Washabaugh, W. (1974), Variability in Decreolization on Providence Island, Colombia, Doctoral Thesis, Detroit, MI: Wayne State University. Wilson, P. (1973), Crab Antics, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

World English Vol III.indb 320

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

Index Aceto, M. 264–6 adjectives Bay Islands English 137–8 Belize Kriol sentence structure 89–90 writing system 58–60 Limonese Creole English 220–1 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 184 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 298 adverbs Bay Islands English 139–41 Belize Kriol, writing system 65–72 Limonese Creole English 230 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 184 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 299 Alatorre, A. 20 Allsopp, R. 60 American Heritage Dictionary 48 Arends, J. 229 articles Bay Islands English 143 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 182 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 297 aspectual markers Belize Kriol 69–70 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 189–90 Bailey, B. L. 214 Baumgardner, R. J. 12–13 Bay Islands English Cayman Islands 121–2 clause types creole-type verb complementation 162–3

World English Vol III.indb 321

declarative clauses 158–9 imperatives 160 interrogatives 160 non-finite clauses 160–1 relative clauses 162 complex sentences clausal linking 163 conditionals 164 ethnolinguistic divisions 122–3 grammar 132 Holm’s characterization 121 morphological forms adjectives 137–8 adverbs 139–41 clause types 158–63 complex sentences 163–4 conjunctions 141 determinatives 136–7 interjections 141 noun phrase 141–4 nouns 132–3 prepositions 138 pronouns 133–6 verb phrase 144–58 verbs 138–9 noun phrase articles 143 genitive 143–4 number marking, mass and count nouns 141–3 phonology consonants 123–6 vowels 126–31 verb phrase completive aspect 149 copula verbs 144–5 existential structures 145–6 future markers 147–8 habitual aspect 148 modal auxiliaries 153–5 negation 155–7

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

322

Index

non-past verbal inflection 146–7 passive form 158 past tense verbal inflection 147 perfect aspect 152–3 personal dative 158 pre-verbal markers 149–52 progressive aspect 149 beautiful Elizabethan English 307 Belize Kriol (BK) discourse features 100–1 ethnicity and language 36–7 Hellinger model 4 interrogative adjectives 60 Maya community 36 nasalization 42 orthography 50–1 phonology consonants 42–6 historical changes 46–50 vowels 40–2 place names 53 post-posed adverbial words 71–2 pre-verbal marker 71 pre-verbal tense markers 67–8 regional map 33 sentence structure adjective phrases 89–90 clauses 90–9 noun phrases 75–6 prepositional phrases 78–9 sentences 99–100 tag phrases 90 verb phrases 80–9 Spanish-speaking population 36–7 versus Standard English 37 verbal auxiliaries 70–1 writing system adjectives 58–60 adverbs 65–72 aspect 69–70 conjunctions 73 consonant correspondences 51 future tense 68–9 idiophones 72–3 interjections 73–4 nouns 53–6 past tense 68

World English Vol III.indb 322

prepositions 61–3 pronouns 56–8 verbs 63–4 vowel correspondences 52 word classes 52–3 Bell, A. 24 Benjamin, C. 235 Bernard, Eulalia 240 Bickerton, D. 68, 155, 222 Bileez Kriol Glassary an Spellin Gide 50–1 Bourgois, P. 255–6 Bright, W. 233 Bryce-Laporte, R. 207–8, 243 Butt, J. 235 Central American English African slaves 5–6 British sailors influence 3–4 Caribbean English 3 English settlements 5 Spanish influences 6 Cifuentes, B. 12 clauses Bay Islands English creole-type verb complementation 162–3 declarative clauses 158–9 imperatives 160 interrogatives 160 non-finite clauses 160–1 relative clauses 162 Belize Kriol cognitive clauses 98 declarative clauses 91–2 focus clauses 96–7 imperative clauses 95–6 passive clauses 92–3 relative clauses 97–8 subject–verb agreement 99 Wh-questions 94–5 Yes/No questions 93–4 Limonese Creole English imperatives 232 interrogative structures 230–1 reduplication 233 relative clauses 232–3 tag questions 231–2

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

Index cognitive clauses, Belize Kriol 98 Colombia Archipelago of San Andres demographic data 278–81 geographic position 278 Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Airport 308–9 historical background coconut economy 286 Jamaican colonization 283–5 pre-Colombian habitation and european discovery 281–2 puritans and pirates 282–3 slavery and free men 285–6 regional map 275 sociocultural and linguistic background, 286–90 tourism 281 completive aspect Bay Islands English 149 Belize Kriol 69, 81 Limonese Creole English 225 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 190 complex sentences Bay Islands English clausal linking 163 conditionals 164 Belize Kriol 100 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 306, 308 conjunctions Bay Islands English 141 Belize Kriol 73 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 300 Conniff, M. 255 consonant clusters Bay Islands English 125–6 Belize Kriol 43–4 Limonese Creole English 215 Panamanian Creole English 261 consonants Bay Islands English affrication 126 final stops, devoicing of 126 H dropping and TH stopping 124

World English Vol III.indb 323

323

initial hw- 124 rhoticity 124 syllable-final consonant clusters, reduction of 125–6 T realizations 125 velar palatalization 125 V/W realizations 123 Belize Kriol consonant clusters 43–4 intonation 44–6 nasals 43 stops and fricatives 43 word level stress 44 Limonese Creole English 213–14 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 182 Panamanian Creole English 259–60 continuous aspect, Belize Kriol 69 copula verbs Bay Islands English 144–5 Belize Kriol 86–8 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 187 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 303 Dampier, W. 111 Dayley, J. P. 57, 84 de Ezcurdia, A. H. 12 DeCamp, D. 241 Decker, Ken 295 declarative clauses Bay Islands English 158–9 Belize Kriol 91–2 Deeds, S. M. 14 demographic data, Panamanian Creole English 253 demonstrative pronouns, San Andres and Providence Island Creole 298 determinatives, Bay Islands English 136–7 Dittmann, Marcia 277 Dorian, N. C. 241 Eastman, C. M. 24 Eastman, J. C. 287

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

Index

324

educational system Honduras English 166 Mexican English 10–12 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 180, 198–9 Panamanian Creole English 266–7 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 308–12 Edwards, J. 277, 290 Escobar, S. V. 13 Escure, G. 38–40, 74 Euraque, D. 116 Evans, D. K. 120, 163 Fishman, J. 13 Flores, J. A. 12 focus clauses, Belize Kriol Forbes, Oakley 277 Freeland, J. 208 Fuentes, C. 20

96–7

geographical position Honduras English 109 Limonese Creole English 205 Panamanian Creole English 251–3 Givon, T. 301 Gooden, S. 68 grammar, Bay Islands English 132 Greene, L. A. 35 Griffin, W. 113 Haarmann, H. 24 habitual aspect Bay Islands English 148 Belize Kriol 69–70 Limonese Creole English 225 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 189 Hancock, I. F. 155 Haugen, E. 235 Heath, C. R. 55 Hellinger, M. 4 Hernandez, D. 54 Herranz, A. 116 Herzfeld, A. 212–13, 215, 222, 224–5, 241, 244 Hidalgo, M. 12

World English Vol III.indb 324

historical background Honduras English 110–16 Limonese Creole English 206–8 Panamanian Creole English 254–6 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 281–6 Holm, J. A. 48, 55, 89, 121, 181–2, 187–9, 191, 195, 221–2, 293, 297 Honduras English demographic data 109–10 geographical position 109 history 110–16 sociocultural and linguistic background 116–20 How fi rite Bileez Kriol 50 idiophones, Belize Kriol 72–3 imperative clauses Bay Islands English 160 Belize Kriol 95–6 interjections Bay Islands English 141 Belize Kriol, writing system 73–4 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 300 interrogative clauses Bay Islands English 160 intonation Belize Kriol 44–6 Kachru, Braj 9, 15, 17–18, 21 Kachru’s category of lexical Englishization 16–18 Kaufman, T. 236 Kelly-Holmes, H. 24 Lara, Luis Fernando 20 Lawton, D. 215 Lawton, David 292 Le Page, R. B. 38 lexical features Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 196–7 Panamanian Creole English 261–4

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

Index Lillo Baudes, A. 16 Limonese Creole English adjectives 220–1 clausal structures imperatives 232 interrogative structures 230–1 reduplication 233 relative clauses 232–3 tag questions 231–2 decreolization 240 demographic data 205–6 geographical position 205 historical background 206–8 lexical borrowing adjusted loanwords 236 calques 236 codeswitching 234, 238–9 noun phrase 236–8 Spanish discourse markers 235 verb faltar 238 verbs 235 noun morphology derivational 218 inflectional 217–18 noun phrase word order 216–17 nouns compounding 219–20 possessive constructions 218–19 null subjects and objects 220 orthography 216 phonology consonants 213–14 suprasegmentals 215–16 syllable structure 214–15 vowels 214 prepositions 221 pronouns 217 regional map 203 sociocultural and linguistic background 209–12 Spanish influences 240–2 versus Standard English 240 survival supporting factors 242–3 verbal structures adverbials 230 completive aspect 225 copula use 228–9

World English Vol III.indb 325

325

future tense 224 habitual aspect 225 modal auxiliaries 227–8 negation 226–7 passive voice 227 past tense 222–3 present tense 223–4 progressive aspect 224–5 serial verbs 229–30 Lopez, A. 50 Lord, D. 119 McArthur, T. 9 McKesey, George 50 McWhorter, J. 229 Marx, W. G. 55 media use, Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 197 Mexican English brand names bilingual creativity 21 foreign products 22–3 Mexican products 21–2 educational system 10–12 immigrant groups 12–13 Kachru’s category 16–18 language and culture 26–7 magazine advertising language display 24 print advertising 23 Mexican Spanish borrowing, Monterrey’s El Norte 17 Peninsular Spanish borrowings 14 shop names Remembers Film Café 25 Soubeernir 26 Meyer, H. K. 111 Meyer, J. H. 111 Meyer, M. C. 14 modals see verbal auxiliaries morphology Bay Islands English adjectives 137–8 adverbs 139–41 clause types 158–63 complex sentences 163–4 conjunctions 141

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

326

Index

determinatives 136–7 interjections 141 noun phrase 141–4 nouns 132–3 prepositions 138 pronouns 133–6 verb phrase 144–58 verbs 138–9 Limonese Creole English 216–18 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 182 morphosyntactic characteristics Bay Islands English 121 Limonese Creole English 216, 234, 236, 242 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 196 Panamanian Creole English 264–5 Muysken, P. 229 Myers-Scotton, C. 234 Naylor, R. A. 113 negation verbs Belize Kriol 88–9 Limonese Creole English 226–7 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 192 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 305 Nelson, J. 12 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English adjectives and adverbs 184 aspectual markers 189–90 bilingualism 198 education 198–9 grammatical agreement 194 imperative sentences 194 interrogative sentences 195 lexical features 196–7 media use 197 modal auxiliaries 190–1 negation particles 192 noun phrase articles 182 nominal plural formation 182–3 nominal possession 183

World English Vol III.indb 326

orthography consonants 182 vowels 181–2 passive voice constructions prepositions introducing infinitive 192 serial verbs 191 prepositions 193 pronouns 185–6 regional map 175 repetition and reduplication 193 social, political and economic impact 199–200 subordinated clauses 195–6 trilingualism 198 verb phrase basic verbs 186–7 copular verbs 187 future marking 189 past/anterior tense marking 188 temporally unmarked verbs 188 Niles, N. 163 non-finite clauses, Bay Islands English 160–1 non-past verbal inflection, Bay Islands English 146–7 nouns Bay Islands English 132–3 Belize Kriol common nouns 54–6 constituents 76 plurality 77–8 possessives 78 proper nouns 53–4 sentence structure 75–6 Limonese Creole English compounding 219–20 possessive constructions 218–19 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English articles 182 nominal plural formation 182–3 nominal possession 183 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 296–7

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

Index O’Flynn de Chaves, Carol 277–8, 293–4 Obeng, Samuel 216, 220 orthography Belize Kriol 50–1 Limonese Creole English 216 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English consonants 182 vowels 181–2 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 294–6 Othón, G. L. 18 Panamanian Creole English (PCE) Bocas del Toro variety 266–7 Canal Zone variety 266–7 Colón variety 266–7 demographic data 253 educational system 266–7 geographical position 251–3 historical background 254–6 international tourism 268–9 lexical characteristics 261–4 media use internet access 268 newspapers 268 television and radio broadcasts 267–8 morphosyntactic characteristics 264–5 Panama City variety 266–7 phonological characteristics consonants 259–60 vowels 260–1 regional map 249 regional varieties 265 sociocultural and linguistic background 256–7 Spanish 266 versus Western Caribbean Creole English 258–9 Parsons, J. J. 287 passive clauses, Belize Kriol 92–3 passive voice Limonese Creole English 227

World English Vol III.indb 327

327

Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 191 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 305 past tense verbal inflection, Bay Islands English 147 Patrick, P. 121 perfect aspect, Bay Islands English 152–3 phonology Bay Islands English consonants 123–6 vowels 126–31 Belize Kriol consonants 42–6 historical changes 46–50 vowels 40–2 Limonese Creole English consonants 213–14 suprasegmentals 215–16 syllable structure 214–15 vowels 214 Panamanian Creole English consonants 259–60 vowels 260–1 Portilla Chaves, M. 214–15 prepositions Bay Islands English 138 Belize Kriol sentence structure 78–9 writing system 61–3 Limonese Creole English 221 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 193 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 298–9 pre-verbal markers, Bay Islands English 149–52 progressive aspect Bay Islands English 149 Limonese Creole English 224–5 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 189–90 pronouns Bay Islands English 133–6 Belize Kriol, writing system 56–8 Limonese Creole English 217

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

328

Index

Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 185–6 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 297–9 pronunciations Belize Kriol 41, 43 Honduras English 128–9, 136 Panamanian Creole English 260–1 Purcell, T. W. 243 re-duplication Belize Kriol 65–6, 89–90 Limonese Creole English 233 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 184, 193 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 305–6 relative clauses Bay Islands English 162 Belize Kriol 97–8 relative pronouns San Andres and Providence Island Creole 298 Rickford, J. 259 Roberts, P. A. 47–8 Robinson, J. C. 285, 287 Rodríguez González, F. 16 Rottet, K. 242 Ryan, J. 121 San Andres and Providence Island Creole adjectives 298 adverbs 299 Afro-Anglo-Caribbean identity 310–12 articles 297 basic grammar structures 300–1 basilect/mesolect Creole 290 bilingual education programme 313 conjunctions 300 discourse features 307 English teaching stories 315–18 field work study, English influences 293–4 interjections 300 media use 312–13

World English Vol III.indb 328

minority communities 309–10 native community-church college 312 noun phrase nucleus demonstrative pronouns and possessive structure 302 pluralizer 301 re-duplication of adjectives 302 nouns 296–7 old time expressions 300 orthography 294–6 phonology consonants 291–3 local differences 291 syallables 293 vowels 291–3 prepositional phrase 302 prepositions 298–9 pronouns 297–8 Spanish influence 307–8 syllabic accentuation 307 training programmes and open courses 313–14 verb structures anterior marker 303–4 attributive structure 302–3 auxiliary verbs 306 continuous/progressive action marker 304 copulative verbs 303 future time 304 negative verbs 305 passive voice 305 past/anterior progressive 304 re-duplication 305–6 relative/descriptive phrases 306–7 tag phrases 306 verbs 299 Secretaria de Educación Pública (SEP) 10 sentences, Belize Kriol 44–6, 63, 66, 99–100 serial verbs Belize Kriol 89 Limonese Creole English 229–30 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 191

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

Index Sherman, W. L. 14 Smith, N. 229 sociocultural and linguistic background Honduras English 116–20 Limonese Creole English 209–12 Panamanian Creole English 256–7 Solís Hinojosa, J. A. 13 Spears, A. K. 68 Spence, M. J. 210, 243 Standard English versus Belize Kriol 37 versus Limonese Creole English 240 Stein, R. F. 24 suprasegmental features Belize Kriol 46 Tabouret-Keller, A. 6 tag phrases Belize Kriol, sentence structure San Andres and Providence Island Creole 306 Tense, mood and aspect (TMA) markers 80–4 Thomas-Brereton, L. 252, 262 Thomason, S. G. 236 Thompson, J. E. S. 53 TMA markers see tense, mood and aspect (TMA) markers Tode and Billy poem 50

90

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) 11 verbal auxiliaries Bay Islands English 153–5 Belize Kriol 70–1 Limonese Creole English 227–8 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 190–1 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 306 verbs Bay Islands English 138–9 Belize Kriol copula 86–8

World English Vol III.indb 329

329

post-verbal adverbial words 88 pre-verbal constituent ordering 84–6 serial verbs 89 TMA markers 80–4 verbal negation 88–9 writing system 63–4 Limonese Creole English adverbials 230 completive aspect 225 copula use 228–9 future tense 224 habitual aspect 225 modal auxiliaries 227–8 negation 226–7 passive voice 227 past tense 222–3 present tense 223–4 progressive aspect 224–5 serial verbs 229–30 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English basic verbs 186–7 copular verbs 187 future marking 189 past/anterior tense marking 188 temporally unmarked verbs 188 San Andres and Providence Island Creole 299 vowels Bay Islands English inventories, part-systems of 126 lengthening and breaking 131 nasalization 131 realizations 127–31 sing-song intonation 131–2 Belize Kriol length of production 40–1 nasalisation 42 tense and lax vowels 41–2 Limonese Creole English 214 Nicaraguan Coast Creole and English 181–2 Panamanian Creole English 260–1 Warantz, E. 121 Washabaugh, William

277, 299

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM

330

Wells, J. 126 Welmers, W. E. 52, 86 Williams, J. 122 Winford, D. 68, 121 Winkler, E. G. 213, 231, 243 Wright, J. 47–8, 54, 60, 63 writing system aspect, pronouns 56–8 Belize Kriol adjectives 58–60 adverbs 65–72 aspect 69–70 conjunctions 73

World English Vol III.indb 330

Index consonant correspondences future tense 68–9 idiophones 72–3 interjections 73–4 nouns 53–6 past tense 68 prepositions 61–3 verbs 63–4 word classes 52–3

51

Young, C. N. 39–40, 45, 50, 54, 57, 77 Young, T. 117

11/26/2012 2:35:57 PM