the linguistic situation of the Caribbean

1
the linguistic situation of the Caribbean

• Silvia Kouwenberg
• overview background
• L32A 2006/07 Week 2

2
Language in the Caribbean overview and
background

• Topics
• (lack of) geographical unity
• pre-Columbian population languages of the
  Guianas, the Antilles
• the special case of Island Carib
• the effect of European conquest on the native
  languages of the Guianas, the Antilles
• the Spanish presence in the Caribbean historical
  considerations linguistic effects

3
the pre-columbian linguistic situationof the
Antilles

• Álvarez Nazario (1996) Arawaks were established
  in Puerto Rico at least since the second century
  a.D., from whence they moved on to Hispaniola,
  Jamaica, Cuba and the Bahamas
• Migration from the South American continent to
  Trinidad and the Lesser Antilles probably
  predates the peopling of the Greater Antilles by
  several thousand years

4
the pre-columbian linguistic situationof the
Antilles

• Several waves of migration, the most recent one
  being of Carib (Kariña) speakers, probably only a
  few hundred years before Columbus
• the pre-Columbian linguistic situation was one
  of contact conflict
• Álvarez Nazario, Manuel 1996 Arqueología
  lingüística. Estudios modernos dirigidos al
  rescate y reconstrucción del arahuaco taíno. San
  Juan, PR Universidad de Puerto Rico

5
the effect of European conquest on the linguistic
situation of the Antilles

• dead languages attested by wordlists include
• Nepuyo (10 words and short sentences in a 1629
  publication most likely Cariban Trinidad
  parts of the neighbouring mainland)
• Shebayo (15 words in a 1640 source possibly
  Arawakan, but some words seem more clearly
  Cariban Trinidad)

Taylor, Douglas 1977 Languages of the West
Indies. Baltimore London Johns Hopkins
University Press
6
the effect of European conquest on the linguistic
situation of the Antilles

• dead languages attested by wordlists include
• Yao (52 words in a 1640 source clearly Cariban
  Trinidad, Guiana coastal region from the Orinoco
  eastward to the Mayacare)
• Taino (several hundred words and a few sentences
  in Spanish and Italian sources of the 15th and
  16th centuries, many of which designate
  unidentified flora and fauna or are proper names
  for around 60 forms, Arawakan cognates can be
  established Greater Antilles, Bahamas)

Taylor, Douglas 1977 Languages of the West
Indies. Baltimore London Johns Hopkins
University Press
7
Island Carib

• Island-Carib is an Arawak language which has
  incorporated Carib elements
• Arawak sentence
• chile-à-tina t-óne
• Island-Carib male register
• nemboui-à-tina t-ibónam
• (come-perf-1sg 3sgf-towards)
• I have come to her

8
Island Carib

• Father Raymond Breton (in the West Indies during
  1635-1654) claims that, in Dominica, then
  inhabited only by Indians, he was told que les
  insulaires étaient des Galibis de terre ferme qui
  sétaient détachés du continent pour conquêrer
  les Iles, que le Capitaine qui les avait conduits
  était petit de corps, mais grand en courage,
  quil mangeait peu et buvait encore moins, quil
  avait exterminé tous les naturels du pays à la
  réserve des femmes, qui ont toujours gardé
  quelque chose de leur langue
• Taylor points out that it is, in fact, the men
  who retained a little of their language, whereas
  the language of the women (Iñeri) was fully
  maintained.

9
Male and female forms in Bretons 1666
dictionary of Island Carib

• Female
• ínharou woman
• eyéri man
• cáti moon
• óya rain
• cáchi sun
• mónha earth, soil
• lapourcou the other
• obogne dwelling place, town
• naníchi strength, courage
• noúcouya 1s
• boúcouya 2s

• Male
• ouélle woman
• ouekélli man
• nónum moon
• conóboui rain
• huéyou sun
• mónha earth, soil
• eyepoue the other
• autê dwelling place, town
• iouánni strength, courage
• áo 1s
• ámanle 2s

10
the effect of European conquest on the linguistic
situation of the Caribbean

• the demise of the indigenous languages
• the introduction of European languages
• the introduction of African languages
• the introduction of Asian languages
• the development of Caribbean varieties of some of
  these
• the development of Creole languages

11
Spanish presence in the Caribbean

• Earliest colonizing presence
• Spanish dominance lasted about a century before
  it faced serious challenges from other European
  colonizing nations in the 17th century
• The Spanish inhabited the Greater Antilles and
  Trinidad, but the entire archipelago was of
  strategic importance to them

12
The decimation of the native population under
Spanish colonization

• Hispaniola by 1509 the population had been
  decimated to the point where the Spanish started
  to raid indian slaves from the islas inútilas
  despite this, by 1522, indians were all but
  extinct
• Puerto Rico a 1508 expedition found gold
  deposits within about ten years, the gold was
  worked out, and the islands Arawak population of
  600,000 in 1508 was virtually extinct
• Bahamas 1509-1519 over two million indians were
  brought to Hispaniola from various islas
  inútilas, starting with the Bahamas by 1514,
  the Bahamas were empty of people

13
The decimation of the native population under
Spanish colonization

• Jamaica 1509, all but abandoned again in 1519,
  by which time indians, who had been forced to
  work in excess in the production of manioc, maize
  and cotton, had become virtually extinct
• Cuba 1511 - important gold deposits found by
  1519, the mines were exhausted, and most Indians
  dead
• by 1520, all native peoples had been removed from
  the northern Leeward islands except for St Kitts
  and Nevis St Lucia, Tobago, Barbados had been
  depopulated, and Aruba and Bonaire nearly so
• Watts, David 2000 Early Hispanic new world
  agriculture, 1492-1509. Shepherd, V et al. (eds)
  Caribbean slavery in the Atlantic world.
  Kingston Ian Randle, 136-52

14
Spanish presence in the Caribbean

• Exceptionally cruel treatment of Amerindians
  resulted in their decimation, and the
  disappearance of their languages in Spanish-held
  territories
• No creole vernaculars have been documented (past
  or present) in Spanish-colonized territories

15
Territory Year Population Cuba 1774 44 black
(26 slave/18 free), 56 white 77,180 (38,879
slave, 36,301 free) vs. 96,440 Suriname 1744 95
black, 5 white 25,135 vs. 1,217 Haiti 1739 9
2 black, 8 white 120,592 vs. c.11,202 St
Croix 1770 93 black, 7 white 18,884 vs.
1,515 Berbice 1720 90 black, 10
white 400-500 vs. c.50 Jamaica 1713 88
black, 12 white c.55,000 vs. c.7,000
16
Bozal Spanish

• large-scale sugar plantations were developed in
  Cuba towards the end of the 18th century gt
  growth of black population
• Bozal Spanish, is reported to have been used
  among new arrivals

17
Bozal Spanish

• "This speech is uniform among the Negroes, no
  matter from which nation they come, and is
  retained throughout life, unless they came very
  young. It is a distorted and mutilated
  Castillian, without concord, number, declension
  or conjugation, without strong r, final s or d,
  frequently exchanging ll for ñ, e for i, g for v,
  etc. in sum, a jargon the more confused the more
  recent the arrival. (...) the Negros born in Cuba
  talk like the local whites." (Pichardo 1862,
  quoted in Holm 1988)

18
Bozal Spanish

• example of the speech of aged Cubans of African
  descent recorded early 20th century (quoted in
  Holm 1988 309)
• Manque yo múri, ese otá, en ese otá, yo mimo
  tá hí.
• although I die, that rock, in that rock, I
  myself will be there.
• To día uté hablá con mí. Yo ta
  compañá to yijo.
• every day you will talk with me. I will
  accompany
• to yijo. Mañana yo ikú. Ikú ese
  cane na má,
• your children. tomorrow I die. die this flesh
  no more,
• pellejo mio sí, se pedé. Pero yo tá hí.
• skin my yes, be-lost. but I will be there.

19
the modern Spanish legacyin the Caribbean

• Caribbean / Latin American Spanish exists in
  standard and non-standard varieties
• Palenquero first mention of their own language
  in 1772
• Papiamentu emerged continues to be spoken in
  Dutch- colonized Curaçao (from where it spread to
  Aruba, Bonaire)

20
the modern Spanish legacyin the Caribbean

• Trinidad Spanish (nonstandard, but not
  creolized, and also different from Bozal Spanish)
  spoken by less than 1 of the native-born
  population, scattered throughout the national
  territory (i) descendants of Caribs educated in
  schools during the over 200 years of Spanish
  occupation ending in 1797 (ii) descendants of
  immigrant rural labour from eastern Venezuela
  during first half of 19th century.

21
the modern Spanish legacyin the Caribbean

• African languages in Cuba secret societies
  emerged in the first half of the 19th century
• ritual languages of Efik, Bantu, and Yoruba
  source used among secret societies (the Abakua,
  Paleros, and Santeros).
• Abakuá ritual text Aramayín aprosantén Abasí
  ñaíro embenirú amusá. Endiaga fere ekueñón. Etc.