Linguistic evidence for the influence of indigenous Caribbean grammars on the grammars of the Atlantic Creoles
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Marta Viada Bellido de Luna
Abstract
The now extinct indigenous languages of the insular Caribbean belonged to the North Arawakan sub-family. Given that no written grammatical descriptions seem to have survived of these languages, one of the only ways to gain some idea of what constituted their grammatical features is to make a comparison of the languages most closely related to them. A comparison of the grammatical features which are commonly found in the Atlantic Creoles with those found in the languages most closely related to the North Arawakan languages of the insular Caribbean reveals considerable similarities in structure between the two groups of languages. These similarities are sufficiently systematic and pervasive to suggest some influence of the indigenous languages of the Caribbean on the grammars of the Atlantic Creoles.
Abstract
The now extinct indigenous languages of the insular Caribbean belonged to the North Arawakan sub-family. Given that no written grammatical descriptions seem to have survived of these languages, one of the only ways to gain some idea of what constituted their grammatical features is to make a comparison of the languages most closely related to them. A comparison of the grammatical features which are commonly found in the Atlantic Creoles with those found in the languages most closely related to the North Arawakan languages of the insular Caribbean reveals considerable similarities in structure between the two groups of languages. These similarities are sufficiently systematic and pervasive to suggest some influence of the indigenous languages of the Caribbean on the grammars of the Atlantic Creoles.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements ix
- Abbreviations xi
- Marginalized peoples, racialized slavery and the emergence of the Atlantic Creoles 1
- African agency in the emergence of the Atlantic Creoles 41
- Women and colonial era creolization 55
- Indigenous peoples and the emergence of the Caribbean Creoles 81
- Linguistic evidence for the influence of indigenous Caribbean grammars on the grammars of the Atlantic Creoles 111
- Sociétés de cohabitation and the similarities between the English lexifier Creoles of the Atlantic and the Pacific 149
- Influences of Houma ancestral languages on Houma French 185
- Marginalized peoples and Creole Genesis 215
- References 225
- Index 239
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements ix
- Abbreviations xi
- Marginalized peoples, racialized slavery and the emergence of the Atlantic Creoles 1
- African agency in the emergence of the Atlantic Creoles 41
- Women and colonial era creolization 55
- Indigenous peoples and the emergence of the Caribbean Creoles 81
- Linguistic evidence for the influence of indigenous Caribbean grammars on the grammars of the Atlantic Creoles 111
- Sociétés de cohabitation and the similarities between the English lexifier Creoles of the Atlantic and the Pacific 149
- Influences of Houma ancestral languages on Houma French 185
- Marginalized peoples and Creole Genesis 215
- References 225
- Index 239
