Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora
-
Walt Wolfram
Abstract
To examine the question of ethnolinguistic alignment and distinctiveness in the African English diaspora, we compare several communities of Afro and Anglo speakers in lesser-known varieties of English in historically insular communities, including a remote coastal area on the Atlantic Ocean of the United States, isolated regions in the Abaco region in the Bahama Islands, and the out-of-the way island of Saba in the Dutch Caribbean. The results of the comparative analyses for copula absence, syllable-coda cluster reduction, and vowel systems indicate both commonality and diversity. Accommodation to the traits of Afro English communities is found to varying degrees by cohort Anglo communities while each community preserves ethnolinguistic distinctiveness. The conclusion underscores both the significance of diffusion and substrate influence in support of an enduring, ethnically based English language profile in the African diaspora.
Abstract
To examine the question of ethnolinguistic alignment and distinctiveness in the African English diaspora, we compare several communities of Afro and Anglo speakers in lesser-known varieties of English in historically insular communities, including a remote coastal area on the Atlantic Ocean of the United States, isolated regions in the Abaco region in the Bahama Islands, and the out-of-the way island of Saba in the Dutch Caribbean. The results of the comparative analyses for copula absence, syllable-coda cluster reduction, and vowel systems indicate both commonality and diversity. Accommodation to the traits of Afro English communities is found to varying degrees by cohort Anglo communities while each community preserves ethnolinguistic distinctiveness. The conclusion underscores both the significance of diffusion and substrate influence in support of an enduring, ethnically based English language profile in the African diaspora.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact
- Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar 23
- The African diaspora in Latin America 49
- The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process 79
- Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? 101
- Bahamian Creole English 123
- Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora 145
- Historical separations 177
-
Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact
- Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure 203
- Unity in diversity 225
- Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss 251
- Number marking in Jamaican Patwa 275
- Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus 305
- Pidginization versus second language acquisition 323
- Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo 343
- Author index 363
- Language index 365
- Subject index 367
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact
- Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar 23
- The African diaspora in Latin America 49
- The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process 79
- Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? 101
- Bahamian Creole English 123
- Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora 145
- Historical separations 177
-
Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact
- Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure 203
- Unity in diversity 225
- Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss 251
- Number marking in Jamaican Patwa 275
- Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus 305
- Pidginization versus second language acquisition 323
- Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo 343
- Author index 363
- Language index 365
- Subject index 367
