Academic literature on the topic 'Creole dialects, English – Bahamas'

This article presents both quantitative and qualitative information on the orthography, lexis, and morphosyntax of Bahamian Standard English. Employing a press corpus of over 100 000 words, it aims not only at a descriptive account but also at initial answers to two research questions. First, is Standard English as spoken in the Bahamas still following the traditional British norm or has it shifted toward an American orientation; and second, what role does the local creole play in shaping the variety? An overview of the current sociolinguistic situation obtaining in the Bahamas complements the analysis.

The colonial history of Australia necessitated contact between nineteenth and twentieth century dialects of English and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages. This has resulted in the emergence of contact languages, some of which have been identified as creoles (e.g. Sandefur 1979, Shnukal 1983) while others have been hidden under the label of ‘Aboriginal English’, exacerbated by what Young (1997) described as a gap in our knowledge of historical analyses of individual speech varieties. In this paper we provide detailed sociohistorical data on the emergence of a contact language in Woorabinda, an ex-Government Reserve in Queensland. We propose that the data shows that the label ‘Aboriginal English’ previously applied (Alexander 1968) does not accurately identify the language. Here we compare the sociohistorical data for Woorabinda to similar data for both Kriol, a creole spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia and to Bajan, an ‘intermediate creole’ of Barbados, to argue that the language spoken in Woorabinda is most likely also an intermediate creole.

There are now significant numbers of children who speak a language other than English when they enter the formal school system in Australia. Many of these children come from a language background that is entirely different from the school language. Many Indigenous children, however, come from creole-speaking backgrounds where their home language may share features with the school language whilst remaining substantially different in other ways. What often makes this situation more challenging is the tendency to view creole, rather than as a different language, as a kind of deficient version of the standard language. Children entering the school system with a creole thus often encounter considerable difficulties. In addition, teachers who are not trained in teaching creole-speaking children may not recognise these difficulties. This paper explores some of these issues in the Australian context with reference to home languages such as Kriol and Torres Strait Creole (TSC) as well as minority dialects such as Australian Aboriginal English (AAE), and discusses possible resolutions.

ABSTRACT-t,d deletion is a well-known variable phonological process subject to the influence of both external social factors and internal structural constraints, including phonetic environmental and morphosyntactic effects. Its profile of variation has been widely investigated in American English dialects. However, it interacts with another grammatical process – the regular affixation of final /-t, -d/ as a past-tense marker – that strongly distinguishes these dialects from English-related creoles, where past-marking by this mechanism is infrequent or non-occurrent. Investigation of -t,d deletion in mesolectal Jamaican Creole (JC) thus raises important questions about the intersection of variable processes, the generality of phonetic environmental constraints, and the degree of difference between English-related creoles and metropolitan standard and non-standard Englishes.

The system of empty categories in Singapore English, a contact language with an endogenous ecology, arises through the interaction of three parameters: [topic-prominence], [pro-drop], and [wh-movement]. These parameters are reset under the pressure of the languages in the contact ecology, mainly the substrate Chinese dialects, and the lexifier English. The paper adopts a holistic approach to creole genesis, in which substrate and superstrate influence is expressed in terms of parametric re-structuring constrained by principles of Universal Grammar. Surface-true substrate, superstrate, or novel features are exponents of this parametric re-structuring.

The Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English (WAVE), edited by Bernd Kortmann and Kerstin Lunkenheimer, is an impressive and significant achievement. Consisting of almost 1,000 pages of detailed accounts of morphosyntactic patterns in 55 varieties of English from around the world (with some analysis of a further 19) by an international range of experts (many of whom are native speakers of the varieties they describe), WAVE represents a major step forward in our understanding of dialect variation in English and illustrates in fine detail a vast array of linguistic systems that fall under the umbrella ‘English’ across the world today. Using a list of 235 morphosyntactic features, WAVE explores diatopic variation in L1, L2 and pidgin/creole varieties across the globe, illustrating the results in 96 full-colour maps, and investigates the deeper relationships between the varieties in 23 colour-coded phenetic networks. It is a veritable feast for the eyes, but there is so much detail in it that it is much more than that; it is, in fact, a huge database echoing in many ways The World Atlas of Language Structures (Haspelmath et al. 2005) in its depth and breadth.

ABSTRACTThe analysis of letters written by 19th-century African Americans shows constraints on verbal -s marking which parallel those found in the writing of Scotch-Irish immigrants in the same time period and region, specifically a subject type constraint and a proximity to subject constraint. This correlation is highly suggestive for the study of the development of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). This study finds no support for a basis from a creole or from Standard English for AAVE in verbal concord and concludes that some, perhaps many, African Americans used varieties of English with little or no creole influence. Earlier studies have assumed that standard dialects of English constituted the superstrate in colonial and antebellum America; this analysis makes it clear that we must examine the features of the local varieties, black and white, before making any claims about the influences of language contact on a given variety. Further, the consistent patterns of inflections found in this study show that written documents, in particular letters written by semiliterate African Americans, are a good source for further linguistic study of 19th-century language.

SUMMARY In this second part of a two-part study of the origins of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), specific structural features of this dialect are examined and the argument is made that they arose via a process of language shift by Africans toward the white settler dialects of the southern American colonies in the 17th through 19th centuries. Essentially, the author agrees with dialec-tologists that AAVE was never itself a creole, but rather the result of partially successful acquistion of settler dialects by Africans who restructured the target in various ways. On the whole, three kinds of explanation for the structural features of AAVE are offered. First, as dialectologists have argued, certain features of AAVE such as negative copula/perfect ain't, invariant don't, negative concord etc., were simply adopted without much change from settler dialects. The same is true of certain phonological features such as the use of /n/ for /ng/ in participles and gerunds like walking and so on. Second, several features of AAVE appear to have resulted from the effects of imperfect second language learning, resulting in simplification or loss of certain morphological apparatus, for instance in the copula and auxiliary systems and in verbal and nominal inflection. This kind of simplification is quite common in cases of (untutored) second language acquisition, as well as in creole formation. Hence the tendency to view such features as 'creole', when they are not in fact uniquely creole features. Third, despite this caveat, there is strong evidence that several distinctive AÀVE features can be explained as the result of substratum 'transfer' (or retention) of creole structural and/or semantic properties. Features which can be explained in this way include negative preterite ain 't remote perfect BEEN and habitual be. Certain phonological features such as /d/ for /ð/ etc, also appear due to creole and/or African substrate influence. In some cases (e.g., variable copula absence) the effects of simplification and substratum transfer may have reinforced each other. In short, though AAVE was never itself a creole, it was created by Africans, and bears the distinctive marks of that creation. RÉSUMÉ Dans la deuxième moitié de cet article, qui traite des origines de l'anglais vernaculaire afro-américain (AVAA), l'auteur porte son attention sur les traits structuraux qui individualisent ce dialecte. Il soutient qu'ils sont apparus lors de l'assimilation linguistique des africains lorsqu'ils firent l'acquisition des dialectes des colons blancs du sud des États-Unis, du XIIe au XIXe siècle. L'auteur est en accord avec les dialectologues qui ont soutenu que l'AVAA n'a jamais été une langue creole, mais plutôt un parler que les Africains ont modifié de diverses façons en raison du fait qu'ils n'ont que partiellement réussi à s'assimiler l'ensemble du système de la langue des colons blancs. L'auteur a trois genres d'explications à offrir quant à l'origine de chacun des traits structuraux. Premièrement, en accord avec ce qu'ont soutenu les dialectologues, il soutient que certains traits, tels la forme négative/parfaite de la copule, ain't, le don't invariable et l'utilisation obligatoire de plusieurs négations dans une même proposition, proviendraient des dialectes des colons sans subir quelque modification d'importance. Il en irait de même de certains traits phonologiques, tels le remplacement de /n/ par /n/ dans les formes du participe présent et du gérondif, {walking), et ainsi de suite. Deuxièmement, certains traits de l'AVAA sembleraient provenir des effets de l'acquisition imparfaite d'une langue seconde, aboutissant à la simplification ou à la perte de certains systèmes morphologiques, par exemple celui de la copule et des auxiliaires et celui de la flexion nominale et verbale. Ce genre de simplification serait fort fréquent dans des situations d'acquisition 'sur le vif', d'une langue seconde, autant que lors de la formation des langues creoles. D'où selon l'auteur la tendance à y voir des traits 'creoles', alors qu'en fait ces traits se retrouvent également ailleurs que dans les creoles. Malgré cette mise en garde, l'auteur soutient qu'il y a de fortes raisons de croire que plusieurs traits caractéristiques de l'AVAA s'expliqueraient comme étant le résultat d'un 'transfert' (ou d'une préservation) de caractéristiques structurelles et/ou sémantiques creoles. Parmi les traits qui pourraient s'expliquer ainsi, on compte ain't, marque du prétérit négatif, BEEN, marque du parfait lointain et be, marque du fréquentatif. Certains traits phonologiques, comme par exemple le remplacement de /ð/ par /d/, et ainsi de suite, sembleraient s'expliquer par une influence creole et/ou africaine. Dans certains cas (ainsi, la possibilité de laisser tomber la copule) les effets de la simplification et du transfert de traits du substrat africain se seraient peut-être renforcés les uns les autres. En bref, selon l'auteur, bien que l'AVAA n'aurait jamais été une langue creole, c'est une langue qu'auraient créé des Africains, et on y trouverait toujours les marques distinctes de cette création. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG In diesem Artikel, dem zweiten Teil einer zweiteiligen Studie über die Ur-sprünge des einheimischen Englisch der Afro-Amerikaner (EEAA), untersucht der Autor spezielle strukturelle Eigenschaften dieser Sprache. Er versucht nachzuweisen, daß sich diese strukturellen Eigenschaften aus einem ProzeB der Sprachverschiebung bei den Afro-Amerikanern in Richtung der Siedlerdialekte des kolonialen Südens der Vereinigten Staaten während des 17. und 19. Jahr-hunderts ableiten lassen. lm wesentlichen stimmt er überein mit dem von den Dialektologen bezogenen Standpunkt, daB das EEAA niemals ein Kreol v/ar, sondern daB es das Ergebnis eines nur teilweise erfolgreichen Erwerbs der Siedlerdialekte durch die Afrikaner ist. Diese partiell erworbenen Siedlerdialekte wurden dann auf verschiedene Weise von den Afrikanern verändert. Ins-gesamt präsentiert er drei Erklärungsansätze für die charakteristischen strukturellen Eigenschaften des EEAA. Erstens, wie schon von den Dialektologen festgestellt, wurden bestimmte Eigenschaften des EEAA, wie die negierte Ko-pula/das negierte Perfekt ain't, das unveränderliche dont, die negative Kon-gruenz, usw, direkt und ohne wesentliche Veränderungen aus den Siedlerdia-lekten übernommen. Das gleiche gilt auch für bestimmte phonologische Eigenschaften, wie der Gebrauch von /ng/ anstelle von /n/ in Partizipien und Gerun-dien wie walking, usw. Zweitens scheinen einige Eigenschaften des EEAA das Resultat eines unvollständigen Erwerbs der Siedlerdialekte zu sein, was zur Vereinfachung oder zum vollstandigen Verlust bestimmter morphologischer Eigenschaften geführt hat, wie zum Beispiel die Veränderungen innerhalb des Kopular- und Auxiliarsystems und in der Verbal- und Nominalflektion. Diese Art Vereinfachung tritt häufig beim ungelenkten Zweitspracherwerb auf, sowie bei der Kreolgenese, was erklärt, warum solche Eigenschaften fälschlich als typisch für Kreole angesehen werden. Drittens gibt es eindeutige Hinweise, daB einige für das EEAA charakteristische Eigenschaften das Ergebnis von Substrattransfer (oder Erhalt) sind. So zum Beispiel das negative Präteritum ain't, das entfernte Perfekt been und das habituelle be. Phonologische Eigenschaften wie der Gebrauch von /d/ anstelle von /ð/ scheinen ebenso von einem Kreol bzw. einem afrikanischm Substrat beeinfluBt. In bestimmten Fallen (so zum Beispiel die variable Abwesenheit der Kopula) scheint es, daB sich die Ergebnisse von Vereinfachung und Transfer aus dem Substrat wechselseitig bestarkt haben. Zusammenfassend läßt sich also feststellen, daB das EEAA nicht von einem Kreol abstammt, sondern von Afrikanern erschaffen worden ist und deutliche Merkmale dieses Kreationsprozesses aufweist.

Creole languages are formed in conditions where speakers from distinct languages are brought together without a shared first language, typically under the domination of speakers from one of the languages and particularly in the context of the transatlantic slave trade and European colonialism. One such Creole in Suriname, Sranan, developed around the mid-seventeenth century, primarily out of contact between varieties of English from England, spoken by the dominant group, and multiple West African languages. The vast majority of the basic words in Sranan come from the language of the dominant group, English. Here, we compare linguistic features of modern-day Sranan with those of English as spoken in 313 localities across England. By way of testing proposed hypotheses for the origin of English words in Sranan, we find that 80% of the studied features of Sranan can be explained by similarity to regional dialect features at two distinct input locations within England, a cluster of locations near the port of Bristol and another cluster near Essex in eastern England. Our new hypothesis is supported by the geographical distribution of specific regional dialect features, such as post-vocalic rhoticity and word-initial ‘h’, and by phylogenetic analysis of these features, which shows evidence favouring input from at least two English dialects in the formation of Sranan. In addition to explicating the dialect features most prominent in the linguistic evolution of Sranan, our historical analyses also provide supporting evidence for two distinct hypotheses about the likely geographical origins of the English speakers whose language was an input to Sranan. The emergence as a likely input to Sranan of the speech forms of a cluster near Bristol is consistent with historical records, indicating that most of the indentured servants going to the Americas between 1654 and 1666 were from Bristol and nearby counties, and that of the cluster near Essex is consistent with documents showing that many of the governors and important planters came from the southeast of England (including London) (Smith 1987 The Genesis of the Creole Languages of Surinam ; Smith 2009 In The handbook of pidgin and creole studies , pp. 98–129). This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution’.

Creoles (here including expanded pidgins) are commonly viewed as being more analytic than their lexifiers and other languages in terms of grammatical marking. The purpose of the study reported in this article was to examine the validity of this view by measuring the frequency of analytic (and synthetic) markers in corpora of two different English-lexified creoles — Tok Pisin and Hawai‘i Creole — and comparing the quantitative results with those for other language varieties. To measure token frequency, 1,000 randomly selected words in each creole corpus were tagged with regard to word class, and categorized as being analytic, synthetic, both analytic and synthetic, or purely lexical. On this basis, an Analyticity Index and a Syntheticity Index were calculated. These were first compared to indices for other languages and then to L1 varieties of English (e.g. standard British and American English and British dialects) and L2 varieties (e.g. Singapore English and Hong Kong English). Type frequency was determined by the size of the inventories of analytic and synthetic markers used in the corpora, and similar comparisons were made. The results show that in terms of both token and type frequency of grammatical markers, the creoles are not more analytic than the other varieties. However, they are significantly less synthetic, resulting in much higher ratios of analytic to synthetic marking. An explanation for this finding relates to the particular strategy for grammatical expansion used by individuals when the creoles were developing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xxiv, 297 p. ; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-297).

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2008.
Title from file title page. Mary Zeigler, committee chair; Marti Singer, Lynée Gaillet, committee members. Electronic text (113 [i.e. 112] p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Oct. 1, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-110).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Education.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-93). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ99394

Thesis (M.Ed.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Education.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL:http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99308

This study was an exploration of the relationship between classroom discourse and a high-stakes, standardized test, the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA), administered to students in Trinidad in their final elementary school year ("Standard 5"), with scores used to determine placement into secondary school. Classroom discourse was measured as represented in the oral and written language modeled to students by teachers and textbooks, and compared to the written language expectations implicit in the instructions and items on the SEA. Students' SEA scores were analyzed in relation to their teachers' language to determine if achievement was related to exposure to local/non-standard features of Trinidadian English. One outcome of this analysis was the creation of a survey developed to measure teachers' propensity for speaking Trini (Creole/dialect) or Trinidadian Academic English (standard English) in class by having them respond to audio clips. The survey was found to have acceptable reliability and concurrent validity. For the oral language investigation, 13 teachers were recorded as they led their class in one lesson, and an index of Trini usage (number of Trini utterances per 100 words) was calculated for each teacher. This index was used in an HLM model to determine if teachers' language was a predictor of their students' SEA scores. The distribution of the Trini index was positively skewed, M=1.1 and SD=1.25, indicating low usage of Trini. Trini usage was not found to be a significant predictor of students' 2008 SEA scores, but was found to be a significant predictor of the variation in SEA scores when these were aggregated by class. Similarly, there were few instances of Trini features in the examined textbooks. However, on the SEA, the only influence of Trini was the presence of dialect options used as distractors on two "fill in the blank" items, suggesting a mismatch between the features used in instructional language and the language expectations on the exam. In general, the low exposure to local features did not account for students' achievement on the SEA, but was positively related to the consistency of scores within a class.
text