Norval Smith

The Ịjọ element in Berbice Dutch

Berbice Dutch is one of two recently rediscovered Dutch-based Creole languages spoken in Guyana. It is spoken in the county of Berbice, which corresponds to the former Dutch colony of Berbice, founded in the early seventeenth century. This language possesses certain features that make it unique in comparison to other European language-based Creoles spoken in the Atlantic region. Because of these unique features, it represents a promising test case for the presence of substrate influence, and as such, is of obvious relevance for the present creolist debate between substratists and universalists. The article discusses four different conceivable hypotheses to explain the origin of Berbice Dutch. The first of these assumes that a mixed Dutch–Kalaịarḅ trading jargon was developed in Africa as a result of the operations of the slave traders, and that this formed the basis of Berbice Dutch. The second hypothesis depends critically on the ethnic homogeneity of the slaves. This hypothesis would assume that the planters/overseers in Berbice attempted to learn those aspects of Eastern Ịjọ that could be utilized on the plantations. The third hypothesis assumes that Berbice Dutch is genetically descended from Eastern Ịjọ, but that this is not obvious due to large-scale relexification. The fourth hypothesis assumes that Eastern Ịjọ was replaced by Berbice Dutch under the catalysing influence of (creole) Dutch, rather as the fully inflected Romani language was replaced in England by the creolized Anglo-romani under the catalysing influence of English. The hypothesis that is selected as probably the best is the fourth, where it is argued that Berbice Dutch was adopted as the language of the Berbice slaves because it offered a means of expressing the identity of a newly created “ethnic” group. The most important moral that can be drawn from this article is that the development of each Creole must be examined individually. Only after such an examination has taken place for a significant number of Creoles will it be possible to define what is meant by creolization. In addition to the detailed linguistic examination required, it will also be necessary to carry out detailed (socio)historical work demonstrating if possible that the linguistic sequence of events is supported by the available historical data. (Creole language, substrate, Ịjọ language, ethnicity, mixed language)

Surviving the Middle Passage: the West Africa-Surinam Sprachbund

This book is about the close historical and linguistic relationship between the languages of Surinam and Benin, a relationship which can be viewed in terms of a Trans Atlantic Sprachbund or linguistic area. It consists of a detailed analysis of various possible substrate and adstrate effects in a number of components of the grammar, in the Surinam Creole languages, primarily from the Gbe languages of Benin but also from Kikongo.

Tonal phenomena in Sranan

Summary It has always been assumed that the coastal creole of Suriname, Sranan, was a completely non-tonal language. It will be suggested in this article that there is evidence that this is not a completely correct position. It appears that Sranan does have certain properties reminiscent of tone languages. Two types of phenomena exhibitng such properties are discussed here: emphatic focussing in situ, and high-pitched ideo-phones. At least ideophones require to be lexically specified as to whether they bear a High tone or not.

Lengua de los Llanos: A Northen Valley Yokuts catechism from Misión Santa Cruz, Alta California

Abstract The Lengua de los Llanos represents a hitherto unknown Yokuts tribal dialect which was used to produce a catechism for the first Yokuts converts missionized at Misión Santa Cruz. The authors are in the process of studying the dialect used in the catechism, which, despite the fact that it is clearly a subdialect of Northern Valley Yokuts, itself a dialect group forming part what could be called the Nuclear Valley Yokuts language, containing such well-described dialects as Yawlamni1 and Chukchansi, still contains sentences with words of uncertain meaning.