Tjerk Hagemeijer

Human Microevolution and the Atlantic Slave Trade

Populations derived from the Atlantic slaving process provide unique opportunities for studying key evolutionary determinants of current patterns of human cultural and biological variation. Examination of the genetic patterning of the small plantation island of São Tomé (Gulf of Guinea) using a study design that avoids the use of preconceived ethno‐linguistic labels to define genetic sampling units reveals that, despite the fact that maximum distance between any two sampled sites is less than 50 km, the island has an unusual level of genetic structure that is mainly caused by the grouping of Angolar Creole‐speakers in a separate cluster carrying a distinctive imprint of genetic drift. This pattern may have been shaped by a kin‐structured founder effect associated with the flight of a patrilineal clan of rebel slaves who established a remarkably successful maroon community in the vicinity of the plantation complex. The observation that population‐discontinuous jumps may occur even under social conditions of massive coercive amalgamation provides an illustration of the way in which human clusters emerge and eventually shape the genetic background of human populations.

Èdó influence on Santome: Evidence from verb serialisation

Ferraz (1979) convincingly shows the impact of two typologically distinct African strata in the making of Santome: Edo and Kikongo. In this paper, it will be shown that the extensive verb serialisation found in Santome shows a significant amount of typological overlap with Edo multi-event and compound verb constructions. Since the impact of Edo on Santome goes clearly beyond verb serialisation and is also found in the other Gulf of Guinea creoles, the findings strongly suggest an early Edo founder impact in detriment of Kikongo or Bantu in general.

Fa d’Ambô: from past to present

Abstract This article addresses the historical and sociolinguistic evolution of Fa d’Ambô, a Portuguese-related creole language spoken originally on the small island of Annobón in Equatorial Guinea. It will be shown that Fa d’Ambô and the three creole languages spoken on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe (Santome, Angolar and Principense) descend from a single contact language that arose on the island of São Tomé and branched in the sixteenth century. After its permanent settlement in the second half of the sixteenth century, Annobón became strongly isolated until the twentieth century. Due to intense migration from Annobón to Equatorial Guinea’s multilingual capital Malabo over the last decades, Fa d’Ambô’s speech community has not only become divided but also more exposed to other languages, in particular to English-based creole Pichi, the capital’s lingua franca. Given the small size of the Fa d’Ambô speech community (approx. 5,000 speakers), it will be argued that these factors, in addition to the lack of government support for the country’s minority languages, pose an increasing threat to the survival of the language.