24.919 Topics in Linguistics: Creole Languages and Caribbean Identities, Spring 2004
Name
24-919-spring-2004/contents/index.htm
Size
37.18 KB
Format
HTML
Checksum (MD5)
150a4653dc58fcb060917b7bd33dc5b9
Author(s)
DeGraff, Michel Anne-Frederic
Alternative Title
Topics in Linguistics: Creole Languages and Caribbean Identities
Date Issued
June 2004
Abstract
The Creole languages spoken in the Caribbean are linguistic by-products of the historical events triggered by colonization and the slave trade in Africa and the "New World". In a nutshell, these languages are the results of language acquisition in the specific social settings defined by the history of contact between African and European peoples in 17th-/18th-century Caribbean colonies. One of the best known Creole languages, and the one with the largest community of speakers, is Haitian Creole. Its lexicon and various aspects of its grammar are primarily derived from varieties of French as spoken in 17th-/18th-century colonial Haiti. Other aspects of its grammar seem to have emerged under the influence of African languages, mostly from West and Central Africa. And yet other properties seem to have no analogues in any of the source languages. Through a sample of linguistic case studies focusing on Haitian Creole morphosyntax, we will explore creolization from a cognitive, historical and comparative perspective. Using Haitian Creole and some of its Caribbean congeners as test cases, we will evaluate various hypotheses about the development of Creole languages and about the role of first- and second-language acquisition in such development. We will also explore the concept of Creolization in its non-linguistic senses. Then we will address questions of "Caribbean identities" by examining a sample of Creole speakers' attitudes toward the Creole language and the corresponding European language and toward the African and European components of their ethnic make-up.
Subjects
socio-linguistic
creole
caribbean
spoken language acquisition
identity
africa
europe
seventeenth century
eighteenth century
haitian
colony
colonial
dialect
grench
new world
slavery
lexicon
pidgin
culture
religion
music
literature
ethnicity
text
syntax
morphology
uniformity
ebonics
africal-american english
gullah
west indian
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
Terms of Use
This site (c) Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018. Content within individual courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is providing this Work (as defined below) under the terms of this Creative Commons public license ("CCPL" or "license") unless otherwise noted. The Work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law. Any use of the work other than as authorized under this license is prohibited. By exercising any of the rights to the Work provided here, You (as defined below) accept and agree to be bound by the terms of this license. The Licensor, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, grants You the rights contained here in consideration of Your acceptance of such terms and conditions.
Persistent DSpace Link
