Variation in the Caribbean

Variation in the Caribbean

Author: Lars Hinrichs

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2011-01-26

Total Pages: 284

ISBN-13: 9027287392

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The study of linguistic variation in the Caribbean has been central to the emergence of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics as an academic field. It has yielded influential theory, such as the (post-)creole continuum or the 'Acts of Identity' models, that has shaped sociolinguistics far beyond creole settings. This volume collects current work in the field and focuses on methodological and theoretical innovations that continue, expand, and update the dialog between Caribbean variation studies and general sociolinguistics.


Playing with Languages

Playing with Languages

Author: Amy L. Paugh

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0857457616

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Over several generations villagers of Dominica have been shifting from Patwa, an Afro-French creole, to English, the official language. Despite government efforts at Patwa revitalization and cultural heritage tourism, rural caregivers and teachers prohibit children from speaking Patwa in their presence. Drawing on detailed ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of video-recorded social interaction in naturalistic home, school, village and urban settings, the study explores this paradox and examines the role of children and their social worlds. It offers much-needed insights into the study of language socialization, language shift and Caribbean children’s agency and social lives, contributing to the burgeoning interdisciplinary study of children’s cultures. Further, it demonstrates the critical role played by children in the transmission and transformation of linguistic practices, which ultimately may determine the fate of a language.


The acrolect in Jamaica

The acrolect in Jamaica

Author: G. Alison Irvine-Sobers

Publisher: Language Science Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 3961101140

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An ability to speak Jamaican Standard English is the stated requirement for any managerial or frontline position in corporate Jamaica. This research looks at the phonological variation that occurs in the formal speech of this type of employee, and focuses on the specific cohort chosen to represent Jamaica in interactions with local and international clients. The variation that does emerge, shows both the presence of some features traditionally characterized as Creole and a clear avoidance of other features found in basilectal and mesolectal Jamaican. Some phonological items are prerequisites for “good English” - variables that define the user as someone who speaks English - even if other Creole variants are present. The ideologies of language and language use that Jamaican speakers hold about “good English” clearly reflect the centuries-old coexistence of English and Creole, and suggest local norms must be our starting point for discussing the acrolect.


English in the Caribbean

English in the Caribbean

Author: Dagmar Deuber

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-04-03

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 1139916300

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This book presents an in-depth study of English as spoken in two major anglophone Caribbean territories, Jamaica and Trinidad. Based on data from the International Corpus of English, it focuses on variation at the morphological and syntactic level between the educated standard and more informal educated spoken usage. Dagmar Deuber combines quantitative analyses across several text categories with qualitative analyses of transcribed text passages that are grounded in interactional sociolinguistics and recent approaches to linguistic style and identity. The discussion is situated in the context of variation in the Caribbean and the wider context of world Englishes, and the sociolinguistic background of Jamaica and Trinidad is also explored. This volume will be of interest to students and researchers interested in the fields of sociolinguistics, world Englishes, and language contact.


English in the Caribbean

English in the Caribbean

Author: Dagmar Deuber

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 9781139910408

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An in-depth study of English as spoken in two major anglophone Caribbean territories, Jamaica and Trinidad.


Dialects from Tropical Islands

Dialects from Tropical Islands

Author: Wilfredo Valentin-Marquez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1351630636

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Dialects from Tropical Islands: Caribbean Spanish in the United States provides a comprehensive account of current research on Caribbean Spanish in the United States from different theoretical perspectives and linguistic areas. This edited volume highlights current scholarship and linguistic analyses in four major areas relative to Caribbean Spanish in the United States: phonological and phonetic variation, morphosyntactic approaches, sociolinguistic perspectives, and heritage-language acquisition. This volume will be of interest to linguists and philologists who specialize in Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, Spanish in the United States, or in Romance languages in general.


The Americas and the Caribbean

The Americas and the Caribbean

Author: Edgar W. Schneider

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter

Published: 2008-12-10

Total Pages: 833

ISBN-13: 3110208407

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This volume gives a detailed overview of the varieties of English spoken in the Americas and the Caribbean, including regional, social and ethnic dialects (such as Southern US, Canadian or Chicano English) as well as Caribbean creoles from the Bahamas to Suriname. The chapters, written by widely acclaimed specialists, provide concise and comprehensive information on the phonological, morphological and syntactic characteristics of each variety discussed. The articles are followed by exercises and study questions. The exercises are geared towards students and can be used for classroom assignments as well as for self study in preparation for exams. Instructors can use the exercises, sound samples and interactive maps to enhance their classroom presentations and to highlight important language features.


Dialects from Tropical Islands

Dialects from Tropical Islands

Author: Wilfredo Valentin-Marquez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 1351630628

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Dialects from Tropical Islands: Caribbean Spanish in the United States provides a comprehensive account of current research on Caribbean Spanish in the United States from different theoretical perspectives and linguistic areas. This edited volume highlights current scholarship and linguistic analyses in four major areas relative to Caribbean Spanish in the United States: phonological and phonetic variation, morphosyntactic approaches, sociolinguistic perspectives, and heritage-language acquisition. This volume will be of interest to linguists and philologists who specialize in Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, Spanish in the United States, or in Romance languages in general.


Creole Discourse

Creole Discourse

Author: Susanne Mühleisen

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2002-11-18

Total Pages: 349

ISBN-13: 9027296332

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Creole languages are characteristically associated with a negative image. How has this prestige been formed? And is it as static as the diglossic situation in many anglo-creolophone societies seems to suggest? This volume examines socio-historical and epistemological factors in the prestige formation of Caribbean English-Lexicon Creoles and subjects their classification as a (socio)linguistic type to scrutiny and critical debate. In its analysis of rich empirical data this study also demonstrates that the uses, functions and negotiations of Creole within particular social and linguistic practices have shifted considerably. Rather than limiting its scope to one "national" speech community, the discussion focusses on changes of the social meaning of Creole in various discursive fields, such as inter generational changes of Creole use in the London Diaspora, diachronic changes of Creole representation in written texts, and diachronic changes of Creole representation in translation. The study employs a discourse analytical approach drawing on linguistic models as well as Foucauldian theory.