St. David’s dialect: a decreolised English variety?
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Date
2017-04-13
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Abstract
Bermudian English (BerE) has only lately been getting more attention. In a recent publication, Eberle & Schreier (2013), compare the morphosyntax of African BerE (ABerE) with that of Caribbean contact varieties (Bahamian English, Bahamian Creole, Jamaican English, Jamaican Creole, Bajan and Vincentian Creole) and conclude that there are definitely parallels between ABerE and English varieties in the Caribbean yet with different frequencies. Nevertheless, the most interesting question from a creolistic point of view has not been satisfactorily addressed yet, i.e. whether there ever was a creole in Bermuda. Reinecke observed that Bermuda “appears […] not to have a creolized dialect, but research is needed” (1975:377). Besides Swartz no one had considered the possibility of a decreolisation process in BerE (2001:3). However, given that there is evidence of a considerable number of slaves in Bermuda (Bernhard 1999, Lefroy 1877, 1879, Hallett 2005), it is not unlikely that BerE was once more creole-like than it is today. The present paper will explore the possibility of an earlier creole stage in Bermuda.
Bermuda’s workforce consisted of African, Indian, Irish, Scottish and English slaves and indentured servants (Bernhard 1999). Although the origins of slaves has not been pinpointed yet, Bernhard proposes that some may have been imported directly from West Africa, while others might have been brought from the Spanish or English West Indies (1999:23). A substantial number of American Indians, predominantly Pequots, were brought to Bermuda in the early 1700s – especially to St. David’s Island (Bernhard 1999:56; 114), in the northeast of Bermuda.
St. David’s is linguistically interesting for three reasons: 1. the inhabitants were isolated from the mainland until 1934, thus it is more likely to find some creole remnants on this islet. 2. the dialect is dying out, 3. it has not been documented yet. Bermudians report that the variety on St. David's is quite distinct, and this impression was confirmed during a field trip in 2016.
In an attempt to find remnants of an early Bermudian creole, this study analyses selected structural features in the St. David's variety of BerE and, unlike the approach in Eberle & Schreier (2013), and compares them with different English variety types.
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Bermudian English, Caribbean, decreolisation process, inhabitants