Language in Exile: Three Hundred Years of Jamaican Creole

6. Implications of the Data

6 Implications of the Data Won tru puimo no den worm d'e ton obro Te 010 !rowan n'in yu libi was; gwe ... [A true poem is made of words that linger on When all the others in one's life are washed away] Henny F. de Ziel ("Trefossa"), first Sranan poet of Surinam Textual records ofJamaican Creole suggest that the language in its earliest form resembled other Caribbean English creoles and West African anglophone creoles more than it does today. It is difficult to evade the issue of common ancestry. The nature of those contributions described in the externallanguage history must now be explored in the light of phonological and morphosyntactic descriptions of language in the texts. The West African Coast So far it has not been possible to identify any West African-derived lingua franca as the parent language of Caribbean Creole English, nor has any reconstruction of an ancestral anglophone creole on the West African coast been put forward. Mervyn Alleyne's reconstruction reveals a specifically African base spread over many languages and does not include English dialectal influences or GCCE origins. It is clear, however, that the circumstances under which such an anglophone creole could develop were present from the early seventeenth century. An English presence was established in the Gambia from 1618, spread to the Gold Coast by 1631-1650 and toward Bonny from 1662 onward (see Map 6). Ian F. Hancock (1986b: 83) suggests that during this time GCCE was transmitted to slaves being loaded for the Caribbean. 99 100 Early Jamaican Creole Table 17. Phonological Features of Nautical English and Jamaican Creole 17-Century Nautical 18th- and 19thCommon Features English Century JC [i] - [u] Busltop busses / misses (rhyming pair) [e] - [i] tw;nty perit / pint [3'] - [ar] A starn saroant [3'] - [0] or [u] clturcltyard cltutclt [:>] > [a] drop Garamigltty [:>j] > raj] confayes (convoys) jeints [e:] > lie] clier weoste [#h-] > 0 ospotall im 0> [#h-] Itiland Itonimal CC>C yeserday ton (stand) [v] > [wI wery werry [j]>0 isterday iss (yes) [u] > [n] liglttnin marnin [v] > 0 grosend (Gravesend) gie (give) [v] > [b] cobe bittle [9] and [d] > 0 close (clothes) bra (brother) [9] > [t] Turse Day tanks [d] > [d] furder dere [s] [s] portsltmotlt siting, fis Spanis Variation among stops such as [t] > [k] Canckfardus (Carrick- likkle, miggle and [d] > [g] fergus, Ireland) GCCE would probably have had its earliest influences on the West African side from such languages as Kru, Manding, and Kwa. The nautical jargon of the trade ships must also have been crucial to the formation of this anglophone creole in the early seventeenth century. Orthographical evidence of sailors' pronunciation in the seventeenth century confirms that nautical jargon shares several features with early JC. A study by William Matthews (193Sa) of the phonetic spelling of unschooled sailors, as recorded in ships' logs, reveals a substantial overlap with the phonology of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century JC (Table 17). We have already seen that early JC texts preserve nautical terms (taffenl, windward, stomp-an-go, and grog). Implications of the Data 101 West African anglophone creoles today preserve much of this "shiptalk ," as Hancock demonstrates in an analysis of its influence on Krio (1976: 24-36). Several writers-from Schuchardt to Fyle and Jones (1980: xviii)-trace the beginnings of Krio to the repatriated Maroons from Jamaica , who were transported to Sierra Leone from as early as 1787. However , it appears more likely that Krio descended from GCCE of the seventeenth century (Hancock 1986b), was substantially modified by resettlement from Jamaica in the late eighteenth century, and was constantly subjected to West African influence. Those recaptives who settled in Sierra Leone after the ending of the slave trade in 1810 increased the West African input. One may adduce many reasons why Krio should be distinct from JC and yet preserve numerous common features. An examination of the phonological similarities between Krio and seventeenth-century nautical jargon reveals substantial overlap between these shared features of pronunciation and the sound system oOC. In addition, Hancock (1976) identifies a number of Krio words-apparently derived from nautical Englishwhich are also known in JC (e.g., gonzi, "thick sweater worn by seamen" [but see DJE); kotlos / kotlof, "machete"; tsok:JjJ, "chock full"). The I::J possessive andI::J infinitive marker are also common to all three. Guinea Coast Creole English A number of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century references point to the appearance, establishment...