Ls) cen liittemmmleribvans W. , hin D F on thebaribbean MERVYN C. ALTEYNE A LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATION ‘aribbean are often categorized and characterized \! labels referring to the four European powers that 1 the {egion in the colonial period—English-speaking, French-speaking, Speaking, and Dutch-speaking. These terms provide only approximate refer. wees. If they are taken literally, they may be misleading, inadequate, or inaccurate in'fome cases, and they certainly mask a great deal of linguistic complexity. "To be exact, only the term Spanish-speaking has an accurate application in | the Caribbean; not only do Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico falluse Spanish as both an official and a universally spoken language, but they aiso share a particular dialect (variety) of Spanish and thus constitute an “important linguistic and cultural division of the Caribbean, even though they have no politica tes whatever to each other. The other thee terms are less “The tetories often designated as English-speaking do need aterm of easy | reference since they constitute a significant division within the Caribbean; not bnly do they share English as the sole offical language, but they also have Strong political and economic links through membership inthe now defunct Federation of the West Indies, in the current economic community CARI- ‘COM, and in the current supranational University ofthe West Indies. Five of i these countries have also joined to form the Organisation of Eastern Carib- bean States (OECS). They maintain important tis with Britain— individually through participation in the British Commonwealth, and collectively through the West Indies cricket team, which competes with England and some other ‘Commonwealth countries. Linguistically, however, this group is quite divers, as we shall see later in this es5ay. "The designation French speaking is often sed to refer to Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana, and French is indeed the official language SE OF es tan eee _vertoualy cated Halton Cre056 MERVYN €, ALLEYNE ‘others nor, having become an independent nation in 1804, any special or particularly strong links with France; the others maintained their colonial status until becoming overseas departments of France in 1946, "The Dutch-speaking territories—Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao, Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, St, Eustatius, and St. Maarten) —are linguis- tically quite complex, although Dutch is indeed the sole official language. Preparations were begun in 1983 for making Papiamentu the official national language of Curagao, designating English and Spanish as official second languages, and preserving the role of Dutch as the language of postprimary ‘education for atleast ten years. There are no political or economic links between Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, and the postcolonial ties between Suriname and the Netherlands are becoming increasingly tenuous not only because of the political differences caused by the Suriname revolution of 1980, but also, more fundamentally, because of increasing awareness by ‘Surinamers ofthe potential isolation that the use of Dutch inaposes on them in the area. There is at present very litle sense in referring to the Netherlands “Antilles as “Dutch-speaking,” and should current trends continue, Dutch will soon cease to be in active use at any level of the national life of the Nether- lands Antilles. Beneath these simplistic classificatory designations are to be found lan- ‘guage situations of considerable complexity. The Caribbean, which includes the South and Central American littoral washed by the Caribbean sea, is the location of almost every type of linguistic phenomenon, and of every type of language situation. For example, trade and contact jargons, creole languages ‘and dialects, ethnic vernaculars, and regional and nonstandard dialects are all spoken. There are also ancestral languages used for religious purposes (Latin, Yoruba, Kikongo), regional standards, and international standards. And there is smultlingualism, bilingualism, monolingualism, diglossia, and a postereole ‘continuum (see below). In “English-speaking” Trinidad, for example, several languages other than English (Spanish, French Creole, Bhojpuri) serve as media of everyday interaction in many (mostly rural) communities. And in “English-speaking” Dominica and St. Lucia, everyday interaction among ‘most ofthe rural and urban population is carried on in French-based Creole, a language that is completely different from (and not mutually intelligible with) English; Dominica and St, Lucia are in fact bilingual countries. In addition, there is a rather sharp differentiation in these “English-speaking” countries between the official norm of English and the nonstandard colloquial variety of English, which is strongly influenced by the French Creole language, The language situation in Jamaica is extremely difficult to classify; even linguists are uncertain about how many discrete languages/dialects are spoken there,ad generally dal with this complex issue by refering to Jamaica as a postereole linguistic continuom.” Mt would be useful here to define some of these designations. It must be remembered, however, tat in trying o classify countries this way, we are in Trany eases tying t0 fit quite dynamic situations into static classifications Trade and contact jargons are specialized codes that may emerge i limited ‘omtat situations, such as bartering between peoples whose naive languages sr not mutually intelligible. ‘They are simple (or simplified) codes matching {Ty simplicy of the communicative context (.8., bartering) in which they she used, They are pron to disappearance as the contact between the peoples ‘euses to exist. Throughout the New Worl, trae jargons have emerged out Gf the contact between Europeans and the indigenous peoples ofthe Amer- «fas, In other pats of the world, some of these jargons have become well frown, and one in particular—lingua franca ot sabir, which was used in the Mediteranean in the Middle Ages—became quite important as a vehicle for ‘commercial exchanges in the area..Ithas become customary 10 use pidgin wo refer to trade and contact argons that are wel establis ig the perio of European expansion. When populations in conact ei ‘o'engage in regula social interaction (leading, for example, tothe establish wren of houseols of “nixed” couples) te pidgin may become the ln ‘tage ofthe home and be eared by children ofthe households thei ft “itive or mother languages This implies an expansion of the functions ofthe lampttge sad ofits expressive resources as it acquires archer vocabulary. At thi point the pidgin becomes known asa creole, Creole forms of speech txt throughout the Caribbean “The Canbbean also illustrates two types of language situation that donot it sell within the Hinguiss' ational scheme of mutiingualisvbitingualisr Trovoingulim, Diglasia refers toa language station in which two codes Shit shring one level of structure (vocabulary), but fferng at other eves / {Qronunition and grammar) The two codes (©g., French and French Cre arin Haiiy are sad to bein complementary distibution: thats, they are sed in mutually exclusive contexts. French is used, for example, in Pasliar ‘ment, in the law courts, and in secondary and tertiary ‘education, while Creole tronopolzes private informal interactional contexts and the orl raition. The second type, ealed by linguists the pestoreole continuum, isa graded ont) {THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE This diversity of linguistic phenomena and language patterns isthe direct result ofthe modern post-Columbian history ofthe region, which witnessed