ASPECTS OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE Mary M. Chin Pang B.A., Boston University, 1976 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n the Department 0 f Languages, Literatures and Linguistics @ Mary M. Chin Pang 1981 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1981 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced i n whole or i n part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author.
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ASPECTS OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE
Mary M. Chin Pang
B.A. , Boston Univers i ty , 1976
A THESIS SUBMITTED I N PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
i n t h e Department
0 f
Languages, L i t e r a t u r e s and L i n g u i s t i c s
@ Mary M. Chin Pang 1981
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
August 1981
All r i g h t s reserved. This t h e s i s may n o t b e reproduced i n whole o r i n p a r t , by photocopy
o r o t h e r means, wi thout permission of t h e au thor .
APPROVAL
Name : Mary M. Chin Pang
Degree: Master of Arts
T i t l e of T h e s i s : Aspects of T r i n i d a d i a n Creo le
Examining Committee:
Chairman: Thomas A. P e r r y
B r i a n E. Newton S e n i o r S u p e r v i s o r
%chard C. DeArmond
Lennar t G r g Z r e n / E x t e r n a l ~ x a m i n a d A s s o c i a t e P r o f e s s o r Department of Nathemat ics Simon P r a s e r U n i v e r s i t y
Date approved: A U Y U S ~ 17, 1 9 8 1
PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE
I h e r e b y g r a n t t o Simon F r a s e r U n i v e r s i t y t h e r i g h t t o lend
my t h e s i s o r d i s s e r t a t i o n ( t h e t i t l e o f which i s shown below) t o u s e r s
of t b e Simon F r a s e r U n i v e r s i t y L i b r a r y , and t o make partial o r s i n g l e
c o p i e s o n l y f o r s u c h u s e r s o r i n r esponse t o a r e q u e s t from t h e l i b r a r y
of any o t h e r u 3 i v e r s i t y , sr o t h e r e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n , on i t s own
b e h a l f or f o r one of i t s users . I f u r t h e r a g r e e t h a t pe rmiss ion f o r
m u l t i p l e copying of t h i s t h e s i s for s c h o l a r l y purposes may be g r a n t e d
by m e or t h e Dean oP: Graduate S t u d i e s . It: is unders tood t h a t copy ing
or p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n shall n o t b e allowed
w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n pe rmiss ion .
T i t l e o f Thesis / ~ i s s e r t a t j . o n :
Aspects of T r i n i d a d i a n Creole.
(date )
iii
ABSTRACT
ASPECTS OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE
This t h e s i s examines t h e r e l a t i o n of T r in idad ian Creole t o t h e
v a r i a n t of Standard English spoken on t h e i s l a n d from the p o i n t of
view of t h e phonological diasystem l i n k i n g t h e two, There i s a l s o
some r e fe rence t o t h e r e l a t e d Tobagonian Creole d i a l e c t .
An in t roduc to ry s e c t i o n o u t l i n e s t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c f e a t u r e s of
c r e o l e s i n gene ra l and d i scusses t h e s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c a spec t s of t h e s e
p a r t i c u l a r c r e o l e s w i t h i n t h e i r l a r g e r l i n g u i s t i c contex ts . I n t h e
main body of t he t h e s i s , an a t tempt i s made t o account f o r t h e a b i l i t y
of c r e o l e speakers t o s u c c e s s f u l l y swi tch codes between s t anda rd and
c r e o l e v a r i e t i e s by determining t h e phonological r u l e s which r e l a t e
t hen t o one another ; t h e r e i s a l s o some d i scuss ion of t h e n e c c e s s i t y
of p o s t u l a t i n g e x t r i n s i c r u l e order .
There a r e t h r e e main conclusions. The f i r s t conclusion i s t h a t
t h e c r e o l e s i n ques t ion may be de r ived from Standard Engl i sh by
p o s t u l a t i n g about one dozen ordered r u l e s ; t h e second conclusion is
t h a t code swi tch ing may be accounted f o r an t h e assumption t h a t t h e
r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s underlying t h e c r e o l e s need no t be more a b s t r a c t than
ones similar t o t h e s u r f a c e forms of Standard Xngl.ish; t h e t h i r d con-
c l u s i o n is t h a t r e f e rence t o s t r i c t o rde r ing of r u l e s may be e l imina t -
ed only i n t h e c a s e where t h e r u l e s have a 'b leeding ' r e l a t i o n s h i p o r
where t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p is of t h e ' feed ing ' type , and where t h e o rde r
a c t u a l l y found is ' feeding ' .
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL
AB STRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2
THE PHONEMIC SYSTEM OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE
CHAPTER 3
THE PHONOLOGICAL RULES OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE
C o n t r a c t i o n U n r o u n d i n g Shwa R o u n d i n g a n d r - L o s s Shwa L o w e r i n g P a l a t a l i z a t i o n L a b i a l i z a t i o n V e l a r i z a t i o n D e v e l a r i z a t i o n O c c l u s i v i z a t i o n C l u s t e r R e d u c t i o n a n d M e t a t h e s i s
CHAPTER 4
RULE ORDERING
CONCLUSION
LIST OF REFERENCES
i i
iii
i v
v
CHAPTER 1
1.1
1.2 '
1.3
CHAPTER 2
2.1
2 . 2
LIST OF TABLES
Genetic Relationship between Creoles and Standard Languages
Population Content of Trinidad
Pronominal System of Trinidadian Creole
i
The Vowel Phonemes of STE and TC
The Correspondences between STE Lower Vowel Phonemes and their Equivalents in TC
2.3 The Consonant Phonemes of STE and TC
CHAPTER 4
4.1 The Rule Ordering Constraints of TC
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The a i m of t h i s paper i s t o compare t h e phonology of t h e English-
based Tr in idad ian Creole (hencefor th a l s o known a s TC) and Tobagonian
Creole (TBC), and p l a c e them i n a pe r spec t ive by c o n t r a s t i n g them wi th
the phonology of Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh (STE), t h e l a t t e r be ing
c l o s e r t o Standard B r i t i s h Engl i sh than t o Standard American English.
We a t tempt t o come t o g r i p s wi th t h e s i t u a t i o n of two languages e x i s t -
i n g s i d e by s i d e w i t h i n t h e same community by g iv ing a b r i e f o v e r a l l
view of t h e h i s t o r i c a l , s o c i o l o g i c a l , and s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c f a c t o r s t h a t
i n f luenced and culminated i n t h i s d i g l o s s i a ; and by s e t t i n g up a sys-
t e m of phonemes a s w e l l as a system of gene ra l r u l e s t h a t account f o r
t h e p r e s e n t phone t i c s t r u c t u r e of TC and TBC. We a l s o propose a n
o rde r ing of t hese r u l e s , s t a t i n g why we f e e l i t neccessary t o c r e a t e
such an order .
F i r s t of a l l , i n o r d e r t o understand what t h i s e n t a i l s , perhaps we
should c l a r i f y as p r e c i s e l y as p o s s i b l e , what t h e term ' c r eo le ' means,
and what i ts r e l a t i o n s h i p i s t o ' p i d g i n s f , ' d i a l e c t s f , ' l i n g u a f r a n c a s f
and ' s tandard languages' . Furthermore, t o al low g r e a t e r comprehension
of t h e s u b j e c t of t h i s t h e s i s , w e would a l s o l i k e t o show: (a) how TC
and TBC have an i n t r i c a t e and i n e x t r i c a b l e co-existence w i t h STE with-
i n t h e West Ind ian i s l a n d s of Tr in idad and Tobago; (b) t h e p o s i t i o n of
t h i s c r e o l e w i t h i n t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of c r e o l e s of t h e Caribbean; i n d
(c) t h e reasons why t h i s d i g l o s s i a should be apprec i a t ed and understood.
U n t i l t h e l a s t few decades, p idg ins and c r e o l e s have been regarded
as deviant dialects of standard languages. By standard languages, we
refer to those forms of recognized or 'world' languages which are
generally understood by the native speakers of the language. This
misconception was perhaps encouraged by the fact that creoles are
based on standard languages; for instance, French Creole or creolized
French, for example, Haitian Creole, is actually based on the standard
form of French. Creoles, and pidgins in particular, have also been
given innumerable misnomers. Max K. Adler (1977), gives a long list
of these names - argots, artificial languages, bastard jargons, broken English, makeshift languages, patois, langues mdlang&es, slave lang-
uages, speech mixtures, hybrid languages, mongrel lingo, folk speech,
and others. As a result of the derogatory, patronizing and contempt-
uous overtones associated with these terms, pidgins and creoles are
often mistakenly believed to be dialects which are lacking in struct-
ure and incoherent in form.
The word 'pidgin' (as suggested in DeCamp (1971a)) may have come
from the Chinese pronunciation of the English saying "That's my bus-
iness". DeCamp also explains that a pidgin is basically a dialect
created for interlingual communication and is the native language of
neither community. This need for contact usually arises in trade sit-
uations. Pidgins may also arise where two communities, speaking diff-
erent languages, are dominated by a society also having an alien nat-
ive language, for example, the English in China, where many different
Chinese dialects are spoken.
Pidgins are usually extremely limited in inner form, the morphol-
ology be ing excep t iona l ly spa re , l ack ing p l u r a l i t y , t ense o r case mark-
ers, f e a t u r e s which may be redundant. P i d g i n i z a t i o n i t s e l f is a com-
p l e x p roces s c o n s i s t i n g of s e v e r a l phases - s i m p l i f i c a t i o n i n ou te r
form, r e d u c t i o n i n i nne r form, and r e s t r i c t i o n i n r o l e . Max K. Adler,
(1977), c a l l s p idg ins "a l i n g u i s t i c compromise" of "two f o s t e r parents".
H e s t a t e s t h a t t h e language spoken by t h e dominant c l a s s of t h e s o c i e t y
p rov ides t h e vocabulary f o r t h e p idg in , and t h i s i s adapted by the low-
er cl .asses t o t h e p a t t e r n of t h e syn tax of t h e i r language. The d i f f -
e r ence i n t h e phonology is a r e s u l t of t h e d i f f e r e n t phonemes of t h e i r
n a t i v e language. There a r e two types of p idg ins : (1) r e s t r i c t e d pid-
g i n s which d i e out when t h e purpose f o r t h e i r e x i s t e n c e no longer
e x i s t s , and (2) extended p idg ins , which develop i n t o c r eo le s .
The t e r m ' c r e o l e ' , a l s o explained by Decamp i n t h e above ment-
ioned a r t i c l e , comes from t h e Portuguese ' c r i o u l o ' , Spanish ' c r i o l l o '
and French ' c r & o l e t . F i r s t used t o r e f e r t o people of European an-
c e s t r y born i n t h e co lonies , i t was l a t e r expanded t o mean s l a v e s of
Af r i can descen t , and today, i t r e f e r s t o t h e language spoken by t h e
people who now-inhabi t t hese co lon ie s o r former co lonies . These c r e o l e
languages a r e based on e s t a b l i s h e d , European languages, u s u a l l y Eng-
l i s h , French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, t h e ma jo r i t y of which a r e
spoken i n t h e Caribbean a rea . English-based c r e o l e s a r e spoken i n
Jamaica, T r in idad and Tobago, Barbados, Antigua, numerous o t h e r is-
l a n d s of t h e Lesser A n t i l l e s which were formerly, o r s t i l l a r e Engl i sh
Colonies , Surinam ( t h e c r e o l e c a l l e d Sranan) and i n Guyana. French
c r e o l e s e x i s t i n H a i t i , Mart inique, Guadeloupe, Grenada, t h e Grena-
d ines , Des i rade , Marie Galante , Les S a i n t e s , S a i n t e ~ a r t h & l e m y , Domin-
i c a , S a i n t Lucia , French Guyana, and even i n T r in idad where i t is rap-
i d l y dying ou t . Spanish p idgin i s spoken i n Venezuela and Colombia.
Papiamento,-which i s a Spanish c r e o l e based on a Portuguese p idgin wi th
g r e a t l e x i c a l i n f luence from Dutch, i s spoken i n Curacao, Bonaire and
Aruba. Portuguese-based d i a l e c t s (Saramaccan and Matuwari) a r e spoken
i n Surinam, and a Dutch c r e o l e , now almost e x t i n c t , i n t h e Virg in Is-
lands .
According t o Adler, a l i n g u a f r a n c a i s a language spoken w i t h i n
an a r e a where t h e i n h a b i t a n t s speak d i f f e r e n t n a t i v e languages. It is
usua l ly t h e language spoken by most of t h e people, and i t may be a
p idg in o r a s tandard language. Lingua f r ancas a l s o e x i s t i n c e r t a i n
f i e l d s of technology, f o r example, medicine, where s p e c i f i c Greek o r
La t in t e r m s a r e understood by expe r t s i n t h a t p a r t i c u l a r f i e l d regard-
l e s s of t h e i r n a t i v e language.
S e v e r a l t heo r i e s have been proposed for t h e b i r t h and evo lu t ion
of p i d g i n s from s tandard languages, and t h e i r subsequent development
and expans ion t o form c reo le s , e.g. Hawaiian Creole. The f i r s t o f
t h e s e t h e o r i e s , discussed by Decamp, i s t h a t p i d g i n s , and t h e r e f o r e
c r e o l e s , were c rea t ed by spontaneous gene ra t ion , t h a t is, they were
c r e a t e d i n a r a p i d and makeshif t manner i n c o n t a c t s i t u a t i o n s between
communities speaking d i f f e r e n t n a t i v e languages, needing t o communicate
wi th one another . Another hypothesis t h a t i s w e l l known is t h a t of
monogenesis. This r e f e r s t o t h e b e l i e f t h a t a l l p i d g i n s come from one
master p idg in , t h a t is , a Portuguese v e r s i o n of t h e l i n g u a f r anca of
t h e Levant ( n a t i o n s of t h e e a s t e r n Mediterranean) dur ing t h e 1600's -
Sabi r . There h a s been cons ide rab le oppos i t i on t o t h i s t heo ry s i n c e
t h e r e a r e c r e o l e s which have no t r a c e of Portuguese i n f l u e n c e , and
fur thermore, t h e r e i s no h i s t o r i c a l f a c t on which t o base t h i s not ion.
P i d g i n i z a t i o n and c r e o l i z a t i o n a r e fundamentally phases of t h e same
process t h a t h a s occurred and i s p r e s e n t l y occurr ing time and aga in t o
many sou rce languages a l l over t h e world.
To p u t it i n a n u t s h e l l , they undergo t h e same b a s i c process . A s
a r e s u l t , c r e o l e s a r e cha rac t e r i zed by t h e same f e a t u r e s . DeCamp
'sts t h e s e a s fo l lows: (1) t h e r e a r e u sua l ly no number, gender o r r case markers; (2) a d v e r b i a l and a d j e c t i v a l forms a r e i d e n t i c a l ; (3)
i adverbs and a d j e c t i v e s a r e i t e r a t e d f o r i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n ; and (4) verb- \
a1 a s p e c t s are i n d i c a t e d by s y n t a c t i c markers bu t t r u e t e n s e s a r e no t Z
\ marked morphological ly . They a r e more complex i n form and more va r i ed
1 i n f u n c t i o n t h a n p idg ins s i n c e they a r e probably t h e f e s u l t o f t h e ex- 1 '
pansion of t h e p idg in and a r e now t h e n a t i v e languages of t h e i r speak-
ers.
According t o Decamp, c r e o l e s undergo two types of processes : (1)
change i n s t r u c t u r e - (a) i n s c a l e - r educ t ion , expansion, s impl i -
f i c a t i o n and complicat ion; and (2) change i n func t ion - (a) i n t h e scope
of i t s u s e , and (b) i n s o c i a l s t a t u s . Creoles can be and o f t e n a r e t h e
r e s u l t of p i d g i n s o r even a pre-p idgin iza t ion continuum undergoing t h e
. c r e o l i z a t i o n process . Th i s development depends on t h e r o l e of t h e pid-
g i n i n s o c i e t y . P i d g i n i z a t i o n and c r e o l i z a t i o n a r e t h u s m i r r o r images of
t h e same p roces s , t h a t i s , r educ t ion and expansion. Since they under-
go t h e same process , t h e r e is obviously a r e l a t i o n s h i p between p idg in
and c r e o l e as w e l l a s between one c r e o l e and another .
There a r e many c r e o l e s s c a t t e r e d among speakers i n d i f f e r e n t p a r t s
of t he world, which a r e s o s i m i l a r a s t o be mutual ly i n t e l l i g i b l e . I n
f a c t , a l l French c r e o l e s a r e mutual ly i n t e l l i g i b l e al though they may n o t
n e c c e s s a r i l y b e understood by Standard French speakers . Some English-
based c r e o l e s may be mutual ly comprehensible, a s is t h e case wi th West
Ind ian Engl i sh c r e o l e and Kr io t h a t is spoken i n S i e r r a Leone, West
Afr ica . However, t h e r e is a problem i n s o f a r a s t h e gene t i c c l a s s i f i -
c a t i o n is concerned. This is d iscussed i n Mervyn C. Alleyne (1971).
S ince t h e r e i s much cont roversy over what c o n s t i t u t e s p r e c i s e l y t h e
g e n e t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p between s t anda rd languages, i t i s no t s u r p r i s i n g
t h a t t h e r e i s no agreement as t o t h e g e n e t i c c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of c r eo le s .
I n t h e c a s e of t h e West I n d i a n i s l a n d s , no r eco rds were kep t of which
languages were n a t i v e t o t h e o r i g i n a l s l a v e s , and fur thermore, t h e i r
c u l t u r e had been superseded, o r a t l e a s t g r e a t l y inf luenced by t h e
c u l t u r e of t h e European c o l o n i s t s . Therefore, t h e r o o t of t h e problem
l i e s i n whether t h e r e s u l t i n g c r e o l e should be c l a s s i f i e d i n conjunc-
t i o n w i t h t h e European sou rce language i n a p a r e n t / o f f s p r i n g r e l a t i o n -
s h i p , o r whether i t should b e c l a s s i f i e d i n a g e n e t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h
o t h e r c r e o l e s . Perhaps, we could suggest t h a t c r e o l e s and o t h e r sou rce
languages should be c l a s s i f i e d i n a more gene ra l r e l a t i o n s h i p , some-
t h i n g i n t h e d i r e c t i o n of t h e c h a r t on t h e fol lowing page:
Table 1.1 Genet ic Rela t ionship between Creoles and Standard Languages.
Engl i sh ---r Afr ican Language -I- French
The s tudy of p idgins and c r e o l e s a l s o s e r v e s t o i l l u m i n a t e n a t u r a l
t endencies i n human language.
I n T r in idad and Tobago, we have t h e s i t u a t i o n where two r e l a t e d
languages e x i s t w i th in one community f o r d i f f e r e n t purposes. It may
be c a l l e d an example of d i g l o s s i a ( a s descr ibed by Charles A. Fergu-
son (1959)) , o r t h e type of c r e o l e continuum discussed by Derek Bick-
e r ton(1973) . I n t h e l a t t e r a r t i c l e , Bickerton contends t h a t a c r e o l e
continuum i s c rea t ed by non-speakers of Engl i sh who come i n t o contac t
w i t h it. They then make random s e l e c t i o n s of t h e Engl i sh output i n
o r d e r t o i n t e r n a l i z e t h e i r own i n a c c u r a t e ve r s ions of t h e r u l e s of t h e
English language. A s more and more speakers r epea t t h i s process , t h e
continuum becomes "an ordered and p r i n c i p l e d dynamic process" where t h e
a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n expands r a p i d l y as forms of t h e c r e o l e a r e develop-
ed. Between both po le s of t h e continuum i s a remarkable amount of d ia -
l e c t s , which a r e inherent ly ' d i f f e r e n t from one another , y e t whose
boundaries cannot be p r e c i s e l y def ined . Each vernacular has i t s own
r o l e , and t h i s r e s u l t s i n a complex p a t t e r n swi tch ing i n o rde r t o p l a y
each s o c i a l r o l e . Max K. Adler (1977) s t a t e s t h a t t h i s uns t ab le pro-
ce s s which r e s u l t s i n t h e c r e a t i o n of a c r e o l e continuum i s charac te r -
i z e d by: p re se rva t ions , borrowings, new format ions , t r a n s f e r r e d mean-
i n g s , s p e c i a l p re fe rences , and compounds o r i t e r a t i v e s which i n d i c a t e
i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n o r weakening. Some of t h e s e e x i s t i n T r in idad ian
Creole , as w e s h a l l demonstrate l a t e r on.
I n t h i s case , we have Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh , Tr in idadian
Creole and Tobagonian Creole. Standard Tr in idad ian English, which is
t h e educated form of Engl i sh , i s c l o s e r t o Standard B r i t i s h Engl i sh
( f o r example, /3/ i s t h e vowel i n STE ' po t ' a s i n Standard B r i t i s h
Engl i sh ; / r / i s l o s t p o s t v o c a l i c a l l y , s o they say /ka:/ n o t /kar / f o r
' c a r ' ) s i n c e i t i s based on i t , than i t i s t o Standard American Eng-
l i s h , y e t i t i s d i s t i n c t i v e l y Tr in idad ian o r West Ind ian i n f lavour .
As w e s h a l l see, both STE and TC o r TBC a r e used i n widely d i f f e r i n g
s i t u a t i o n s f o r e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t purposes. I n s o f a r a s t h e language
s i t u a t i o n i s concerned, t h e r e e x i s t s c u r r e n t l y i n Tr in idad and Tobago
a d i g l o s s i a t h a t i s r a p i d l y becoming a l i n g u i s t i c continuum. A t one
extreme of t h e continuum i s Standard Eng l i sh o r Standard Tr in idad ian
Eng l i sh and a t t h e o t h e r end is t h e 'pure ' c r e o l e equ iva l en t t o i t s
Jamaican coun te rpa r t descr ibed by Bery l L. Bai ley (1971), and I a m pos-
i t i v e t h a t t h i s unadul te ra ted form i s spoken by few, i f any, n a t i v e s
of T r in idad and Tobago. The d a t a which is ana lysed later on i n t h i s
paper r e p r e s e n t s t h e form t h a t i s s t i l l spoken, and i s a s c l o s e as
p o s s i b l e t o t h e c r e o l e end of t h e continuum.
Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh , T r in idad ian Creole and Tobagonian
Creole are used f o r widely d i f f e r e n t r o l e s i n s o c i e t y . Each person
w i t h i n t h e community commands a span of t h i s l i n g u i s t i c continuum, and
9
t he f u r t h e r up t h e socio-economic l adde r he o r s h e i s , t h e c l o s e r t h e
person i s towards t h e Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh p o l e of t h e contin-
uum. Some peop le a r e extremely v e r s a t i l e i n t h a t they a r e f a m i l i a r
w i th a g r e a t expanse of t h i s continuum, and a r e t h e r e f o r e a b l e t o
communicate w i t h people from more v a r i e d walks of l i f e . Others a r e
more l i m i t e d i n t h a t t h e i r most c r e o l i z e d Engl i sh w i l l s t i l l be h igher
towards t h e Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh end than , f o r example, a road
worker 's most 'educated' form of English. Tr in idad and Tobago a r e
c u r r e n t l y undergoing a dynamic process which i s moving them towards
the d i r e c t i o n of a pos t -c reo le community, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e more urb-
an a reas . David Decamp (1971) exp la ins t h a t t h e cond i t i ons t h a t l e a d . t o t h i s are: (I) t h e o f f i c i a l language is t h e s t anda rd language which is
t h e sou rce f o r t h e c r eo le ; (2) t h e r i g i d s t r a t i f i c a t i o n between s o c i a l
c l a s s e s i s beginning t o break down, o r no longer e x i s t s , s o t h a t s o c i a l
mob i l i t y i s p o s s i b l e ; and (3) t h e r e a r e enough educa t iona l and accu l t -
u r a t i o n a l programs t o reach t h e ma jo r i t y of t h e populace and e x e r t
enough p r e s s u r e t o move them towards t h e s tandard end of t h e continuum,
away from t h e c reo le . Another important f a c t o r t h a t h a s caused t h i s
process t o a c c e l e r a t e i s t h e sudden i n f l u x of f o r e i g n l abour as a re-
s u l t of t h e d i scove ry of o i l and n a t u r a l gas , t h a subsequent a v a i l -
a b i l i t y of massive sums of money, r a p i d i n d u s t r i a l development, and
consequent ly, t h e n e c c e s s i t y of having a good command of Standard Eng-
l i s h a s t h e only means of communication wi th f o r e i g n l a b o u r e r s whose
n a t i v e language i s n o t Tr in idadian Creole , and who, t h e r e f o r e , u se
Standard E n g l i s h a s a l i n g u a f ranca .
Standard Engl i sh i s gene ra l ly used f o r formal s i t u a t i o n s and i s
t h e norm f o r formal educa t ion a t school , o f f i c i a l channels of comrnun-
i c a t i o n , mass media such a s r a d i o and t e l e v i s i o n , government dec l a r -
a t i o n s , memoranda, o f f i c i a l ceremonies, l e g a l documents, e t c . On t h e
o t h e r hand, T r in idad ian Creole and Tobagonian Creole a r e used i n dom-
e s t i c s i t u a t i o n s and f o r communication between f r i e n d s o r members of
t h e community. It may a l s o be used on formal occasions such as i n pol-
i t i c s ; f o r example, i n an e l e c t i o n speech, D r . E r i c Williams, t h e now
deceased prime m i n i s t e r , made a p o l i t i c a l promise i n Standard Tr in i -
dadian Eng l i sh ending wi th t h e Tr in idad ian Creole phrase "o crapaud
smoke mih pipe" meaning "or t h a t w i l l be t h e end of me". Being t h e
w i l y p o l i t i c i a n t h a t he was, he l apsed i n t o c r e o l e i n t e n t i o n a l l y i n
o rde r t o emphasize t h e se r iousness of h i s promise a s w e l l a s t o dem-
o n s t r a t e i d e n t i t y w i th t h e average Tr in idad ian who uses c r e o l e a s h i s
way of communicating and express ing himself .
A l l T r in idad ians and Tobagonians speak c r e o l e t o some e x t e n t , y e t
q u i t e a few w i l l deny t h e i r knowledge of i t , o r even t h e f a c t t h a t i t
e x i s t s . Th i s i s because they have been brought up i n t h e b e l i e f t h a t
Standard Eng l i sh i s 'good English ' whi le Tr in idadian Creole and Tob-
agonian Creole a r e 'bad English ' . However, i n t h e p re sen t day, more
and more c r e o l e speakers a r e beginning t o t a k e p r i d e i n t h e i r h e r i t a g e .
One of t h e s i g n s of t h i s new a t t i t u d e is t h e acceptance and r e c o g n i t i o n
of a growing body of l i t e r a t u r e t h a t i s s t r i c t l y f o l k l o r i c and def in-
i t e l y c r e o l e . I n t h e p a s t , poe t ry was n o t poe t ry un le s s i t w a s w r i t t e n
i n Standard Eng l i sh and was thus a man i f e s t a t ion of t he f a c t t h a t t h e
11
poet has l ea rned Standard Engl i sh , and w a s t hus 'educated' . Another
symptom o f t h i s new i d e n t i t y is ' h y p e r c r e o l i z a t i o n l , which is
hype rco r rec t ion i n reverse . Creole speakers know t h a t i f they want t o
advance economically and s o c i a l l y w i t h i n t h e i r community, t h e a b i l i t y
t o speak Standard English is e s s e n t i a l . While they may wish t o par-
t i c i p a t e i n t h i s upward mob i l i t y , t hey a l s o want t o r e t a i n t h e i r i-
d e n t i t y as a c r e o l e speaker . The r e s u l t of t h i s agonizing dichotomy
has been t h a t they over-react and t r y t o u se t h e most extreme form of
c r e o l e i n eve ry s i t u a t i o n , J u s t a s people who use Standard Engl i sh i n
c a s u a l s i t u a t i o n s are considered t o b e pedan t i c and snobbish, l i kewise
t h e i n a b i l i t y o r t h e s tubborn r e f u s a l t o use Standard English o r Stan-
dard Tr in idad ian English i n s i t u a t i o n s t h a t warran t i t c a l l s down s i m -
i l a r d i sapproval .
S ince Tr in idad ian Creole and Tobagonian Creole a r e gene ra l ly used
a t home and f o r c a s u a l communication w i t h i n t h e community, t h e r e must
b e some way whereby t h e s t r u c t u r e and concepts of Standard Engl i sh are
i n t e r n a l i z e d by c r e o l e speakers . Th i s i s done through t h e educa t iona l
system. I n t h e major i ty of s c h o o l s , c h i l d r e n a r e n o t only encouraged
b u t a r e a l s o pressured i n t o speaking Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh , t o
t h e e x t e n t where t eache r s even p r o f e s s ignorance of T r in idad ian Creole
and Tobagonian Creole. I n some cases, should t h e c h i l d cont inue t o \ 1
speak Tr in idad ian Creole o r Tobagonian Creole , he i s he ld up be fo re t h e
c l a s s as a f i g u r e of r i d i c u l e , and h e is l a t e r mocked and s t i gma t i zed
by h i s p e e r s as being 'a count ry boy from t h e bush' . Even i n many
homes, c h i l d r e n a r e pressured by t h e i r p a r e n t s t o speak Standard Eng-
l i s h . I f t h e c h i l d does n o t a t t e n d schoo l f o r economic reasons o r
o therwise , h e neve r the l e s s acqu i r e s a b a s i c understanding of Standard
Engl i sh o r Standard Tr in idadian Eng l i sh by l i s t e n i n g t o t h e r a d i o o r
o t h e r forms of mass media. Thus, even though t h e person may be illit-
e r a t e , o r may n o t have an accep tab le degree of competency i n Standard
Engl i sh o r Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh , he i s s t i l l capable of under-
s t and ing i t s i n c e he has i n t e r n a l i z e d t h e s t r u c t u r e and b a s i c concepts
of Standard English. H i s p rof ic iency i n ' t h i s f i e l d is measured by h i s
a b i l i t y t o swi t ch back and f o r t h from Standard Engl i sh t o Standard
Tr in idad ian Engl i sh t o T r in idad ian Creole o r Tobagonian Creole , and by
h i s capac i ty t o d i s t i n g u i s h between t h e ve rnacu la r s t h a t range along
t h e continuum, w i t h i n t h e wide a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n .
One i n t e r e s t i n g a spec t o f t h i s s i t u a t i o n , a s is d iscussed by
Dennis R. Cra ig (1971), i s t h e f a c t t h a t c r e o l e speakers may recognize
Standard Eng l i sh forms out of p ropor t ion w i t h t h e i r a b i l i t y t o produce
similar examples. Creole speakers a r e i n t h e p e c u l i a r p o s i t i o n t h a t ,
wh i l e Eng l i sh is n o t a f o r e i g n language t o them, i t is s t i l l nq t t h e i r
r n a t i v e language. For c r e o l e speaking c h i l d r e n , t h i s poses a c u t e prob-
l e m s , i n educa t ion a s w e l l a s i n t h e a c q u i s i t i o n of language, t h a t a r e
only now be ing acknowledged. While t h e s e c h i l d r e n and even a d u l t s re-
cognize Standard Engl i sh forms, they may n o t be a b l e t o reproduce s i m -
i l a r forms o r be a b l e t o d i s t i n g u i s h t h e i n n a t e d i f f e r e n c e between
Standard Eng l i sh and c r e o l e p a t t e r n s . To he lp s o l v e t h e s e problems,
Cra ig has i n d i c a t e d what educa tors should look f o r i n t h e i r c r e o l e
speaking s t u d e n t s and how they should go about overcoming it.
T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and Tobagonian Creole a r e now i n a s t a g e of
t r a n s i t i o n , t h a t i s , they a r e g radua l ly moving towards Standard Engl i sh
o r S tandard Tr in idadian English. It i s an u n s t a b l e and dynamic process .
S ince T r i n i d a d and Tobago a r e themselves s o minute i n s i z e and t h e r e
a r e no geographica l f a c t o r s t h a t would pose insurmountable b a r r i e r s t o
communication, t h e r e i s no g r e a t v a r i e t y of T r in idad ian Creole w i t h i n
Tr in idad , o r Tobagonian Creole i n Tobago. Each community speaks a form
of c r e o l e which i s mutually i n t e l l i g i b l e w i th , and sometimes ha rd ly
d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from t h a t of any o t h e r community. Of course, t h e
c r e o l e spoken i n a wealthy suburb of Port-of-Spain i s more l i k e l y t o be
c l o s e r t o Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh than t h a t spoken i n a t i n y
i s o l a t e d v i l l a g e l i k e Moruga. However, t h i s is due t o socio-economic
f a c t o r s t h a t are o u t s i d e the scope of t h i s paper. Communication be-
tween h i g h e r and lower c l a s s e s a r e eased by each c l a s s a t tempt ing t o
speak a form of c r e o l e t h a t i s c l o s e r t o t h a t spoken by t h e o t h e r c l a s s ,
which may b e o u t s i d e t h e range wi th which t h e speaker f e e l s comfort-
a b l e , y e t w i t h i n t h e a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n .
T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and Tobagonian Creole a r e n o t i d e n t i c a l as many
people b e l i e v e . One of t h e reasons f o r t h i s can be found i n t h e h i s -
t o r y of b o t h i s l a n d s . Tr in idad and Tobago a r e t h e most southern of t h e
cha in of i s l a n d s t h a t are s t r u n g ac ros s t he Caribbean Sea. Forming t h e
lowest p o i n t of t h e Lesser A n t i l l e s , they l i e j u s t o f f t h e n o r t h e a s t e r n
c o a s t of Venezuela. Tr in idad covers an a rea of approximately one thous-
and, e i g h t hundred and s ix ty- four square mi l e s wh i l e sma l l e r Tobago ex-
tends over one hundred and s i x t e e n square m i l e s , w i t h a vo lcan ic peak
a t i t s c e n t r e . Both i s l a n d s were discovered by Chr is topher Columbus
on h i s t h i r d voyage i n 1498, and claimed f o r Spain. Afeer 1783, Trin-
idad was popula ted by French s e t t l e r s , and i n 1797, t h e i s l a n d w a s cap-
t u red by t h e B r i t i s h . It w a s o f f i c i a l l y ceded t o B r i t a i n i n 1802.
Tobago became a colony of B r i t a i n i n 1814, and o f f i c i a l l y s o i n 1877.
Both i s l a n d s were jo ined a s a s i n g l e colony i n 1889. Tr in idad and
Tobago became independent on August 31s t , 1962. S laves w e r e emancip-
a t ed i n 1833. I n order t o r e p l a c e t h i s labour f o r c e , t h e B r i t i s h
brought i nden tu red labourers from I n d i a between 1845 and 1917. Th i s
l a t e a d d i t i o n of Eas t Ind ian workers and then , Chinese immigrants,
has had some measure of i n f luence on t h e c r e o l e of Trinidad.
I n b o t h i s l a n d s , t h e r e a r e sma l l pockets where Yoruba i s s t i l l
spoken, b u t t h i s i s r a p i d l y dying o u t , even among t h e o l d peop le who
a r e forced t o speak c r e o l e t o communicate w i th t h e younger genera t ions .
I n T r in idad , French Creole i s a l s o spoken by a smal l minor i ty , made up
mostly of people from Grenada and o t h e r i s l a n d s where it i s more com-
mon.
The popu la t ion content of bo th i s l a n d s are very d i f f e r e n t and
t h i s accounts p a r t l y f o r t h e d i f f e r e n c e between Tr in idad ian Creole and
Tobagonian Creole . While Tobago i s populated almost e n t i r e l y by people
of Afr ican descen t , t h e r e are s e v e r a l r a c i a l groups
popula t ion of Tr in idad . A gene ra l breakdown of t h e
of t h e latter i s as fol lows:
which comprise t h e
popu la t ion content
Table 1.2 Popula t ion Content of Trinidad.
1. Of Afr ican descent ........................ 45% 2. Of Eas t Ind ian descent .................... 40% ........................ 3. Of Chinese descent 5% 4. Of mixed r a c i a l a n c e s t r y .................. 5% 6 , Of European and Mid-Eastern descent ....... 5%
(mainly Engl i sh , Spanish, French, Portuguese, Syr ian and Lebanese descent ) .
A s a r e s u l t , T r in idad ian Creole i s d i s t i ngu i shed from the English-
based c r e o l e s of t h e o t h e r Caribbean i s l a n d s by t h e words, o r c r e o l i z e d
forms of them, borrowed from Spanish, French, Chinese and Hindi . Some
c r e o l e idioms taken from Spanish a r e : /mamagay/ meaning ' t o a c t l i k e a
sycophant, t o f l a t t e r exces s ive ly ' from 'mamar g a l l o ' , /malfo/ ' e v i l
eye ' from 'ma1 d e o j o ' and / p i c 3 1 'song w i t h a w i t t y o r sha rp c r i t i c a l
obse rva t ion of soc i e ty : Some l e x i c a l i t e m s taken from French are:
/ lagahu/ 'werewolf ' from ' loup garou' , / l a y a b l ~ s / ' female demon' from
' la d i a b l e s s e ' , /cob01 ' v u l t u r e ' from 'corbeau' , /crape/ ' f r o g ' frbm
'crapaud' , /du-du/ from 'doux-doux' r e f e r r i n g t o ' one 's sweetheart: i, e.
a term of endearment, and /p3mcite/ ' t ype of f r u i t ' from ' p o m e cy-
t h s r e ' . Words from Hindi which have been incorpora ted i n t o t h e vocab-
u l a r y of T r in idad ian Creole a r e : /du lahrn / ' b r i d e ' , / b e t i / ' g i r l ' , / ah lu /
' po ta to ' , / bay i / ' spinach ' , e t c , ; and Chinese, o r t h e c r e o l i z e d Chinese
/hakwai/ f o r 'b lack people ' . It i s a l s o q u i t e common t o h e a r Trinidad-
i a n Creole speakers r e p e a t ' o u i ' ( f o r example, / a s i st wi/ f o r 'I real-
I l y saw i t ' ) a t t h e end of a s ta tement o r answer t o a ques t ion as a s i g n I
i of emphasis, Anl ther reason why t h e c r e o l e of Tobago i s much more c9n-
s e r v a t i v e than t h a t of Trinidad i s t h a t Tr in idad i s much more devel-
oped than Tobago, which, because of i t s ' l a c k of resources s t i l l remains
i n t h e backwaters , s a f e from r a p i d change.
There is cons tan t and vary ing degrees of i n t e r a c t i o n between Trin-
i dad ian Creole , Tobagonian Creole and Standard English. I have c a l l e d
Tr in idad ian Creole a c r e o l e and n o t a d i a l e c t of English, because, a l -
though t h e l i n g u i s t i c s i t u a t i o n is moving towards a pos t -c reo le con-
tinuum, t h e c r e o l e t h a t is s t i l l spoken by t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e '
numerous sma l l towns, suburbs and v i l l a g e s is no t understood by t h e
ma jo r i t y of Standard English n a t i v e speake r s e n t e r i n g t h e community.
To g ive a broad i d e a of how wide t h e a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n i s between
Standard Engl i sh and Tr in idadian Creole , w e w i l l t a k e a c l o s e r look a t
it. Standard Engl i sh i s gene ra l ly t h e language used i n bus ines s - major
bus ines s t r a n s a c t i o n s between l a r g e co rpo ra t ions a r e u sua l ly conceived,
c a r r i e d o u t , and sea l ed i n Standard Eng l i sh , a l l formal c o n t r a c t s a r e i n
Standard Engl i sh , e t c . Moving down t h e economic l adde r , sma l l e r bus-
i n e s s d e a l s , s ay between small fami ly bus ines ses , may be nego t i a t ed i n
Standard Tr in idad ian English, o r , depending on the r e l a t i o n s h i p between
t h e businessmen, a form of T r in idad ian Creole , each t r y i a g t o speak t h a t
form of c r e o l e wi th which he f e e l s t h e o t h e r i s most comfortable. To-
wards t h e lower end of t h e s c a l e , t h e r e is t h e Sunday market where t h e
housewife goes t o buy f r e s h meat and produce. This b a r t e r i n g and
haggl ing i s u s u a l l y expressed i n t h e ' pu re s t ' form of c r e o l e known t o
t h e housewife. I f t he vendor wishes t o d r i v e a hard barga in , h e
a t tempts t o make a c o n t r a s t between h i s socio-economic p o s i t i o n and t h a t
17
of t h e housewife, t o t h e advantage of t h e l a t t e r . I f , on t h e o t h e r
hand, he wishes t o wheedle and f l a t t e r , he p l a y s up t o he r by speaking
h i s most r e f i n e d form of Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh , thus implying
t h a t , of course , she i s a very important person. A preacher , speaking
in fo rma l ly t o one of h i s f l ock , w i l l speak i n Tr in idad ian Creole; y e t ,
when addres s ing h i s congregat ion, i l l i t e r a t e though he may be , he w i l l
u s e what h e t h i n k s is Standard Engl i sh , on ly occas iona l ly breaking i n t o
Tr in idad ian Creole t o s t r e s s a po in t . Should h e d e l i v e r h i s sermon i n
T r in idad ian Creole , t h e congregat ion would b e extremely offended and
i n s u l t e d by t h i s l a c k of d i g n i t y , and would condemn h i s c a p a b i l i t y t o
preach , g r e a t though h i s o r a t o r i c a l a b i l i t y may be.
A s any s o c i o l o g i s t o r s o c i o l i n g u i s t knows, t h e s e k inds of r e l a t i o n -
s h i p s and s i t u a t i o n s occur on a d a i l y b a s i s and each may c a l l f o r a
d i f f e r e n t form of c r e o l e which may be c l o s e r t o 'pure ' c r e o l e o r t o
Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh than what t h e speaker uses h imsel f . Any
person would b e hard p u t t o s ay t h a t t h e r e was one s i n g l e day when he
d i d n o t have t o make a few o r even many adjustments- t o t h e form of Stan-
dard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh o r T r in idad ian Creole t h a t h e speaks, i n o rde r
t o communicate wi th o t h e r s without a rous ing h o s t i l e f e e l i n g s . A t y p i c a l
example of t h i s i s a grocer who, w i t h i n t h e passage of one day, speaks
Standard Eng l i sh t o h i s lawyer and c l i e n t s who a r e t eache r s , Standard
T r i n i d a d i a n Engl i sh t o h i s bus ines s compet i tor , T r in idad ian Creole t o
h i s paying customers, and a much broader form of T r in idad ian Creole t o
t h e non-paying customers and t h e s t r e e t sweeper. I n o rde r t o do t h i s ,
h e must swi t ch back and f o r t h without h e s i t a t i o n , and, i n t u r n , move up
and down t h e l i n g u i s t i c continuum by adding c r e o l e words o r borrowing
words from Standard English f o r a s i t u a t i o n i n which t h e r e a r e no c r e o l e
words t h a t are approp ia t e ,
The f a c t t h a t t h e r e a r e borrowings from Standard Engl i sh , Spanish,
French, Chinese and Hindi l ex i cons a f f e c t s a l l components of Trinidad-
i a n Creole . D i f f e r e n t words may be used f o r t h e same r e f e r e n t i n Stan-
dard Eng l i sh and i n Tr in idadian Creole , f o r example, / f r a k / i s used f o r
' d r e s s ' , /j3:si/ ' j e r s e y ' f o r ' sweater ' , /badrs / 'bodice ' f o r 'b louse ' ,
/bakanal/ 'bacchanal ' f o r 'confusion, s p e c t a c l e 1 , / f g t / ' f e t e ' f o r - - . .
' p a r ty ' , e t c . Some Standard Engl i sh words may a l s o be incorpora ted i n t o
Tr in idad ian Creole , b u t used i n an e n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t sense , e.g. / d i
f f g f r ~ g f r ~ g / meaning n o t t h a t t h e f i s h i s f r e s h , b u t t h a t i t has a
very f i s h y taste o r smell . / f r & g / i n t h i s sense , may a l s o b e used t o
d e s c r i b e 'eggs ' . Severa l Standard Engl i sh terms may a l s o b e used i n
r eve r se o r d e r i n Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh o r T r in idad ian Creole ,
f o r example, ' tongue t i e d ' becomes ' t i e d tongue' .
Thus, T r in idad ian Creole d i f f e r s - from Standard Engl i sh , n o t only
i n t h e l e x i c o n , b u t a l s o i n t h e grammar and i n t h e phonology. Some of
t h e s e d i f f e r e n c e s are poin ted ou t i n David Jay Minderhout (1973) and i n . .
David Decamp (1971). They a r e as fol lows:
(1) The copula o r forms of ' t o be ' are usua l ly absent and are gen-
e r a l l y d e l e t e d a f t e r pronouns, f o r example, /i b a yan w i / 'he i s a
r e a l l y bad man', / d i bwai dEm w ~ k f d wrkrd/ ' t h e boys are very wicked
o r mischievous' .
(2) There is gene ra l ly no p a s t t e n s e i n d i c a t o r , a l though t h e cont in-
uous t e n s e i s marked by t h e v e r b a l s u f f i x -ing, ( f o r example, /i wakm
d31f d i s t r i t / 'he i s walking down t h e s t r e e t ' ) , t h e p r e s e n t and h a b i t -
u a l t e n s e by 'does' (eg. s h i daz go t a t538 ~ b r i de/ ' she goes t o
church eve ry day ' ) , and t h e f u t u r e by forms of 'go' (eg. /a go go s i d i
d a k t a l 'I w i l l go t o s e e t h e doc to r ' ) .
(3) P l u r a l markers a r e de l e t ed .
(4) The fo l lowing pronominal system i s found:
Table 1 . 3 Pronominal System of Tr in idadian Creole.
STE TC
she h Igi1 h e r
they t ldSrn1 them
There is no c a s e i n t h e pronouns, except t h a t /a/ may be used i n pre-
f e r ence t o / m i / .
(5) There i s no subject-verb agreement, eg. / d i E in i c r a l we i wan/
' t h e c a t e r p i l l a r where i t wants t o ' .
(6) There i s no p a s s i v e form of t h e verb.
(7) The negative particle corresponding to 'isn' t' varies from / ~ n t
NfnN E /, eg. /di neba de ~ n t takrn nobw2di b~znrs/ 'that neighbour
does not discuss other people's affairs'.
(8) Multiple negation - Whereas two negatives within the same core
sentence are understood in Standard English to equal a positive, in
Trinidadian Creole, multiple negatives within the same clause simply
indicate negative. Eg. /mi e nyam no plant~n/ 'I did not eat any plan-
tain'. The general negativizer is /no/.
(9) Questions are not realized by the inversion of the corresponding
.statement, but by a declarative sentence ending with a high tone.
(10) Use of the repetitive sentence is quite common, eg. / r z d ~ d i
d ~ d wi/ for 'he is really dead'.
(11) The dummy subject constructions 'there is' or 'there are' are
usually replaced by the existential 'it' in 'it have' as in / ~ t hab tu
man faytrn m di wek/ 'there are two men fighting-in the wake'.
'4 (12) Reduplication is not a characteristic of lower social class.
It spans the breadth of the entire continuum and is accepted by all
social classes. Thus it is quite common to hear expressions like
/hwoli-hwoli/ 'full of holes', Islo-do/ 'very slow', lbrrs-brrsl 'very
rapidly' , /we t-WE t/ ' really wet ' , and, taken from the African language Twi, /bob01 'fool' and /b~bz~l/ 'confusion, mess'.
(13) Another feature that is characteristic of English-based creoles
is that of associated plurals. The use of these associated plurals is
generally limited to the lower classes of creole speakers. Some exam-
ples are: /jan dem/ 'John and his companions' and /di bwai drm/ 'all the
boys ' . / /
(14) Some nouns a r e a l so used f o r verb functions. Whereas i n Stan-
dard English t h e verbal counterpart of t h e noun ' t h i e f ' i s ' t o s t e a l ' ,
i n Tr in idadian Creole, the verbal equivalent of the noun ' t h i e f ' i s ' t o
t h i e f ' , a s i n t h e example: /rz t i f i t i f d i got w i / meaning 'he r e a l l y
s t o l e t h e goat ' . S imi lar ly , whereas i n Standard English the re e x i s t s
t h e noun ' t o t e ' meaning ' ca r ry -a l l ' , t h e r e i s no such noun i n Trin-
idadian Creole. Ins tead, the re i s t h e verb ' t o t o t e ' which means ' t o
carry ' . I
/ (15) Cer ta in verbs which a r e semantic converses i n Standard English,
f o r example, ' l ea rn ' and ' teach ' , a r e sometimes expressed by a s i n g l e
word. Creole speakers say /a l 3 n d i a l f a b e t d r s wik/ 'I learned the
alphabet t h i s week', but they a l s o say / lm ?$i samz/ ' teach her how ' t o
do sums'.
\ I !! (16) One of the more complex of the grammatical and phonological var-
i a b l e s i s hypercorrect ion, Hypercorrection a r i s e s when a d i s t i n c t i o n
i n the s tandard language is neu t ra l i zed i n a p a r t i c u l a r &alect . To
apply t h i s t o t h e s i t u a t i o n a t hand, le t us consider speakers of Trin-
idadian Creole, where verbs a r e no t marked f o r number and person. The
d i s t i n c t i o n i s the re fo re collapsed. However, c reo le speakers hear
speakers of Standard English using verb forms t h a t a r e marked f o r num-
be r and person. They a r e not aware t h a t t h e r e a r e c e r t a i n r u l e s t h a t
apply t o form these paradigms under c e r t a i n condit ions and i n c e r t a i n
contexts . They only know t h a t , p e r s o n s of h igher s o c i a l s tanding, who
a r e b e t t e r educated, use these verb forms. Thus, i n an attempt t o re-
f i n e t h e i r language and advance t o what t hey b e l i e v e is a ve rnacu la r
t h a t i s c l o s e r t o Standard Engl i sh , they produce unacceptable and un-
grammatical sen tences l i k e :
(a) *I has t o go t o town today.
(b) *We u se s t o go t o t he market.
(c ) *YOU wants a cup of cof fee?
(d) *They is a l a z y people.
The same p r i n c i p l e a p p l i e s i n phonology. Thus, i f sounds i n a
s tandard language, s ay sound a and sound b a r e pronounced i n d i f f e r e n t l y - - a s - b i n a d i a l e c t , t h e d i a l e c t speaker may n o t know when t o s u b s t i t u t e
s tandard - a f o r h i s - b. For i n s t ance , t h e speaker of a n 'h - less f d i a l e c t ,
when /h/ and zero a r e co l l apsed , may mis takenly i n t r o d u c e /h/ i n an i t em
which has ze ro i n t h e s tandard language (e .g, he might s ay / h z l / f o r
1 f i l l f ) . I n Tr in idad , s tandard / a / and /3/ bo th go t o /a/. One
is t h e r e f o r e n o t s u r p r i s e d when c r e o l e speake r s o c c a s i o n a l l y ove rco r rec t
t h e i r /a/ t o / a / , pronouncing, f o r example /bahamfis/ aham am as' as
lb3hamnsl. I n o t h e r i n s t a n c e s , where t h e r-Loss r u l e a p p l i e s ( a s i s ex-
p l a ined i n t h e chap te r on r u l e s , t h e / r / is d e l e t e d p o s t v o c a l i c a l l y i n
T r in idad ian Creole) s o t h a t t h e Standard Eng l i sh word / g ~ r d n / 'Gordonf
i s pronounced i n c r e o l e as lga :dn/ , i t is n o t unusual t h a t c r e o l e speak-
e r s hype rco r rec t and i n s e r t / r / where t h e r e is none i n S tandard English.
Thus, w e g e t / b l a r s t r d / for ' b l a s t e d ' . S ince t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between
t h e words w i t h /r/ and those wi thout have been negated i n c r e o l e , Trin-
i dad ian Creole speakers r e - i n s e r t t h e / r / when speaking Standard Trin-
i d a d i a n Engl i sh , sometimes misapplying t h e r u l e and i n s e r t i n g /r/ where
t h e r e w a s none p rev ious ly de l e t ed .
Another p o t e n t i a l sou rce of hype rco r rec t ion might occur a s a r e s u l t
of o c c l u s i v i z a t i o n . Whereby s tandard 101, /a/, /v/ and / d l go t o I t / ,
/ d l , /b/ and /y/ r e s p e c t i v e l y , one might t h e r e f o r e expec t hype rco r rec t ion
of /Q/, /a/, /v/ and /?!I f o r c r e o l e I t / , / d l , /b/ and /TI. One example
of t h i s is when c r e o l e speakers hypercor rec t Standard Engl i sh
/maeamatzks/ 'mathematics ' t o /maQimaerks/.
Hypercor rec t ion i s a s common a phenomenon among speakers of Trin-
i dad ian Creole a s i t i s among Tobagonian Creole speakers . It occurs
n a t u r a l l y i n everyday speech, e s p e c i a l l y when speakers of t h e c r e o l e t r y
t o r e f i n e t h e i r d i a l e c t without having a f i r m grasp of t h e r u l e s t h a t
govern S tandard Engl i sh . Most of t h e phonological e r r o r s of hyper-
c o r r e c t i o n a r e i n d i v i d u a l ones r a t h e r than gene ra l ones, However, a s
f a r a s t h e grammar i s concerned, hype rco r rec t ion is more widespread
and e s p e c i a l l y p r e v a l e n t among t h e more i l l i te ra te who are i n t h e pro-
c e s s of moving up t h e socio-economic ladder . The performance of t h e
c r e o l e speaker does n o t always r e f l e c t a t r u e p i c t u r e of h i s knowledge
of S tandard E n g l i s h and h i s a b i l i t y t o d i s t i n g u i s h between t h e d i f f e r e n t
ve rnacu la r s .
Char les A. Ferguson (1959) s a y s t h a t i n . a d i g l o s s i a , t h e r e a r e
g r e a t d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e grammar of t h e supe ro rd ina t e and t h a t of
t h e subord ina t e language, t h e grammar of t h e l a t t e r be ing much s impler
t han t h a t of t h e former. There a r e less o b l i g a t o r y c a t e g o r i e s ; para-
digms are more symmetr ical , i n t h a t i r r e g u l a r forms are d i sca rded o r ig-
nored a s i r r e l e v a n t and redundant; and p repos i t i ons a l l t ake t h e same
case.
S i m i l a r l y , he observes , t h e l ex i con of t h e language of lower s o c i a l
s t a t u s i s more l i m i t e d than t h a t of t he more h i g h l y regarded language.
I n t h i s ca se , s i n c e some c r e o l e words have no equ iva l en t i n Standard
English and v i c e v e r s a , they a r e never used when c r e o l e speakers corm-
un ica t e w i t h Standard Engl i sh speakers because t h e l a t t e r do no t u s u a l l y
understand t h e s e terms ( e . g. c r e o l e words l i k e /maco/ from 'maquereau' ,
t h e French word meaning 'mackerel ' , o r t h e s l a n g meaning 'pimp', i n
c r e o l e i s used i n a derogatory manner, a s a noun o r verb, t o r e f e r t o
someone who meddles o r s p i e s on o t h e r ~ e o p l e ' s a f f a i r s ; /macorn€/ from
t ma commere', \ an o ld French term, no longer i n use , meaning 'my dea r '
and conveying a f e e l i n g of warmth and camaraderie, e t c . ) . As a r e s u l t ,
speakers who belong w i t h i n t h i s l i n g u i s t i c continuum, i f they a r e c l o s e r
t o one extreme of i t than t o t h e middle a r e a of i n t e r a c t i o n , may be ig-
no ran t of words which belong t o t h e po le of t h e continuum t h a t i s opp-
o s i t e t o t h e i r s and a world a p a r t from t h e i r s . 'A-
I n rega rd t o phonology, t h e phonology of t h e c r e o l e is much more
b a s i c , s t reaml ined and u n c l u t t e r e d by t h e redundancies t h a t might p lague
t h e o l d e r , more e s t a b l i s h e d language. I n t h e case where t h e s t anda rd
language h a s phonemes t h a t a r e n o t p re sen t i n t h e c r e o l e , t h e latter
may borrow them whenever t h e occasion makes it impera t ive t o do so.
Ferguson goes on t o e x p l a i n t h a t a d i g l o s s i a e x i s t s wherever t h e r e
i s one subord ina t e language and a supe ro rd ina t e one. I n t h i s ca se , t h e
former i s Tr in idad ian Creole and t h e l a t t e r is Standard Tr in idad ian
English. The supe ro rd ina t e language (Standard Tr in idadian Eng l i sh o r
Standard Engl i sh) i s t h e one used and accepted i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e . It is
a l s o used f o r formal educat ion and w r i t t e n and formal purposes. No
group w i t h i n t h e community eve r needs t o use t h e s tandard language f o r
c a s u a l s i t u a t i o n s . A d i g l o s s i a - i s d i f f e r e n t i a t e d from a s i t u a t i o n i n
which a s t anda rd language e x i s t s w i t h a number of d i a l e c t s t h a t a r e re-
l a t e d t o it .
He a l s o s t a t e s t h a t a d i g l o s s i a is c r e a t e d by t h e e x i s t e n c e of
t h r e e condi t ions : (1) t h e body of l i t e r a t u r e is i n t h e superimposed
language o r a d i a l e c t r e l a t e d t o it; (2) t h e r e is l i m i t e d l i t e r a c y among
t h e popula t ion ; and (3) much t i m e has passed t o a l low t h e s t a b i l i z i n g
and es tab l i shment of t h i s s i t u a t i o n , The d i g l o s s i a becomes threa tened
when t h e r e is: (1) g r e a t e r l i t e r a c y ; (2) more communication; and (3) a
d e s i r e f o r a n a t i o n a l language.
The arguments i n favour of having t h e superimposed language as t h e
n a t i o n a l language a re : (1) t h e superimposed language i s be l i eved t o be
s u p e r i o r t o t h e subord ina te language; (2) t h e f i r s t connects t h e c i t -
i z e n s of t h e country t o speakers of t h a t language a l l over t h e world;
and (3) it i s more un i fy ing t o have one language, i.e. t h e s tandard
sou rce language, than i t is t o have a mu l t i t ude of ve rnacu la r s t h a t
vary . The appeal of having t h e subord ina t e language a s t h e n a t i o n a l
language l i e i n t h e fo l lowing ideas : (1) t h e c r e o l e i s more c o l o u r f u l
t han the s t anda rd language; (2) t h e subord ina t e language c r o s s e s a l l
s o c i a l boundaries; and (3) i t i s understood by a g r e a t e r ma jo r i t y of
t h e i n h a b i t a n t s of t h e country. The superimposed language i s chosen
o u t , f o r example, La t in . V a r i e t i e s of t h e subord ina t e language may
become t h e s tandard i f t h e r e a r e a l r eady s e v e r a l communities i n e x i s t -
ence t h a t a r e c e n t r e s f o r t h e s e vernaculars .
Le t u s now consider how t h e s e cond i t i ons apply t o t he s i t u a t i o n i n
Tr in idad and Tobago. The body of l i t e r a t u r e t h a t was o f f i c i a l l y sanct-
ioned by t h e Board of Education was w r i t t e n i n S tandard English. How-
eve r , w i t h i n the l a s t few yea r s , i t has bowed t o growing p re s su re t o
i nc lude and recognize a s p a r t of t h e o f f i c i a l cur r icu lum works of cre-
o l e speake r s who have w r i t t e n and composed i n t h e i r n a t i v e language.
There i s even a newspaper w i th island-wide c i r c u l a t i o n t h a t emphasizes
t h i s ' c reo l i sm' by having most of t h e i r a r t i c l e s w r i t t e n i n c r eo le .
Some of t h e h a r d l i n e r s and o l d t r a d i t i o n a l i s t s s t i l l look down on t h i s
w i t h d i s t a s t e , a s a l a c k of educat ion, o t h e r s r ega rd i t a s a symbol of
a growing consciousness of and p r i d e i n t h e i r i d e n t i t y ,
Much t i m e has passed t o al low f o r t h e s t a b i l i z i n g and e s t a b l i s h -
ment of t h e c r e o l e s i n c e i t s development from a p idg in , Whereas be-
f o r e , a s i z a b l e po r t ion of t h e popula t ion was i l l i te ra te , now, due t o
r a p i d development, a b e t t e r economy, and more communication i n T r in i -
dad, t h i s i s now reduced t o a mere handful . O f cou r se , s i n c e l i f e i n
Tobago moves a t a much slower pace, t h e d i g l o s s i a remains much more
s t a b l e t h a n i n Trinidad. Tobagonian Creole is more conserva t ive and is
much c l o s e r t o i t s o r i g i n a l form than i s t h e c r e o l e of i t s s i s t e r i s l and .
Na tu ra l ly , when independence was dec lared i n 1962, t h e o f f i c i a l lang-
uage chosen w a s t h e European source language, S tandard B r i t i s h English.
From t h i s , we can draw t h e conclusions t h a t a l though t h e r e is d e f i n i t e -
l y a d i g l o s s i a t h a t is r e l a t i v e l y s t a b l e i n Tobago; i n Tr in idad , t he
d i g l o s s i a i s th rea t en ing t o break up a s i t moves towards a pos t -c reo le
continuum, of t h e type descr ibed i n Decamp (1971).
Mervyb C. Alleyne (1971) p r e s e n t s a d i f f e r e n t f a c e t of t h e prob-
l e m . He b e l i e v e s t h a t c r e o l e languages a r e t h e r e s u l t of a c u l t u r a l
c l a s h between Western European languages and those of West Afr ica. The
Afr ican c u l t u r e and t h e language of t h e s l a v e s were p a r t l y o v e r l a i d by
t h a t of t h e European c o l o n i s t s i n an e f f o r t t o subsume them. This
i n t e r a c t i o n between upper and lower c l a s s e s of t h e s o c i e t y gave r i s e t o
a " c u l t u r a l c o n t a c t s i t u a t i o n " and t h e subsequent p roces ses of borrow-
ing , i n c o r p o r a t i o n , r e s t r u c t u r i n g , s i m p l i f i c a t i o n , expansion, e t c . l e d
t o t h e development of an enormous v a r i a t i o n i n ve rnacu la r s . The r e s u l t -
i n g English-based c r e o l e s show i n t h e i r broad s t r u c t u r a l p a t t e r n s ,
morphology, and phonology, t h a t t h e i r source languages a r e West African.
These c r e o l e s are t h e r e f o r e t h e end r e s u l t of "decul tura t ion" and "a-
ccu l tu ra t ion" , r e s t r u c t u r i n g and r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .
One of t h e maladies of t h i s "decul tura t ion" i s t h e p u b l i d p r i v a t e
dichotomy f e l t by many c r e o l e speakers , who wish t o advance s o c i a l l y
and economical ly, and, knowing t h a t t h e use of Standard Engl i sh is
e s s e n t i a l t o f a c i l i t a t e t h i s be t te rment , s t i l l want t o r e t a i n t h e i r
i d e n t i t y as c r e o l e speakers . The c r e o l e thus becomes and is regarded
as a c u l t u r a l v a r i a n t . There s t i l l e x i s t s t h e idea, 'among some people,
t h a t c r e o l e s developed from a baby t a l k model, t h a t is , t h e s l a v e ' s
i m i t a t i o n of h i s mas t e r ' s i m i t a t i o n of t h e s l a v e ' s i m i t a t i o n . A s w e
know, t h i s i s a misconseption. A f a r more p l a u s i b l e theory i s t h e one
proposed by Alleyne (1971), t h a t c r e o l e s developed among f i e l d s l a v e s
whose s o c i a l con tac t w a s l i m i t e d t o t h e i r peers . Thus, they r e i n t e r -
p re t ed Engl i sh , r e s t r u c t u r i n g i t t o f i t i n t o t h e p a t t e r n s of t h e i r own
n a t i v e language.
I n comparison t o o t h e r types of co lack Engl i sh ' , William Labov
(1971) s t a t e s t h a t he b e l i e v e s t h a t "Non Standard Negro ~ n g l i s h " of
Black American communities is f a r more developed a s a post-creole con-
tinuum than t h e English-based c r e o l e s of t h e Caribbean. This b e l i e f i s
based on t h e f a c t t h a t c e r t a i n r u l e s which a f f e c t West Ind ian Engl i sh
on a l e v e l t h a t is extremely c l o s e t o t h e s u r f a c e form, a r e a p p l i c a b l e
t o Black Engl i sh a t a much deeper l e v e l . It i s t h e r e f o r e conceivable
t h a t t he English-based c r e o l e s of t he West I n d i e s may fol low a pa th
t h a t is very s i m i l a r t o t h a t of "Non Standard Negro English". H e a l s o
b e l i e v e s t h a t t h e c e n t r a l s t r u c t u r e s of l i n g u i s t i c systems, such as
v e r b a l t e n s e and a spec t , resist in f luence from o t h e r languages, whi le
t h e p e r i p h e r a l elements of vocabulary a r e f r e e l y borrowed. He s t a t e s
t h e p r i n c i p l e t h a t :
I1 whenever a subord ina t e d i a l e c t i s i n con tac t w i t h a supe ro rd ina t e one, l i n g u i s t i c forms produced by a speaker of t h e subord ina t e d i a l e c t i n a formal c o n t e x t w i l l s h i f t i n an unsystematic manner towards t h e superord ina te ."
This accounts f o r t h e development of t h e l i n g u i s t i c continuum from a
d i g l o s s i a t o a pos t -c reo le one.
I n a t t empt ing t o account f o r phonological phenomena i n T r in idad ian
Creole , we have made t h r e e d i v i s i o n s : Tr in idadian Creole , Standard
Tr in idad ian Engl i sh and Standard English. On t h e o t h e r hand, S t an ley
Tsuzaki (1971) p r o p o s e s . t h a t a number of c o e x i s t e n t sub-systems be set
up i n a c a s e where a l i n g u i s t i c continuum e x i s t s , i n t h e o rde r o f :
p idgins , v a r i e t i e s of c r e o l e s , s t anda rd language, e t c . , s o t h a t t h e con-
tinuum may b e b e t t e r analysed. W e have decided a g a i n s t t h i s method f o r
t h e s imple reason t h a t i t i s very d i f f i c u l t i f no t impossible t o d i s -
t i n g u i s h where t h e p idg in ends and t h e c r e o l e begins , o r even between
each s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t ve rnacu la r . Tsuzaki a l s o s t a t e s t h a t i f one
component of a l i n g u i s t i c system i s a f f e c t e d , f o r example, a phoneme,
then a l l t h e o t h e r s a r e a f f e c t e d . Therefore , a l l t h e o the r phonemes
must make adjustments and adap ta t ions . The argument a g a i n s t t h i s is
t h e s i m i l a r i t y of c r e o l e grammars i n some a r e a s and t h e d i s s i m i l a r i t y
i n o t h e r s . This argument a l s o suppor t s t h e r e l e x i f i c a t i o n hypothes is
of Taylor , Whinnon and Stewar t , r e f e r r e d t o by Tsuzaki. There is
evidence t h a t languages i n c l o s e c o n t a c t , f o r a long per iod , become
i d e n t i c a l i n some a r e a s and d i f f e r e n t i n o t h e r s . The r e l e x i f i c a t i o n
hypothes is r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e l e x i c o n of a language can be s p l i t o f f
from t h e grammar many t i m e s i n t h e course of t h e development of t he
c r eo le . I n t h i s paper , we have p r e f e r r e d t o s e t up a diasystem t o
account f o r T r in idad ian Creole and Tobagonian Creole.
The a b i l i t y t o understand nove l u t t e r a n c e s i y Standard Engl i sh
must depend on a system of i n t e r n a l i z e d r u l e s l i n k i n g t h e two l e v e l s ,
i .e. Creole and Standard English. There must be a competence t o d e r i v e
one from t h e o the r . What t h i s t h e s i s a t tempts t o show i s t h a t i n
a c t u a l f a c t , i t is p o s s i b l e t o d e r i v e c r e o l e r e n d i t i o n s of Standard
Engl i sh l e x i c a l i t e m s by apply ing a sma l l s e t of phonological ru l e s .
Some of t h e s e r u l e s w i l l be found t o apply i n a s p e c i f i c o rde r . These
a r e d i scussed i n chapters 3 and 4. There are a l s o a couple of r u l e s
which do n o t r e q u i r e t h e p o s t u l a t i o n of o rde r ing c o n s t r a i n t s a s f a r a s
t h e g e n e r a l body of r u l e s a r e concerned. This is a l s o d iscussed i n
chap te r 3.
Much cont roversy cen te r s around t h e n e c c e s s i t y f o r e x t r i n s i c order-
i n g of r u l e s . We s h a l l a l s o d i scuss t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of e l imina t ing
o r d e r i n g c o n s t r a i n t s and of thus c o l l a p s i n g t h e d i s t i n c t i o n between
'o rdered ' and 'unordered' r u l e s i n chap te r 4.
CHAPTER 2
THE PHONEMIC SYSTEM OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE
The purpose of t h i s chapter i s t o r e l a t e t h e phonologica l s t r u c t -
u re s of S tandard Tr in idadian Engl i sh t o those of T r i n i d a d i a n Creole and
Tobagonian Creole. A s a s t a r t i n g p o i n t , we s h a l l l i s t , f o r purposes of
comparison, t h e s u r f a c e phonemes of Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh and
Tr in idad ian Creole . W e s h a l l i n d i c a t e t h e main correspondences found.
Chapters 3 and 4 w i l l be devoted t o t h e d e s c r i p t i o n of t h e gene ra l
r u l e s l i n k i n g Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh t o t h e c r e o l e s and t h e d i s -
cussion o f m a t t e r s of ordering. '
Table 2 . 1 The Vowel Phonemes of Standard Tr in idad ian Eng l i sh and Tr in idadian Creole,
STE
It w i l l b e noted t h a t T r in idad ian Creole has a smaller inventory
oE vowel phonemes than has Standard Tr in idad ian Eng l i sh (e leven a s com-
pared t o t h i r t e e n ) . I n t h e case of t h e h ighe r vowels (i,l , e , 4 , u,
V, o ) , t h e Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh phonemes show up i n Trinidad-
i a n Creole r e n d i t i o n s a t corresponding p o i n t s , a l though t h e r e may be
minor phone t i c d i f f e r ences .
Standard Tr in idad ian English lower vowels ( E , a ? , a , 3 , 3:, a:)
a r e r e l a t e d t o t h e four Tr in idadian Creole lower vowels a s fol lows:
(1) Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh /€ / corresponds t o T r in idad ian
Creole /€/, Thus, we f i n d STE / g € t / ' ge t ' f o r TC /gy•’ t / , and STE lp€n /
'pen' f o r TC / p ~ n / .
(2) Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh /ae/ corresponds t o t h e more cen-
t r a l T r in idad ian Creole / a / . Thus, f o r / m = t / 'mat' we f i n d /mat/ , f o r
/haet/ ' h a t ' t h e r e i s / h a t / , and f o r / k ~ t / ' c a t ' , /kya t / .
(3) Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh /a/ i n uns t r e s sed environments, i n
genera l , appears i n Tr in idadian Creole a s /a / . Thus, / s s s t a ( r ) / 'sis-
t e r ' shows up as / s r s a / , /b=?ka(r) / 'banker ' a s /banks/, / l & t a ( r ) / ' l e t -
ter' a s / l ~ t a / , / a f t a ( r ) / ' a f t e r ' a s / a f t a / , / p i t a ( r ) / ' p e t e r ' a s
/ p i t a / , / beka ( r ) / ' baker ' a s /beka/, /bs t a ( r ) / ' b e t t e r ' as / b ~ t a / ,
/pr iEa ( r ) / ' p reacher ' a s /pr iEa/ and / t i E s ( r ) / ' t e ache r ' a s /&a/. We
s h a l l r e f e r t o t h e r e l e v a n t r u l e as Shwa Lowering. I n s t r e s s e d pos i t -
ion , Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh / a / is l i m i t e d t o words such as ' t u r n ' ,
' h u r t ' , e t c . where we may wish t o permit underlying //r//. I n t h e s e
cases T r in idad ian Creole has /3/ ,- f o r example, / t3:n/ ' t u rn ' , / h ~ : t/
' h u r t ' , /b3:n/ 'burn' , /w~ : rn / 'worm', /w2:d/ 'word' and /b3:d/ ' b i rd ' .
This r u l e we s h a l l l a b e l Shwa Rounding. Standard ~ r i n i d a d i a n Eng l i sh
a l s o has /a/ i n numerous i tems when t h e c r e o l e s have unreduced vowels.
Thus, 'tomorrow' /tam2ro/ appears as /tumaro/ and 'yesterday ' l ygs t ade / ,
as / y ~ s a d e / .
(4) Standard Tr in idadian Eng l i sh /2/ and /2:/ corresponds t o Trin-
i dad ian Creole / a / , t h e l i n k i n g r u l e be ing one of Unrounding. Thus,
f o r lp3t/ ' ~ o t ' w e f i n d at/, f o r / b ~ : l / ' b a l l ' we g e t / b a l / , f o r / tay/
toyt ' t h e r e is /tay/, f o r / g ~ n / 'gone' we f i n d / g a d and f o r / b ~ m /
'bomb' w e have /barn/.
(5) Standard Tr in idadian Eng l i sh /a : / corresponds t o T r in idad ian
Creole /a:/.
These correspondences can b e shown a s fol lows:
Table 2.2 The Correspondences between STE lower Vowel Phonemes and t h e i r e q u i v a l e n t s i n TC.
STE TC
I n gene ra l , ~ r i n i d a d i i n Creole consonant phonemes occur i n t h e
s a m e p o s i t i o n as Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh Consonants, w i t h only a
few except ions which s h a l l be d i scussed on t h e fo l lowing page.
The consonants of bo th systems are as fol lows:
Table 2 . 3 The Consonant Phonemes of STE and TC.
STE TC
There a r e l e s s consonants i n t h e Tr in idad ian Creole inventory of
phonemes than i n Standard Tr in idad ian Engl i sh (twenty-four i n t h e for-
mer compared t o twenty i n t h e l a t t e r ) . There i s no /&/, /@/, o r /2/
i n T r in idad ian Creole and /v/ is merely a n al lophone of /b/. This can
be accounted f o r by t h e r u l e of Occ lus iv i za t ion , which s t a t e s t h a t :
(a ) S l i t d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e s are occ lus iv i zed , thus /Q/ goes t o / t /
as i n / u q / ' t h i n g ' , I t r u t / ' t r u t h ' , / t a t / ' thought ' ; and /a/ goes t o
/ d l a s i n /wzdzn/ ' w i t h i n f , /doz/ ' t h o s e ' and /bed/ 'bathe ' .
(b) The voiced l a b i o d e n t a l f r i c a t i v e /v / is o p t i o n a l l y occ lus iv i zed ,
t h a t is, /v/ is an al lophone of /b / and t h e r e f o r e v a r i e s o p t i o n a l l y
wi th it , t h u s we g e t / b i l i b / ' b e l i e v e ' , /drayb/ ' d r i v e ' and /d&bl /
' d e v i l ' .
(c) The voiced p a l a t a l f r i c a t i v e /$!/ is occ lus iv i zed t o /Y/ , t hus -
' p l ea su re ' becomes l p l f fa/ and 'measure' / m ~ Y a / .
Thi s tendency towards a r educ t ion i n t h e inventory of phonemes is
a l i g n e d w i t h t h e no t ion of s i m p l i c i t y , t h a t i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a l l
c r e o l e s . Note t h a t a l l t h e l i q u i d s and g l i d e s remain the same i n Trin-
i d a d i a n Creole a s i n Standard Tr in idadian Engl i sh .
CHAPTER 3
THE PHONOLOGICAL RULES OF TRINIDADIAN CREOLE
Most of the data in this chapter are based on the personal know-
ledge of the author who, being a native of Trinidad and Tobago, acted
as her own informant. The rest of the data are taken from A Trans-
formational Analysis of Tobagonian Creole English, a Ph.D. dissert-
ation by Donna Elaine Southers (1975); and from A Socio-linguistic
Description of Tobagonian English, a Ph.D. dissertation by David Jay
Minderhout.
The phonological systems compared are those of Trinidadian Creole
and Tobagonian Creole (which is a more conservative form of TC and
perhaps indicative of its past form) and Standard Trinidadian English.
The latter is based on Standard British English. The analysis here
presented was intended to be synchronic but it is clear that it can
also be interpreted to be diachronic. The scope of this analysis is
limited to the rule system relating standard and creole varieties.
37
First of all, let us consider the rules whereby the vowels of the
creole phonemic system are derived from the vowel phonemes of Standard
Trinidadian English:
Contraction
Data:
Discussion:
brown
crown
down
drown
town
pound
mound
round
ground
The difference between Trinidadian Creole and Tobagonian Creole
lies in the generality of the rule contracting /law// to 131. In
Tobagonian Creole, there appears to be no restriction; whereas in
Trinidadian Creole the phenomenon is limited to the environment before
/n/ (or perhaps before all nasals? There are no actual cases of under-
lying //awn// or //awn//). The Trinidadian Creole form of the rule
must t h e r e f o r e state:
I / / / J / /- +nasal
I n Tobagonian Creole , we have simply:
/ /awl/ -+ 131
A s w e s h a l l s e e l a t e r on, t h i s secondary /3/ i s n o t s u b j e c t t o t h e
Unrounding r u l e (which i s analyzed n e x t ) , s o t h a t t h e latter w i l l have
t o be ordered be fo re t h e Cont rac t ion r u l e .
The replacement of / / n / / by /9 / i s found when t h e under ly ing form
has //awn// o~ //awnd//, a l though n o t when it h a s / /a~// ( a s i n 'upon'
/pan/) . Therefore , t h e r e l e v a n t r u l e , . V e l a r i z a t i o n ( l a t e r d i scussed i n
d e t a i l ) , must precede Contract ion, ( s e e d e r i v a t i o n of Ipawnd/ 'pound').
Unrounding
Pan
?2a: t
ga:n
ga: 1
wa:k
bomb
b o t t l e
upon
s h o r t
gone
g a l l
walk
talk
Gordon
Tobagonian Creole
(c) k3
h3
3t
h ~ s
Statement of rule:
John
frock
dog
son
brown
crown
down
drown
town
pound
mound
round
ground
COW
how
out
house
Discussion:
Shwa Rounding and r-Loss
Data:
(a) w3:k
h2: t
work
h u r t
Note t h a t /3/ does occur i n t h e i t e m s of ( b ) , which i n Standard
Engl i sh , have /awl. This impl ies t h a t t h e r u l e producing t h e s e cases
of /3/ must n o t b e followed by t h e Unrounding r u l e and t h u s feed i n t o
it. The a c t u a l o rde r i s t h a t of counterfeeding: f o r i n s t ance , cons ider
t h e d e r i v a t i o n s of /barn/ 'bomb' and / p y / 'pound':
b2 m p awnd
F i n a l Consonant Dele t ion - Pawn
V e l a r i z a t i o n - pa?
Unrounding barn - Cont rac t ion -
p33
Another sou rce of s u r f a c e /3/ i s t h e under ly ing sequence / / a r n / /
as i n /bz~:n/ 'burn ' . Again we must ensure t h a t t h e secondary /D/ does
n o t undergo Unrounding. That i s , t h e o rde r i s counter feeding:
barn
Unrounding - Shwa Rounding b x n
r-Loss b2:n
b i r d
t h i r d
word
worthless
d i r t
f i r s t
l e a r n
Myrtle
p e a r l / ~ e a r l
s h i r t
Statement of ru le :
S t ressed / /a/ / goes t o /3/ before / /r/ / .
Discussion:
The /3/ a r i s i n g from t h i s r u l e i s not converted f u r t h e r t o /a/ by
the normal Unrounding r u l e (e.g. / / g x d n / / -+ /ga:dn/) a s w e s h a l l see
l a t e r on. That i s , the a c t u a l order i s t h a t of counterfeeding: Un-
rounding - Shwa Rounding. Compare the de r iva t ions of / w ~ : k / 'work'
and /wa:k/ 'walk':
wark w3:k
Unrounding - wa:k
Shwa Rounding w ~ r k - r-Loss w3:k -
W e note a l s o t h a t because pos i t ion before //r// i s p a r t of t h e s t r u c t -
u r a l d e s c r i p t i o n of Shwa Rounding, t h e r u l e of r-Loss must be made t o
fo l low Shwa Rounding ( t h e o rde r i s a c t u a l l y counterbleeding) . So f a r ,
t h e o rde r ing c h a r t becomes:
Unrounding
I - Shwa Rounding intr traction
I
There a r e thus two processes involved i n de r iv ing /w3:k/ from
//wark// 'work'; one is t h e more gene ra l r u l e d e l e t i n g pos t -voca l ic
/ / r / / i n bo th s t anda rd and c r e o l e v a r i e t i e s ; t h e o t h e r i s t h e spec i f - .
i c a l l y c r e o l e r u l e conver t ing / /a/ / t o /3/ be fo re / /r/ / .
Not ice t h a t i n o rde r t o account f o r t h e /3/ of such i tems we must 1
p o s i t a n under ly ing / / r / / a s t r i g g e r , a l though t h i s / / r / / does n o t
occur i n Standard English. Thus we a r e making a minor depa r tu re from
our u s u a l p r a c t i c e of r e l a t i n g t h e c r e o l e forms back t o t h e s t a n d a r a
ones r a t h e r than t o deeper under ly ing s t r u c t u r e s . The a l t e r n a t i v e ,
would be t o t r e a t i t e m s such a s / b ~ : n / a s o r i g i n a t i n g from forms w i t h
s t anda rd long / /a: / / . W e p r e f e r no t t o take t h i s approach however, as
Standard Engl i sh needs a r u l e o f /r/ Loss anyway i n o rde r t o account
f o r t h e a l t e r n a t i o n between r - f i n a l forms such a s /kar / ' c a r ' i n pre-
v o c a l i c p o s i t i o n and t h e r-less forms found f i n a l l y and preconsonant-
a l l y .
Shwa Lowering
Data:
(a) s z s a
t i Z a
p r i 8 a
d a l a
dak ta
• ’ • ’ l a
bf t a
beka
b agka
l a y a
bada
waiya
p i t a
mfra
a f t a
lC ta
y ~ s a d e
&a
n ~ b a
t a i y a
h a i y a
sister
t eache r
preacher
d o l l a r
doctor
f e l low
b e t t e r
baker
banker
1 awy er
bo thex
w i r e
P e t e r
mir ror
a•’ ter
letter
yes terday
ever
never
t y r e
h i r e
mister
f ama
(b) tumaro
farmer
tomorrow
Statement of r u l e :
A l l uns t r e s sed shwas a r e lowered t o /a / .
Discussion:
It w i l l be noted t h a t t h e /k/ of 'banker ' and 'baker ' remains
unpa la t a l i zed . That is , t h e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n r u l e , which i s d iscussed
later on, i s no longer ope ra t ive a t t h e p o i n t i n t h e r u l e sequence a t
which Shwa Lowering t akes e f f e c t . Thus, t h e a c t u a l o rde r i s counter-
feeding. Consider t h e d e r i v a t i o n of 'baker ' :
bekar
r-Loss beka
. P a l a t a l i z a t i o n -
Shwa Lowering beka
The on ly o t h e r r u l e a f f e c t i n g shwa is t h a t which rounds s t r e s s e d
shwa t o /3/ b e f o r e / r / . I f w e a l low t h i s r u l e t o b e ordered b e f o r e
Shwa Lowering, t h e l a t t e r r u l e can be s i m p l i f i e d t o say t h a t a l l shwas
are lowered. It i s obvious t h a t t h e e f f e c t of Shwa Rounding and Shwa
Lowering w i l l b e t o e l imina te /a/ from the phonet ics of T r in idad ian
Creole and Tobagonian Creole.
Standard Engl i sh has shwa i n many i n s t a n c e s when t h e c r e o l e s show
t h e ' f u l l 1 vowel. Thus, Standard Engl i sh 'tomorrow' / t a m x o / shows up
a s / t u m k o / . What t h i s imp l i e s i s t h a t t h e under ly ing forms w i l l have
t h e unreduced vowel; Standard English w i l l then reduce t h e s e t o shwa
according t o t h e r u l e s which happen t o apply t o Standard Engl i sh phon-
ology. The c r e o l e s l a c k t h i s r u l e of shwa reduct ion . Thus, t h i s i s
one of t h e two c a s e s ( t h a t of r-Loss mentioned on page 42) where t h e
c r e o l e forms appear t o de r ive , n o t from Standard Engl i sh i t s e l f , b u t
from a 'deeper ' underlying l e v e l than t h a t a t which shwa r educ t ion
t akes e f f e c t .
Consider now t h e r u l e s t h a t a f f e c t t h e c r e o l e consonant phonemes
and a l low them t o be der ived from Standard Engl i sh consonants:
P a l a t a l i z a t i o n .
game
G a i l
ga in
gya: t a
gya : badin
gyaloz
gyamb 1
(dl kyen
kyebl
ky e j
kyek
kyes
kyeb
(•’1 kya t
k y a r i
k y a r
kya :
garden
garage
ga l lop
ga ther
g a r t e r
gaberdine
gallows
gamble
gas
cane
cable
cage
cake
case
cave
c a r e f u l
keskedee
k e t t l e
c a t
c a r r y
ca tch
car
kyanada
ky an t in
Statement of rule:
can
Canada
canteen
here
near
Discussion:
Palatalization is a phenomenon which is fairly common in many
languages. It is so called because, in addition to the primary con-
striction, there is also a second narrowing of the tongue at the pal-
atal region. This results in the [i] or Cy] sound characteristic of
palatalization.
In Trinidadian Creole, this is realized in the examples given on
the two preceding pages. The features of the vowel are extended to
the preceding consonant; thus acting as a secondary modifier. The
tongue position of these front vowels is assimilated by the preceding
consonant thus resulting in palatalization.
In Trinidadian Creole, it is the velars that are palatalized be-
fore a front vowel. Thus, we can posit the following rule:
This may b e s i m p l i f i e d to :
P a l a t a l i z a t i o n i s thus condit ioned by t h e f e a t u r e [+frond of t h e f o l l -
owing vowels.
Le t us now cons ider t h e p o s i t i o n of t h e P a l a t a l i z a t i o n r u l e with-
i n t h e r u l e sequence. I n order t o f i n d o u t whether t he Unrounding r u l e
precedes o r fo l lows P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , w e w i l l a t t empt t o compare t h e der-
i v a t i o n s of /gya:dn/ 'garden' and /ga:dn/ co or don'. Consider what
would be t h e r e s u l t of applying Unrounding f i r s t :
gardn g x d n
Unrounding gardn gardn
P a l a t a l i z a t i o n gyardn gyardn
- r-Loss gya : dn *gya : dn
Thus, P a l a t a l i z a t i o n must precede Unrounding. Once Unrounding . .
t akes p l a c e , P a l a t a l i z a t i o n is no longe r e f f e c t i v e , s i n c e , i f i t is
app l i ed t o /ga:dn/ 'Gordon', a f t e r Unrounding, we g e t t h e unacceptable
phonet ic r e a l i z a t i o n of /gya:dn/. The problem is t o prevent t h e se-
condary /a/ of 'Gordon' and o t h e r i t ems w i t h under ly ing / /3// from
t r i g g e r i n g P a l a t a l i z a t i o n . That is, t h e Unrounding r u l e must n o t b e -
allowed t o f eed P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , Th i s can b e achieved by applying t h e , \ . . . .
ru l e s i n t h e counterfeeding order of P a l a t a l i z a t i o n , followed by Un-
rounding:
gardn g~rdn
Palatalization gyardn - Unrounding - gardn
r-Loss gya : dn ga: dn
From these derivations, we can conclude that:
(a) Palatalization must not apply after Unrounding, since this would
result in /gya:dn/ for 'Gordon'.
(b) This leaves the following derivations, since the position of the
r-Loss rule in the rule sequence is irrelevant as far as these data are