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The Garifuna Language
Day by day the World becomes more interconnected, we talk to people from other countries in languages that usually aren't our own, multi linguists now outnumber mono linguists and around 25% of the world's countries recognise two or languages as official (see Pearson). English has become the Lingua Franca of the world and native languages are starting to disappear. The fewer the number of speakers the quicker. One language that seems to have reversed the trend is the Garifuna language, indigenous to the Carribean coasts of Honduras, Guatemala and Belize. Unique in the sense that, until recently, unlike other native languages in the Carribean Area, it did not form a creole. In the following I will give a brief overview of the origins of the language, the structure, it's current state and the reasons why it has been able to resists the phenomenon of language disappearence.
The origins of the Garifuna remain disputed. the most common narrative is that of two arfrican slave ships who sank in 1635 near the island of St. Vincent. The survivors who made is to shore shared food and huts with the indigenous population of Arawak-Caribs. Due to the Arawakan-Carib syncretism with, carib dominace, who invaded St. Vincent and exterminated all arawak men, the descendants of the africans were taught different languages. The boys were taught carib and the girls arawakan. This resulted in a mixed language communication among the african descendants. Unlike other former slaves around the carribean, they effectively rejected their african heritage altogether. These children progressivley evoled into the Garifunas (Balutansky 38).
Towards the end of the 18th century the british attempted to enslave the Garifuna, who ros...
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...e, Geneviève, and Armin Schwegler. Creoles, Contact, and Language Change: Linguistics and Social Implications. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub., 2004. Print.
Gomez, Anacelia. "The Garifuna Language." Online interview. 15 Nov. 2013.
Hill, Jane H., P. J. Mistry, and Lyle Campbell. The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright. Berlin [etc.: Mouton De Gruyter, 1998. Print.
Barret, Alice. "Garífuna Voices of Guatemala: Central America’s Overlooked Segment of the African Diaspora."Council on Hemispheric Affairs. N.p., 14 July 2010. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Ruiz, Alvarez Santiago Jaime. "Preservation Strategies of the Garifuna Language in the Context of Global Economy in the Village of Corozal in Honduras." Diss. University of Florida, 2008. Abstract. (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
"Intangible Cultural Heritage."RSS. N.p., 2008. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.
Guatemala’s culture is a unique product of Native American ways and a strong Spanish colonial heritage. About half of Guatemala’s population is mestizo (known in Guatemala as ladino), people of mixed European and indigenous ancestry. Ladino culture is dominant in urban areas, and is heavily influenced by European and North American trends. Unlike many Latin American countries, Guatemala still has a large indigenous population, the Maya, which has retained a distinct identity. Deeply rooted in the rural highlands of Guatemala, many indigenous people speak a Mayan language, follow traditional religious and village customs, and continue a rich tradition in textiles and other crafts. The two cultures have made Guatemala a complex society that is deeply divided between rich and poor. This division has produced much of the tension and violence that have marked Guatemala’s history (Guatemalan Culture and History).
In analyzing the influence of Africa in Puerto Rico, it would be irresponsible to refuse to acknowledge the initial introduction of African slaves to the island of Puerto Rico that by which serves as the main vessel of contact and cultural integration. By the turn of the 18th century, inhabitants of the island where being substituted for African slaves due to the high death rates resulting from “ war, disease, slavery, emigration,” etc. (Duany, 188) Most of the slaves to whom where enslaved were predominantly, but not limited to the Yoruba and Bantu cultures of West Africa. D...
Scholar Dominique Ryon, best known for her work in linguistics and anthropology at the University of Louisiana, focuses the following article on the topic of Cajun French language loss or rather, language revival in Louisiana. Her article is based on the very concept of language loss and/or death studies. Due to the reasons she mentions later in her article, Ryon prefers to focus on language revival as she has noticed clear holes in the research evidence used in the study of language loss. Ryon uses the theories of many well-known theorists such as Foucault, Bourdieu and Lafont to challenge scholarly articles written on language loss in Louisiana. Ryon organizes her article into clear, concise components in order to support her two main objectives
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue." 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology. 4th Edition. Ed. Samuel Cohen. Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 417-23. Print.
As a social group of African descent, they have common historical experiences, with a collective ancestry, a shared culture, which is what gives them a sense of uniqueness. But then again, this is a culture that, according to its geography and history, continues to develop features and builds their future in a social framework that not only derivative from the past, but, beyond the differences, that clearly perceived them as the "other". The Garifuna acquired a significant reputation in the current context of recognition of cultural diversity. They have played an important role in the politics of visibility of people of African descent via the strengthening of ethno-racial categorizations. This role has involved, with peculiarities in each country, the official characterization as 'ethnic group', incorporating their cultural expressions as part of national identity, and recognition of their culture and intangible cultural universal heritage of humanity. Supported by a discourse on their Carib-Arawak roots and permanence of some of their cultural expressions, the Garifuna have been identified and have asserted themselves at certain times in its history the status of indigenous people. Currently, the process of political mobilization of the Garifuna articulates a discourse of inclusion in national societies, while proclaiming their transnational identity as Garifuna and members of the diaspora of African Descent in the Americas. This feature differentiates them from other processes of identity claiming their ethno-racial basis in the Americas, such as indigenous peoples and other African Descent. These dynamics including the Garifuna coexist and interact with other factors, are also based on a structural racial system that has in its roots in the colonial traces that maintain forms of social exclusion and discrimination against these
Rodríguez, Ana Patricia. 2009. Dividing the Isthmus: Central American transnational histories, literatures & cultures. U.S.: University of Texas Press, 130-167
Ness. Philip A. Grafting Old Rootstock: Studies in Culture and Religion of the Chamba, Duru, Fula, and Gbaya of Cameroun. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, Inc., 1982.
Language is a mean of communication in any given society. It represents the ability to evolve and progress through the ongoing process of living with other human beings. Many can perceive this instrument as tool of liberation and transformation but others as an instrument to enslave, manipulate or oppress a group of people. Whichever the case one need to acknowledge that it is necessary and not a waste of time the many different discussions about this ongoing topic regardless of the time period or social context any country might have. In Puerto Rico, there has been an ongoing dilemma about languages; Dr. Alicia Pousada examines on her essay what many might define “the language madness on the island”. Throughout this paper some of her most interesting ideas will be shared and discussed so that this already extended topic might find another page to take place.
Anzaldua grew up in the United States but spoke mostly Spanish, however, her essay discusses how the elements of language began to define her identity and culture. She was living in an English speaking environment, but was not White. She describes the difficulty of straddling the delicate changing language of Chicano Spanish. Chicano Spanish can even differ from state to state; these variations as well as and the whole Chicano language, is considered a lesser form of Spanish, which is where Anzaldua has a problem. The language a person speaks is a part...
Hancock, LynNell and Katel, Peter. "The Bilingual Bog." Newsweek. October 23, 1995. Page 89 (1).
Transparent Language (2013) reports that Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas who speak their tribal Koasati language are taking tremendous steps in preserving their language which currently has around 500 Koasati speakers. Transparent Language (2013) was able to work with the tribal elders by recording linguists and using recording systems to hear the words of the native Koasati language. Transparent Language (2013) was able to develop the system on teaching the Koasati language to the Coushatta peoples and any...
Ebonics is not the only language of the African diaspora that preserved its Africanity. In addition to several African influenced creoles, the Gullah language of the Sea Islands is reflective of African spirituality and philosophy. The Gullah language developed among enslaved Africans along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, as well as the Sea Islands (Turner, 1). This region can be referred to as the Coast. In the early 18th century, slaves from the West Indies where resistance had grown common, as well as rebellious slaves from various colonies were being sent to the Coast. Taxes were placed upon these imported slaves because they were thought to have the ability of corrupting the slave system on the coast. Thus, slave
“The language is dynamism, it is a living, changing, polymorphic body, and that belongs to the people; It's not the linguists who produce it” (Betti, Silvia). As the previous text explain, the vocabulary of the society and the people who are part of it is in constantly movement, the generations are passing and as old words are being forgotten, another new ones are created in order to make use of the “adaptation” that is special in the human because not only the past is the father of the Spanglish, the technology is making progress every day and that change the kind of words that we use, in other words, The past is the one who created the Spanglish but it is the future who keep it alive.
The Web. The Web. 6 Jan. 2014. Smith, Chris.
To fuel a global economy, efforts are made to establish a standardized language that will make communication as simple as possible for all foreign endeavors. It could be said that creoles undermine this philosophy, individualizing and personalizing languages rather than uniting them. As authors Pieter Muysken and Norval Smith, (1995) state “It is clear in fact that creole languages develop as the result of ‘linguistic violence’ and, as we shall see, frequently social violence too” (P. 4). Social and linguistic violence are key factors in the development of creoles as societal and governmental persecution have shaped the languages of regions in the world. In the U.S. and other countries in the world that speak English as a primary language, great efforts have been taken to establish standardized English as the primary or secondary language of use. Words such as slang, dialects, and language mixtures have all been attributed to non-standard usages of a language. Yet, Even in Hawaii, a U.S. state, Hawaiian English and Pidgin English have become official languages. Kerry Chan, (2015) from CNN explains “The results from the U.S. Census Bureau revealed a number of Pidgin and Hawaiin Pidgin speakers. Both languages were added to the census list that included over 100 languages, representative of the islands diversity” (pp. 3). From these results, it can be seen that cultural diversity is an important aspect of society on this island. Why then, should any language hold precedence over another when there is a clear example of how developments in language can prosper while having multiple or even a hundred officially spoken languages? From this example, it seems that the development and success of creoles is not only accepted, but also