The Ịjọ element in Berbice Dutch

Abstract

Berbice Dutch is one of two recently rediscovered Dutch-based Creole languages spoken in Guyana. It is spoken in the county of Berbice, which corresponds to the former Dutch colony of Berbice, founded in the early seventeenth century.This language possesses certain features that make it unique in comparison to other European language-based Creoles spoken in the Atlantic region. Because of these unique features, it represents a promising test case for the presence of substrate influence, and as such, is of obvious relevance for the present creolist debate between substratists and universalists.The article discusses four different conceivable hypotheses to explain the origin of Berbice Dutch. The first of these assumes that a mixed Dutch-Kalabari trading jargon was developed in Africa as a result of the operations of the slave traders, and that this formed the basis of Berbice Dutch.The second hypothesis depends critically on the ethnic homogeneity of the slaves. This hypothesis would assume that the planters/overseers in Berbice attempted to learn those aspects of Eastern Ijo that could be utilized on the plantations.The third hypothesis assumes that Berbice Dutch is genetically descended from Eastern Ijo, but that this is not obvious due to large-scale relexification.The fourth hypothesis assumes that Eastern Ijo was replaced by Berbice Dutch under the catalysing influence of (creole) Dutch, rather as the fully inflected Romani language was replaced in England by the creolized Angloromani under the catalysing influence of English.The hypothesis that is selected as probably the best is the fourth, where it

Creole Formation as Language Contact

“…While it is undeniable that nonstandard regional varieties of the European languages played an important role in creole formation, specifically in the creation of their lexicon, their influence cannot account for all features of a creole; the growing body of research comparing creoles to their potential substrate languages (cf. Smith et al 1987, Keesing 1988, Lefebvre 1998, Siegel 1999, Migge 1998a&b, 2000 suggests quite clearly that, at least in the case of some creoles, the first languages of their creators played an important role in the emergence of their grammar.…”

Seselwa Serialization and its Significance

“…All of the types discussed by Boretzky, excepting only the 'pass' comparative serial, are to be found in Seselwa, and all but one (the 'say' quasi-complementizer serial) are to be found in Morisyen also. But the 'pass' serial is absent from a number of Caribbean Creoles -even from Berbice Dutch (Sylvia Kouwenberg, personal communication, March 9, 1987), even though, as Smith, Robertson, & Williamson (1987) have shown, Berbice Dutch draws twenty-seven percent of its lexicon from a Kwa language, Ijo, that has 'pass' serialization. Moreover, as noted above, no French-related Creole in the Caribbean has an established 'say' serial, although such serials are common among Kwa languages.…”

Some Explanations that Strike Me as Incomplete

“…The CJ situation is somewhat similar to that of Berbice Dutch (BD), in the grammar of which there is much that has been attributed to Eastern Ijo (Smith et al 1987). I personally think that those very features which have been attributed to Ijo might be shared by a number of languages of the contact situation, and should thus be areal/typological and not necessarily Ijo, unless the PC was, borrowing a term from Baker & Corne (1986), "gelled" before the slave trade in which the Ijos were involved.…”