The Impact of Colonialism on Language
The Impact of Colonialism on Language
All of us still have a European language as the official language. Colonialism gave rise to a new language hierarchy in which the language of the colonizer was inscribed as the most prestigious language and came to dominate the administrative and mercantile structure of each colony. Colonial language practices also brought about the demise of many languages.
Colonization and slave trade also led to the creation of new languages.
The emergence of Creole societies and Creole languages in the islands of the Caribbean reflects the linguistic influence of all the groups that at one time or another occupied these islands. There is at least one Creole language in all Caribbean islands. A language shared by a group is one of its most visible identifying features .Consequently, various groups use language as a means of identity connection. To the group the language is important as an identifying feature that helps to bind them together. The treatment of the Creole languages in the region continues to relegate them to sub-altering status. The dominant languages of English, Spanish, Dutch, and French continue to be the official languages of Caribbean countries, even those that are now independent. The emergence of Creole languages and how they are treated creates a situation in which the Creole language, though occurring naturally as the default language of the mass of the population, is seen as inferior to the official language. These Creole languages all have some similarities. Devonish (1986) explains the root of the similarity in Caribbean Creoles by reference to Alleyne’s (1980) arguments that, “in spite of the apparent linguistic diversity among the slaves arriving in the Caribbean, there was a degree of an underlying linguistic unity. They all spoke languages belonging to the large Niger-Congo language family”. The plantation situation of slavery in the Caribbean made creation of creole languages with common features
All of us still have a European language as the official language. Colonialism gave rise to a new language hierarchy in which the language of the colonizer was inscribed as the most prestigious language and came to dominate the administrative and mercantile structure of each colony. Colonial language practices also brought about the demise of many languages.
Colonization and slave trade also led to the creation of new languages.
The emergence of Creole societies and Creole languages in the islands of the Caribbean reflects the linguistic influence of all the groups that at one time or another occupied these islands. There is at least one Creole language in all Caribbean islands. A language shared by a group is one of its most visible identifying features .Consequently, various groups use language as a means of identity connection. To the group the language is important as an identifying feature that helps to bind them together. The treatment of the Creole languages in the region continues to relegate them to sub-altering status. The dominant languages of English, Spanish, Dutch, and French continue to be the official languages of Caribbean countries, even those that are now independent. The emergence of Creole languages and how they are treated creates a situation in which the Creole language, though occurring naturally as the default language of the mass of the population, is seen as inferior to the official language. These Creole languages all have some similarities. Devonish (1986) explains the root of the similarity in Caribbean Creoles by reference to Alleyne’s (1980) arguments that, “in spite of the apparent linguistic diversity among the slaves arriving in the Caribbean, there was a degree of an underlying linguistic unity. They all spoke languages belonging to the large Niger-Congo language family”. The plantation situation of slavery in the Caribbean made creation of creole languages with common features