BELIZE CREOLE: A STUDY OP THE CREOLIZED ENGLISH SPOKEN IN THE CITY OP BELIZE, IN ITS CULTURAL AND SOCIAL SETTING

BELIZE CREOLE: A STUDY OP THE CREOLIZED ENGLISH SPOKEN IN THE CITY OP BELIZE, IN ITS CULTURAL AND SOCIAL SETTING

Abstract:

The speech of (a) three civil servants, children of manual workers (b) three civil servants, children of clerical workers (c) three manual workers and (d) four teachers is sampled in in-group and inter-group informal conversations, and an interview with the investigator in the course of which they express opinions on language use in Belize and tell stories in Creole. Their speech is analysed based on the maintenance of STD English forms vs. their replacement by non-STD forms. Three phonological and three grammatical variables provide indices to the code-switching behaviour observed. Groups (b) and (d) demonstrate the facility of clean switching between interview usage (STD) and the Creole usage of story-telling and in-group or inter-group conversation. The other two groups, (c) in particular, show continuum behaviour to a much greater extent. The Creole forms of all groups demonstrate a high degree of homogeneity. The results of a lexical test also support the findings with regard to Creole homogeneity for all informants. It is suggested that this homogeneity is The speech of (a) three civil servants, children of manual workers (b) three civil servants, children of clerical workers (c) three manual workers and (d) four teachers is sampled in in-group and inter-group informal conversations, and an interview with the investigator in the course of which they express opinions on language use in Belize and tell stories in Creole. Their speech is analysed based on the maintenance of STD English forms vs. their replacement by non-STD forms. Three phonological and three grammatical variables provide indices to the code-switching behaviour observed. Groups (b) and (d) demonstrate the facility of clean switching between interview usage (STD) and the Creole usage of story-telling and in-group or inter-group conversation. The other two groups, (c) in particular, show continuum behaviour to a much greater extent. The Creole forms of all groups demonstrate a high degree of homogeneity. The results of a lexical test also support the findings with regard to Creole homogeneity for all informants. It is suggested that this homogeneity is partly related to social and historical factors. A grammar of the Creole end of the English/Creole continuum is presented. Finally, aspects of education in Belize are considered.

BELIZE CREOLE: A STUDY OP THE CREOLIZED ENGLISH SPOKEN IN THE CITY OP BELIZE, IN ITS CULTURAL AND SOCIAL SETTING