Statian Creole English: an English‐derived language emerges in the Dutch Antilles¹

Abstract

This paper examines data gathered via fieldwork from St Eustatius, an island in the Dutch Caribbean. This English variety displays a handful of correspondences with other Englishes spoken in geographically proximate areas, but what is most noteworthy about this restructured English is that so much of its grammar is significantly different from many of those same nearby varieties. Historical, linguistic, and ethnographic data are interwoven to make the case that Statian English sounds different from most other Englishes of the Caribbean basin because the colonizing and settlement patterns of the island differed from plantation societies focusing on the production of cash crops. St Eustatius was a commercial center instead, offering an entrepôt for goods (and, at times, slaves) for sale to customers from the eastern rim of the Americas. In this import-export context, English as a lingua franca of trade emerged with its own distinctive cluster of features.

Una visión global de las lenguas criollas: perspectivas y retos de la criollística

“…En la zona más prolífera en cuanto a lenguas criollas se re ere, encontramos criollos de base léxica inglesa, francesa, y española. Entre los actuales territorios de habla criolla inglesa encontramos las islas de Trinidad y Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, San Vincente, Santa Lucia, Dominica, Monserrate, San Kitts y Nevis, Antigua y Barbuda, Anguila, Los Turks y Caicos, las diversas islas de las Bahamas, Jamaica e Islas Caimán (Aceto, 2006). Sumados a estos criollos encontramos los vernáculos de las Islas Misquitos en Honduras, la isla de Rama Cay en Nicaragua, Belice o la antigua Honduras británica, las Bocas del Toro, Colon y Panamá City en Panamá y el criollo de San Andrés y Providencia de Colombia (Herzfeld, 2008).…”

Home Gardenscapes as Sustainable Landscape Management on St. Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean

“…Tea to get rid of worms (1), (tea) for weight loss (2), (tea) for blood pressure (4), (tea) for diabetes (6), drink juice to treat diabetes (1), pieces of plant can be eaten to treat diabetes (1), jelly good for kidney and bladder (1), drink oil for colon (1), tie on foot if a nail or kasha plant is stepped on to prevent tetanus and draw out poison (1), good for eyes (1), tie on stomach to reduce pain (1), tea to cause an abortion (1), tea to stop bleeding (1), treatment for mosquito bites (1), used to "clean out" after having a baby (1), used to help a baby come out quicker during birth (1), (tea) for cough (2), (tea) for dengue (1), make powder from root for prostate problems (1), leaves draw down swelling (1), good for menstrual pain (2), tea to relieve pain (1), helps with memory (1), treats colds (1), rub leaves on wasp stings (1), chew a piece to go to sleep (1), makes a tincture for pain (1), general health remedy (1), apply to face to treat mumps (1), (tea) to stop diarrhea (1), chew roots to stop pain (1), make bush tea (1), drink juice to get rid of typhoid (1), leaves used to make tea (tea) to treat fever (4), used to make a treatment for prostate problems (1), treatment for sores (1) 50 33…”

“…Plantations expanded up the slopes of Quill and the northern hills by 1650, and by 1740 all arable land was under production [52]. However, the semi-arid climate of St. Eustatius limited production on the island, and with other compounding problems such as soil erosion, nutrient loss and invasive species [48], the island turned to trade as its major industry [50]. By the mid 1700s, St. Eustatius became the commerce center of the Caribbean due to its absence of an import tax.…”

“…By the mid 1700s, St. Eustatius became the commerce center of the Caribbean due to its absence of an import tax. Given the nickname of "the Golden Rock", the island gained recognition for supplying American revolutionists with weapons and ammunitions [50]. By 1840, there were just ten plantations left, and following the abolition of slavery in the Dutch Caribbean in 1863, slaves largely left the countryside to settle in towns [52].…”

“…However, just as humans can transform natural landscapes toward lower diversity settlements or agricultural landscapes, so too can human restorative practices contribute to landscape patterns that have more diverse ecological and cultural values [6,12] In the past, St. Eustatius would have been significantly forested, evidenced by the importance of wood derived items like canoes and wooden tools to the pre-European Saladoid people [49]. The island was spotted by Christopher Columbus during his second visit to the New World in 1493 [50] and plantations were established by the French in the 1600s, including indigo, coffee, tobacco, cotton and sugar [51]. As the number of plantations increased, so did the import of slaves from Africa, with as many as 25,000 people living on the island during the heyday of the plantation period.…”