Sociolinguistic Profile

Basarally H. 806007430 LING 6302 Prof. Youssef

Name: Hassan Basarally

ID: 806007430

Course Code and Name: LING 6302-The Sociolinguistics of West Indian Language and

Society

Assignment: 1-Map of the region showing major languages spoken, sociolinguistic profile of

three territories (Barbados, Belize and Grenada) based on secondary sources and a

sociolinguistic profile of a selected language in Trinidad and Tobago (Arabic).

Date Due: 22/10/2010

Programme: MA English

Faculty: Humanities and Education

Department: Liberal Arts

University: The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine

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Table of Contents

Map of the West Indies indicating major languages spoken...........................................................3

Sociolinguistic profiles based on secondary sources:

a. Barbados..............................................................................................................................4

b. Belize...................................................................................................................................9

c. Grenada..............................................................................................................................14

Sociolinguistic profile of Arabic in Trinidad and Tobago.............................................................18

Works Cited...................................................................................................................................28

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3


Barbados

Figure 1: Map of Barbados

Barbados is an Eastern Caribbean island located closest to the Windward Islands and St

Vincent and the Grenadines. It is 431 square miles and located outside of the hurricane belt. It is

the most easterly of the Caribbean archipelago and relatively flat in topography. The population

of Barbados exceeds 284,000. Approximately 90% of Barbadians are of African descent. The

other major groups are the Indian community originating from Guyana and Gujarat, India and

Europeans primarily from England, Scotland and Ireland. Barbados also has a Chinese

community and an Arab one from Lebanon and Syria.

Barbados was inhabited originally by Neo-Indians from both the Taino and Kalinago

tribes. The country was first occupied by Britain in 1625. Unlike many of its neighbours,

Barbados remained in the hands of one colonial power for most of its history, making it a fairly

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monolingual society. According to Blake (312), its uninterrupted era of colonisation and fairly

heterogeneous society made the Creole of Barbados very close to the standard. Creolists might

term Bajan a mesolect or another variety of English and there is a continuing debate whether it is

a Creole at all. Barbados was one of the first Caribbean territories to engage in sugar production

which transformed it into a mono-crop economy.

A monocrop economy required a large labour source which led to indentureship of

Europeans. Hence, in its early history Barbados had a majority European population which

changed with the ‘Sugar Revolution’. Barbados also became the place of exile of many political

dissidents Britain further adding to the English speaking population, in particular Irish and

Scottish English. The large number of English speakers in the early history of the island was

another reason why the Barbadian Creole is more similar to the standard than other Atlantic

Creoles. The large English speaking European population provided much contact with the

enslaved population resulting in a large amount of common linguistic features in both varieties.

The use of European labour proved unsuccessful and the Barbadian plantocracy started the

importation of enslaved Africans with the help of the Dutch. With the decline of the sugar

industry and emancipation, the British government tried various indentureship schemes in the

region to boost waning economies. Indentureship saw the arrival of the Chinese, Syrian and

Lebanese and Indians. Migration by members of the groups continues after indentureship as

economic opportunity presented itself.

Barbados is one of the more economically developed countries in the region. This is due

to its ability to diversify its economy quickly in response to the demise of global sugar prices and

preferential trade agreements with Europe. The country’s main source of income today is

tourism and direct investment by foreign companies. Due to this healthy business climate, the

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Chinese, Syrian/Lebanese and Indians have migrated to the country. Annually, about 20% of its

budget is dedicated to education and has a literacy rate of almost 100%.

The majority speak Barbadian Creole English or Bajan. Chinese, North Levantine

Spoken Arabic and Hindi/Bhojpuri/Urdu are also spoken. Barbados, like the rest of the

Anglophone Caribbean, has English as its official language. This language is however, spoken

by a minority of its inhabitants. However, due to the size of these individual communities and the

overwhelming number of Bajan speakers these languages have been relegated to heritage

languages (See section on Arabic in Trinidad and Tobago). For example, the

Hindi/Bhojpuri/Urdu speakers from Gujarat, India have maintained their language as an Islamic

one, delivering sermons purely in Urdu despite the presence of Bajan and English speaking

Muslims on the island.

Bajan is an English-based Atlantic Creole and coexists with Standard English. Using

Bell’s (181) parameters of a sociolinguistic profile, Bajan can be described as a tolerated

language. It is utilised in social settings, however, official communication and education is

carried out in Standard English. Bajan is the majority language of the island, outnumbering all

other languages 20:1. However, Bajan is associated more closely with the Afro-Barbadian

community (Blake, 317). It is not used as a language of wider communication, neither with an

external or internal audience. Bajan is also not a medium of instruction at the primary,

secondary or tertiary level. This is despite the majority of students in the school system speaking

Bajan.

The following sample of Bajan is adapted from Le Page (93), using ordinary English

orthography:

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1. Yes sir an afta dat den sir well I di home two weeks an I di been bac tu mister tude an

mister tude wang du natn at all for mi

yes sir and after that then sir, well I was at home for two weeks and I went back to Mr.

Tudor and Mr. Tudor wouldn’t do anything for me

2. Bika mister tude...well I wu like some sartah compensation sir cause afta all I didn work

for a time

because Mr. Tudor...well I would like some sort of compensation sir, because after all I

didn’t work for a time

Bajan generally takes its word stock from English and morpho-syntactic structures from

African languages. Phonologically, Bajan is fully rhotic. In addition, there is glottalisation of

voiceless obstruents [p, t, and k]. Such features are similar to some aspects of Western English

and Irish phonology. The phonological features demonstrate that due to the large numbers of

Europeans on the island; contact was more frequent and sustained, hence, the presence of

numerous European linguistic features in Bajan. This combination accounts for the distinct

‘Bajan accent’. Bajan, like other Atlantic Creoles has double negation and zero copula. With

regard to the double negation, it is important to note that this is a feature of the English brought

to the region by the first settlers and can be termed an archaism. Questions and declarations are

different only in intonation and the past tense verb usually has a marker di (See Bajan Sample 1).

The Bajan future tense is marked by the word gine ‘going to’. Bajan has a separate form of the

second person plural, wunna. Another distinct feature of Bajan is the use of doz; this feature was

exported to other Creoles with Barbadian migration to Trinidad and Guyana (Bickerton, 62).

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In Barbados, English has a clear dominance over Bajan. Fenigsen explains that while

Bajan usage gives Barbadians pride as part of national identity, it is still associated with lack of

education and low social standing (461). On the other hand, English is necessary for professional

and social advancement. According to Furguson (270), two factors of language dominance are

numerical superiority and the extent to which a language is learnt by speakers of other language

is a country. These two factors of language dominance do not apply to Barbados as English is the

language of official communication and education and there is little attempt to learn Bajan by

other language speakers. The third factor is use in official communication. In Barbados, the print,

radio and television media give most messages in English. The island has a monolingual mode of

educational instruction. Bajan is not recognised as a distinct variety because it has many

linguistic features in common with the standard giving the impression that Bajan is ‘bad

English’. The other speakers may be able to communicate fairly well in Standard English so

learning Bajan is not a precursor to functioning in society. However, this does not mean that

they may use and learn some aspects that may improve their communicative effectiveness.

The English dominance is also reflected in newspapers as spoken discourse is represented

in Standard English only by the nation’s two newspapers and Bajan poets being looked over in

publishing due to language choice (Fenigsen, 464). Despite the dominance of English, there has

been work on the standardisation of Bajan. The process of standardisation is still in its early

stages as spelling orthography needs to be standardised while significant work has been made in

lexicon. An example is Frank Claymore’s Barbadian Dialect. Bajan appears in music, especially

around Crop Over, and other art forms but tends to reflect lighter topics. Bajan is used to deal

with more deep issue by poets such as Kamau Braithwaite, Norma Meek and Kathleen Catford’s

Barbadian Dialect Poetry.

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Belize

Figure 2: Map of Belize

Belize is the only country in Central America that has English as its official language. It

is 8867 square miles and bordered by Mexico and Guatemala. The population of Belize exceeds

333,000 people and the country has one of the fastest growing populations in the Western

Hemisphere. The main ethnic groups are Mestizos, Kriols, Maya, Spanish and Garinagu

(Garifuna). Due to the number of different ethnic and linguistic communities in Belize, no group

is able to fully dominate another either linguistically or social, making Belize a multilingual

society. Belize has speakers of Belize Kriol, Garifuna, Kekchi, Maya (Mopan and Yucatan),

Plautdietsch and Spanish However, it should be noted that Mestizos account for 35% and Kriols

make up 25 % of the population respectively making Spanish and Belizean Kriol the languages

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with the most amount of speakers. Many Belizeans are multilingual and Kriol seems be a lingu

franca between ethnic groups.

Belize’s economy is mainly dependant on agricultural exports, amongst them sugar

which resulted in the importation of enslaved Africans earlier in its history. In addition, the

countries large area encourages tourism. There is a light manufacturing sector and there has been

the recent discovery of oil. Belize’s original inhabitants are the Maya who account for more that

11% of the population. European settlement started with European and Scottish ‘Baymen’ who

imported enslaved Africans, the descendants of these two groups make up the Kriol population.

The Garifuna population comprises the descendants of Africans and Neo-Indians. The Spanish

population of Belize migrated mainly from Mexico. Mestizos are of mixed European and Neo

Indian heritage and also speak Spanish. The Plautdietsch are Russian Mennonites who migrated

to Belize. The country, like Barbados, has a long uninterrupted period of British rule; however,

the country is linguistically diverse due to the presence of multiple groups and the country’s

shared border with its Spanish speaking neighbours.

The sample of Belize Kriol English is taken form Le Page (111) and writing in ordinary

English orthography:

1. A taim bre nansi mi ga an plantation i mi ga fifteen children wan me name chicky

wan me name wan penuts so i mi kyan feed all di children ka i usetu lazy

once upon a time brother anansi had a plantation he had fifteen children one called

chicky one called jo one called peanuts so he couldn’t feed all the children because he

was lazy

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Kriol like other Creoles has an unmarked past tense. However, the word gaan ‘went’ can

be used to indicate past. The habitual markers include doz, bi, and doz bi. The indefinite article is

indicated by wan or unna ‘one’. There is also the presence of serial verbs such as wan go walk

‘want go walk’. The progressive aspect is marked by di, while the completive aspect can be

marked by don, mi or finis e.g. a taim bre nansi mi ga an plantation (See Belize Kriol English 1).

Generally, tense is not marked, however, past tense can be indicated by usetu e.g. so i mi kyan

feed all di children ka i usetu lazy (See Belize Kriol English 1).

Belize’s Kriol speakers are able to shift readily from one form of the Kriol to another.

This is not imperfect acquisition of the standard but determined by social conventions (Escure,

737). In a multiethnic and multilingual society such as Belize, language is also used as a means

of identification. Though all groups may learn English at school or use Kriol to communicate

with other groups, it is the use of the individual L1 that identifies a Kriol, Spanish or Garifuna

individual. The sense of identity is strengthened as ethnic groups live is enclaves throughout the

country (Escure, 740). The government of Belize modernised its education system to respond to

the needs of its students from varying linguistic backgrounds. Even though English has

dominance due to its official status, the majority of Belize’s citizens do not speak it as an L1.

One way was the promotion of local teachers who spoke the language of the students (Le Page,

70). This resulted in improved academic performance in English while maintaining the L1 of

students.

Belize has made much progress in the standardisation of Kriol. The country has the

Belize Kriol Council and Belize Creole Project that has undertaken the task of standardising the

spelling and grammar of Kriol. These organisations have had great success as there has been the

publishing of the Belize Creole Bible, story books in Kriol, a spelling guide and reading books.

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Another significant language in Belize is Garifuna spoken by about 6% of the population.

The following is a sample of the Garifuna language written in ordinary English orthography

adapted from Sacoolidge:

1. Waguchi bungiu le sielubei inebewala biri nubinla bidaani lun barueijan ya ubouagu

aduguwala bugundan ubouagu quei laduguniwa bugundan sielu ruba fein buidurugutu

woun lun weyu le ugunebei ferúdunabei wuribati le aduga wamaalibei quei feruduna

wamanina ja adugubana wurbati woun migira bawa lun waburujan lidoun wuribani

disegudarugu bawa luei laduga anuru le arueijabei amuru le suntibei gabafu amuru le

weirigubei lun sun dan itaralá

our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on

earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we

forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from

evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory for ever and ever amen

Garifuna has a grammatical gender in addition to real gender. It has a large amount of

reduplication and homonyms (Palacio). Possession is shown by pronominal affixes e.g. waguchi:

wa (our) guchi (father) (See Garifuna data 1). The verb in Garifuna agrees with both the subject

and object (Ravindranath, 45). The Garifuna language also has auxiliary verbs. The reason this

language was included in the sociolinguistic profile of Belize it that the group has historically

ensured the language’s standardisation and recognition in society through organisations such as

the National Garifuna Council of Belize.

The language policy of the Garifuna people includes lexical expansion of the language to

new fields, corpus planning which includes training of teachers in standard orthography and

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descriptive grammar and the teaching of Garifuna as a recognised language to children. The

goals of such planning are stated in the Garifuna Language Policy:

The Garifuna people recognize the natural and inherent interconnectedness of language and culture and that our language is the primary vehicle for the

transmission of our culture. We believe that our survival depends on both the preservation of our traditional language and on social and economic development. (Garifuna).

The Garifuna community has also made much progress in the preservation of its

language. However, some challenges persist such as access to Garifuna language learning tools.

The community is spread out throughout Belize and access to information is still restricted by

geography. In addition, though support from different government agencies is available, more

funding is needed to provide Garifuna literature for use (Langworthy, 47).

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Grenada

Figure 3: Map of Grenada

Grenada is 344 square miles and its neighbours are Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and

St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The island was originally inhabited by the Kalinagoes. The

French settlement of the island in 1650 resulted in the genocide of the Kalinagoes. After a period

of French colonisation, the island was ceded to Britain in 1783. The country is made up of

volcanic rock and has very fertile soil. It supplies about 20% of the world’s nutmeg. In addition

to agriculture, the economy is fuelled by tourism. The country is made up mostly of Afro

Grenadians and there are small amounts of Kalinagoes and Indians. The official language is

English, while the majority one is Grenadian English Creole followed by Grenadian French

Creole which is spoken by over 10% of the population.

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The following Grenadian English Creole text was extracted from Le Page (85) and

written using ordinary English orthography:

1. wi doz div moni tu di po piipl we

give help to poor people

2. jan an dem dii iitin mango onda a trii

john and some others were eating mangoes under the tree

3. ai iit arinj dis mourinin

I ate an orange this morning

4. pig iitin op oul mi yam in mi gyardin

pigs are eating all the yam in my garden

5. a waak tri mailz tu di maakit

I walked three miles to the market

In Grenadian English Creole, there is the habitual marker –ing and doz e.g. I always

writing so and I does sell sweets (See Grenadian English Creole Data1). In Grenadian English

Creole, don is a marker of negation. Plural marking is shown by andem (See Grenadian English

Creole Data 2). Plurals are either unmarked, marked by a quantifier (See Grenadian English

Creole Data 4 and 5). As in Bajan, the habitual is marked by don. Future statives in Grenadian

English Creole tend to be go bi. As in many Anglophone English Creoles, there is no verbal

marker for the present or simple past (See Grenadian English Creole Data 3). Also, the indefinite

marker can be absent e.g. ai iit arinj dis mourinin (See Grenadian English Creole Data 2).

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The following text of Grenadian French Creole is taken from Konpè Lapen asks a favor:

a Saint Lucian folk tale:

1. Pwenmyé ki pasé sé Konpè Kochon. I di, "Konpè Lapen, sa ou ka fè la?"Konpè Lapen

di'y, "Dé ti twou yanm ng'a (=mwen ka) fouyé bay ich mwen pou mwen bay ich mwen

manjé."Konpè Kochon di, "Mé, Konpè, ou kouyon, wi! Ou vlé di mwen sa kay fè

yanm?"

First to pass was Konpè Kochon (Mister Pig). He said, "Konpè Lapen (Mister

Rabbit), what are you doing there?" Konpè Lapen told him, "I am digging a few

holes to plant yams to feed my children." Konpè Kochon said, "But, Konpè, you're

too foolish! You mean to tell me you can grow yams there?"

Grenadian French Lexicon Creole shares many features with the other Anglophone

Creoles in the Caribbean. Adjectives are used as verbs e.g. ou kouyon: ou (you) kouyon (stupid)

(See Grenadian French Creole data 1). The definite article is used for a reference known to the

listener. There is also the use of a single negator e.g. pa. There are also bi morphemic questions

such as ki tan ‘when’.

The presence of many French borrowing in Grenadian English Creole is due to the

existence of Grenadian French Creole before its English counterpart (Holbrook, 6). The French

Creole developed and was maintained due to the island having a sustained French colonial

presence in addition to the English one. The influence of the French Creole is not just limited to

lexicon; Grenadian English Creole has a seven vowel system similar to French Creoles (Aceto,

308).

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In Grenada, English has dominance due to its use in the education system and official

theatres. This poses problems for both sets of Creole speakers as it is assumed that the English

Creole speakers and French Creole speakers, who have a different lexical background, can

understand fully proceedings in Standard English. Grenada, together with countries like Guyana

and Jamaica, afforded some recognition to the Creole languages. This occurred in the post

revolutionary era of the country. The communist ideology promoted English in its literacy

campaigns but recognised that its messages to the masses required Creole (Devonish, 138).

However, these programs ended with the revolution and the education system promoted diglossia

instead of bilingualism.

Both Creoles are tolerated; however there has been little progress in standardisation. In

addition the majority of media in the country still publishes in English. Grenadian French Creole

can also be viewed as a heritage language. Speakers, depending on exposure may become

bilingual in both Creoles and learn English at school. An issue with standardisation of the

Grenadian French Creole is that it is grouped together with St. Lucian French Creole and not

enough research is done on the Grenadian variety. However, there has been the publishing of a

Kweyol Dictionary. The negative attitudes towards Creoles still remain as academic and social

mobility is still characterised by ones proficiency in the English. For example, public figures

may use some Creole on the campaign trail, but all other addresses are in the standard.

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Arabic in Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago is 5128 square miles and is located near to Venezuela and Grenada.

It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean archipelago. Trinidad was discovered by the

Spanish, who established settlements on the island. The Spanish rule saw the establishment of

cocoa and coffee plantations and the importation of a small amount of enslaved Africans. In

addition, the Spanish invited French planters to the island. During the Spanish rule, Spanish,

French and Patois were introduced. The island was conquered by the British who established

sugar plantations and increased the enslaved population. Tobago constantly changed hands

amongst the Dutch, French and British until eventually coming under British rule. Despite the

different colonial powers in Tobago, the development of Tobagonian Creole was more

monolithic as none except the British had a long enough presence to have significant linguistic

input. With the British conquest, the governance structures of the country were forced to change

form Spanish and French to only English.

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Figure 4: Map of Lebanon

After Emancipation, the British government encouraged immigration to its Caribbean

colonies and one of the groups that came was the Syrian and Lebanese. The group were mainly

Christians who left what was then Greater Syria for better economic opportunity in the West

(Homer, 2). Trinidad provided such a climate as it was one of the more economically developed

countries in the region. Trinidad was also a stepping stone to move onto the United States.

The Syrians and Lebanese spoke a dialect of Arabic called North Levantine Spoken

Arabic. The dialect is spoken in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine. The Syrians and Lebanese

generally spoke the same Arabic dialect as both countries were traditionally politically and

socially merged. Both countries constituted what is now termed Greater Syria and were both

under French mandate after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

Figure 5: Map of Syria

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Another group that came to Trinidad and Tobago after Emancipation was the Indians.

The Indian community was made up of Hindus and Muslims. The majority of Muslims came

from Uttar Pradesh (Luxner, 7). Initially, the Muslim community did not enjoy the same rights as

the rest of society, for example Muslim marriages were not recognised. As tolerance increased,

so did a revival within the Muslim community and Islamic education became a major focus. This

resulted in the importation of religions from the Indian subcontinent. At this time, Islam was still

a predominantly Indian faith. As members of other ethnic communities joined Islam, many

Muslims went to the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East to further Islamic studies.

Figure 6: Map of India

Arabic in Trinidad is of two main types: North Levantine Spoken Arabic and Classical

Arabic. The North Levantine Spoken Arabic is spoken by Syrian and Lebanese who were

brought to Trinidad and Tobago during indentureship. The Classical Arabic is learnt by Muslims

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in the country to varying degrees. The Syrian and Lebanese community embarked upon

entrepreneurship and settled in Trinidad and Tobago. The first generation of Syrian and

Lebanese immigrants spoke North Levantine Spoken Arabic as their L1 or first language. The

use of the language, however, declined to an extent with schooling. The country has an English

only method of instruction, so for Syrian and Lebanese students to succeed they had to learn

English. In addition, the Anglophone environment on the country gave little importance to

speaking another language, especially one that was not used in the Western Hemisphere. North

Levantine Spoken Arabic receded to the homes where it was spoken amongst relatives and

provided a sense of identity to members of the group.

Over the past five years with more recent immigration from the Middle East, the

language is spoken more readily. Many recent immigrants have some knowledge of English,

particularly from schooling. As such, speaking North Levantine Spoken Arabic is not a

hindrance to functioning in Trinidad and Tobago society. In addition, there is a greater tolerance

and interest in the language due to geopolitics and economics. The Middle East is in the news

and is always associated with violence so people would like the side of the story not given by

Western media houses. Due to the last oil boom, the Middle East has become a destination for

trade and job opportunities for Westerners are plentiful.

In Trinidad and Tobago, North Levantine Spoken Arabic is a tolerated language with

about 2000 speakers and functions as a heritage language. It is a fact that Arabic in Trinidad,

both North Levantine Spoken Arabic and Classical Arabic, is a heritage language. However, the

concept of a heritage language must be clarified. Some definitions limit heritage speakers to

speaking another language at home or have some relevance to the speaker’s home (Sclera). To

utilise such a definition would be to limit Arabic in Trinidad and Tobago to the Syrian and

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Lebanese community and hence ignore the fastest-growing group of Arabic speakers or learners;

the Muslim population. A more appropriate definition for a heritage speaker in the Trinidad and

Tobago context would be anyone that has a personal connection to a language other than

English. The personal connection is religion in the case of Classical Arabic. This definition

would include Yoruba and Hindi/Bhojpuri speakers whose language has a cultural and religious

significance.

Classical Arabic is essential for the life of the Muslim. It is used in prayers, classes and

sermons. Islamic studies entail understanding the Qur’an and the Hadith1 which together with the

correct understanding of the Pious Predecessors2 comprise the basis of Islamic Law (Al Albanee,

2). All of these are in Classical Arabic. The learning of Arabic is a religious obligation

compulsory on the individual: “And thus We3 have sent it down as a Qur’an in Arabic, and have

explained therin in detail the warnings, in order that they may fear Allah, or that it may cause

them to have a lesson from it (or to have the honour for believing and acting on its teachings)”

(The Noble Qur’an, 20:113). The degree of competence in Classical Arabic can be divided into

two categories: 1. those who can read and write it only and 2. those who can speak it as a foreign

or second language. The first category is the one that the majority of the Muslims belong to.

They can read and write from the Qur’an and other Classical Arabic texts but do not understand

its meaning with an English translation. The other group is comprised mostly of Muslim

theology students who undertake tertiary Islamic studies. The first category can be termed

‘heritage readers’ and the second one ‘heritage learners and speakers’.

1 The recorded statements, actions, prohibitions and allowances of the Prophet Muhammad.2 The first three generations of the Muslims.3 The ‘We’ used in this verse is termed Royal Plural and does not indicate plurality.

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Tertiary Islamic studies incorporate Classical Arabic grammar as an integral part of the

curriculum. The schools that Muslims from Trinidad and Tobago usually attend for tertiary

studies are either located in the Middle East or the Indian subcontinent. The countries that they

study in the Middle East are mainly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In these countries

learning Classical Arabic is a precursor for studying Islamic Sciences4. A program of Arabic

language is required before advancing in studies. In countries such as India and Pakistan,

Classical Arabic is the medium of instruction at Islamic schools. In these countries, Arabic is the

language of Islamic studies and English is that of secular studies. The North Levantine Spoken

Arabic speakers speak a living dialect and, depending on education, can understand Classical

Arabic and other dialects. On the other hand, the Muslim ‘Heritage speakers and learners’ can

speak only Classical Arabic, which in many instances is infused with the dialect of the country in

which they are studying.

Hence, the Classical Arabic can be compared to Standard English in the Caribbean as it is

not the mother tongue of many speakers. It is taught at school, found in most written texts, used

in the media, used in educated writing and speech and of limited effectiveness in conducting

daily social interactions in an Arab country. However, the very use of Classical Arabic as the

dialect to be taught to foreigners shows its dominance in the Arab world. In Trinidad and

Tobago, Classical Arabic is a tolerated language and exists as both a language of public worship

and heritage language. It is used to varying competencies by the country’s 55,000 Muslim

population.

Both North Levantine Spoken Arabic and Classical Arabic are very different from

English which dominates the Caribbean. The distinctness and lack of perceived value has

4 Islamic Sciences include: Quranic Exegesis, Hadith, Islamic Beliefs, Arabic Language and Islamic Law

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traditionally been a major factor in non Arabs and non Muslims in Trinidad and Tobago from

learning the language. Firstly there are major phonological and phonetic differences (See figure

6). English does not possess some Arabic sounds such as:

Voiceless uvular plosive [q]

Voice pharyngeal fricative [ʕ]

Voiced alveolar plosive [d̪�ˁ]

Voiced and voiceless uvular fricatives [x~χ, ɣ~ʁ]

On the other hand, Arabic does not have the following English sounds:

Voiceless bilabial plosive [p] and Voiced labiodentals fricative [v]

Standard Arabic Phonetic Chart Labi

alInter-dental

Dental/Alveolar

Post-alveol

ar

Palatal

Velar

Uvular

Pharyn-

geal

Glottal

plain

emphatic

Plain

emphatic

Nasal m N Stop voic

e-less

t̪ � t̪ �ˁ k q ʔ

voiced

b d̪� d̪�ˁ ʒ~d̪ʒ~ɡ

Fricative

voice-

less

f θ s sˁ ʃ x~χ ħ h

voiced

ð ðˁ~zˁ

Z ɣ~ʁ ʕ

Approximant L J W Trill R

Figure 7: Chart representing Arabic phonetics

Classical Arabic grammar is divided into nouns, verbs and prepositions (Al Mexiki, 1).

Like English, its sentences can be either nominal or verbal and comprise of a subject and

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predicate. The pronouns in the Arabic language are of two types: attached and detached. For

example the pronoun ‘my’ is attached as in kitabi ‘My book’ while pronouns like ‘she’ is

detached e.g. hiya talibatun ‘She is a (female) student’. There is no copula in the Arabic

language e.g. hiya (she) talibatun (female student). The gender of nouns is based on two things:

the actual meaning of the work and the word category. Names of women and female things are

feminine, so are names of towns, countries and cities e.g. bakistan ‘Pakistan’, parts of the body

in pairs e.g. yadu ‘hand’ and words that end with a voiceless alveolar plosive [t̪] e.g. bintun

‘daughter ’and open front unrounded vowel [a:] e.g. husna ‘beautiful woman’. In the Arabic

language subjects and predicate agree in number and gender e.g. hassan talibun: hassanun

[Hassan (male) (is)] talibun [a male student]. Also, the noun and adjective in Arabic agree in

gender, number, definiteness and vowelling (Fischer, 71) e.g. talibun mujtahidtun: talibun [a

male student (male, singular, indefinite, end with vowel [un])] mujtahidtun [ hardworking (male,

singular, indefinite, end with vowel [un])] and az zahratun al jameelatun: az zahratun [flower

(female, singular, definite, end with vowel [un])] al jameelatun [ beautiful (female, singular,

definite, end with vowel [un])].

The Arabic verb has eighteen conjugations (Fischer, 141). This is because the language

has singular, plural and dual numbers and the second person singular and plural has both a

masculine and feminine form. Verbs are conjugated in the Arabic language by adding an

appropriate suffix or prefix to the root or perfect form of the verb. The perfect form of the verb in

Arabic is the third person masculine singular present tense. Negation is indicated by the

phonemes la or ma.

25


The following is a transcription into ordinary English orthography of a North Levantine

Spoken Arabic speaker, who is male, Lebanese, received tertiary education in Lebanon and 26

years old:

1. Baha rab al madrasi ala tarik shiful jarih tarikul bab wa fi i makan ma kan an bi lab bid

dub bil madrasi maktabut daris sabah la ana la allam ta qalam maqsur la ma almi kana

fil ma asbi an mahal fi ishri allami bad ma ishri qalm babil daris sabah ma il

yesterday I went to school on the way I saw my neighbour leaving her house my friend

was with her he was playing with his toy at school I did not write my homework because

my pencil was broken my teacher was very angry I am now going to the store near my

school to buy a new pen after I buy a pencil I will write my homework

The following is a transcription into ordinary English orthography of a Classical Arabic

speaker, who is male, Trinidadian, received tertiary education in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and

Trinidad and 29 years old:

1. Ams dhahabtu ilal madrasati wa fit tarik ra aitu jariati wa hiya takruju fi baytiha kana

zameel yalabu ma aha wa kana yalabu ma a dub wa fil madrasati ma katabtu wajibati

liana qalami kana maqsura mudarisi kana ghadban wa an ana adhabu ilad dukan

alladhi huwa qaribun min madrasati liajlian ashtariyya qalaman jadidan wa bada an

astariyya al qalamu rasas sawfa aktabu wajibati

yesterday I went to school on the way I saw my neighbour leaving her house my friend

was with her he was playing with his toy at school I did not write my homework because

my pencil was broken my teacher was very angry I am now going to the store near my

school to buy a new pen after I buy a pencil I will write my homework

26


Though the data collected is small some differences can be identified between the two

dialects. The most obvious one is choice of vocabulary e.g. ams and baha ‘yesterday’. There is

less marking for case and gender, for example, the feminine ending [t̪] in madrasati ‘school’ is

omitted in North Levantine Spoken Arabic. The following is an example of some conjugations in

Arabic; however, these patterns shown reflect regular verbs only:

Person Present

Tense

Past Tense Future Tense

1st Aktubu Katabtu Sa/Sawfa Aktubu

2nd Masc. Sing. Taktubu Katabta Sa/Sawfa Taktubu

2nd Fem. Sing. Taktubina Katabti Sa/Sawfa Taktubina

3rd Masc. Sing. Yaktubu Kataba Sa/Sawfa Yaktubu

3rd Fem. Sing. Taktubu Katabat Sa/Sawfa Taktubu

3rd Pl. Naktubu Katabna Sa/Sawfa Naktubu

2nd Masc. Pl. Taktubuna Katabtum Sa/Sawfa Taktubuna

2nd Fem. Pl. Taktubna Katabtuna Sa/Sawfa Taktubna

3rd Masc. Pl. Yaktubuna Katabu Sa/Sawfa Yaktubuna

3rd Fem. Pl. Yaktubna Katabna Sa/Sawfa Yaktubna

2nd Dual Masc. and Fem. Takyubani Katabtuma Sa/Sawfa Takyubani

3rd Dual Masc. Pl. Yaktubani Kataba Sa/Sawfa Yaktubani

3rd Dual Fem. Pl. Taktubani Katabata Sa/Sawfa Taktubani

Table 7: Table showing Arabic Conjugations

27


The verb formations are also different. In Classical Arabic sawfa or sa is placed before the

present tense to make it future tense, this is not the same in North Levantine Spoken Arabic. The

past tense verb also shows variation e.g. rab al is used in North Levantine Spoken Arabic and

dhahabtu is used in Classical Arabic for the verb ‘to go’.

In both varieties, code switching occurs. However, it only occurs when speaking to

individuals who would understand the Arabic terms used. Code switching amongst North

Levantine Spoken Arabic speakers revolves around everyday items of use or importance.

Amongst Classical Arabic speakers, it mainly involves religious terms that cannot be expressed

sufficiently in English. For example, when a Classical Arabic speaker is surprised or sees

something disliked he may say subhanallah ‘how perfect is Allah from all imperfection’.

Even though there is interest in both North Levantine Spoken Arabic and Classical Arabic,

there are still several factors that prevent people from learning it. Native English speakers may

initially find the language difficult because it is from an unfamiliar Semitic language family

(Husseianali, 103). As such learning such a language will require a significant investment of

time. There is a unique challenge to Classical Arabic learners as when they communicate with

native Arabic speakers they may not understand the dialect spoken. Also, being able to read

Classical Arabic is views as the fulfilment of religious obligation as opposed to learning

grammar. In both dialects, many heritage users may feel that the language is not that important in

an Anglophone region, especially in the light of English as a global language.

28


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Documents

Sociolinguistic Profile