‘Linguistics is in everything’ from astronomy to everyday life, says this linguist from Trinidad & Tobago · Global Voices
Dr. <PERSON> at a reading at Paper Based bookstore in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Photo courtesy <PERSON>, used with permission.
This is the second instalment of an interview with linguist <PERSON>, who won the Trinidad and Tobago segment of a worldwide competition aimed at finding a pair of names for an exoworld, hosted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in honour of its 100th anniversary.
Graphic summarising the winning entry from Trinidad and Tobago in the NameExoWorlds competition. Image courtesy <PERSON>.
The names <PERSON> put forward for the new star and its co-relating exoplanet, are Dingolay and Ramajay, the linguistic significance of which was explored in Part 1 of this series, in which <PERSON> notes that the name selection was also a triumph for <PERSON>. (If you want to stargaze and find the exoworld, Universe Guide offers detailed directions.)
As our conversation continues, <PERSON> talks about the importance of language itself, and how linguistics is — in her words — “in everything … it's like maths and physics.”
<PERSON>: Why do you think your win was significant for <PERSON>, and what type of resources does the language need?
<PERSON>: <PERSON> has been here at least since 1783, for over 235 years. The year 2019 was significant for <PERSON> — it was the 150th anniversary of <PERSON> “The Practice and Theory of Creole Grammar”, republished on its 100th anniversary and available in print and on archive.org; Patois pioneer professor emeritus <PERSON>, professor of Creole linguistics, educational research and development, won the Chaconia Medal Gold for language and development; and <PERSON> made it to the stars — all great for a language that has had little recognition and respect.
Patois absolutely needs resources — print, digital and more. We have a language documentation project afoot, and [language teacher] <PERSON> and I trek across the country interviewing as many Patois-speaking elders as possible, and filming, transcribing, translating and archiving. We have a Facebook page and <PERSON> has a YouTube channel. We can’t do it alone though. 550
We hope to embark on community-based language development, with “The Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language”.
Based on the work of professors <PERSON> and <PERSON>, and colleagues of CRILLASH, Université des Antilles in Martinique and the Folk Research Centre of St Lucia, we've also developed a project about the Patois alphabet that's now in its pre-final version. We hope that the author, <PERSON>, will finish her dictionary soon.
Image of The Patois Alphabet project, courtesy linguist <PERSON>, used with permission.
<PERSON>: What is the state of Patois in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region — and why do you always insist on capitalising the word?
<PERSON>: Antillean or Atlantic French-lexicon Creole is alive and well in many countries of the Caribbean, and it is the Number 2 language of the region, after Spanish. Thanks to Haiti, it is also the Number 1 language of CARICOM, even with 13 English-official countries.
Patois was once spoken by every creed and race in this country. It belongs to no one and everyone. Unfortunately, it is dying in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and Venezuela, since it is no longer a first language.
Here, however, it is so interwoven into our everyday speech that most of us don’t even recognise that some things we say are Patois or due to Patois. We haven’t truly grasped the impact of Patois on what and how we speak: calques, vocabulary in the areas of flora, fauna, foods, folklore and festivals, music, place names, our syntax, pronunciation, and intonation. Patois itself has borrowed from many other languages in our space, sharing a symbiotic relationship with them. It's time for a return to roots to explain the present, and to understand our uniqueness.
With 12,200 entries, Patois may constitute only 10 percent of <PERSON> edited “Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad and Tobago”, but it’s deep in our marrow and linguistic DNA. Everyone needs to get this dictionary and get it now.
I insist on capitalising my name, my language, my nationality. 550