Jashira Román Pérez

Karina Morales Rodríguez

Prof. Patrick A. Mather

INGL3249-0U1

May 20th, 2023

Grenadian Creoles

Introduction

In this paper, we’ll be discussing Grenadian Creoles, these being Grenadian French

Creole, more commonly known as Patois, and Grenadian English Creole. Going from the

sociohistorical context in which they emerged, to the very interesting and evident influence

they have on each other and then finally to their present-day status. This including, the language

of the government, media, common society and education of the country. In addition to all this,

we’ll also take a brief look at the different views of the languages and the attitudes that are

culturally linked to these as well. Because as we conducted our research, we noticed a very

interesting pattern of conduct regarding these languages, and we were absolutely fascinated by

this because it’s very interesting to see how differently creoles can emerge depending on a

country’s history.

So, where is Grenada located?

Grenada is part of the West Indies; the country is in the southeastern part of the

Caribbean Sea, and it is one of the Lesser Antilles, its closest neighboring countries are

Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines. Its capital, Saint George,

is a very beautiful city well known for its tourists’ attractions and for its spice production and

importation. The main ingredients being, cocoa, mace, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger,

and it is precisely this variety of spices that has granted Grenada the name of “the island of
spice”.

Currently Grenada has a population of around 110,000 people and the official language

is English, though there are two other languages as well and these are known as “Patois” and

Grenadian English Creole. These languages being the result of the colonial power exchanges

made during the 16th and 17th centuries by the French and British has set the stage for a very

peculiar situation in today’s Grenadian society.

To this day Grenada is a country with three coexisting languages which make it a very

interesting topic of discussion both linguistically and culturally. The present-day situation with

the Creoles seems very uncertain due to the differing attitudes and views of the languages.

There seems to be a duality when it comes to the status of these languages and that is precisely

what we’ll be uncovering throughout this paper.

History

Before the Europeans, the first settlers in Grenada were Amerindian Arawaks and the

Caribs from South America. After their settlements, the Caribs, who were known for their

aggressive and assertive behavior, managed to push the Arawaks further north. This gave the

Caribs enough power to successfully take over most of the land for a while and, it is due to this,

that the British attempts in the early 16th century to settle on the island weren’t successful. It’s

not until the 1650’s that the French, after several attempts, became the first to successfully

settle on the island.

Now, the events following the first French settlement are truly interesting because from

1650 to 1763, approximately, the country was under French colonial rule. During this time a

French Lexifier Creole emerged, and, for a long time, it was known to be the people’s L1,

however, later with the arrival of a new ruler, things changed. And that is when in 1762, the

British captured Grenada and became the ones in power due to the ‘Treaty of Paris’.
 The treaty of Paris was designed in 1763 to end the “Seven Year War” which was an

ongoing conflict between France and Great Britain that began in 1754 due to a dispute

regarding North American land claims and border disputes. As a result of this Treaty, Grenada

was ceded to the British in 1763, however, a few years after the initial British occupation, in

1779 the French came back to recapture Grenada. Their attempt was successful but lasted very

little because in 1783, the ‘Treaty of Versailles’ was signed, and it ultimately granted Britain

colonial rule of Grenada.

To summarize, this treaty was signed on September 3, 1783, and it was created to end

the American revolution. Which was a worldwide conflict that involved not only the United

States and Great Britain, but also countries like France, Spain, and the Netherlands. It is this

treaty that helped Britain settle on Grenada, obligating the French to leave the country. From

then on, Grenada was officially a British colony and with this final exchange of power came

many changes.

Standard English became the official language of the country and a new English lexifier

Creole ‘emerged’ or arrived in Grenada. Now the reason I use both options as possible

explanations is because some sources do claim that GEC emerged in Grenada, but others

believe it was already a Creole language that existed within the enslaved people that the British

brought along with them to Grenada. And according to the research I did and the sources I have

utilized to write this paper, it’s the latter.

“After the occupation by Britain in 1783, British settlers and their English Creole-

speaking slaves arrived in Grenada. Grenada EC is first attested by 1830 (see Avram 2014c).”

Marinela Burada, Oana Tatu and Raluca Sinu, (2018), Languages in action, (Page. 117)

As for patois it is said to have emerged by 1750, which is plausible since the French

colonized Grenada in the 1650’s so it seems that it had around a hundred years to develop and
gain its structure. “According to Kephart (2000,24), the French-lexifier creole, locally known

as Patwa, emerged by 1750.” Marinela Burada, Oana Tatu and Raluca Sinu, (2018),

Languages in action, (Page. 117)

Thus, now with the coexistence of these three languages, the following years of

Grenadian history pave the way for the circumstances today. As for Patois, the years after the

emergence of GEC are very important, for it is said that Patois remained the language used by

most African diaspora within the island. However, the events succeeding this let us know the

drastic decrease of the use of patois. Because by the 20th century it is said that English and GEC

started gaining the upper hand, though some other sources claim this change had been

happening since the early 1920’s. Therefore, by that time Patois had begun dying out and being

used only by certain adult people living on more rural districts.

“Beginning with the 20th century, however, English and Grenada EC started gaining the

upper hand. As early as the 1921 census, it is mentioned that the “dialect (Patwa) has been

slowly dying out and is now spoken only among a small number of the adult population of the

rural districts.” Marinela Burada, Oana Tatu and Raluca Sinu, (2018), Languages in action,

(Page. 117-118)

In the years that follow this only becomes more and more evident and drastic as we now

see that the people that speak Patois are very few and very old and with little to no subjects to

pass the language onto.

“Fast forward six decades later, we see that Patois has become even more rare and is

now being used by a small number of people, specifically senior citizens, however, with time

they were only becoming fewer and fewer.” Marinela Burada, Oana Tatu and Raluca Sinu,

(2018), Languages in action, (Page. 118)

In today’s Grenadian society it is said that Patwa as a spoken language has almost
completely disappeared and some even claim it is extinct, however, I have stumbled upon

sources and videos that disprove this claim and attest to the fact that some speakers remain.

We have in fact, come across a certain society called ‘Pale Patois’ that is trying to revive Patois

and teach it to young people. On our list of sources and cited works, I’ll be adding the link to

a YouTube video detailing the hopes and goals of this society and what the conservation of

Patois means to them. One of the things I would like to add to support some of the things

previously mentioned is that at the beginning of the video they confirm the fact that GEC is

widely used, and that Patois is in fact endangered.

The influence of Patois on Grenadian English Creole

Given the facts that GFC emerged before GEC and that both creoles have coexisted for

nearly two centuries, it is natural that there are many features that prove how the older creole

has influenced the newer.

Phonological features

Regarding phonology, GEC’s vowel system has been influenced by GFC. Even though

SE has two “i” sounds: /ɪ/ and /i:/, GEC only has /i/ same as GFC given that a neutralization in

the pronunciation of the contrast between the two “i” sounds in SE occured in GEC (Chase and

Chase qtd. in Avram 119). Moreover, GEC has transferred GFC’s nasal vowels like /õ, ã, ɛ̃/ to

its own vowel system through the direct adoption of loanwords such as [gasõ] for boy (Chase

and Chase cited in Avram 119-120).

Morphological features

Regarding morphology, GEC has borrowed compound words from GFC such as “feah-

compice” which comes from GFC’s “fè kompis” and refers to a two-sided person, who is not

genuine (DG qtd. in Avram 122).

 Syntactic features

Regarding syntax, GEC uses the verb “to have” to express one’s age same as in GFC

and different to SE where the verb “to be” is the one used: “Ah ha 10 years.” (Chase and Chase

qtd. in Avram 123). By and large, these are some, but not the only features that attest as to how

GFC has influenced GEC over the years, how Grenadians have nativized these languages and

how languages influence one another when in situations of language contact.

Vocabulary

Words and adjectives

GEC Meaning Patois Meaning

bavay white ashy mouth bavé to drivel

farin cassava flour farin flour

marchan vendor marchan vendor

travo someone working on travaux public works

public roads

kabusé miserable, twisted kagou miserable, twisted

coopay to cut kite thread koupé to cut

This table was elaborated using: Marinela Burada, Oana Tatu and Raluca Sinu, (2018),

Languages in action, (Page. 124)

Idiomatic Expressions

GEC Patois Meaning

Chapo! Chapo Hats off

é ben oui é ben oui Well, yes

Bonjé peni mueh Bondjé pini mwen Good God help us

 Quel bay Quel bête Idiot

This table was elaborated using: Marinela Burada, Oana Tatu and Raluca Sinu, (2018),

Languages in action, (Page. 125)

Onomastics

Names Surnames

André Bedeau

Toussaint Chevalier

Marcelle Preudhomme

Benoȋt Delisle

According to Joseph in “Preserving and Revitalizing Grenadian French-Lexifier

Creole”, “Ba konnèt”, which stands for “I don’t know”, is a phrase directly adopted and used

by Grenadians in their English and GEC discourse (222). In “THE UNIQUE NEGATIVE IN

GRENADIAN PATOIS - M J Joseph”, Joseph explains that the evolution from “pas” to “ba”

can be explained because of the influence of both the Walloon and Hausa languages. This

negative marker can be attested in the GFC discourse of the Grenadian men in “6.6 Pride in the

Kéyòl Language // Social Dimensions of Kéyòl”.

By and large, these are some, but not the only features that attest as to how GFC has

influenced GEC over the years, how Grenadians have nativized these languages and how

languages influence one another when in situations of language contact.

Present day status of these languages

As it has earlier been stated, there are three different languages coexisting today in

Grenada: Standard English (SE), Grenadian English Creole (GEC) and Grenadian French
Creole (GFC). Grenadians, however, are far from being trilingual speakers as these three

languages coexist on unequal footing, prompt opposite attitudes, and play different roles in

Grenadian society. SE, for instance, has been the official language of Grenada since the British

took definite control over the archipelago back in the 18th century. This is exemplified not only

by the fact that the Grenada Constitution Act and other Grenadian laws are written in English,

but also by the fact that, according to the Grenada Constitution Act, in order for a person to

become either a senator or a representative, this person must be: “... able to speak and, unless

incapacitated by blindness or other physical cause, to read the English language with sufficient

proficiency to enable him or her… to take an active part in the proceedings of the Senate [or

of the House].” (Part 3, 25, c; Part 3, 30, c). The official status of SE in Grenada means that,

besides being the language of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government,

it is also the language of instruction. In fact, following the Grenada Education Act, for one to

qualify as a teacher in pre-primary, primary, all-age or secondary school, one must take tests

such as GEC (British General Education Certification) or CXC (Caribbean Examination

Council) to certify one’s proficiency level in English among other school subjects (Part 7,

Division 1, 121, 1, b; Part 7, Division 1, 121, 2, b). Likewise, SE is the language of print media,

TV news and radio, for example, of GIS (Government Information Service), Grenada

Government Gazette and Grenada Broadcasting Network.

Nevertheless, as it generally happens in sociolinguistic contexts such as the one in

Grenada, while the European lexifier language enjoys an official status in the country, this one

is not necessarily the L1 of the people, which in Grenada’s case is GEC. Marguerite-Joan

Joseph points out in “Preserving and Revitalizing Grenadian French - Lexifier Creole” that,

even though GFC was the lingua franca in Grenada between the late 17th century and the early

20th century, GEC is today the L1 of all Grenadians, who sometimes decide to speak SE over

GEC (217, 220-221). Speaking of which, a quick search on the official website of the
government of Grenada shows that the only two major languages recognized by the state are

English as the official language and French patois. One possible explanation to all this is given

by Chase and Chase in Abridged Handbook of Grenadian Creole English and French Names:

A Dictionary of Grenadian Creole English with Grammar & Syntax where they assure that:

“still viewed as ‘Broken English’, ‘Bad English’, ‘Grenadian dialect’ by many locals and others,

today GCE is by far the dominant means of popular communication, even though Standard

English (SE) is the official language” (Introduction, A). Things like this, GEC is not recognized

by the government and by some Grenadians themselves as a language on its own right although

Chase and Chase would argue that GEC is not only the lingua franca of Grenada, but also a

vehicle of information, a cultural reservoir of paramount importance, a prevalent influence on

local media, official gatherings, classrooms, business transactions and cultural expressions, the

competition of SE, the language for many sermons, the language of some talk shows as well

as the language in which Grenadians have their thought processes (Introduction, A). After

centuries, noted Chase and Chase, it seems SE is still for many Grenadians a second if not a

foreign language, one that is not acquired but rather learned, one that poses challenges to many

Grenadians even though it is the language of the government, media, and instruction

(Introduction, A).

In between GEC and SE, GFC has seen its influence wane in Grenadian society over

the years. Regarding GFC’s decrease in presence and influence in Grenada, Joseph came up

with five reasons to explain this: the exodus of French plantation owners and their enslaved

people to Trinidad after the British settled definitely in the archipelago, the suppression of

Patois under British rule as it was considered to be the language of organized resistance and,

understandably, became a taboo or forbidden language, the introduction of formal English

education with the establishment of the first schools in Grenada, parents discouraging their

children from speaking Patois as a way to protect them from ridicule at school and parents
encouraging their children to learn and speak SE as a way to secure a job and increase their

social status in the increasingly anglophone government and economy of Grenada (217-218).

Reasons to which Ferreira and Holbrook in Are They Dying? The Case of Some French-lexifier

Creoles added others: the fact that GFC is only spoken by the oldest generation of Grenadians,

the lack of young people acquiring or learning GFC, the lack of Grenadians using GFC in their

daily lives, the lack of competence in GFC speakers whose knowledge of the language has

fossilized or been lost over the years; and the replacement of GFC by SE and GEC in many

aspects of Grenadian society and life (15). The death of GFC was expected up until 2009 as

there was no visible nor viable attempt to prevent GFC from dying along with its last speakers.

Notwithstanding, the Grenada Creole Society whose mission is “... to research on, document,

learn, teach and promote the Grenadian French-lexifier creole language.” was founded in 2009

(Joseph 218). As Joseph and all other members of the Grenada Creole Society see it, GFC was

the former lingua franca of Grenada and it is today a national and historical language, the link

between Grenadians and their African heritage, the language of the ancestors and the language

that enriches and influences GEC. As a matter of fact, Joseph informed that: “the Grenada

Creole Society has documented that adults and children use more than 300 words and phrases

taken intact from Patois in their everyday speech…” (218).

In general, the actual sociolinguistic situation in Grenada is complex because of four

major reasons. First, there are three coexisting languages in Grenada: SE, GEC, and GFC,

which are the result of the French and British colonial power exchange of the archipelago

between the 17th and 18th centuries. Second, in this complex sociolinguistic situation, English

is the official language of Grenada, GEC is the L1 of Grenadians as well as the primary means

of communication and GFC is an endangered, national, and historical language, which was the

former L1 of most Grenadians up until the 20th century. Third, the emergence of not one, but

two creoles with different lexifier languages makes up for a complex context as, on the one
hand, there is GEC which coexists with its lexifier language while, on the other hand, there is

GFC which coexists with a different lexifier language to the one it took its lexicon from. Last

but not least, according to Avram in “The Influence of Patwa on Grenada English Creole”,

Grenada’s sociolinguistic situation is complex because there is not only diglossia, but triglossia

too (119). On the one hand, there is diglossia as there is an uneven and unequal bilingualism

between English as the official and prestigious language and GEC as the unrecognized L1 of

Grenadians. On the other hand, there is also triglossia as English has undermined both of

Grenada’s native languages causing the marginalization of GEC and near demise of GFC.

In sum, the aim of this research paper was to investigate Grenadian creole languages:

GEC and GFC. According to the findings, these two creole languages coexist with English as

the language of the government, the media, and the system of education in Grenada. The

coexistence of these three languages, the attitudes these languages prompt from Grenadians

and the roles each one of them plays in Grenadian society can all be explained through the

history of Grenada, which experienced being both a French and a British colony between the

17th and 18th centuries. Under each European rule, a creole language emerged: the older GFC

was the lingua franca of Grenada up until the 20th century when the newer GEC came to replace

or relexify it. In this situation of language contact, GFC has influenced GEC in phonology,

syntax, morphology, and lexicon. Shared features between the creoles show how GFC has

influenced GEC, how languages react and interact with one another in complex sociolinguistic

contexts and how these creole languages have been nativized by Grenadians over the years.

According to the research done on Grenadian Creoles, GEC is Grenadians’ L1 and primary

means of communication while GFC is Grenadians’ former L1 and an endangered, national,

and historical language. Moreover, in Grenada’s sociolinguistic situation, GEC coexists with

its lexifier language while GFC does not. Precisely, the holistic presence of English in many

aspects of Grenadian life and its power as the language of international trade and diplomacy
has contributed to the devaluation of GEC and near demise of GFC causing an issue of diglossia

and even triglossia in the archipelago. Even though native languages in Grenada have

confronted adversities, prejudices and injustices coming either from foreign colonizers, the

national government or Grenadians themselves, both languages have persisted for centuries

and, in the best interest of Grenadians, Grenada’s culture and linguistic richness, we think it

convenient to teach Grenadians of all ages to learn, embrace, defend and preserve their creole

languages as being part of their history, language legacy, culture and national identity. Finally,

in a future paper, it would be suitable to research on the impact that the Grenada Creole Society

has had since its foundation in 2009 regarding the research, teaching, and promotion of GFC

as well as the efforts that have been made to make Grenadians recognize GEC as a legitimate

language.
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—. “THE UNIQUE NEGATIVE IN GRENADIAN PATOIS - M J Joseph.” YouTube,

uploaded by The Grenada Creole Society, 24 Aug. 2014,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d1oyXRP16k.

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