DIAGNOSTIC FEATURES OF ENGLISH-LEXICON CONTACT LANGUAGES: FIRST ATTESTATIONS

IN THE CREOLES OF SURINAM

ANDREI A. AVRAM*

1. Baker and Huber (2001) present the first attestations and the distribution of 302 lexical, functional and grammatical features in 13 English-lexicon contact languages in the Atlantic and in the Pacific. The varieties at issue include the creoles of Surinam, treated as a single entity (Baker and Huber 2001: 161).

In the present paper, I adduce evidence showing that a large number of the 134 features listed by Baker and Huber (2001) as occurring in Surinam are attested earlier than indicated in their paper. More importantly, several diagnostic features considered by Baker and Huber (2001) as unattested in Surinam are shown to occur in one or more of the creoles of Surinam, either in earlier stages or throughout their recorded history.

The article is organized as follows. Section 2 I present the corpus of data and the methodology used. In section 3 I adduce the relevant evidence and briefly comment on some of the features. The conclusions are presented in section 4.

2. For earlier stages of the Surinamese creoles the sources consist of dictionaries, grammars, texts, sample sentences, word-lists, diaries, travel notes, letters, and various editions of texts[1]. Included are data from a 1762 text in Sranan, recently edited and discussed by Arends and van den Berg (2004).  As for the modern varieties, the sources consist of dictionaries, word lists, grammars, textbooks and phrasebooks.  

For ease of reference, all features considered are numbered and labelled as in Baker and Huber (2001: 197-204). All entries indicate the distribution and the date of the first attestations. The following abbreviations are used in section 3: Alu = Aluku; Kwi = Kwinti; Mat = Matawai; Ndy = Ndyuka; Par = Paramaccan; Sar = Saramaccan; Sra = Sranan.

In addition, a number of symbols are used. Thus, an asterisk * indicates a feature considered as unattested in Surinam by Baker and Huber (2001: 201-203). Features with the years of attestations given between square brackets are or were marginal. Hyphens indicate approximate dates, as follows: -1980 ‘in or before 1980’; -1846- ‘in or around 1846’.

If a diagnostic feature is considered by Baker and Huber (2001: 201-203) as unattested in Surinam, it is illustrated, if possible, by several examples in the corpus at my disposal. This shows that a particular diagnostic feature is fully attested, in accordance with the criteria suggested by Baker and Huber
(2001:164). Generally, for diagnostic features attested before the date indicated by Baker and Huber (2001: 197-204) only the first occurrence, or one of several if dating from the same year, is presented. However, several attestations are occasionally listed.

Throughout this paper, all examples are presented in the orthography or in the system of phonetic transcription used in the sources mentioned. Relevant items appear in bold characters. The length of the quotations has been kept at a reasonable minimum. All quotations are accompanied by their translation in the sources, unless otherwise specified.

3. The following are the diagnostic features recorded earlier than indicated in Baker and Huber (2001) or which are listed as unattested in the creoles of Surinam.

 

3. aki (fruit/tree)  -1999

    aki  Sra 1961 (Anon. 1961: 77)

 

12. bassia ‘overseer’  -1765-

      basa  Sra 1742 (van den Berg 2000: 89)

 

15. big eye ‘greed(y)  1969

      ju habi biggi hai  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

      ‘you are greedy’ [my translation, A. A. A.]

 

25. bumbo ‘vulva’  1969

      bombo  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003) 

 

According to Schumann, bombo was a synonym of the more frequently used umanplesi. If so, it may have fallen into disuse at a later point.

In addition, this lexical item is recorded in at least one modern variety:   

       bõmbo  Alu 1952 (Hurault 1983: 33)

27. calaloo ‘a rich soup or stew’  *

      kallelù  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

 

29. chigger ‘chigoe’  1796

  

The Sranan form chigoes, also listed in Baker (1999: 321), should actually be dated 1777. It occurs in John G. Stedman’s Narrative, of a Five Years’ Expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Suriname, in Guiana on the Wild Coast of South America; from the Year 1772 to 1777. The work was indeed published in 1796, but, as the title indicates, the samples of early Sranan date from a period up to 1777.

Next, consider the following form:

       sîka  Sar 1778 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 96)

In the 1777 Sranan form chigoes the digraph ch presumably stands for [ʧ][2]. The 1778 Saramaccan form, as well as the current forms in e.g. Sranan (Wilner 2003: 108), Saramaccan (Anon. 2003b, Betian & al. 2000: 106) and Ndyuka (Anon. 2003b), start however with an [s]. This suggests that chigoes was a variant, subsequently eliminated in favour of the variant with [s].

Moreover, the two competing variants, beginning with [ʧ] and with [s] respectively, may derive from different sources from among the various Cariban and African etyma indicated by Allsopp (1996: 149), Baker (1999: 353), and Schuchardt (1914 / 1980: 104),. According to Smith (1987: 248 and 252), before [-back] vowels the reflex of [ʧ] in both English and Portuguese[3] etyma is [ʧ], while [s] as a reflex of [ʧ] occurs only word-internally after a vowel in reflexes of English etyma (Smith 1987: 248). The form chigoes would therefore point mutatis mutandis to a Cariban and/or African etymon beginning with [ʧ]. On the other hand, as shown by Smith (1987: 262–264), both [s] and [ʃ] occur in reflexes of English etyma with initial [ʃ].  The form starting with [s] may therefore obtain mutatis mutandis from an etymon beginning either with [s] or with [ʃ]. One such possible etymon is sika, “of the Indian languages” (Schuchardt 1914 / 1980: 104). Note that this form is identical to that of earliest attestation in Saramaccan listed above. This possible etymon is first attested[4], as sico, in 1676. Another possible etymon is Island Carib chíkê, where ch represents [ʃ][5], recorded[6] as early as 1665.

34. da, de (progressive)  -1765-

      Koudemaas de foen mi misje  Sra 1762 (van den Berg 2000: 82)

      ‘Koudemaas is raping my wife’

 

37. de, da, na, a (equative copula)  -1765-

      mi da bossiman  Sra 1761 (van den Berg 2000: 81)

      ‘I am a bushnegro’

 

38. de (locative copula)

      hoe sambre dee  Sra 1745 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

      ‘Who is [there]’

 

39. dead house ‘mortuary’  1969

      dede-hóso  Sra -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

 

42. preposed dem (nominal plural)  -1765-

      mie sa ben soorie dem Backara  Sra 1757 (van den Berg 2000: 80)

      ‘I would show the Whites’

 

43. dem (3PL POSS) 1783

      na dem plantasie nanga goedoe  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

      ‘to their plantations or their goods’

 

45. dokunu/dukna ‘(kind of) starchy food’  -1999

      dokkunnu  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

 

48. doormouth ‘threshold’  -1846-

      Mi zi go na dore moffe lange joe.  Sra -1765- (Arends and Perl 1995, p. 133)

     ‘I’ll see you to the door’

 

49. dohti ‘earth, dirt’  -1765-

      dotti  Sra 1762 (van den Berg 2000: 103)

 

50. dry eye ‘boldness’  1969

      dré-ai ‘boldness, effrontery’  Sra 1961 (Anon. 1961: 16)

 

55. eyewater ‘tears’ -1995

     

Arends (in Arends and Perl 1995: 70-71) writes that “especially nominal […] compounds in Early Sranan vary between Head-Modifier and Modifier-Head order, without any difference in meaning”[7]. His only examples happen to be is watra ai and ai watra ‘tears’, for which he refers to Schumann’s (1783) dictionary “s.v. ai watra”. However, in the electronic edition (Schumann 1783 / 2003) at my disposal, there is no such entry. Moreover, although both the entry hai ‘eye’ and the entry watra ‘water’ include hai watra, this is glossed ‘drop of water’.

Under the circumstances, the earliest attestation of this feature in Surinam is:

      hai-watra  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

Even if first recorded only in 1856, the Sranan form would still be the earliest known attestation in any English-lexicon contact language, predating its occurrence in Gullah in 1891 (Baker and Huber 2001: 198).

59. for VERB (modal)  *

      A fo ta’ dape  Sra 1936 (McWhorter 1995: 307)

      ‘He had to remain there’

 

      mi ben fu suku mi futbal-susu  Sra 1985 (McWhorter 1995: 307)

      ‘I had to look for my football shoes”

           

      I fu nján di njánjan.  Sar 1984 (McWhorter 1995: 306)

      ‘You must eat the food’

 

      Sambili, hën fu heepi mi.  Sar 1992 (Rountree 1992: 10)

      ‘Sambili is the one who must help me’

 

As shown in the examples above, this feature does occur in modern Sranan and modern Saramaccan. Note, however, that it is not mentioned in any of the grammars, textbooks or dictionaries, that I could consult, of modern Sranan (Anon. 1999a and 1999b, Donicie 1967, Griffith 1985, Hart 1997, Ietswaart and Haabo 1999, Menke 1986, Wilner 2003) or of modern Saramaccan (Anon. 2003b, Betian & al. 2000, Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962, Rountree 1992, Rountree and Glock 1982).

Baker (1999: 327) states that “the absence of even a dubious example prior to 1936 strongly suggests that this feature did not exist in the early Surinam Creoles”. However, I have come across what appears to be an early attestation of this feature:

      A no va kubri hem na baassoe manda Sar1790 (Arends and Perl 1995: 386)[8]

      ‘One should not keep it at the bottom of the basket’

63. fum ‘beat’  -1765-

      mi zoe leere bakra voe fom ningre  Sra 1757 (van den Berg 2000: 80)

      ‘I’ll teach the Whites to hit the Negroes’

 

68. heart burn ‘be angry’  -1980

      joe myki mi hatti bron  Sra -1765- (van Dyk 1765, in Arends and Perl 1995: 220)

      ‘you make me angry’

 

      mi hatti bron  Sar 1779 (Riemer 1779, in Arends and Perl 1995: 269)

      ‘I am angry’   

 

77. jook ‘pierce, stab’  1969

      djoekoe ‘to stab, to put in’  Sra 1961 (Anon. 1961: 14)

 

80. k/g affricated to ch/j  1783

      dem sa tiari dem na gran man  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

      ‘they will bring them to the Governor’

 

      dissi tjarri wan djoggo watra  Sra 1781 (Bruyn 1995: 190)

      ‘who’ll be carrying a jug with water’

 

      tchenni ‘[sugar-] cane’  Sar 1778 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 105)

      tjábisi ‘cabbage’  Sar 1779 (Riemer 1779 / 1995: 357)

 

As can be seen, [ʧ] was transcribed in three different ways, tch, ti, and tj, in the earliest records of the creoles of Surinam. Of these, the latter was the most frequent one.

 

87. kata ‘head-pad’  1969

      agatta  Sar 1778 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 5)

 

91. kokobe ‘leper, leprosy’  1969

      kokobé  Sra -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

 

92. kombi ‘friend, peer’  -1765-

      nengre diessie conpé nanga dem  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

      ‘Blacks who are their allies’

 

105. mekmek ‘muddle, confusion’  -1999

        mek(i)meki ‘not genuine, appearance’ Sra 1986 (Menke 1986: 60)

106. mouth ‘word, language’  -1765-

        tee dem kiessie moffo baca  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘until they have received a message back’

 

108. mumu ‘dumb’  -1999

        moemoe ‘dull’  Sra 1961 (Anon. 1961: 46)

 

110. no more ‘merely’  1778

        granman nanga couroetoe nomo  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘only the Governor and the Court’  

 

111. nose hole ‘nostril’ 1969

        noso-horo  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

 

112. NP1 for NP2 (possessive N2’ N1)  -1765-

        yoù no meester voor mi  Sra 1707 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

        ‘you are not my master’

 

113. NP pron. NP (possessive N1’s N2) 1954

        konu ala en moni  Sra 1948 (Hall 1948: 107)

        ‘all the king’s money’

 

117. (n)yams ‘yam (sg.)’  1779

         jammesi  Sar 1778 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 80)

 

118. (n)(y)anga ‘proud; pride, ostentation’  1779

         jangraà/janglà  Sar 1778 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 49)

 

125. pikin ‘small; child, offspring’  -1765-

        alwasie grandie of pikien  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘whether big or small’

 

        fo pikien foe onnoe  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

       ‘four of your children’

 

The examples above show that both meanings are recorded earlier than the date indicated by Baker and Huber (2001: 200).

 

126. pikinega ‘black child’  -1846-

        pikin Ningre  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

140. self ‘even; (emphasis)’  1778

        Selfie effie dem bossie nengre  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘Even if the Bush Negroes’

 

        en serrefie killie hem  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘and even kill him’

 

144. so te(l) ‘until; a long time’  -1765-

        Sensie da tem en so té dorro Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘From that moment until forever’

 

146. strong ears/hard ears ‘stubbornness’ -1980

        da somma ha tranga jessi  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

        ‘that man is stubborn’

 

150. tan lek ‘be like, resemble’  1969

        A tan léki… Sra -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

        ‘it seems that…, it looks like…’

 

151. tata ‘father’  -1765-

        tata  Sra 1761 (van den Berg 2000: 81)

 

156. tother, tara ‘other’  -1765-

        na tara plessie  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘at some other place’

 

158. ugly ‘evil’  -1765-

        ogerii  Sra 1745 (van den Berg 2000: 92)

 

160. unu (2PL)  -1765-

        na oenoe mindrie  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘in your midst’

 

oenoe sa moesoe goo foe kiesie dem  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘you should go capture them’

 

162. wari (African board game)  1796

        awári  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

 

164. we (1PL POSS)  1778

        na wie miendrie  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        lit. ‘in our midst’ = ‘among ourselves’

165. we (1PL OBL)  -1765-

        na wie bacara Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘to us Whites’

 

181. bruck ‘break’  -1765-

        gado brooki sandie Sra 1761 (van den Berg 2000: 81)

         lit. ‘God break sand’, name of a sandy plain 

 

184. catch ‘get, obtain, reach’  -1765-

        dem sa kissi dem monie Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘they should collect their money’

 

        dem no sa kissie trobie nanga bacara  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘they will not […] get in trouble with Whites’

 

187. dead ‘die’  1783

        Argus mie dede Sra 1759 (van den Berg 2000: 81)

        ‘Argus, I am dying’

 

188. dem (3PL)  -1765-

        dem no sa doe joe wan santie Sra 1760 (van den Berg 2000: 81)

        lit. ‘They will not do you a thing’ = ‘They will not harm you’

 

189.  falldown ‘fall’ (reanalysis)  -1765-

        wan sandie sa fadom na dem mindrie Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘anything should occur among them’

 

192.  for (infinitive)  -1765-

         mie zoe leere bakra voe fom ningre  Sra 1757 (van den Berg 2000: 80)

         ‘I would teach the Whites to hit Negroes’

 

199. him (3SG POSS)  1829

        na hem hede  Sra 1745 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

        ‘to his head’

 

205. make (causative/imperative)  -1765-

        mekka tan  Sra 1747 (van den Berg 2000: 80)

        ‘let it be’ [my translation, A. A. A.]

 

206. make haste ‘hurry’ *

        myki hessi  Sra -1765- (van Dyk 1765, in Arends and Perl 1995: 233)

        ‘prepare it quickly’

Mekie hesie Sra 1807 (Rickford 1991: 317)

‘make haste’

 

Méki-hési Sra  -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

‘hurry up’

 

meki hesi  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

‘to be in a hurry’

 

meki hesi Sra 1959 (Meinzak 1959: 13)

‘hurry up’

 

meki esi  Sra 1961 (Echteld 1961: 97)

‘make haste’

 

While this feature is recorded in Sranan, for a period spanning some two centuries, it appears to have fallen into disuse sometime in the 1960s. It is not mentioned in any of the following dictionaries of modern Sranan: Anon. (1999a), Anon. (1999b), and Wilner (2003).

 

208. me (1SG)  1718

        mi man  Sra 1707 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

        ‘I can’

 

213. NP1 NP2 (possessive N1’s N2)  -1765-

        Joe mama P Sra 1762 (van den Berg 2000: 82)

        ‘your mother’s cunt’

 

210. moon ‘month’  1779

        toe offe drie moen  Sra -1765- (van Dyk 1765, in Arends and Perl 1995: 144)

        ‘two or three months’

 

215. no (negator)  1718

        Joù no man Sra 1707 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

        ‘You can’t’

 

218. one (indefinite article)  -1765-

        doe joe wan santie  Sra 1760 (van den Berg 2000: 81)

        lit. ‘do you a thing’= ‘harm you’

 

220. paragogic vowels  -1765-

        wanti ‘to want’ Sra 1707 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

 

225. sabby ‘know’  -1765-

        mi no sabi hoe ple alle santi kom oppo  Sra 1745 (van den Berg 2000: 80)

        ‘I don’t know where all these things have come from’

 

232. that time ‘when’  -1765-

        datem dem wandie goo  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘when they wish to go’

       

235. too much ADJ/VERB ‘a lot’  *

        tumussi menni  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

        ‘a lot’

       

den de toe moessie dom  Sra 1786 (Voorhoeve and Lichtveld 1975: 286)

        ‘they are very stupid’ [my translation, A. A. A.]

 

        Den de mekie too mooso bawli bawli Sra 1807 (Arends 2003: 200)

        ‘They make a lot of noise’ [my translation, A. A. A.]

 

        wan tóemoesi moi Misi  Sra  -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

        ‘a very beautiful lady’

 

        Mi basi ha toemoessi tranga wroko Sra 1854 (Wullschlaegel 1854 / 1965: 61)

       ‘My boss has a lot of work’

 

        toemoesi foeloe  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

        ‘very much’

 

        Hollandsch tongo de wan toemoesi mooi tongo Sra 1918 (Anon. 1918: 43)

        ‘Dutch is a very beautiful language’

 

        Da boto de wakka toemsi boen  Sra 1959 (Meinzak 1959: 33)

        ‘The boat works very well’

       

247. ZERO (equative copula) 1718

        yoù no meester voor mi  Sra 1707 (van den Berg 2000: 79)

        ‘you are not my master’

 

248. ZERO (predicative copula) 1770

        Dissi fri granboen Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

        ‘This peace is very good’

 

254. bel(ly) ‘seat of emotions’  *

        mi pulu belle gi ju  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

        lit. ‘I pull my belly for you’= ‘I open my heart to you’

         ju holi mi na belle  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

        lit. ‘you hold me in your belly’ = ‘you hate me’

 

        Hem bére bíta Sra -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

        lit. ‘his belly is bitter’ = ‘he is revengeful’

         habi bita-bele  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

         lit. ‘to have a bitter belly’ = ‘to hate’

  

Unlike in other Atlantic English creoles where it is still attested[9], this feature appears to be typical only of earlier stages of the Surinamese creoles. No such uses are listed in any of e.g. the dictionaries of modern Sranan at my disposal (Anon. 1999a, Anon. 1999b, and Wilner 2003).

 

268. first time ‘ahead, formerly’  *

        fossitem  ‘formerly’ Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

        fósi-tem  ‘formerly’ Sra -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

        fósitem ‘initially’  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

       

jeri fa dem fositem sordati  Sra  -1885- (Lichtveld and Voorhoeve 1980: 104)

       ‘hear how the former soldiers’

 

na fositen maniri foe den gransoema foe wi  Sra 1893 (Voorhoeve and Lichtveld 1975: 122)

‘it’s an old custom of our ancestors’

 

        fos’ten ‘in former times’  Sra 1961 (Anon. 1961: 21)

 

       (Na) fositen den suma ben de libi moro langa.  Sra 1967 (Donicie 1967: 122)

       ‘People used to live longer formerly’.

       

        fosten ‘in former times’  Sra 1980 (Anon. 1980: 127)

 

        Fosten yu ben kan bai kasababrede fu wan sensi wan.  Sra 1999 (Anon. 1999a)

        ‘In the old days you could buy cassava bread for one cent a piece’.

 

         fosten ‘old days’  Sra 1999 (Anon. 1999b)

 

        Fosten yu ben kan bai kasababrede […].  Sra 2003 (Wilner 2003: 46)

        ‘In the old days you could buy cassava bread […]’

         fési-tén ‘earlier’ Sar 1962 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 32)

         fósu tẽn  Sar 2000 (Betian & al. 2000: 69)

 

The item is also attested in Aluku. Note that Aluku form displays the palatalization which is typical of this variety (Smith 1987: 231). The [š] in the form below is the final result of the development: [si] > [ši] > [š] (with syncope of the unstressed [i]).

       

foštẽ, na foštẽ ‘formerly’  Alu 1952 (Hurault 1983: 3)

 

Finally, the feature is also recorded in Ndyuka, in various sources:

 

       Fósi-ten á be dé so.  Ndy 1984 (De Groot 1984: 34)

       ‘It wasn’t like this formerly’

 

        Di u be go a Foto a fositen.  Ndy 1994 (Huttar and Huttar 1994: 131)

        ‘When we went to Paramaribo in the early days’

 

        fesiten / fositen ‘earlier time’  Ndy 2003 (Anon. 2003)

 

        fosi ten na kwey, a pikin be e wey  Ndy 2003 (Goury 2003: 211)

        ‘formerly it was an apron that a child would wear’

      

277. look see ‘inspect, take a look at’  *

        komm lukku si!  Sra 1783 (Schumann 1783 / 2003)

        ‘come and take a look!’

 

According to Arends (in Arends and Perl 1995: 68, n. 24), “the combination luku si ‘look at’ is well known from late 18^th-century sources on Sranan. He further specifies that in early Sranan luku si “may have an emphatic meaning: ‘to look closely at something’ (Arends and Perl 1995: 68, n. 24)”.

 

287. saltwater ‘sea; coastal’  *

        Zoute Watera ‘sea’ Sra -1765- (van Dyk 1765, in Arends and Perl 1995: 103)

        Soutoe-wátra ‘sea’ Sra -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

        zout-watra ‘sea’ Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

        habra da bigi soute watra  Sra -1885- (Lichtveld and Voorhoeve 1980: 110)

        ‘over the big sea’

 

This diagnostic feature appears to be typical of early Sranan. In the modern variety it is apparently restricted to a metaphorical usage:

sootwatra bradi  Sra 1957 (Voorhoeve 1971:  325)

 ‘The sea is wide’

 

However, the compound still occurs in at least one modern creole of Surinam:

sawtu wataa ‘ocean; sea’ Ndy 2003 (Anon. 2003a)

 

300. yet ‘still’  *

 

This feature is found in a number of records of early Sranan and of early Saramaccan:

        

Dem presentie disie sa libie foe gie onoe jette Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

 ‘The presents that are still waiting to be given to you’

 

kondre de na dem bakka jetti  Sra 1762 (Arends and van den Berg 2004)

 ‘there are still places in the interior’

 

A de slibi jetti Sra -1765- (van Dyk 1765, in Arends and Perl 1995: 149)

‘She’s still sleeping’.

Té non jéte  Sra  -1846- (Focke 1855 / 2003)

‘until now, still’

 

En fa mie lobbie joe jette Sra 1856 (Voorhoeve and Lichtveld 1975: 72)

‘And how I love you still’

 

a ben de farawei jete vo dapee.  Sra 1854 (Wullschlaegel 1854/1965: 59)

‘he was still far from there’

 

a de na pasi jete  Sra 1856 (Wullschlaegel 1856 / 2003)

‘he’s still on his way’

 

dati lanti gi dem pasi tee tidei jete  Sra 1885 (Lichtveld and Voorhoeve 1980: 116)

‘that government gave them permission which is still valid till today’

 

Ma a zwaka jete.  Sra 1918

 

jamjam vo alisi fikka jetti na pau dindru   Sar 1779 (Riemer 1779 in Arends and Perl 1995: 261)

‘the ear is still in the stalk’

The occurrence of yet ‘still’ in all the modern varieties is amply documented:

 

 jéti, éti ‘still’  Sar 1962 (Donicie and Voorhoeve 1962: 50)

 

 A be abi ete tu dei.  Ndy 1984 (De Groot 1984: 27)

 ‘There were still two days’

 

Ayi, den de dya ete.  Sra 1986 (Menke 1986: 75)

 ‘Yes, she’s still there.’

 

In Hancock (1987: 321) sentence 49 ‘If you were still the leader’ aims explicitly at illustrating the “expression of still” in the Atlantic English pidgins and creoles:

ef’ i ben de a basi ete  Sra 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

 

ee i bi da di basi ete  Sar 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

 

efu yu bi de di basi yeti  Mat 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

 

efu yu be yete de a basi  Kwi 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

 

efu yu be de a basi ete  Ndy 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

 

efi yu de basi ete  Alu 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

 

efi i be de a baši ete  Par 1987 (Hancock 1987: 321)

               

Further attestations in the modern creoles of Suriname include the following:

 

Mi abi ete wan koni fu leli yu.  Ndy 1994 (Huttar and Huttar 1994: 209)

‘I still have one more secret to teach you’.

 

Yu sabi efu mi granbigisma e libi ete?  Srn 1997 (Hart 1997: 11)

‘Do you know if my grandparents are still alive?’

 

omeni kilometer ete [?]  Srn 1999 (Ietswaart and Haabo 1999: 39)

 ‘how many kilometers are there still [?]’

I e fende wan wan manya ete  Ndy 2003 (Goury 2003: 144)

‘One still finds mangoes here and there’

   4. The findings of this paper can be summarized as follows.

The first attestations of 63 of the 134 diagnostic features identified in the Surinamese creoles by Baker and Huber (2001) predate those indicated in their article[10]. The evidence adduced in the present paper is thus an answer to Baker and Huber’s (2001: 163) invitation that “readers who know of earlier attestations of any of the features listed [...] bring these to our attention”.

In quite a few cases, the attestations listed in this paper date from a considerably earlier period, of up to 216 years. Consider e.g. the following features, with the date of their earliest attestation according to Baker and Huber (2001: 197-200) within brackets: 15. big eye ‘greed(y)’ 1783 (1969); 45. dokunu/dukna 1783 (-1999); 68. heart burn ‘be angry’ -1765- (-1980); 87. kata ‘head-pad’ 1778 (1969); 146. strong ears/hard ears ‘stubbornness’ 1783 (-1980).

Moreover, 9 additional features have been shown to occur in the creoles of Surinam. Therefore, a total of 143 diagnostic features are found, on currently available evidence, in the creoles of Surinam.

The 9 features at issue are: 27. calaloo ‘a rich soup or stew’, 59. for VERB (modal), 206. make haste ‘hurry’, 235. too much ADJ/VERB ‘a lot’, 254. bel(ly) ‘seat of emotions’, 268. first time ‘ahead, formerly’, 277. look see ‘inspect, take a look at’, 287. saltwater ‘sea, coastal’, and 300. yet ‘still’. A few remarks are in order with respect to these features. The first two are Atlantic whereas the remaining seven are world-wide features. Of the latter, four, originally classified as Pacific by Baker and Huber (2001: 203–204) have been reclassified as world-wide ones in Avram (2004) since they occur, among other Atlantic varieties, in the creoles of Surinam: 254. bel(ly) ‘seat of emotions’, 268. first time ‘ahead, formerly’, 277. look see ‘inspect, take a look at’, 287. saltwater ‘sea, coastal’. One feature, 300. yet ‘still’, listed among the Pacific ones in Baker and Huber (2001: 204) has been reclassified by Avram (2004) as world-wide uniquely on the basis of its occurrence in the Surinamese creoles. This confirms Baker and Huber’s (2001: 165) prediction that “if and when more early data come to light, more WW [= world-wide] features will be found]”.

Finally, Baker and Huber (2001: 163) also predict the occurrence of “earlier attestations of certain features or [of] features of whose existence in a certain variety we were previously unaware”. This prediction too is borne out by the data presented in the present article.

 

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