Abstract

ALLSOPP, Jeannette. The indian contribution to the lexicon of caribbean english. Káñina [online]. 2016, vol.40, suppl.1, pp.23-34. ISSN 2215-2636.  http://dx.doi.org/10.15517/rk.v40i3.28592.

This paper deals with the contribution made by the East Indians who migrated to the Caribbean as indentured labourers via contracts made with the British colonizers during the last five decades of the nineteenth century, after the Emancipation of African slaves who were the traditional cultivators of sugar on the plantations of many Caribbean territories. Their contribution has been very valuable and continues to be so, especially in the domains of Caribbean language, culture and daily life. Their influence is largely seen in the larger Englishspeaking territories of the Caribbean, because of the fact that the plantations in those countries, like Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, and also Jamaica, to a certain extent, were much larger than those of the smaller Caribbean islands like Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia, for example. The East Indians have had a significant influence on the population patterns of Guyana and Trinidad, where they have become the majority of the population and also on the political life of the two countries. To illustrate their great influence on the lexicon, a sample of words that they have contributed to the varieties of the English of Guyana and Trinidad is presented in the domains of food, religion, festivals and everyday life.

Keywords : contribution; Lexicon, East India, contracts of indenture, plantations.

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