Fishermen, farmers, traders: Language and economic history on St. Barthélemy, French West Indies

Abstract

ABSTRACT St. Barthélemy, a small island in the northeastern Caribbean, is populated primarily by descendants of 17th century French settlers, and hosts seven language varieties. To explain the linguistic complexity of the island, this article reconstructs both its social history (using censuses, church records, and land registries) and its economic history, analyzing the effects of economic change on the island's population. The two offshoot communities on St. Thomas provide evidence of social fragmentation related to occupational differences. Functional explanations for St. Barth's linguistic diversity are inadequate; however, the social network theory of Milroy & Milroy 1992 proves useful in explaining the persistence of language differences in this small isolated community. (Social networks, life-modes, economic change, societal multilingualism, creole languages, French, West Indies, St. Barthélemy)

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