SIL Electronic Book Reviews 2003-017
URL: http://www.sil.org/silebr/silebr2003-017
Pidgins and creoles: An introduction
London: Arnold, 2000. Pp. xv, 142. hardback $72.00, paperback £16.95. ISBN 0340700947 (hardback), 0340700955 (paperback).
Reviewed by David J. Holbrook
SIL International and University of the West Indies (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago)
This book grew out of a twelve-week undergraduate course on Pidgin and Creole languages that the author taught at the University of Surrey Roehampton. It is definitely geared, as the title states, as an introduction. The content is basic and instructional for the undergraduate student who has little knowledge or experience with Pidgin and Creole languages. It is not designed to be an in-depth volume discussing all the various aspects of Pidgin and Creole linguistics; in fact, Pidgins are not given much focus at all.
The book consists of four chapters. The first three chapters relate mainly to Creole studies, definitions, theories, and the Creole continuum. They also go into details on some things that are not typically covered in Creole studies. This is perhaps because the book is written with undergraduate students in mind, ones who may not be as familiar with the subject. The fourth chapter is the jewel of the book, as it deals with language planning in the Creole context, specifically the context of Trinidad. The author is a native of Trinidad and provides some excellent insights into the linguistic and sociolinguistic situation in Trinidad. This is one of the few places where issues of language planning for Creole languages are addressed in a textbook, and it is noteworthy that this is done in an introductory textbook. The sociolinguistic complex of Creole languages is one that almost requires an in-depth knowledge of language planning to really understand the situation fully. Creole languages, especially those in the Caribbean that are in contact with their lexifier languages, exist in a sociolinguistic environment where in the past the former colonial powers and in the present the educational system see them more as a hindrance than anything else. The former colonial powers and the current educational system have often treated Creole languages as a plague and only recently have some people begun to recognize the value of Creole language and culture. This fourth chapter provides some important insights into the Caribbean sociolinguistic complex, something that must be recognized if one is to have a full understanding Caribbean Creole languages.