De Sociolinguïstische Geschiedenis Van Het Negerhollands

In this paper we describe a number of features of the history of Negerhollands (Creole Dutch), spoken on the Danish Antilles, later U.S. Virgin Islands, between around 1700 and 1900 (the last remaining speaker died recently). Special attention is paid to early history and demography, linguistic features of the creole (on the basis of a number of proverbs), a characterization of the type of Dutch that provided the lexical input for the language, and variation in the creole itself. The paper provides the framework in which much more detailed research, based on the analysis of 18th century manuscript sources, can be carried out in the near future.

Published online: 24 March 2014
https://doi.org/10.1075/ttwia.42.05bes