Ideologies of language and socially realistic linguistics

Abstract

Like so many of my Caribbean and African American colleagues, I have devoted my entire career to the study of the languages of the New World Black Diaspora. For the most part, these languages are associated with the socially disadvantaged, though their use is not exclusive to such groups, and they are often perceived as corruptions or deviations, lacking expressive power and rules of grammar. These languages were created by Africans across the Diaspora, as they came into contact with speakers of European languages under conditions of forced relocation and enslavement. They include the languages that linguists refer to as “Creoles,” spoken in Africa, the Caribbean, in areas along the Indian Ocean, and in parts of the US.