Brule Spanish in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Charles Edward Holloway Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1993 The eD ath of a Dialect: Brule Spanish in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Charles Edward Holloway Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Holloway, Charles Edward, "The eD ath of a Dialect: Brule Spanish in Ascension Parish, Louisiana." (1993). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 5514. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/5514 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. 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Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 3 0 0 North Z eeb Road. Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Order Number 9401535 The death of a dialect: Brule Spanish in Ascension Parish, Louisiana Holloway, Charles Edward, Ph.D. The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col., 1993 Copyright ©1994 by Holloway, Charles Edward. All rights reserved. UMI 300 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. THE DEATH OF A DIALECT: BRULE SPANISH IN ASCENSION PARISH, LOUISIANA A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Interdepartmental Program in Linguistics by Charles E. Holloway B.B.A., Northeast Louisiana University, 1982 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1990 May 1993 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer would like to express his appreciation to several people who made important contributions to this dissertation. First, I would like to thank Dr. Lyle Campbell, my major professor, whose help and guidance through every step of this project was invaluable. I would also like to thank the other members of my commit- tee--Dr. M. Jill Brody, Dr. Hugh Buckingham, Dr. Arnulfo Ramirez, and Dr. Lee Webster for their input into this project. I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Ruth E. Smith and to the late Marie "Mimi" Watson for their support through the years. I thank my parents Charles and Norma Holloway for their faith and encourage ment during my long and circuitous path towards this goal, and my grandmother Bertie Stroud Townsend who will always be an inspiration to me. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to thank my wife Carol without whose unwavering support and willingness to make many sacrifices, this would not have been possible. i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS......................................... i i LIST OF TABLES........................................... vi LIST OF MAPS............................................... vii ABSTRACT.................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION................................ 1 1.1 Orientation................................. 1 1.2 Research Goals............................. 4 1.2.1 Documentation of the Dialect............. 4 1.2.2 Contribution to Historical Linguistics. 4 1.2.3 Contribution to Hispanic Dialectology.. 5 1.2.4 Language Death Phenomena.................. 7 1.2.5 Stability of Linguistic Competence 8 1.2.6 Factors Involved in Language Death 8 1.2.7 Methodological Problems and Techniques. 9 1.3 Questions.................................... 9 1.4 Chapter Organization....................... 11 1.5 Summary...................................... 13 2 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY................ 14 2.1 Introduction................................ 14 2.2 Determining Community Membership........ 15 2.3 Selecting Informants....................... 16 2.4 The Informants.............................. 18 2.5 Methods of Investigation.................. 22 2.6 The "Observer's Paradox".................. 25 2.7 Techniques Used............................ 26 2.8 Interviews................................... 28 2.8.1 The Contributions of J M ................... 28 2.8.2 Time and Location of Interviews......... 30 2.9 Methods of Recording Data................ 32 2.9.1 Recording and Transcription of Data.... 32 2.9.2 Special Problems with Transcription.... 33 2.10 Summary...................................... 34 3 HISTORY OF THE BRULE DWELLERS........... 36 3.1 Introduction................................ 36 3.2 Canary Island Origins..................... 36 3.2.1 Early Canary Island History.............. 36 3.2.2 Early Expeditions.......................... 37 3.2.3 Spanish Conquest........................... 37 i i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3.2.4 Spanish Domination........................ 38 3.3 The Voyage to Louisiana.................. 39 3.4 The Canary Islanders in Louisiana 41 3.4.1 Early Louisiana Settlements.............. 41 3.4.2 Acadian Immigration....................... 42 3.4.3 Establishment of the Brules.............. 43 3.4.4 Attitudes Towards Brule Dwellers........ 44 3.4.5 Modern Society............................. 46 3.5 Summary...................................... 48 4 LANGUAGE DEATH............................. 50 4.1 Introduction................................ 50 4.2 Definition.................................. 51 4.3 The Phenomenon of the Semi-Speaker 53 4.3.1 Identifying Speakers...................... 53 4.3.2 A Profile of the Semi-Speaker........... 56 4.3.2.1 Reduction of Language Use and Form 57 4.3.2.2 The Age-Graded Proficiency Continuum... 61 4.3.2.3 Active Versus Passive Competence........ 64 4.3.2.4 The "Grandmother Factor"................. 71 4.3.2.5 The Assimilation-Resistant Speaker 79 4.4 Structural Consequences of Language Death..................................... 83 4.4.1 Simplification and Reduction of Language................................. 83 4.4.2 Lexical Reduction......................... 86 4.4.3 Phonological Reduction................... 98 4.4.4 Morphological Reduction.................. 106 4.4.5 Syntactic Reduction....................... 116 4.4.6 Style Reduction......... 121 4.5 Variability in Dying Languages.......... 124 4.6 Stability of Linguistic Competence 129 4.7 Summary...................................... 134 5 THE BRULE DIALECT......................... 138 5.1 Introduction................................ 138 5.2 The "Other" Islefio Dialect............... 139 5.3 Linguistic Characteristics of the Brule Dialect................................... 141 5.3.1 Lexicon..................................... 141 5.3.1.1 Previous Research......................... 141 5.3.1.2 Archaic Elements................... 142 5.3.1.3 Language Transfer......................... 144 5.3.1.4 Relationship to Other Spanish Dialects. 149 5.3.1.5 Brule Vocabulary........................... 157 5.3.2 Phonology................................... 166 5.3.2.1 Introduction................................ 166 5.3.2.2 Methodology of Earlier Research......... 167 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 5.3.3 Phonological Characteristics............ 169 5.3.3.1 Previous Research......................... 169 5. 3. 3. 2 The Vowel System.......................... 170 5.3. 3.3 The Consonants............................. 182 5.3.3.3.1 The Labials and Labiodentals............ 182 5. 3. 3. 3. 2 The Dentals and Interdentals............ 184 5.3.3.3.3 The Alveolars.............................