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Decreolization in Jamaica
2024 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesis
Abstract [en]

Decreolization is a process of language change where social circumstances permit Creole speakers greater access to the superstrate language, a language that belongs to the colonial power and is socially dominant. The structure of the Creole may then begin to change in contact with the superstrate (Mesthrie et al., 2013, p. 292). As the structure of the Creole may change in contact with the superstrate language and dissolve into it, the Creole might become endangered and die (Lee, 2017, p. 238). Thus, in order to know if Jamaican Creole (henceforth JC) is included in those endangered languages due to decreolization, this research will try to investigate some Jamaicans' attitudes towards Standard English (henceforth SE) and JC. Moreover, the research discusses the attitudes expressed and attempts to identify themes. The study was carried out with a quantitative and qualitative approach. The collected data were derived from four of Jamaica's most reputable daily newspapers and analyzed by secondary sources in order to investigate some Jamaicans' attitudes towards SE and JC. The main conclusion drawn from the study is that decreolization is a current fact among the voices in the four Jamaican newspapers. However, a clear majority of the collected opinions express positive attitudes towards JC. JC seems to be so firmly rooted and widely accepted among the writers and the readers of the four Jamaican newspapers, that decreolization could unlikely cause any endangerment of the language. 

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024.
Keywords [en]
Creole, Standard English, Jamaica, decreolization, continuum
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Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-47876OAI: oai:DiVA.org:du-47876DiVA, id: diva2:1829197
Subject / course
English
Available from: 2024-01-18 Created: 2024-01-18Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • chicago-author-date
  • chicago-note-bibliography
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf