Thank the Creoles

We all know about the era of slavery in the United States. Thousands and thousands of ships left Africa every month with kidnapped people who were to become the unpaid servants of the wealthy and middle class Americans. Soon-to-be slaves left their native cultures and where faced later with the rising capitalism of the United States. The cultures were completely different, and Africans did not know English and, since the came from so many different parts of the continent, it was hard for them to communicate amongst themselves as well. This, then, marked the emergence of new languages.

As Africans tried to communicate, new creole languages were created (mixtures between their native tongues and American English). One of these still is considered - although very similar to English - to be an entirely different language. Its name is Gullah, "a unique variety of English"(6:00) spoken in Charlestone, and it is pretty easy to understand. A YouTube commenter asked:"Why were the subtitles necessary? I could understand everything those two were saying,"and I, like him, could understand everything as well, because of the similarities with English. However, this language, after surviving for 300 years, is on the verge of extinction. This is because many people are ashamed of speaking this language. I guess this might be because prescriptivists who are unaware of this completely separate language, will probably believe it is English spoken in a "wrong" way, and put down the native speakers because of this.

Creole languages create ambiguity among the linguists, since most of them later merge to the English language. Many people criticize this, but I really appreciate it. As someone who knows English and Spanish, I love writing in English and would much rather do it in this language (which is not my first tongue) than in Spanish. This is greatly due to the  immense variety of words that English has (171,476 and 47,156 obsolete words (Oxford Dictionary). There are so many ways to say a single word, that when I write, I am able to say exactly what I want to say, and I don't have to simply settle on a word that doesn't completely satisfy me.

But why is the English vocabulary so vast? Well, thanks to the former creole tongues, of course. As most of them disappeared, many did leave behing words that stayed in the English vocabulary and are probably still used today. We owe the vastness of English vocabulary to the Normans, who added words with French roots, the Scotts, and now, Africans. They are not to be criticized for speaking differently, but, instead,  praised for expanding the language.


The Story of English (Episode 5):
Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 1/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.

Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 2/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.

Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 3/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.

Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 4/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.

Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 5/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.

Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 6/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.

Armstrong, Edward. "The Story of English episode 5 - An English Speaking World - Part 7/7." Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 27, Aug. 2009. Web. 17. Jan. 2013.