The Kalinago language, also known as Igneri (Iñeri, Inyeri, etc.), was an Arawakan language historically spoken by the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. Kalinago proper became extinct by about 1920 due to population decline and colonial period deportations resulting in

language death In linguistics, language death occurs when a language loses its terminal speaker, last First language, native speaker. By extension, language extinction is when the language is no longer known, including by Second language, second-language speaker ...

, but an offshoot survives as Garifuna, primarily in Central America. Despite its name, Kalinago was not closely related to the Carib language of the mainland Caribs. Instead, it appears to have been a development of the Arawakan language spoken by the islands' earlier Igneri inhabitants, which incoming Caribs adopted in the pre-Columbian era. During the French colonial period, Carib men also spoke a Cariban-derived

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

amongst themselves.

History

At the time of European contact, the Kalinago lived throughout the

Windward Islands french: Îles du Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Windward Islands. Clockwise: Dominica, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean Sea Nor ...

of the Lesser Antilles, from

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

to Grenada. Contemporary traditions indicated the Caribs (or Kaliphuna) had conquered these islands from their previous inhabitants, the Igneri. Because the Kalinago were thought to have descended from the mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America, it was long assumed that they spoke Carib or a related Cariban language. However, studies in the 20th century determined that the language of the Antillean Caribs was not Cariban, but

Arawakan Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branc ...

, related to the

Lokono language Arawak (, ), also known as Lokono (Lokono Dian, literally "people's talk" by its speakers), is an Arawakan language spoken by the Lokono (Arawak) people of South America in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It is the epony ...

on the South American mainland and more distantly to the

Taíno language Taíno is an extinct Arawakan language that was spoken by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. At the time of Spanish contact, it was the most common language throughout the Caribbean. Classic Taíno (Taíno proper) was the native language of t ...

of the Greater Antilles. Modern scholars have proposed several hypotheses accounting for the prevalence of an Arawak language among the Kalinago. Scholars such as Irving Rouse suggested that Caribs from South America conquered the Igneri but did not displace them, and took on their language over time. Others doubt there was an invasion at all. Sued Badillo proposed that Igneri living in the Lesser Antilles adopted the "Carib" identity due to their close economic and political ties with the rising mainland Carib polity in the 16th century. In any event, the fact that the Kalinago' language evidently derived from a pre-existing Arawakan variety has led some linguists to term it "Igneri". It appears to have been as distinct from Taíno as from mainland Arawak varieties. During the period of French colonization in the 17th century, and possibly earlier, male Kalinago used a Cariban-based

in addition to the Arawakan Kalinago language. The pidgin was evidently similar to one used by mainland Caribs to communicate with their Arawak neighbors. Berend J. Hoff and Douglas Taylor hypothesized that it dated to the time of the Carib expansion through the islands, and that males maintained it to emphasize their origins. However, scholars who doubt the existence of a Carib invasion suggest this pidgin was a later development acquired by contact with indigenous peoples of the mainland.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Kalinago has 15 consonants. * A number of people also pronounced /ɕ/ as an alveolar .

References

{{Arawakan languages Arawakan languages Igneri Languages of Dominica Languages of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Indigenous languages of the Caribbean Languages of Martinique Languages of Guadeloupe Languages of Grenada Languages of Saint Lucia Languages extinct in the 1920s Kalinago