Colonialism and language essay

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Anthropology

Document 1

The Mexican communicated using over 68 indigenous languages before conquest by Spain. However, the most common spoken language was Mexicano. French colonized Haiti, and it is known for having slaves from Africa. The interaction between African and Haitians led to the emerged of a creole language. This study seeks to analyze, compare and contrast the effect of colonialism on language in Mexico and Haiti. The suffix makes it easy to identify the borrowed Spanish words in Mexicano. Mexicano would have changed its structure over time. However, the Spanish language spoken by colonizes became major catalysis that facilitated the change of Mexicano language. Although there had been conducting with the other indigenous languages, Spanish had a significant influence on Mexicano language2. For instance, there exists a vast difference between the classical and modern Mexicano due to errors in recordkeeping which leads to wrong information of the classical Mexicano.

Sign up to view the full document!

Effect of Colonialism on Language in Haiti Haiti was under the control of French in the 17th century which led to the development of Creole. The Creole language was commonly used between 1970 and 1990. Radio station started using Creole in news broadcasting which was a sign of significant change in Haiti. Creole is believed to have developed from the interaction between French colonists and the African slaves4. Creole has borrowed many words from the French dialect. The importance of using English was enhanced by people who take their children to the North American educational institution. The interaction and the use of language resulted in some English words introduced to the Creole language7. Furthermore, the monologue people found it easy to learn the English language than learning French which made it be preferred by the Haitians.

Sign up to view the full document!

Comparison of the Effect of Colonization on Language in Mexico and Haiti The main difference that exists in the language of Mexico and Haiti is that creole emerged due to colonialism while Mexicano existed and it just borrowed words from the Spanish language8. Furthermore, the borrowed words are different since Mexico was colonized by the Spanish while Haiti was under the colony of French. Hintz, Carmen Jany, and Marianne Mithun.  Language Contact and Change in the Americas: Studies in Honor of Marianne Mithun. Eber, Christine Engla, and Antonia.  The Journey of a Tzotzil-Maya Woman of Chiapas, Mexico: Pass Well Over the Earth. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2012. Press, 2006. Smith, Jennie M.  When the Hands Are Many: Community Organization and Social Change in Rural Haiti.

Sign up to view the full document!

From $10 to earn access

Only on Studyloop

Original template

Downloadable