9 1. Introduction virtually eliminated these indigenous peoples (Kopytoff 1978: 288; Lalla & D’Costa 1990: 7). Barbara Lalla and Jean D’Costa suggest that the contact situation between the Spaniards and the indigenous peoples might have enforced the emergence of some pidgin, but there is no clear evidence for this whatsoever. The Arawak linguistic elements that have remained consist in place names, foodstuffs, natural objects and events, such as savannah, agouti, cassava, batos and goschies (Lalla & D’Costa 1990: 7, 9). The name of the island also comes from the Arawak indigenous peoples’ Xaymaca – “[…] a word supposed to imply an overflowing abundance of rivers” (Sinclair & Fyfe 1886: 25). The name is derived from two indigenous words: Chabaüan ‘water,’ and Makia ‘wood.’ It was supposed to be pronounced Cha-makia in corrupted Spanish (ibidem). Lalla and D’Costa state that “Spanish colonial life in Jamaica might be relevant to the conditions under which Jamaican Creole began to form” (1990: 7). Surely, the need for communication was intensified by the influx of new slaves, as the number of natives was decimated. The first new black slaves imported to the island were creole Iberians (Lalla & D’Costa 1990: 10). Both the 16th and 17th centuries were a time of intensive colonial settlements and trade expeditions which created fertile ground for the emergence of new contact languages. It is assumed (ibidem) that during the time of the Hispanic domination in the 16th century the inhabitants of Jamaica had contacts with Portuguese Christians and Jews, Amerindians and West Africans. However, the list of Afro-Spanish and other cultural traces is very short; it includes place names (Mammee Bay), animals (hicatee) and terms for fruit or vegetables. The island was also inhabited by the Maroons – a group of Africans who refused to submit to Spanish subjugation and escaped from the plantation life into the mountains. Maroon communities developed in many parts of the colonial world by creating, at the beginning, their own separate groups that were distant from the mainstream colonial life. They developed in Jamaica, Colombia, Surinam and in Africa (Arends 1995: 16; see also Broom 1954; Kopytoff 1978). There were two types of Maroon: the Windward Maroons, who formed settlements in the Blue Mountains, and the Leeward Maroons, who were concentrated in the west-central part (Kopytoff 1978: 290). According to Lalla and D’Costa, the Maroons could have been “[…] a likely vehicle for transmitting Arawak and Spanish culture to English colonial Jamaica” (1990: 13). The Maroons secluded themselves from the rest of society and fought for independence and freedom. Living in isolation, the Maroons
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE5NDY5MQ==