Methods and Design

For this project, I will be analyzing the usage of features of Jamaican Creole (JC) and Trinidad English Creole (TEC) in Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring. First, I will analyze how these features are used in Hopkinson's narrative voice. I will then analyze the dialogues of four central characters and provide examples of how Hopkinson establishes their ethnic and other identities through their speech.

Below, I will first provide a selective list of features of JC and TEC. I will then give a brief description of each character to be analyzed. The Findings and Discussion page will analyze selected, representative passages of dialogue that Hopkinson uses to index each character's identity(ies).

Selected features of Jamaican Creole (JC)

• Personal pronouns are mi, yu, im, wi, unu, dem.¹² These pronouns are used both as subjects and objects. In the conservative basilect, im/him was used regardless of gender, but shi and har have come into use for feminine antecedents.¹³ Hopkinson spells the second person plural pronoun oonuh.¹ Reflexive pronouns are created by adding -self to the personal pronoun: imself, demself. The reciprocal pronoun is wan aneda, "each other/one another."¹²
• The possessive is formed by placing fi before the possessor; for example, fi mi means mine.¹²
• Articles are di, the definite article, meaning "the," and wan, the indefinite article, meaning "a/an."¹²
• Zero marking of plurals, or marking of plurals with use of -dem.^8,12
• Zero subject-verb agreement.⁸
• Aspect marker "a" to indicate the progressive tense, e.g. "dem a dance."^{12, 13}
• "No" used for negation, but often altered if it appears before another vowel; for example, if someone were saying "Im no a do i" ("He is not doing it"), it might become "Im naa dwi."¹³
• The past tense can be formed by adding en in front of the verb: "mi en go." Wen is another variation. Did is now replacing en among some speakers.¹³
• Wh-questions have a cleft sentence structure and may begin with "is," e.g. "Is who was telling me".²⁰
• Tag words may be used at the end of sentences; JC tag words are no, iing (isn't it?), yaa (you hear), yunou (you know), yusi (you see).¹²
• Man is used as a noun of address.¹²
• Selected lexical items:
  • Duppy: a ghost or spirit.¹³
  • Blood Fire, a profanity expressing surprise, used in contexts where a SE speaker might say "Holy shit!"²¹

Selected features of Trinidad English Creole (TEC)

• Personal pronouns are I/me, you, he/she/it, we, allyou, them. These pronouns are used both as subjects and objects.¹⁴ The reflexive pronouns are myself, youself, heself, sheself, weself, all youself, theyself.¹⁵
• Possession is marked by juxtaposition of the "possessor" and "possessed" in that order, without changing the noun or pronoun indicating the possessor: "she book."¹⁴
• The indefinite article an is not used, but a and the have been retained.¹⁵
• The SE construction there is/there are is replaced by it have.¹⁵
• Zero suffixation to mark plurality; plurality may be marked by a number or the phrase "and them," rather than by a suffix, e.g. "three car," "the cow and them."¹⁵
• Past tense of most verbs is not indicated by changing the form of the verb, but by using adverbs, auxiliary verbs, or context. "He give we the money last week."¹⁵
• When the verb "to be" is used, "is" is used for all subjects in the present tense, and "was" for all subjects in the past tense, regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.¹⁵
• Generally, zero subject-verb agreement with respect to singularity/plurality.¹⁵
• Copula deletion in progressive tense, e.g. "He running home."¹⁵
• "Go" is often used before a verb to mark the future tense.¹⁴
• Some nouns and adjectives can be used as predicators, e.g. "why you jealous me so."¹⁴
• Negation can be indicated with ent or e, which are derived from English ain't. Ent is used when the negation appears at the beginning of the sentence, such as in a negative-interrogative sentence. When it appears in the middle of the sentence, it is shortened to e.¹⁴ Hopkinson simply spells this ain't in both usages.¹ 
• Could is used in place of can.¹⁴
• Tag words may be used at the end of sentences. There are four Trinididadian tag words: yes, oui, eh, nuh.¹⁴ 
• Selected lexical items:
  
  • Mal 'jo: the evil eye, a curse.¹⁰
  • Stupidness: foolishness, used where a SE speaker might prefer "stupidity."¹⁰
  • Doux-doux: "sweetie," a term of endearment.¹⁰
  • So-so-so-so: Used to describe speech without quoting it, similar to "such-and-such"¹⁰
  • Road march: steel band or brass band music typically played during Carnival.¹⁰

Character Descriptions

Rudy Sheldon is the drug and crime lord of Toronto, and the villain of the novel. It is implied that he was born in the Caribbean, though the specific nation is not stated in the text. He is 73 years old, but appears much younger by supernatural means.¹ Rudy appears on 61 of 274 pages.

Gros-Jeanne Hunter, a.k.a. Mami, is a healer and a priestess of the African spirits. She has had a formal education in nursing, and now practices out of her home, combining conventional medicine with herbalism. She is 57 years old. It is implied that she was born in the Caribbean, though the specific nation is not stated in the text. She is the grandmother of Ti-Jeanne.¹ Gros-Jeanne appears on 79 of 274 pages.

Ti-Jeanne is a young single mother and the heroine of the novel. She is the granddaughter of Gros-Jeanne. Her birthplace is not stated, but flashback scenes place her in Toronto as a child during the riots that precipitated the city's fall into ruin. It is doubtful that she has a traditional formal education past the elementary level, though Gros-Jeanne taught (and still teaches) her at home. She is struggling with unwanted attention from the African spirits.¹ Ti-Jeanne appears on 200 of 274 pages.

Tony is Ti-Jeanne's ex-boyfriend and the father of her child. He was formally trained as a nurse, but became addicted to drugs and was fired. He now works for Rudy, but also wants to reconcile with Ti-Jeanne. He was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and moved to Toronto at the age of five.¹ Tony appears on 115 of 274 pages.