Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Names on Dominica

1954; University Library System, University of Pittsburgh; Volume: 2; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1179/nam.1954.2.1.31

1756-2279

Douglas Taylor,

Caribbean and African Literature and Culture

LEI SLAND OF DOMINICA (pronounced with primary stress on the third syllable, and not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo) was occupied successively by speakers of Arawak, Carib, French, and English dialects, all of which have left their mark in place-names, as well as in the names of local flora and fauna.African influence appears to have been minimal in this respect-partly, perhaps, because slaves were for the most part introduced from previously colonized, adjacent islands, rather than direct from Africa.Two languages are spoken today: English and French Creole or "patois," as it is called locally.The former, being the language of prestige, is usually employed by the more socioeconomically privileged minority; the latter by the peasant majority.However, members of the first class frequently resort to Creole in their more intimate relations, while many among even the poorest are often heard to address their young children in what they believe to be English, and to chide them for speaking "patois."One curious result of this situation is that not only local fruits, trees, fishes, birds, etc., but also many places-probably most of those that have ever been recorded in writing-have two (or more) names, the one employed in Creole and the other in English speech.So, for example, Grande Anse or Portsmouth is the island's second largest town, Cachacrou or Scots Head a peninsula at its southwestern extremity, Cachibona or Clyde one of its many rivers, La Coudraie or Bath Estate one of its citrus plantations.In some cases a rival name has been defeated; La Dominique or Dominica (because Columbus' first saw it on a Sunday) has quite superseded Uai-tukubuli (udi "old," tukubuli "her body") of the Indians, "Pointe Michel or Dalrymple's Point" of late-18th-century maps is now known only by the former designation, while another village, formerly known as La Soie, has now become Wesley to all