Labrador Inuit Pidgin French
| Labrador Inuit Pidgin French | |
|---|---|
| Belle Isle Pidgin | |
| Region | Straits of Belle Isle |
| Era | late 17th century until ca. 1760 |
| Latin Script | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | bell1264 |
Labrador Inuit Pidgin French, also called Belle Isle Pidgin or Inuit French Jargon, was a French-lexified pidgin spoken between Breton and Basque fishermen and the Inuit of Labrador from the late 17th century until about 1760.[1]
History
The first traces of Labrador Inuit Pidgin French (LIPF) first appear in 1694, though it is first fully attested in the 1740s by a French Canadian entrepreneur named Jean-Louis Fomel. He said the pidgin was used by the Inuit and made up of a mix of French, Spanish, and possibly Breton. The last attestations were recorded in the 1760s, though the pidgin almost certainly survived past this date.[2]
Lexicon
The lexicon of LIPF was mostly French based but contained influence from Spanish, English, Dutch, Basque, and Breton.[2]
See also
- Algonquian–Basque pidgin, used in the same area
- NunatuKavummiut
References
- ^ Arends, Jacques; Muysken, Pieter; Smith, Norval (1995). Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 978-90-272-5236-4.
- ^ a b Bakker, Peter (1991). TRADE LANGUAGES IN THE STRAIT OF BELLE ISLE. University of Amsterdam. pp. 7–10.