| Samaná English | |
|---|---|
| Samaná Peninsula English | |
| Native to | Dominican Republic |
| Region | Samaná Peninsula |
| Ethnicity | Samaná Americans |
Native speakers | 12,200 (1950)[1] |
| Latin (English alphabet) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
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Samaná English (SE andSAX) is a variety of theEnglish language spoken by descendants ofBlack immigrants from theUnited States who have lived in theSamaná Peninsula, now in theDominican Republic. Members of the enclave are known as theSamaná Americans.
The language is a relative ofAfrican Nova Scotian English, or also as a derivative ofAfrican-American Vernacular English (AAVE), with variations unique to the enclave's history in the area. In the 1950 Dominican Republic census, 0.57% of the population (about 12,200 speakers) said that theirmother tongue was English.[1]
Most speakers trace their lineage to immigrants who arrived at the peninsula in 1824 and 1825. At the time all ofHispaniola was administered byHaiti, and its president wasJean-Pierre Boyer. The immigrants responded to an invitation for settlement thatJonathas Granville had delivered in person toPhiladelphia,Baltimore,Boston, andNew York City.Abolitionists likeRichard Allen,Samuel Cornish,Benjamin Lundy, andLoring D. Dewey joined the campaign, which was coined theHaitian emigration.[2]
The response was unprecedented, as thousands ofAfrican Americans boarded ships in eastern cities and migrated to Haiti. Most of the immigrants arrived during the fall of 1824 and the spring of 1825. More continued moving back and forth in later years but at a slower rate.[3]
Between 1859 and 1863, another immigration campaign brought new settlers to the island but at a fraction of the number in 1824 and 1825. Those who originally settled in Samaná were fewer than 600 but formed the only surviving immigration enclave.[4][5]
While more than 6,000 immigrants came in 1824 and 1835, by the end of the 19th century, only a handful of enclaves on the island spoke any variety of the antebellum Black Vernacular. They were communities inPuerto Plata, Samaná andSanto Domingo. The largest was the one in Samaná that maintained church schools, where it was preserved.
Enclaves across the island soon lost an important element of their identity, which led to their disintegration. Samaná English withstood the assaults in part because the location of Samaná was favorable to a more independent cultural life. However, government policies have still influenced the language's gradual decline, and it may well now be anendangered language.[6][7][8]
Samana English is similar to that ofCaribbean English creole spoken by the English speaking Caribbean. Samana English is related to that ofBahamian andTurks and Caicos Islands Creole due to same origins.[9]
