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Fate of West African Languages
As a general rule, West African languages imported during the period of enslavement did not survive whole in Caribbean countries. Among the Maroon communities in Western Jamaica and the Saramacca groups in Suriname there have been claims for the survival of what is referred to as Kramanti or Koromantie. There is some evidence that the versions spoken in Jamaica and among the Saramacca people in Suriname are mutually intelligible. All persons who claim to be able to speak this language are more than 70 years old.
The term Kramantie itself is not thought to represent any specific ethnic group but rather to reflect the tendency adopted from the British to classify enslaved Africans on the basis of the fort of embarkation. Subsequent use of the term is thought to include persons from several ethnolinguistic backgrounds who seem to have had enough exposure to the same language to allow for some leveling of the differences.
Yoruba and Kongo songs deriving mainly from the period of post-emancipation arrivals have been documented in parts of the Caribbean, including Trinidad and in Guyana.
-Ian E. Robertson, African Linguistic and Communication Continuities in the Caribbean Diaspora from The Sage Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America
Kwabena, Baka and Jeff2 Comments-
I grew up hearing and speaking Kromanti because my grandfather taught my father to speak it who subsequently taught me. Unfortunately I forgot a lot since not living in Jamaica but I understand fluently. At least my St Thomas dialect of Kromanti in the East of Jamaica.
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That’s very powerful!
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