Dajko, N. (2012). Sociolinguistics of ethnicity in
francophone Louisiana. Language and
Linguistics Compass, 6,
279-295. doi:10.1002/lnc3.333
Language cannot be the only marker
of ethnicity (p. 279) as perceived by the identified groups in this study by
Dajko in Francophone Louisiana.
She reiterated that there is a clear
linguistic distinction in the variety of French, i.e. Colonial French, Louisiana
Creole, and Cajun Creole, spoken in Louisiana (pp. 280-281). The developments
of these varieties can be traced back to the history of immigrants from France
(p. 281-283). Moreover, these are caused
by several factors including social class of immigrants from the Old World (p.
283), new generation of speakers (p. 284), and intermarriages (p. 285).
Language leveling across these new communities excited the shift of identities
resulting conflation of categories and, thus, confusion. Initially, white and
people of color in the area freely identify themselves as speaker of Cajun or
Creole, as one would feel most comfortable (p. 289), until the passing of
misinformed legislations and polarization of ‘ethnicity’ to ‘race’ (p. 290).
Dajko conducted surveys of self-declared language
labels (p. 290). This confirmed that speakers label their language in
accordance with their ethnic affiliation rather than differences of speech
patterns, i.e., identifying themselves as speakers of Cajun even though
linguistically their speech is characterized as Creole. She also reaffirmed the
existence of French used by American Indians (p. 291) from her dissertation
work.
Speakers of a language are aware of their differences
(p. 292). Dajko successfully argued that “informal observation” and “personal
opinion” on matters involving ethnicities must be done away with (p. 291) as
they result to confusion. When this is observed, it may contribute to
well-informed legislation; legislation that in turn will strengthen ethnicities
and respond to deeply felt identity of the peoples.
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