Tahitian French: the vernacular French of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. A study in language contact and variation

Abstract

The study oflanguage contact has expanded and consolidated over recent years, with theoretical approaches moving beyond a traditional pidgin and creole classification to encompass a wider variety of languages from a variety of contact situations. Studies of migrant language, mixed and restructured varieties and new vernaculars have contributed to a growing understanding of language contact and language change, and to a growing number of labels for the new varieties. This study examines one such variety, the French spoken by the Polynesians of the Society Islands, French Polynesia. It is argued that this variety exhibits a number of features which place it in the category of contact languages, but also that it does not fit neatly within the subcategories defined by current labels. Tahitian French, as we call this vernacular, is the result of contact between a small but dominant minority of French immigrants with a relatively homogeneous majority of Polynesians in their own islands. The sociolinguistic situation does not provide the classic multiple-substrate or displaced population scenarios of pidgins and creoles, nor does the language display the criteria of indigenised or restructured varieties. Additionally, both the prestige administrative language, French, and the local vernacular, Tahitian, still remain in active use, forming three poles of linguistic and social influence. Tahitian French is a continuum varying from an acrolect approaching colloquial French to a basilect heavily influenced by features from Tahitian. It has a set of stable features while admitting more variation than standard spoken French. It is used as a socially marking identity vernacular and its use is contextually defined, with many speakers able to choose and adjust their range of the continuum based on these factors. This thesis begins with an introduction to the historical and social situation of French Polynesia, followed by an examination of the current literature on the islands and the field oflanguage contact. The core of the work is a linguistic description of the phonology, lexicon and granunatical features of Tahitian French. For this section, a comparative approach is taken in order to clearly analyse the differences between standard French and Tahitian French. The influence of Tahitian is assessed through comparison with colloquial Tahitian structures and numerous transfer features are described. The description is extensively illustrated with examples of Tahitian French recorded during two field trips to Tahiti and the Society Islands. Following the descriptive section, a discussion of sociolinguistic factors situates the linguistic data, complemented by a series of case studies on individual speakers with selected texts presented in the Appendices. A detailed examination of the central themes of the thesis and analysis of the models presented then draw out the theoretical implications of the study. A short concluding chapter situates the study and expands the scope of the thesis. Show more