| 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
References
References
- Arends, Jacques; Muysken, Pieter; Smith, Norval (1995). Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 139. ISBN 978-90-272-5236-4.
- Bakker, Peter (1991). TRADE LANGUAGES IN THE STRAIT OF BELLE ISLE. University of Amsterdam. pp. 7–10.