Why do we call ourselves so?
August 31, 2003
by Dr Winford James
One of the things that absolutely fascinates me is how we of the Caribbean call ourselves and how we name things. I am interested in how we refer to ourselves in the different island states, how we nickname other people, how we label certain developments such as flu viruses. The namings reflect the linguistic creativity that we share with people everywhere, and it would be extremely satisfying to come to properly understand where this creativity is located in the brain, how it is shaped there, and how it interacts with social material to produce expressions - a vast enterprise if it were to be undertaken. But, today, I want to look at how we call ourselves.
The native of St. Lucia calls herself 'St. Lucian', but the native of St. Vincent calls herself 'Vincentian'. Why does the latter not say 'St. Vincentian' and the former 'Lucian'? Does it have to do with the number of syllables and ease of pronunciation? 'St. Vincentian' has four syllables while 'Vincentian' has three, so perhaps the latter is chosen because it is shorter. But then 'Lucian' has two as against three in 'St. Lucian' and it is not heard even if it is shorter.
The Vincentian also calls herself a 'Vincie', which term has two syllables) or, if she is old enough, a 'Vincelonian', which has four! So length doesn't seem to be factor in selection, though 'Vincie', no doubt a shortened form of 'Vincentian', tells us that names will be reduced for ease of reference and, therefore, ease of conversation. But how come we never hear the St. Lucian calling herself a 'Luce' or 'Lucie'? And why don't we have the longer form 'Lucelonian' (by analogy with 'Vincelonian')?.
The native of Barbados calls himself 'Barbadian' or 'Bajan' or 'Baje', while the native of Trinidad calls himself 'Trinidadian' or 'Trini'. Why does the former chop of the first syllable ('Bar') in the shortened names while the latter knocks off the last two ('dadian')? Why didn't the Bajan call himself 'Bar' and the Trini call himself 'Dajan' or 'Daje'? Linguistically, it is clear that if you can say 'Bajan' or 'Baje', you can also say 'Dajan' or 'Daje' (the only difference being that one has a 'B' while the other has a 'D'). So is it perhaps the quality of the sounds in the syllables of the particular words that motivates the selection? 'Barbadian' has mostly hard syllables - three 'a' sounds and one soft sound in 'i', while 'Trinidadian' has three 'i' sounds but two 'a' sounds. Have both Bajan and Trini chosen those parts that have the softer sounds? 'Bajan' and 'Baje' are softer and more aesthetically pleasing to the ear than 'Bar', aren't they? And the same can be said of 'Trini' in comparison with 'Dajan' or 'Daje', can't it? If so, is it that there is a subconscious principle operating in us that makes us search for softer and more elegant sounds in the names we have inherited, for shorter self-reference? And how is this principle specified in the brain?
Let's go back to 'Vincentian' and 'Vincie' for a moment. What operated in Vincentians to make them select 'Vincie' as the short name and not 'Censhan'? They kept the syllable 'Vin' and seem to have changed 'cen' to 'cie'? Why? Is 'cie' somehow more elegant-sounding than 'cen'? Or is it perhaps that the ending 'ie' in 'cie' ends more English words than the ending 'en'? The matter is complex, isn't it?
And why is it that the Grenadian doesn't call herself 'Gre' or 'Najan'? Do Grenadians have a short name at all? And Dominicans? And Kititians? And, by the way, as in the case of 'Vincentian' instead of 'St. Vincentian', why 'Kititian' (now being made familiar through Kim Collins' golden victory in the World 100 metres!) instead of 'St. Kititian'?
Finally, what about the native of Tobago? English dictionaries call him a 'Tobagan', but he calls himself 'Tobagonian' (though he spells it sometimes as 'Tobagoian'!) or, infrequently, 'Gonian'. Forgetting the bogus dictionary makers for a while, why doesn't she call herself 'Tob' or 'Toba'? Isn't 'Toba' more elegant than 'Gonian'? And why does she answer to 'Trini' when she is abroad or when she is addressed by a foreigner?
Assuming these phenomena are not arbitrary, there is much that we don't know, isn't there?
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