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= Garifuna Language =

History
The Garinagu (singular Garifuna) are a mix of West/Central African, Arawak, and Carib ancestry. Though it is believed that Africans were aboard ships that became shipwrecked, there are three theories of how the Africans and Indigenous people became acquainted with each other: (1) slave ships bound for the New World sank off the coast of St. Vincent, the Africans that survived were then welcomed into the Indigenous people’s society, (2) well known African traders had made contact with the New World before Europeans, this contact with the Indigenous people created the Garinagu people , (3) Africans escaped from other islands, such as Barbados, and intermixed with the Indigenous people or Africans were taken by the Indigenous people from the European plantations.

The Garinagu's linguistic ancestors, Carib people, who gave their name to the Caribbean, once lived throughout the Lesser Antilles, and although their language is now extinct there, ethnic Caribs still live on Dominica, Trinidad, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent. The Caribs had conquered the previous population of the islands, Arawakan peoples like the Taino and Palikur peoples. During the conquest, which was conducted primarily by men, the Carib married Arawakan women. Children were raised by their mothers speaking Arawak, but as boys came of age, their fathers taught them Carib, a language still spoken in mainland South America. When European missionaries described the Island Carib people in the 17th century, they recorded two unrelated languages: Carib spoken by the men and Arawak spoken by the women. However, while the boys acquired Carib vocabulary, after a few generations, they retained the Arawakan grammar of their first language. Thus, Island Carib, as spoken by men, was genetically either a mixed language or a relexified language.

A peace treaty that was signed with the British by 1660 had proclaimed the Garinagu as the owners of the land. However, the British then broke the treaty in less than a decade by once again declaring the island under colonial rule. By the mid 1700s, the Garinagu’s population had increased to such a number that the British were now worried about potential uprisings. The raid of 1796 however, caused great casualties for the Garinagu and the survivors were deported to a Honduran Island named Roatán. The Garinagu stayed in Honduras until a revolt forced members of the community to leave for Belize in 1832.

Current Status
It is important to note the current status of the Garifuna language in a few countries. The last living speaker of Garifuna in St. Vincent died in 1932, while in Nicaragua only elderly speakers remained knowledgeable of the language. In Guatemala and Belize, language shift is occurring towards the more dominant regional languages and dialects.

In the case of Belize, it is important to note the reasons for language shift. A few reasons that English and Belizean Creole have become increasingly popular for the Garinagu are for job opportunities outside of the community, the association between Belizean culture and Creole and because of the feelings of shame associated with speaking Garifuna.

For some members of the Garinagu community, it is believed that Garifuna is no longer useful and the other more dominant languages will serve the people better and be more useful.