Saint-Barthélemy French

For the dialect of French Creole spoken on St.-Barth’s, see Antillean Creole.

Saint-Barthélemy French
Patois Saint-Barth
Native to	Saint-Barthélemy, U.S. Virgin Islands
Native speakers	<1000  (date missing)
Language family	Indo-European Romance Oïl French Saint-Barthélemy French
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Saint-Barthélemy French or St.-Bart’s Patois (French: Patois Saint-Barth) is the dialect of French spoken on the island of Saint-Barthélemy in the Caribbean, and on Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands by a small emigrant community.

Saint-Barth’s

The dialect co-exists on St.-Barth’s alongside Antillean Creole, Standard French and English. Despite this linguistic diversity on so small an island, fluency across the varieties of French is generally uncommon. Presently the language is spoken by 500–700 people.

Saint Thomas

A small population of St. Barth’s fishermen settled in St. Thomas in the 19th century. The enclave of fewer than 1000 souls has maintained its language despite great pressure from the surrounding community. In recent years, emigration to the United States has increased the rate of attrition to English.

Notes and references

References

• Calvet, Louis-Jean and Robert Chaudenson. Saint-Barthélemy: une énigme linguistique. Paris, CIRELFA, Agence de la Francophonie, 1998.
• Dillard, Joey Lee. Perspectives on Black English. 1975.
• Valdman, Albert. French and Creole in Louisiana. 1997.
• WITTMANN, Henri. Grammaire comparée des variétés coloniales du français populaire de Paris du 17e siècle et origines du français québécois. Le français des Amériques, ed. Robert Fournier & Henri Wittmann, 281-334. Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières. 1995. (French)