Grammar of the Karif language as spoken in the Bay of Honduras, Belize, 1872 / by Alexander Henderson.

Abstract:

C. Hermann Berendt's transcription, in notebook of lined paper, of a grammar written by Alexander Henderson, of the Karif, or Carib, language as spoken in the coastal areas around the Gulf (Bay) of Honduras, by a people of mixed heritage of African and Carib Indian, today known as Garifuna. The grammar comprised part of a larger manuscript by Henderson on the Garifuna language which he wrote at the request of Berendt (on the basis of material accumulated years before), completed in December 1872, and mailed to Berendt in New York in January 1873. For Berendt's copy of the preface and the dictionary contained in that larger manuscript, as well as related correspondence from Henderson to Berendt, see Ms. Coll. 700, Item 127. In the preface contained in the latter item, Henderson specifies that the coastal area in which the language was spoken extended from Belize southward to a town named Littlerock on the Mosquito (Moskito) shore (either northeastern Honduras or Nicaragua). The grammar is divided into 54 chapters. The first chapter, on letters, explains the sounds and pronunciation of the language. Other chapters are devoted to grammatical topics such as nouns, pronouns, conjunctions, adverbs, and verb tenses. The text consists mostly of grammatical tables with the Garifuna followed by the English. Berendt makes numerous annotations of his own in red ink, sometimes drawing on material from the dictionary. Following the last chapter is a section added by Berendt, under the heading: Additions from the dictionary, prepositions in combination with the pronoun (p. 109-110). A folder shelved with the manuscript houses a bifolium with Berendt's draft of a letter, dated from New York, 3 January 1874, concerning Henderson's grammar and dictionary; a note at the top of the first page indicates that the letter was published in the Smithsonian Annual Report for 1873, p. 363-364. In the letter, Berendt clarifies the background of the Carib or Karif people, including their origin on the island of Saint Vincent, their removal to the island of Roatán by the British in 1796, and their later dispersion along the coast of Honduras and Belize; he explains that Henderson's spelling Karif is in accordance with the people's own way of pronouncing their name: Karifune. He argues for the importance of Henderson's work while noting its deficiencies in style, and indicates that he will make certain rearrangements in the material. He also expresses his disagreement with Henderson's theory, set forth in the preface, that a Maya-speaking population located 75 miles north of Belize is somehow related to the Karif speakers whose language is documented here.

Creator:

Henderson, Alexander, of Belize, Honduras.

Timespan:

Honduras; Honduras.; Belize; Belize.

Date:

1873

Identifier:

9958306253503681; (OCoLC)ocn489735613; (OCoLC)489735613; (PU)5830625-penndb-Voyager

Language:

English; Central American Indian languages

Provenance:

Copy of part of the manuscript Grammar and dictionary of the Karif language of Honduras (from Belize to Little Rock), by Alexander Henderson, dated 1872, held today in the Smithsonian Institution National Anthropological Archives.; From the collection of C. Hermann Berendt, later acquired by Daniel Garrison Brinton (ex libris stamp on title page and facing page).

Publisher:

[New York?], [1873]

Subject:

Garifuna language -- Grammar.; Garifuna language -- Pronunciation.; Language and languages.; Indians of Central America.; Garifuna language.; Grammar.; Indians of Central America -- Honduras -- Languages.; Indians of Central America -- Belize -- Languages.; Manuscripts, American -- 19th century.

Resource Type:

Manuscripts

Physical Description:

122 leaves : paper; 191 x 130 mm bound to 198 x 138 mm + 1 note

Personal Name:

Berendt, C. Hermann (Carl Hermann), 1817-1878, former owner.; Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison), 1837-1899, former owner.

Rights:

https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?

Notes:

Title from title page (p. iii).; Origin: Probably written in New York in 1873.; Binding: Contemporary boards with the word Records in all capital letters blind stamped on the upper cover; spine covering wanting.; Ms. codex.; Pagination: Paper, fol. i (paper endleaf) + 122 + i (paper endleaf); [i-iv], 1-240 (p. i-ii, iv, 107-108, and 111-240 are blank); contemporary pre-printed pagination, upper outer corners.; Decoration: Pencilled facsimile of a book spine labelled: Henderson / Karif Grammar / MS. / B. (paper strip tipped in on inside upper cover).; Script: Written in the hand of C. Hermann Berendt.; English and Garifuna.

Physical Location:

Ms. Coll. 700

Collection:

Berendt-Brinton Linguistic Collection.