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]
The first traces of Labrador Inuit Pidgin French (LIPF) first appear in 1694 though it is first fully first attested in the 1740's by a French Canadian entrepreneur named, Jean-Louis Fomel. He claimed the pidgin was made used by the Inuit and made up of a mix of French, Spanish, and possibly Breton. The last attestations were recorded in the 1760's, though the Pidgin almost certainly survived past this date. [2]
The lexicon of LIPF was mostly French based but contained influence from Spanish, English, Dutch, Basque, and Breton. [2]