Norf’k placenames and creole toponymy

Abstract

In this short note I consider the role toponyms in the creole or language contact environment can play in helping creolists understand the nature of lexical change and social and ecological adaptation in small (island) contact languages. The toponyms I discuss are from the language of Norfolk Island (South Pacific), officially written ‘Norf ’k’ since 2004 after the establishment of the Norfolk Island Language (Norf ’k) Act 2004 (Administration of Norfolk Island 2004). This is an endangered contact language (Garrett 2006, UNESCO 2007) I have worked on during several fieldwork stints over several years. I analyze the acceptability of variant placename forms given by native speakers of a select corpus of Norf ’k toponyms, toponyms which are grammatically quite distinct from English toponyms. Norf ’k toponyms serve differing social and orientation functions to English toponyms and knowledge of these toponyms is a strong marker of insider identity and linguistic delineation within the Norf ’k speaking community. Socially, knowing Norf ’k toponyms is a power and status marker within Norfolk’s insular society. Regarding orientation, Norf ’k toponyms are essential orientation tools for talking about place and spatial relationships on Norfolk. Norf ’k stems from the language which emerged on Pitcairn Island from 1790 in a small community comprised of Tahitian and English speakers. All the Pitcairn Islanders were moved to Norfolk Island in 1856. This marks the beginning of Norf ’k as a form of the language of Pitcairn which has undergone changes due to its transplantation to a new environment. Like any toponyms, Norf ’k toponyms are an important element of the language’s referential and denotational lexicon; they demonstrate how names linked to places, people, and events represent a lexical and grammatical history of relationships between people, language, and place within the specific natural, social, and linguistic tapestry of Norfolk Island. In order to assess the grammatical acceptability of various Norf ’k forms, I interviewed 10 informants on Norfolk Island during fieldwork in 2009. Informants