Introduction

This chapter will provide a brief sketch of the sociohistorical background and general structure of Queensland Kanaka English (see also Dutton 1980; Dutton and Mühlhäusler 1984; and Mühlhäusler 1986). I will also explore how this language relates to some crucial aspects of pidgin and creole linguistics, in particular Hall's (1962) model of the life-cycle of these languages and, secondly, the role of universals in its formation and development.

The origins of Queensland Kanaka English date back to the period between 1864 and 1904 when more than 60,000 Melanesians were brought to Queensland to work on the sugar plantations and in other rural industries. The recruiting pattern for the Queensland plantations was similar to that for the other Pacific plantation centres, that is, a continuous shift from south to north, beginning with the Loyalties in the 1860s and ending up in the northern Solomons of New Guinea in the 1880s. It thus seems likely that some kind of Loyalty Island Pidgin English formed the foundation of Queensland Kanaka English. As the recruiting grounds shifted, considerable numbers of non-speakers were blackbirded. These non-speakers in all likelihood modelled their pidgin on existing varieties. Recruiting from previously uncontacted areas ceased around 1885, after which date the majority of recruits could speak Pidgin English, many having been recruited for a second time, after serving a term of contract in Queensland itself or on some other plantation in the Pacific.