This book analyzes how the word Creole is defined as an ethnic and a linguistic label among those who self-identify as Creole-speaking Creoles in Texas. These individuals are often ignored in discussions of the Creole population of the Gulf South because they no longer reside in Louisiana. Debate over the exact definition of Creole has been ongoing for over a century. Rather than promote some new definition, this book displays the paradoxes of Creoleness by presenting the words of Creoles themselves without any attempt to regularize the incongruencies that appear. The book is divided into two parts. The first part develops the concept of ethnolinguistic identity, indicates the historical uses of the term Creole in Louisiana, and traces the migration routes that led Creoles to Texas. It wraps up with a discussion of contemporary understandings of the word Creole based on fieldwork among Texas-resident Creoles. The second part presents and offers commentary on a sample of Creole translations for seventy-five English sentences. These translations, drawn from interviews with Texas Creoles, illustrate the wide variety of language forms that go by the name Creole in
Texas. Collectively, this work demonstrates the challenges migration poses to ethnolinguistic identity.