Creolization & "language mixture" Flashcards
Types of contact languages
Pidgins
Creoles
Mixed languages
Traditional view vs current view of contact languages
traditional –> often considered pidgins and creoles as “simple” and structurally similar
current –> acknowledges the complexity and diversity of pidgins and creoles
Linguistic effects of contact languages
vocabulary borrowing and grammatical changes to the creation of new languages or language varieties
Lexifier language
the main source of the vocabulary in a pidgin or creole
Grammatical compromise
the grammar of a contact language often involves a compromise or blending of features from the contributing languages
Rickford’s example of contact language
Hiberno-English and New World Black English (NWBE) –> case studies of linguistic diffusion and contact involving the consideration of both internal and external linguistic diffusion
example) the habitual ‘be’ in NWBE has been hypothesized to derive from ‘he’ but other explanations like decreolization and substance influence are also important
Arguments for creolization perspective
suggests that features of NWBE, like the habitual ‘be’, might have originated in creole languages spoken by enslaves African Americans and subsequently undergone decreolization (moving towards the lexifier language, which is English)
Arguments for decreolization perspective
argues that certain features of NWBE are the result of a creole language undergoing a process of decreolization, potentially influenced by contact with other varieties of English
Mixed languages
emerged from fully bilingual communities (unlike pidgins or creoles) and often show a more thorough and integrated combination of grammatical and lexical elements from the contributing languages
How is this different from other contact languages?
Contact languages are languages that interact but they do not blend. (NEEDS MORE!!!)
Examples given (Michif, Mednyi Aleut, Media Lengua)
Michif –> combines (Metis) French nominals with (Plains) Cree verbs and grammatical elements; traditionally seen as having French DPs and Cree VPs, but some research indicates the Cree grammar is more dominant
Mednyj Aleut –> has mostly Aleut lexicon and grammar, but imports finite verb morphology and past tense pronouns from Russian
Media Lenghua –> Spanish content morpheme with Quechua grammar (including phonology)
Common features across mixed languages.
- relatively abrupt creation by active, fluent bilinguals
- often associated with a new ethnic group of “mixed heritage” with a distinct status and the language serves as a marker of identity
Pidgins
grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from several languages.
Creoles
a stable, natural language that develops from a pidgin (a simplified language used for communication between groups with different languages) and becomes the first language of a community, evolving into a full-fledged language with complex grammar and vocabulary.
Mixed Languages
arises from the fusion of two or more languages in a bilingual or multilingual context, resulting in a language with features from both source languages
