Week 8b - Creoles and Pidgins Flashcards
1
Q
Define pidgin
A
Contact languages that arose for communication between speakers of different mother tongues
2
Q
About pidgins general
A
- Arose from trade and global migration
- Not linguistically complex
- Die out or evolve into creoles
- No native speakers
3
Q
Pidgins vocabulary
A
- Lexi from superstrate
- Mono or bi-syllabic words
- Few function words
- Small stock of words
- Multi use terms
4
Q
Pidgins grammar
A
- Simplified
- No complex syntax
- Reduced inflection
- Tense derived from context
5
Q
Pidgins phonology
A
- 5 or less vowels
- No length distinctions
- Avoids consonant clusters
- Simplification of consonant clusters
- Slow tempo
6
Q
Define creole
A
- Contact languages that have become nativised and acquire native speakers
7
Q
About creoles general
A
- Fulfil a wide range of social functions eg. expressive and social
- Contribute to flexibility of language
8
Q
Creoles vocabulary
A
- Coinage borrowing
- Reduction of homophony through reduplication
9
Q
Creoles grammar
A
- Encoding of tense and modality
- Inflectional
- Syntax develops
- More complex constructions
10
Q
Creole phonology
A
- Few consonant clusters
- Vowels and consonants from restricted sets
- Increased speech rate
- Fewer words carry stress
11
Q
What are the 3 parts of the creole continuum?
A
- Basilect
- Mesolect
- Acrolect
12
Q
Define basilect
A
Most distinct form of creole from superstrate speakers
13
Q
Define mesolect
A
Intermediate varieties in between basilect and acrolect
14
Q
Define acrolect
A
Closest to superstrate speakers, most formal and prestigious
15
Q
What is decreolisation?
A
- Creole interacts with superstrate/lexifier
- Begins to reflect superstrate language more closely
- Less decreolised varieties cease to be used
- Decreolised varieties of creole become non-standard dialects of superstrate
