13-ling122-17 - pidgins and creoles

8/12/2019 13-Ling122-17 - Pidgins and Creoles

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LING 122: ENGLISH AS A WORLD

LANGUAGE - 18

Language Contact:

Pidgins & Creoles

Readings:Lipski, Crystal, Holman,


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Sample Pidgins & Creoles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9adW623e8xAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5OLISxo1Tghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuysCRte0vIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLVuJipjgPYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pElrghmZPq8


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Pidgins

Limited functions (esp. trade)

No native speakers (nobodys mother tongue) Contact language involving at least two, often

three different language groups

That is, it is the product of a multilingual situationin which those who wish to communicate mustfind or improvise a simple language system thatwill enable them to do so.


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Pidgin Origins

So Pidgins, in the stereotypical case, are formedwhen speakers of one language engage in tradewith speakers of another, or work on plantationsmanaged by speakers of another, and neither

knows the others language.

In plantation settings, their manual function is toenable workers to communicate with each other,

since plantation laborers very often do not speakthe same language.


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PidginsVery simple languages that develop just linguistically

and functionally enough to satisfy their purposesUsually involve a European language (esp. English) and

non-European languages

Very often, the situation (i.e. the context of origin) is

one in which there is an imbalance of power amongthe languages. The speakers of one languagedominate the speakers of the other languageseconomically and socially.

That is, the superstratum language supplies most ofvocabulary (new domain of use for non-Europeans)The substratum language supplies much of the

grammar


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Expanded Pidgins

Pidgins usually have limited life-span; can die outwhen the interactions that they serve end (e.g.,the end of a trade route)

Pidgins will survive longer if at least twosubstratum language groups are involved.

E.g. Non-European language groups not in frequentcontact with each other until arrival of trans-oceanic

trade will continue to use the Pidgin created.


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Expanded Pidgins

So the pidgin becomes a link language among thenon-Europeans, who sometimes continue todevelop and use it after the Europeans have left

True in many West African countries and South Pacificislands (e.g., Sierra Leone in Story of English).

So it can become an expandedpidgin, like the Nigerianpidgin Genesis, and remain in wide use.

Grammar and vocabulary expand as types of

interaction become broader and more complex.But still no native speakers.


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Expanded Pidgins

However, under certain circumstances, expanded pidgins canstart to have native speakers

Imagine that as trade along the rivers and the coastal areascontinues to expand,

Communities (ultimately cities) develop in which speakers ofdifferent non-European languages interact frequently formany purposes

The only language that they share is the pidgin

If woman and man from different native languagebackgrounds meet frequently and eventually marry, theycan only communicate with each other in the pidgin.


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Expanded Pidgins

What happens when they have children? Whatlanguage will the children speak?

The children will be native speakers of the pidgin, andthey will grow up with other children having similarlanguage backgrounds.

As they grow up and become involved in broad range ofactivities (education, music, religion), their languagebecomes more complex in terms of grammar,vocabulary, and discourse.


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Creole Origins

The pidgin has now developed into a creole, which isthe mother tongue of a community.

Creoles can become dominant languages ofcommunities and even post-colonial nations

e.g., Jamaica, Haiti

Creoles often co-exist with standard dialect of a formercolonial European language, which remains thelanguage of official power.


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Creoles

Thus,-A Creole is often defined as a pidgin that has

become the first language of a new generation ofspeakers, i.e. creoles arise when pidgins become

mother tongues.

- A creole, therefore, is a normal language in almostevery sense.

- A Creole is a pidgin which has expanded in structureand vocabulary to express the range of meaningsand serve the range of functions required of a firstlanguage.


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Pidgins and Creoles

English-Based Pidgins and Creoles (35), E.g.

- Hawaiian Creole

- Gullah or Sea Islands Creole (spoken on the islands off thecoasts of northern Florida, Georgian and South Carolina)

- Jamaican Creole

- Krio (spoken in Sierra Leone)- Sranan and Djuka (spoken is Suriname)

- Cameroon Pidgin English

- Tok Pisin

- Chinese Pidgin English (a modified form of Englishused as atrade language between the Britishand the Chinese, first inCanton, China, and later in other Chinese trade centers (e.g.,Shanghai).
http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109779/English-languagehttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214519/United-Kingdomhttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214398/Chinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Cameroon.svghttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214398/Chinahttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-214519/United-Kingdomhttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109779/English-language


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From Pidgins To Creoles

When a pidgin has become nativized, the history of theresultant Creoles is, in essence, similar to that of any otherlanguage.

Hence, whereas a pidgin is identifiable at any given time by

both linguistic and social criteria, a Creole is identifiableonly by historical criteriathat is if we know that it hasarisen out of pidgin.

There are no structural criteria which, in themselves, willidentify a Creole as such, in the absence of historical

evidence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Flag_of_Cameroon.svg


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Characteristics of Pidgins &

Creoles

Lexis (vocabulary)

Pronunciation

Grammar

Social Functions


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Lexis

Drawn from dominant (lexifier) language (English,French, Portuguese, Dutch)

Lexis rules forpidginsare simpler than for mature

languages Concepts encoded in lengthy ways

Yumitripela we, us

Gras bilong pisin feathers

Extensive use of reduplication Pikpik pigs

Gutpela liklik fairly good


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Pronunciation

Five vowel sounds: / i e a o u / deep / dip -> /dip/

work / walk -> /wak/

Simplification of consonant clusters

/-nd/ -> /-n/ : /paun/ pound

/-ks/ -> /-kis/ : /sikis/ six

Conflation of consonant sounds

/f/ -> /p/ : /pren/ friend // -> /s/ : /bus/ bush

Larger number of homophones

/ti/ -> thing / think


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Grammar

Pidgins Variable from speaker to speaker

Few if any inflections

Simple negation: no + X

Simple clause structure

From pidgins to creoles Consistency across speakers

Assimilation & reduction processes Expanded vocabularies

Tense system

Greater sentence complexity


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Social Functions

Pidgins: Limited range of social functions

As contact languages, used for minimalcommunication purposes

Extended pidgins and creoles: Wide range of

social functions Oral and written literature

Education

Mass media

Advertising

Religion


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Creole Developments in the UK

London Jamaican

Patois of British blacks

Origins in the Caribbean

Spoken by London-born youth

Reflects process of re-creolization (shift back toearlier forms of the creole)

Also spoken by young whites, Asians Language crossing use of minority varieties by

ethnic outgroups


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Jamaican Creole Grammatical

Features

Interchangeable pronouns - /em/ = he, she, it,him, her, etc.

Present tense forms for present & pastreference: /ai se/ = I said.

Elimination of tense suffixes (-s, -ed): /yu bretstink/ = Your breath stinks.

Pre-phrasal nofor negation /no bret stink/ =My breath doesnt stink.


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Jamaican Creole Phonological

Features

// & // -> /t/ & /d/: /bret/ = breath

Labialization after /b/: /bwoy/ = boy

Deletion of final consonants: /bl/ = bullet

// & //* -> /a/: cloth -> /klaat/*// = open o as in

Lack of unstressed schwa: the -> /da/ ~ /di/


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The US: From Pidgin to Creole

to African American English?

Ebonics

African American English (AAE)

Not all African Americans speak it

Some non-African Americans speak it

The language of descendents of slaves

Traces origins to original slave pidgin and subsequent

creoles Shows possible traces of African languages

Non-standard

Rule-governed


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Ebonics Grammatical Features

Deletion of past tense suffixes Yesterday heplayed-> /ple/

Deletion of auxiliaries where SAE can contract Hes going-> /hi gowi/, but not how pretty you are-> */haw prIti yu/

Multiple negation He dont know nothing.

Habitual be Sometime she be angry but not

*Sometime she angry. Existential Its

Theres a beer in the frig Its a beer in the frig


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Ebonics Phonological Features Reduction of final consonant clusters

burned my hand /bn ma hn/

messed up/ms p/

SAE /d/ and /t/

good man

/gmn/ Monophthongization

time /Taim//Tam/

SAE /l/ and /r/ //

steal /stil/ /sti/; more /mor/ /mo/

SAE // and // /d/, /t/, /f/, /v/

thin/tin/; they /de/

brother/brv/; three /fri/


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HAWAIAN PIDGIN

In Hawaii, a creole developed from an earlier pidgin (thoughwhat is spoken today is often called Hawaiian Pidgin!)

On the colonial plantations, frequent contact among severalAsian immigrant language groups (Chinese, Japanese,

Korean), indigenous Hawaiians, and Caucasian Americans

As interactions among them become more frequent andcomplex, expanded pidgin develops

Communicative functions expand, which requires morecomplex grammar and vocabulary

When they intermarry, creole develops, which becomes firstlanguage of their kids


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Hawaiian Creole English

A sample from the Bible

13-ling122-17 - pidgins and creoles

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