Announcements Bender guest lecture POSTPONED till

March 9 (final day) Today: Pidgins and Creoles Friday 3/2: Historical Lx 1 Monday 3/5: Historical Lx 2 Wednesday 3/7: Final Exam Discussion

and Review Friday 3/9: Computational Lx (Bender)

Today Language contact Pidgins and creoles

Readings: 11.1-11.3

Language contact Situation in which groups of speakers of

different languages come into contact with one another, e.g., geography conquest trade

Language Contact--Outcomes

What happens when cultures with different languages come into contact?

A. Widespread bilingualism (usually with code-switching)B. Selection of a lingua franca: Any language used to enable communication between groups of people with differing native languages. (natural or constructed languages)

Two possible strategies:(1) Employ an already existing language

a. natural (e.g., Swahili, English)b. artificial (e.g., Esperanto)

(2) Form new language…

Terminology Adstrates: languages in contact that have equal

prestige Adstrate Adstrate English Norse

Superstrate: language of dominant group Lexifier language: the input language that provided most of

the basic vocabulary or lexicon. (aka "superstrate") Substrate: language of the less dominant or

subordinate group. Typically provides most of the phonological, and usually, grammatical features.

Superstrate Substrate English Native Am. Langs.

Pidgin One type of lingua franca. A language which arises to fulfill

restricted and ongoing needs for communication among people who have no common language.

Often arises when there is a long-term need to communicate (i.e., in trade/business)

e.g., Chinook Jargon Not the primary language of their speakers (i.e., learned as

2nd lang)

Structural features of a PIDGIN

x no strict word order single set of pronounsx no complex sentencesx no determinersx no grammatical genderx no inflectional morphology plurals: noun + 3rd person pronoun

Allows either word order:

Mi bammy eat. Mi eat bammy.“I eat the cassava.”

Creole A language that comes about by prolonged use and

nativization, usually arising when parents transmit a pidgin to their children, and the pidgin becomes the child's native language. This language undergoes rapid expansion because it must meet all the communicative needs of the native speaker.

Often arises from a pidgin that is adopted as first/native language

Structural differences: Ps vs. Cs

x tolerates extensive grammatical variation

single set of pronounsx complex sentencesx no determinersx no grammatical genderx no inflectional morphology

plurals: noun + 3rd person pronoun

strict word order single set of pronouns complex sentences determinersx no grammatical gender inflectional morphology plurals: noun + 3rd person pronoun

Pidgins Creoles

Jamaican Creole:only one word order is allowed:Mi a-go tel shi se mi waa nyam di bammy. 1sg FUT tell 3sg COMP 1sg want eat DET cassava. “I will tell her that I want to eat the cassava.”

Emergence of Pidgins and Creoles

PIDGIN CREOLEArises from: sudden accelerated

disruption language change

language contact parental (2 or more) transmission

need is long-term need is but restricted comprehensive

not a first language first language

Characteristics: no frills fully developed system

chaotic structure stablederivative 1 + 1 = 3??

How have Pidgins and Creoles Gotten their Names?

Chinese Pidgin English

Cameroon Pidgin English (Cameroon, W. Africa)Louisiana Creole French (Louisiana, USA)

Berbice Creole Dutch (Berbice County, Guyana) Nauru Chinese Pidgin English (Nauru, New Zealand)

Bombay Creole Portuguese (Maharastra, India)Jamaican Creole (Jamaica, West Indies)

Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea)Sranan (Suriname)

Afrikaans (South Africa)Samaná (Dominican Republic)

Bislama (Vanuatu) Kreyól (Haiti)

location type lexifier

Distribution of Lexifier Languages

Q: How many creole languages are there in the world?

A: ~100 (spoken natively by ~6 million people)

Q: What languages have combined to form the superstrate for creole languages in the world?

A:

English--35 African languages--17 French--15

Portuguese--14 Spanish--7 German--6

Amerindian--6 Dutch--5 Arabic--4

Italian--3 Russian--2

Jamaican Creole Sociolinguistics

dialects form a “post-creole continuum”:

basilect: A fi-mi buk dat.

mesolect 1: A mi buk dat.

mesolect 2: Is my book dat.

acrolect: That's my book.

A truu in a taak.

A trut shi taakin.

Is trut shi taakin.

She's telling the truth.phonology only

phonology, morphology,lexicon, and syntax

A = Copula verb “to be”

Continuum examples

Check out the real situation

Nation war against nation

Where did it all begin

Where will it end

Well it seems like total destruction

No real solution

And there ain’t no use

No one can stop them now

There ain’t no use

Nobody can stop us now

Give them an inch...

Slam bam, tank yu maam

Cab, an a di nuu yut-dem a demand a gran slam

Stitchie and di girl-dem cab service

Girl pickni bruok out ina dis

Listen dis, Hiir mi nuo, come

Mi cab a-come, sii mi cab a-come bwai

Han go dung a mek i cab slow dung

Mi cab a-come, sii mi cab a-come close

An di cyab-man hafi draw dung

Drive mi guud ya, man

How yu a drive mi so long…

Bob Marley, “Real Situation” Lieutenant Stitchie, “The Cab”

Continuum examples

Bob Marley, “Real Situation”

Check out the real situation

Nation warø against nation

Where did it all begin

Where will it end

Well it seems like total destruction

No real solution

And there ain’t no use

No one can stop them now

There ain’t no use

Nobody can stop us now

Give them an inch...

Lieutenant Stitchie, “The Cab”

Slam bam, tank yu maam

Cab, an a di nuu yut-dem a demand a gran slam

Stitchie and di girl-dem cab service

Girl pickni bruok out ina dis

Listen dis, Hiir mi nuo, come

Mi cab a-come, sii mi cab a-come bwai

Han go dung a mek i cab slow dung

Mi cab a-come, sii mi cab a-come close

An di cyab-man hafi draw dung

Drive mi guud ya, man

How yu a drive mi so long…