Contact linguistics – when languages come into contact

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LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011Wardhaugh Ch 3Wardhaugh Ch 3

Contact linguistics – when languages come into contact

Pidgin – a language created by people to communicate (usually for commerce). Usually uses the lexical items from the dominant language (superstrate) (colonizing language like English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, French) and uses other aspects of grammar from the native languages where the pidgin occurs (substrate languages). Always acquired as a second language, and is relatively transparent and simplistic. Where pidgins are used are limited – usually in the marketplace.

Creole – the development of a pidgin when spoken as a first/native language by children. At this point, the language becomes more complex as it evolves. The use of creoles are expanded to all aspects of social life (at home, in the church, as well as in the marketplace).

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Lingua Franca = a common language that speakers use to communicateGreek koine, vulgar Latin, Chinook jargon, English today

Pidgin = a contact language that does not have native speakers (can serve as a lingua franca).Social and cultural phenomenon - product of multilingual contact3 or more languages usually make up a pidginNeed social difference (1 lang more dominant - usually used as lexifier (where the words come from))Very negative reactions to pidgin as lesser variety of the dominant (superstrate) languageUsed for limited reasons - usually for trade - not used in all aspects of lifePidgin involves a more transparent lang system - simplified syntax, morphological and phonological structure

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Creole = when a pidgin has advanced and becomes the first language of speakers it is a creoleSome (Tok Pisin and Nigerian Pidgin Eng) exist as both a pidgin and creole at the same timeCreole is more complex with expansion of morphology and syntax including irregular forms as well as increase in number of functions language is used for (to talk to family members as well as trade)

Ch 3 - Pidgins and Creoles

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Pidgins and Creoles are socially created languages - usually around the slave trade.English, Dutch, Portuguese, French and Spanish are the most common pidgin/creole basesThese are not simply L2 varieties of these languages, but really different languages - you would have to learn as if you were to learn IcelandicSee discussion on p. 66 for Tok Pisin examples

Ch 3 - Pidgins and Creoles

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Pidgins and Creoles

2. Steretwe taem Jisas i go soa, 2. When he had stepped out of the boat,

wanfela man wea i stap long berigiraon i kamaot fo mitim hem.

immediately a man out of the tombs met him.

Desfala man ia devol nogud i stap long hem. This man was possessed by an unclean spirit.

3. Ples bulong hem nao long berigiraon. 3. He lived in the cemetery;

Bikos hem i karangge tumas, and no-one could restrain him any more, even with chains,

no man i save taemapim. because he was too strong.

4. Plande taem olketa i hankapem han an lek bulong hem,

4. For he had often been restrained with shackles and chains on his arms and legs,

bat hem i smasing olketa nomoa. but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces,

No man i storong fitim fo holem. and no one had the strength to subdue him.

Solomon Islands Pidjin

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Pidgin Creole

Contact language that arose naturally Yes Yes

Has native speakers Not usually Always

Linguistic form and grammar are... Reduced* Expanded*

Restricted in contexts of use Yes No

Stable and independent norms No Yes

Fully adequate natural language No Yes

Pidgins and Creoles

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Pidgins/creoles with same European lexifier language are somewhat mutually intelligibleSome consider them to be this way because they are just dumbed-down version of that language (not the best explanation)Polygenesis - similarities arise from shared circumstances of creation, but the many pidgins/creoles come from many different sourcesMaybe they are similar due to the same substrate (the native languages that the p/c is based on)Monogenetic theories of origin - all from one source (all from one P/C and variation has occurred in different regions)Relexified single source - all from one pidgin and each modern pidgin has just put in new words into the same structure using whatever European language was in contactP/Cs have often similar grammatical structure but different vocabularies

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Bickerton - Language Bioprogram hypothesis - universal principles of first lang acquisition are involvedCreoles are the clearest and most pure forms of language that represent innate language abilities since there is no current model to choose from

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Not all pidgins become creoles! Some die outTok Pisin example - acquired as first language and expanded linguistic forms (p. 75)As a sign of the new culture - became a language of identityUsed in many domains - government, religion, educationReduction and assimilation in phonetics are found in creole (not so much in pidgin)Because we know the origins of a creole is how we know it is any different than any other language

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A continuum may form if there is continual contact with lexifier languageDecreolization when some varieties of the creole develop more toward the lexifier language (look more like English for example)Jamaican situation is this continuum (See Table 3.1 on page 82)http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/pijcreol/continuum.html

Diglossic situation = 2 varieties are kept socially and functionally apart (can be true of bilingual situations too) with one being more prestigious than the other (Haiti)Jamaica has changed and Jamaican Creole has been gaining covert prestige

Creoles show the same relationship between standard and non-standard varieties of the same language - correct vs. pleasant perceptual diffs

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Contact linguistics – when languages come into contact