Language ContactLanguage Contact

PidginsPidginsCreolesCreoles

Regional DialectsRegional DialectsMinority DialectsMinority Dialects

Indigenized VarietiesIndigenized Varieties

PIDGINS & CREOLESPIDGINS & CREOLES

Chinese for ‘business’ Portuguese ‘crioulo’

•Note that the words "pidgin" and "Creole" are technical terms used by linguists, and not necessarily by speakers of the language.

•For example, speakers of Jamaican Creole call their language "Patwa" (from patois) and speakers of Hawai`i Creole English call theirs "Pidgin."

Pidgins & CreolesPidgins & Creoles

• PidginPidgin – A simplified and distinct linguistic code (language?) that helps facilitates trading in settings where 2 or more languages come together.

• CreoleCreole – Created by the children of pidgin speakers with its own grammar. A common primary means of communication (not just for trade, and not secondary, like pidgins) in situations where the speakers in contact are in need of communication

Pidgin CharacteristicsPidgin Characteristics

• A (creative) mixture of the languages in contact– Words often from dominant language

– Structural features often from the ‘dominated’ or subordinate language

• NOTNOT a broken down, baby, lazy, dumb, corrupt language…

Pidgin Characteristics (cont’d)Pidgin Characteristics (cont’d)

• Reduced grammatical structure– Phonology: -CV syllable preferred

– Morphology: -Poor affixation

-Reduplication is common

– Syntax: -SVO pattern preferred

-Articles usually omitted (morpho-syntactic?)

– Pragmatics: -Narrower range of functions (than others)

– Lexicon: -Limited vocabulary

– Semantics: -Semantic extensions (‘grass’ in Korean Bamboo Eng)

Possible outcomes of PidginsPossible outcomes of Pidgins

• Die outDie out (when original reason for communication diminishes or disappears)

• Develop to more formal rolesDevelop to more formal roles (lingua franca); which is called an ‘expanded pidgin’

• Develop into a creoleDevelop into a creole

Creoles’ characteristicsCreoles’ characteristics

(Traditionally) ‘pidgins adopted as the native language’(Traditionally) ‘pidgins adopted as the native language’

• Often have a (pre)pidgin as the initial state

• Usually originated in the social context of plantations with slaves (especially classic creoles)

• Nativization

• Verb conjugation in relation to aspects usually marked by "auxiliaries"

• Often classified as ‘English/French/Spanish…based’

Note: similarities among Creoles worldwide may be due to innate properties of human minds or the similar social contexts or structural similarities among the languages in contact.

POSSIBLE PROCESSPOSSIBLE PROCESS

Contact between different peoples/languages

Pre-pidgin jargon

Pidgin

Creole

Dominant language(SC?) ‘Pure creole’ (Haiti?) (postCreole continuum)

Miscommunication

Nativization

Decreolization Hypercreolization

ACTUAL CREOLES & PIDGINS ACTUAL CREOLES & PIDGINS PIDGINS Expanded Pidgins Creoles

Chinook JargonChinook Jargon (NW USA)

KrioKrio

(Sierra Leone)

Guyanese CreoleGuyanese Creole

(French-based)

SangoSango

(W.Central Afr.)

Pidgin EnglishPidgin English

(Nigeria)

Haitian CreoleHaitian Creole

(French-based)

Pidgin Fr. & Eng.Pidgin Fr. & Eng. (Vietnam)

BislamaBislama

(Vanuatu)

Caribbean CreoleCaribbean Creole (English-based)

Sabir Sabir (Mediterranean)

Tok PisinTok Pisin

(Papua New Guinea)

Philippines CreolePhilippines Creole

(Spanish-based)

  SPANISHSPANISH http://www.answers.com/topic/spanish-creole    

    GULLAHGULLAHhttp://www.http://www.knowitallknowitall.org/.org/gullahtalesgullahtales/activity//activity/

nonflashnonflash.html.html

JAMAICAN JAMAICAN http://www.jamaicans.com/speakja/index.shtml  

Krio (Sierra Leone):

“I gladdee for meet you”

“I gladdee for meet unna”

“me broda and sistardem”

Regional DialectRegional Dialect

• A regional dialectregional dialect is not a distinct language but a variety of a language spoken in a variety of a language spoken in a particular area of a countryparticular area of a country.

• Some regional dialects have been given traditional names which mark them out as being significantly different from standard varieties spoken in the same place.

• Some examples are "Hillbilly EnglishHillbilly English" (from the Appalachians in the USA) and "GeordieGeordie" (from Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK).

University of New England, Australia

Indigenized VarietyIndigenized Variety

• Indigenized varietiesIndigenized varieties are spoken mainly as second languages in ex-colonies with multilingual populations.

• The differences from the standard variety may be linked to English proficiency, or may be part of a range of varieties used to express identity.

• For example, "SinglishSinglish" (spoken in Singapore) is a variety very different from standard English, and there are many other varieties of English used in India.

University of New England, Australia

Minority DialectMinority Dialect

• Sometimes members of a particular minority ethnic group have their own variety which they use as a marker of identity, usually alongside a standard variety. This is called a minority dialectminority dialect.

• Examples are: African American Vernacular English in the USA, London London JamaicanJamaican in Britain, Aboriginal EnglishAboriginal English in Australia and BSAE-Black South African English.

University of New England, Australia

Language RevivalLanguage Revival

Endangered Languages• HawaiianHawaiian (Clark, p. 503)

http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/6794/o-linkpage.html

• Modern HebrewModern Hebrew – the only example of a dead language being brought back to life.

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

Issues of Language ContactIssues of Language Contact

• IdentityIdentity – wanting it both ways?– Integration vs. separatism– Diversity vs. assimilation

• Bilingualism EnthusiastsBilingualism Enthusiasts – seeking a linguistic solution to a social dilemma?

(Rodrigues, p. 480-81)

• SuccessSuccess – mastery of standard English gives power to succeed? (Jones, p. 491)