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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=pElrghmZPq88/12/2019 13-Ling122-17 - Pidgins and Creoles
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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-language8/12/2019 13-Ling122-17 - Pidgins and Creoles
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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.svg8/12/2019 13-Ling122-17 - Pidgins and Creoles
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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