Languages in Contact contact languages Languages that develop as a result of contact between other languages lingua franca, jargon, koine, pidgin, creole,constructed languages South East Asia – several examples

PIDGIN Used for communication by non-native speakers Always a second language (restricted input) Develop rapidly (and may die rapidly ) Hundreds known – others not recorded

Features Simplified lexis, phonology, syntax, morphology Example – Solomon Islands Pidgin Mifela I-go go long solwater, lukoutim fish, now win I-kum. Now mifela I-go alabout long kinu now bigfela win I-kum now, mifela I-fafasi allabout rong tumus.

Example (?) – Korean Bamboo English Taksan years ago, skoshi Cinderella-san lived in hootchie with sisters. Poor little Cinderella-san ketchee no fun, have no social life. Aways washee-washee, scrubee- scrubee, make chop-chop. One day Cinderella-san ketchee post cardo from Seoul.

Superstrate and substrate Superstrate language provides vocabulary – socially dominant may be relexified Substrate languages may provide structure (structure may also reflect universal features)

Continued Principal superstrate languages are English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, also Juba Arabic Occasional equal languages -- Russonorsk

Background Most Pidgins are in Caribbean and Pacific Also found in North America, Arctic, West Africa associated with any contact situation --trade, slavery, plantations

Creoles A pidgin taught to children Learnt as first language (with restricted input) Rapid development Distinction between pidgins and creoles not always clear Pidgin and creole variants of same language may coexist

Example – Tok Pisin Dispela man i- stap naboutlong ples matmat na i kam. Em I save slip long ples matmat. Na I no gat wanpela man inap long pasim em. Sen ti I no inap. Plenti taim ol i bin pasim em long hankap na sen.

Continued More complex than pidgins but less so than superstrate and substrate languages Distinct languages, although speakers may not be aware of this Attitudes to Creoles vary – existence may be denied

Continued Often despised, sometimes source of identity, occasionally national status post-creole continuum -creole is absorbed by superstrate language In Caribbean may be several ways of saying one sentence

Creolisation Some languages may be simplified when learnt as a second languages Varieties of Malay – bazaar/market Malay, Jakarta Malay Afrikaans -- simplified version of Dutch in South Africa Varieties of French in Indian Ocean

continued Also called semi-creoles or creoloids Suggested not preceded by creoles But maybe there was a brief period when a creole and before that a pidgin existed

continued Compare English with German and Dutch Syntax and morphology much less complex At some point was English creolised? –I.e. learnt as a second language

continued Alternative explanation – Middle English (1150-1450) is a post-creole developed from a creole which in turn developed from a pidgin Very speculative

continued Is it possible that languages may become creoles without going through a pidgin stage?

Features of pidgins and creoles Pidgins & creoles have common features limited morphology loss of case Loss of gender Lexicalisation of gender Questions marked by intonation or lexis

continued Absence of copula “to be” Preverbal negation No tones But creoles are closer to other languages More complex syntax and morphology Expanded lexicon

Decreolisation Education in standard languages affects creoles Assimilated by standard languages – become dialects Post-creole continuum in transitional societies Jamaica and Papua New Guinea – listen to Bob Marley and Panim Wok Band

example Church Creole in Suriname – variety developed about 1780 for religious purposes – widely imitated Belly – Sranan – bere -- CC – bele Time -- te -- tem Help helpi -- yepi

Recreolisation Afro-Caribbeans in England – adopt features of patois – but is it really recreolisation?

Origins Monogenesis ? family tree model Sabir -- Italian based trade language Portuguese relexification spread by traders and sailors Further relexification

continued Pidgins in West Africa (and then Caribbean) East Africa, India, Ceylon, S/SE Asia, Pacific, Arctic, N America Evidence -- Widespread lexis – saber – sibi in Crioulo, sabe in Krio and Bislama, Save in Tok Pisin, sabiam in Kamtok

continued BUT Many pidgins and creoles that had nothing to do with Portuguese Turku – Arabic pidgin around Lake Chad Sudanese Creole (Juba) Arabic – LF Southern Sudan Nubi Arabic Creole in Kenya and Uganda

continued African slaves drafted into Egyptian army in Sudan – joined British army in East Africa Numbers in Nubi Arabic Creole Wai, tinin, talata, arba, khamsa, sita

Universlism each pidgin and creole develops independently common features are the result of a bioprogram (Bickerton) Human mind is universal – so are pidgins and creoles Why not both?