Retained inflectional morphology in pidgins: A typological study
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Sarah J. Roberts
Abstract
It is commonly accepted that the process of pidginization leads to a loss of inflectional morphology, but this loss is often not total. Lexifier inflections instead follow a cline of reduction: full retention – partial retention – partial lexicalization – full lexicalization – full loss. This article examines the retention of inflection in 29 languages that reflect a history of pidginization in their development, comparing the morphological richness of pidgins with their respective lexifiers. The results indicate an asymmetry between the retention of inherent and contextual inflections, such that pidgins express fewer grammatical categories via contextual inflection than do their lexifiers. The authors suggest that this may reflect a role of markedness (semantic relevance) in the preservation of inflection.
©Walter de Gruyter
