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Change in the possessive system of French Caribbean Creole languages

  • Marie-Christine Hazael-Massieux
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Gradual Creolization
This chapter is in the book Gradual Creolization

Abstract

This paper explores the gradual development and stabilization of possessive constructions in the French-lexified Creoles of the Caribbean. It makes the point that, in creole formation, these languages reassign grammatical functions to material borrowed from several sources; therefore, from a grammatical point of view, Creoles cannot be said to be descendants of their lexifiers. Historical texts often allow us to map the diachronic development of these new grammatical systems, as exemplified here for the possessive systems of the French Creoles of the Caribbean. It is significant that, while sources from the region (18th century onwards) initially document the co-occurrence of two different possessive constructions (viz. N+a+personal marker, and N+personal marker) in seemingly free variation, the modern Creoles have now settled for one of the two variants. The observation of this relatively late grammatical development ties in with Jacques Arends’ cautionary remarks that modern Creole data cannot be taken to represent the state of the language at the moment of its creation.

Abstract

This paper explores the gradual development and stabilization of possessive constructions in the French-lexified Creoles of the Caribbean. It makes the point that, in creole formation, these languages reassign grammatical functions to material borrowed from several sources; therefore, from a grammatical point of view, Creoles cannot be said to be descendants of their lexifiers. Historical texts often allow us to map the diachronic development of these new grammatical systems, as exemplified here for the possessive systems of the French Creoles of the Caribbean. It is significant that, while sources from the region (18th century onwards) initially document the co-occurrence of two different possessive constructions (viz. N+a+personal marker, and N+personal marker) in seemingly free variation, the modern Creoles have now settled for one of the two variants. The observation of this relatively late grammatical development ties in with Jacques Arends’ cautionary remarks that modern Creole data cannot be taken to represent the state of the language at the moment of its creation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Maps ix
  4. Introductory words
  5. One more cup of coffee: On Gradual Creolization 3
  6. Jacques Arends' model of gradual creolization 13
  7. Part 1. Linguistic analysis
  8. Productive bimorphemic structures and the concept of gradual creolization 27
  9. Gradual vs. abrupt creolization and recent changes in Daman Creole Portuguese 55
  10. Gradual restructuring in Ecuadorian Quechua 77
  11. A note on the process of lexical diffusion in the development of creoles: The case of double-object verbs 101
  12. Change in the possessive system of French Caribbean Creole languages 113
  13. The origin and development of possibility in the creoles of Suriname 129
  14. The Saramaccan lexicon: Verbs 155
  15. Development of a creole lexicon 173
  16. Gradualism in the transfer of tone spread rules in Saramaccan 189
  17. In search of a submerged phonology: The case of early Cape Dutch Pidgin 219
  18. Part 2. Sociohistorical reconstruction
  19. Bilingualism and creolization in Solomon Islands 245
  20. Lingua Franca in West Africa? An evaluation of the sociohistorical and metalinguistic evidence 257
  21. The formation of the Portuguese-based Creoles: Gradual or abrupt? 279
  22. English-speaking in early Surinam? 305
  23. The demographic context of creolization in early English Jamaica, 1655-1700 327
  24. The founder principle and Anguilla's homestead society 349
  25. Demographic factors in the formation of French Guianese Creole 373
  26. Index 389
https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.34.11haz

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Maps ix
  4. Introductory words
  5. One more cup of coffee: On Gradual Creolization 3
  6. Jacques Arends' model of gradual creolization 13
  7. Part 1. Linguistic analysis
  8. Productive bimorphemic structures and the concept of gradual creolization 27
  9. Gradual vs. abrupt creolization and recent changes in Daman Creole Portuguese 55
  10. Gradual restructuring in Ecuadorian Quechua 77
  11. A note on the process of lexical diffusion in the development of creoles: The case of double-object verbs 101
  12. Change in the possessive system of French Caribbean Creole languages 113
  13. The origin and development of possibility in the creoles of Suriname 129
  14. The Saramaccan lexicon: Verbs 155
  15. Development of a creole lexicon 173
  16. Gradualism in the transfer of tone spread rules in Saramaccan 189
  17. In search of a submerged phonology: The case of early Cape Dutch Pidgin 219
  18. Part 2. Sociohistorical reconstruction
  19. Bilingualism and creolization in Solomon Islands 245
  20. Lingua Franca in West Africa? An evaluation of the sociohistorical and metalinguistic evidence 257
  21. The formation of the Portuguese-based Creoles: Gradual or abrupt? 279
  22. English-speaking in early Surinam? 305
  23. The demographic context of creolization in early English Jamaica, 1655-1700 327
  24. The founder principle and Anguilla's homestead society 349
  25. Demographic factors in the formation of French Guianese Creole 373
  26. Index 389
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