Initial vowel agglutination in the Gulf of Guinea creoles
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Tjerk Hagemeijer
Abstract
The Gulf of Guinea creoles (GGCs) exhibit a number of cases of initial vowel agglutination to etymologically consonant-initial words in the lexifier, Portuguese. This property is especially common in Lung’ie (Principense). Comparing agglutinated items in the four GGCs not only sheds light on their diachronic development, it also shows the linguistic compromise made between the different strata that gave rise to this feature. It will be argued that prosthetic vowels are phonetically calqued on the Portuguese definite article system, which bleached and became generalized as something else than a gender/number system, whereas the African contribution consists of creating vowel-initial items that are guided by rules of vowel harmony.
Abstract
The Gulf of Guinea creoles (GGCs) exhibit a number of cases of initial vowel agglutination to etymologically consonant-initial words in the lexifier, Portuguese. This property is especially common in Lung’ie (Principense). Comparing agglutinated items in the four GGCs not only sheds light on their diachronic development, it also shows the linguistic compromise made between the different strata that gave rise to this feature. It will be argued that prosthetic vowels are phonetically calqued on the Portuguese definite article system, which bleached and became generalized as something else than a gender/number system, whereas the African contribution consists of creating vowel-initial items that are guided by rules of vowel harmony.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Simplicity, simplification, complexity and complexification 1
-
Part I. Morpho-phonology
- Initial vowel agglutination in the Gulf of Guinea creoles 29
- Simplification of a complex part of grammar or not? 51
- Reducing phonological complexity and grammatical opaqueness 75
-
Part II. Verbal morphology
- Verb allomorphy and the syntax of phases 99
- The invisible hand in creole genesis 115
- Complexification or regularization of paradigms 159
-
Part III. Nominals
- The Mauritian Creole determiner system 173
- Demonstratives in Afrikaans and Cape Dutch Pidgin 201
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Part IV. The selection of features in complex morphology
- Contact, complexification and change in Mindanao Chabacano structure 223
- Morphosyntactic finiteness as increased complexity in a mixed negation system 243
- Contact language formation in evolutionary terms 265
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Part V. Evaluating simplification and complexification
- Economy, innovation and degrees of complexity in creole formation 293
- Competition and selection 317
- Complexity and the age of languages 345
-
Part VI. Postscript
- Restructuring, hybridization, and complexity in language evolution 367
- Language index 401
- Subject index 405
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Simplicity, simplification, complexity and complexification 1
-
Part I. Morpho-phonology
- Initial vowel agglutination in the Gulf of Guinea creoles 29
- Simplification of a complex part of grammar or not? 51
- Reducing phonological complexity and grammatical opaqueness 75
-
Part II. Verbal morphology
- Verb allomorphy and the syntax of phases 99
- The invisible hand in creole genesis 115
- Complexification or regularization of paradigms 159
-
Part III. Nominals
- The Mauritian Creole determiner system 173
- Demonstratives in Afrikaans and Cape Dutch Pidgin 201
-
Part IV. The selection of features in complex morphology
- Contact, complexification and change in Mindanao Chabacano structure 223
- Morphosyntactic finiteness as increased complexity in a mixed negation system 243
- Contact language formation in evolutionary terms 265
-
Part V. Evaluating simplification and complexification
- Economy, innovation and degrees of complexity in creole formation 293
- Competition and selection 317
- Complexity and the age of languages 345
-
Part VI. Postscript
- Restructuring, hybridization, and complexity in language evolution 367
- Language index 401
- Subject index 405
