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Verb allomorphy and the syntax of phases

  • Tonjes Veenstra
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Complex Processes in New Languages
This chapter is in the book Complex Processes in New Languages

Abstract

In a number of French-related creoles a distinction is made between long and short forms of verbs. We argue that the alternation is a reflex of French inflectional morphology that has survived the creolization process, showing that the result is a long-short opposition of verb forms, similar to the formal variation in the learner varieties, and therefore ultimately due to learner strategies in the acquisition of French as a second language. We further discuss the potential role of substrate and argue that the alternation started out as a phonological/prosodic phenomenon (as it basically still is in Haitian Creole). We conclude that the alternation (or verb allomorphy) can be seen as a morphological reflex of the Spell-Out domain at the vP-level.

Abstract

In a number of French-related creoles a distinction is made between long and short forms of verbs. We argue that the alternation is a reflex of French inflectional morphology that has survived the creolization process, showing that the result is a long-short opposition of verb forms, similar to the formal variation in the learner varieties, and therefore ultimately due to learner strategies in the acquisition of French as a second language. We further discuss the potential role of substrate and argue that the alternation started out as a phonological/prosodic phenomenon (as it basically still is in Haitian Creole). We conclude that the alternation (or verb allomorphy) can be seen as a morphological reflex of the Spell-Out domain at the vP-level.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Simplicity, simplification, complexity and complexification 1
  5. Part I. Morpho-phonology
  6. Initial vowel agglutination in the Gulf of Guinea creoles 29
  7. Simplification of a complex part of grammar or not? 51
  8. Reducing phonological complexity and grammatical opaqueness 75
  9. Part II. Verbal morphology
  10. Verb allomorphy and the syntax of phases 99
  11. The invisible hand in creole genesis 115
  12. Complexification or regularization of paradigms 159
  13. Part III. Nominals
  14. The Mauritian Creole determiner system 173
  15. Demonstratives in Afrikaans and Cape Dutch Pidgin 201
  16. Part IV. The selection of features in complex morphology
  17. Contact, complexification and change in Mindanao Chabacano structure 223
  18. Morphosyntactic finiteness as increased complexity in a mixed negation system 243
  19. Contact language formation in evolutionary terms 265
  20. Part V. Evaluating simplification and complexification
  21. Economy, innovation and degrees of complexity in creole formation 293
  22. Competition and selection 317
  23. Complexity and the age of languages 345
  24. Part VI. Postscript
  25. Restructuring, hybridization, and complexity in language evolution 367
  26. Language index 401
  27. Subject index 405
https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.35.08vee

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgments vii
  4. Simplicity, simplification, complexity and complexification 1
  5. Part I. Morpho-phonology
  6. Initial vowel agglutination in the Gulf of Guinea creoles 29
  7. Simplification of a complex part of grammar or not? 51
  8. Reducing phonological complexity and grammatical opaqueness 75
  9. Part II. Verbal morphology
  10. Verb allomorphy and the syntax of phases 99
  11. The invisible hand in creole genesis 115
  12. Complexification or regularization of paradigms 159
  13. Part III. Nominals
  14. The Mauritian Creole determiner system 173
  15. Demonstratives in Afrikaans and Cape Dutch Pidgin 201
  16. Part IV. The selection of features in complex morphology
  17. Contact, complexification and change in Mindanao Chabacano structure 223
  18. Morphosyntactic finiteness as increased complexity in a mixed negation system 243
  19. Contact language formation in evolutionary terms 265
  20. Part V. Evaluating simplification and complexification
  21. Economy, innovation and degrees of complexity in creole formation 293
  22. Competition and selection 317
  23. Complexity and the age of languages 345
  24. Part VI. Postscript
  25. Restructuring, hybridization, and complexity in language evolution 367
  26. Language index 401
  27. Subject index 405
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