Contact language formation in evolutionary terms
-
Umberto Ansaldo
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present a view of contact language formation in which language creation in multilingual ecologies follows the same principles as language maintenance in monolingual ecologies, i.e. selection and replication of features available to speakers in a given environment. In order to do so, I introduce the foundations underlying an evolutionary framework to contact language formation and the views they offer for our understanding of language contact and change. The view of grammar as an evolving system, I believe, can be best appreciated in a functional-typological theory of language. For this reason, I first introduce the basic functionalist, usage-based linguistic theories required for an evolutionary framework. I then synthesize a view on language contact and change in evolutionary terms based on Croft (2000, 2006a) and Mufwene (2001). Finally, I apply the views presented here to a case of contact language formation, namely the evolution of case markers in a variety of Sri Lanka Malay. These are particularly interesting as, from a classic or orthodox view, they might be seen as ‘complex’, ‘marked’ or at least ‘unexpected’ instances of contact-induced change. The evolutionary framework however can explain these as natural acts of linguistic replication in multilingual settings, thus avoiding exceptionalist explanations. Instead, an evolutionary framework offers an integration of socio-historical and functional-typological observation, something that our current approaches to language change still largely lack (Croft 2006b). Among the advantages of the framework applied here, as discussed in the concluding section, is the suggestion that overall structural complexity, however defined, does not change as a result of contact language formation: a new grammar is simply the result of a recombination of grammatical features of the input languages.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present a view of contact language formation in which language creation in multilingual ecologies follows the same principles as language maintenance in monolingual ecologies, i.e. selection and replication of features available to speakers in a given environment. In order to do so, I introduce the foundations underlying an evolutionary framework to contact language formation and the views they offer for our understanding of language contact and change. The view of grammar as an evolving system, I believe, can be best appreciated in a functional-typological theory of language. For this reason, I first introduce the basic functionalist, usage-based linguistic theories required for an evolutionary framework. I then synthesize a view on language contact and change in evolutionary terms based on Croft (2000, 2006a) and Mufwene (2001). Finally, I apply the views presented here to a case of contact language formation, namely the evolution of case markers in a variety of Sri Lanka Malay. These are particularly interesting as, from a classic or orthodox view, they might be seen as ‘complex’, ‘marked’ or at least ‘unexpected’ instances of contact-induced change. The evolutionary framework however can explain these as natural acts of linguistic replication in multilingual settings, thus avoiding exceptionalist explanations. Instead, an evolutionary framework offers an integration of socio-historical and functional-typological observation, something that our current approaches to language change still largely lack (Croft 2006b). Among the advantages of the framework applied here, as discussed in the concluding section, is the suggestion that overall structural complexity, however defined, does not change as a result of contact language formation: a new grammar is simply the result of a recombination of grammatical features of the input languages.
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
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
