The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process
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Silvia Kouwenberg
Abstract
This paper will take as its starting point Singler’s views on the role of children in creole genesis, which include the idea that children are regularizers rather than innovators, that they may have contributed lexifier properties, and that their potential as contributors to creole genesis is greatest at the time of a colony’s transition to sugar monoculture. I will consider the relevance of these ideas for an account of the development of Berbice Dutch, a creole lexified by Dutch and Eastern Ịjọ, now extinct. I will argue that children were mainly responsible for its development, that the early introduction of sugar assisted their role, and that children may have innovated mixed structures partially modelled on both the lexifier and the substrate.
Abstract
This paper will take as its starting point Singler’s views on the role of children in creole genesis, which include the idea that children are regularizers rather than innovators, that they may have contributed lexifier properties, and that their potential as contributors to creole genesis is greatest at the time of a colony’s transition to sugar monoculture. I will consider the relevance of these ideas for an account of the development of Berbice Dutch, a creole lexified by Dutch and Eastern Ịjọ, now extinct. I will argue that children were mainly responsible for its development, that the early introduction of sugar assisted their role, and that children may have innovated mixed structures partially modelled on both the lexifier and the substrate.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact
- Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar 23
- The African diaspora in Latin America 49
- The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process 79
- Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? 101
- Bahamian Creole English 123
- Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora 145
- Historical separations 177
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Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact
- Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure 203
- Unity in diversity 225
- Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss 251
- Number marking in Jamaican Patwa 275
- Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus 305
- Pidginization versus second language acquisition 323
- Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo 343
- Author index 363
- Language index 365
- Subject index 367
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact
- Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar 23
- The African diaspora in Latin America 49
- The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process 79
- Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? 101
- Bahamian Creole English 123
- Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora 145
- Historical separations 177
-
Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact
- Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure 203
- Unity in diversity 225
- Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss 251
- Number marking in Jamaican Patwa 275
- Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus 305
- Pidginization versus second language acquisition 323
- Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo 343
- Author index 363
- Language index 365
- Subject index 367
