Foundings and futures
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Lisa Lim
Abstract
This chapter contemplates the positioning of the Peranakans (also known as Straits-born Chinese or Babas) – descendants of southern Chinese seafaring traders to the Malay archipelago who married local women, and settled in the region – across different eras and ecologies. We provide a critical digest of the contribution of scholarship on the Peranakans to Creole studies, World Englishes, and language endangerment – including a consideration of the Founder Principle in the ecology paradigm, as underscored by Mufwene, in establishing the Peranakans’ role as early adopters in the spread and evolution of English in the region. We examine sociological and communicative factors in their language practices in local, transnational, and digital ecologies, highlighting issues of postvernacular practice, authenticity indexing, and identity branding.
Abstract
This chapter contemplates the positioning of the Peranakans (also known as Straits-born Chinese or Babas) – descendants of southern Chinese seafaring traders to the Malay archipelago who married local women, and settled in the region – across different eras and ecologies. We provide a critical digest of the contribution of scholarship on the Peranakans to Creole studies, World Englishes, and language endangerment – including a consideration of the Founder Principle in the ecology paradigm, as underscored by Mufwene, in establishing the Peranakans’ role as early adopters in the spread and evolution of English in the region. We examine sociological and communicative factors in their language practices in local, transnational, and digital ecologies, highlighting issues of postvernacular practice, authenticity indexing, and identity branding.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Acronyms and glosses ix
- Portrait of Salikoko S. Mufwene xiv
- Introduction 1
- A sociolinguistic typology for languages in contact 23
- A local history of Tok Pisin 57
- Conventionalized creativity in the emergence of a mixed language – A case study of Light Warlpiri 81
- Acquisition or shift? 105
- Substrate influence in Northern Quechua languages 133
- Coordination in the Suriname Creoles 161
- Reflections on Darwin’s natural selection 191
- Building grammar in the early stages of development of French Creoles 211
- Foundings and futures 243
- Detecting loan words computationally 269
- Learnability and ecological factors as motivators of language change 289
- The restructuring of Salikoko Mufwene through competition and selection 307
- Language Index 327
- Subject Index 329
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Acronyms and glosses ix
- Portrait of Salikoko S. Mufwene xiv
- Introduction 1
- A sociolinguistic typology for languages in contact 23
- A local history of Tok Pisin 57
- Conventionalized creativity in the emergence of a mixed language – A case study of Light Warlpiri 81
- Acquisition or shift? 105
- Substrate influence in Northern Quechua languages 133
- Coordination in the Suriname Creoles 161
- Reflections on Darwin’s natural selection 191
- Building grammar in the early stages of development of French Creoles 211
- Foundings and futures 243
- Detecting loan words computationally 269
- Learnability and ecological factors as motivators of language change 289
- The restructuring of Salikoko Mufwene through competition and selection 307
- Language Index 327
- Subject Index 329
