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The myth of the mixed languages

  • Kees Versteegh
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Advances in Maltese Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Advances in Maltese Linguistics

Abstract

This paper focuses on the usefulness of the label ‘mixed languages’ as an analytical tool. Section 1 sketches the emergence of the biological paradigm in linguistics and its effect on the contemporary debate about mixed languages. Sections 2 and 3 discuss two processes that have been held responsible for the emergence of mixed languages, code-switching and extreme borrowing. Section 4 compares these two mechanisms with the categories of change in Thomason & Kaufman (1988), while Section 5 offers some conclusions about the status of mixed languages as a special category.

Abstract

This paper focuses on the usefulness of the label ‘mixed languages’ as an analytical tool. Section 1 sketches the emergence of the biological paradigm in linguistics and its effect on the contemporary debate about mixed languages. Sections 2 and 3 discuss two processes that have been held responsible for the emergence of mixed languages, code-switching and extreme borrowing. Section 4 compares these two mechanisms with the categories of change in Thomason & Kaufman (1988), while Section 5 offers some conclusions about the status of mixed languages as a special category.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Maltese linguistics: What is new? vii
  4. Part 1: New looks into the past
  5. On the phonology of Sicilian Arabic and early Maltese 3
  6. Aspects of the comparison between Maltese, Mediterranean Lingua Franca and the Occitan-Catalan linguistic group (13th–15th centuries) 39
  7. Part 2: Maltese, and just Maltese
  8. Modifiers and complements within the Maltese verb sequence 67
  9. Focus particles in Maltese: A corpus survey 87
  10. On prepositional ellipsis and the factors which block its application in Maltese 121
  11. Part 3: Beyond Maltese, now and then
  12. Verbal negation with muš in Maltese and Eastern Mediterranean Arabics 151
  13. Maltese kiteb vs. Tunisian (Sūsa) ktib 173
  14. The phonetic study of speakers along the Maltese-English continuum 193
  15. The visibility and salience of Maltese in bilingual Malta’s linguistic landscape 225
  16. The myth of the mixed languages 245
  17. Index of Authors 267
  18. Index of Languages 271
  19. Index of Subjects 273
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110565744-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Maltese linguistics: What is new? vii
  4. Part 1: New looks into the past
  5. On the phonology of Sicilian Arabic and early Maltese 3
  6. Aspects of the comparison between Maltese, Mediterranean Lingua Franca and the Occitan-Catalan linguistic group (13th–15th centuries) 39
  7. Part 2: Maltese, and just Maltese
  8. Modifiers and complements within the Maltese verb sequence 67
  9. Focus particles in Maltese: A corpus survey 87
  10. On prepositional ellipsis and the factors which block its application in Maltese 121
  11. Part 3: Beyond Maltese, now and then
  12. Verbal negation with muš in Maltese and Eastern Mediterranean Arabics 151
  13. Maltese kiteb vs. Tunisian (Sūsa) ktib 173
  14. The phonetic study of speakers along the Maltese-English continuum 193
  15. The visibility and salience of Maltese in bilingual Malta’s linguistic landscape 225
  16. The myth of the mixed languages 245
  17. Index of Authors 267
  18. Index of Languages 271
  19. Index of Subjects 273
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