Creole languages most often emerged in colonies located near the coasts of the. Whats the difference between a pidgin and a creole. This introduction to the linguistic study of pidgin and creole languages is clearly designed as an introductory course book. The pidgins and creoles in education pace newsletter. This lucid and theoryneutral introduction to the study of pidgins, creoles and mixed languages covers. A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. You most likely have heard of cajun which is a developed dialect of this creole. This introduction, written jointly by the creolists of the university of amsterdam. Research on pidgin and creole languages during the past decade has yielded an abundance of uncovered material and new insights. A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time. Pidgin english is a nonspecific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from english.
Pidgins, creoles and mixed languages john benjamins. The challenge posed by pidgins and creoles to the genetic model of historicalcomparative linguistics is explored more fully by these authors than by anyone else to date. How important is l1 acquisition in language change and pidgincreole genesis. Holm heard black nicaraguans along the caribbean coast speaking a non. A pidgin is a reduced language resulting from contact between groups with no common language, while a creole is a pidgin or jargon that has.
An introduction to pidgins and creoles is obviously intended to be a textbook for linguistics students, but the bulk of it is general enough to be of wider appeal. Pidgins and creoles encyclopedia of life support systems. The recent sociolinguistics and language teaching, edited by sandra lee mckay and nancy h. Other strong points are the extensive chapter on mixed languages, the many concise yet surprisingly rich language sketches, and the truly global coverage, encompassing the atlantic, the indian ocean, and the pacific worlds. Its also pedagogically very clever in providing exercises. Pidgin and creole languages published in the international encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences 2002 1. Introduction lingua franca pidgins pidginization creole creolization decreolization 3. Holm writes clearly and explains all technical terms, and his introduction assumes little. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language.
Viveka velupillai, pidgins, creoles and mixed languages. Unlike pidgins and creoles, mixed languages arise in contexts of community bilingualism where a shared language exists already, and usually where some identityrelated goalbeyond simple. This overview includes proposals that cast creoles as a type of languages, in which pidgins and creoles typically emerge i focus on bickerton, defining creole languages i should the definition of creole languages be restricted i a universalist perspective, e. The syntax of pidgins is assumed to be unstable, inconsistent, and subject to much variation, whereas in contrast, the syntax of creoles is. Palgrave macmillan, 1997 there are several possible fates for a pidgin. Pidginscreoles and historical linguistics the handbook of.
In the united states, there is a very well known creole, louisiana creole, which is derived from french and african languages. Those languages that do not appear in bakker 2009 have been marked with. Pidgins and creoles stages in the linguistic development. Contact languages 1 lingua francas 2 pidgins 3 creoles 4 stable mixed languages in order to make this classification as independent as possible from the social variables to be investigated, we define language changes in terms of the linguistic effects for an individual speaker or speakers, since they are the originators of a change. It outlines the origins and results of contactinduced language change, extreme language mixturewhich can produce creoles, pidgins, and bilingual mixed languages and language death.
Englishbased pidgins that became stable contact languages, and which have some documentation, include the following. With over 500 entries, it raises the question of whether the same criteria are applied here as in listing other languages around the world. Part i presents the theoretical background, with chapters devoted to the definition of terms, the sociohistorical settings, theories on. For instance, would different sociolects of what appear to be the. Diversity rather than unity is taken to be the central theme, and for the first time in an introduction to pidgins and creoles, the atlantic creoles. It is a contact language developed and used by people who do not share a common language in a given geographical area. It is used in a limited way and the structure is very simplistic. From the very start, it has been clear to creolists and historical linguists alike that creoles do not constitute a family of. While the concept is similar to that of a mixed or hybrid language, creoles are often characterized by a. Notable among creoles is haitian creole, which grew primarily from the interactions between french colonists and enslaved africans on haitis plantations.
It differs from a creole or pidgin language in that, whereas creolespidgins arise from populations trying to imitate a language in which they have no fluency, a mixed language arises in a population that is fluent in both of. In the third section we will discuss several study branches in this area, bringing. First languages arising in this way from artificially created pidgins are called creoles. The book is designed for students of courses with a focus on pidgins, creoles and mixed languages. Article pdf available november 2001 with 872 reads how we measure reads. The book is designed for students of courses with a focus on pidgins, creoles and mixed languages, as well as. They are new languages, shaped by many of the same linguistic forces that shaped english and other proper languages, he later wrote in an introduction to pidgins and creoles 2000. Social evolution and language change university of new.
Pidgins, creoles and mixed languages an introduction viveka velupillai legend 9. Ebook an introduction to pidgins and creoles as pdf download. In linguistics, what is the difference between pidgin and. This is the first introduction that consistently applies the findings of the atlas of pidgin and creole language structures and systematically includes extended pidgins and mixed languages in the discussion of each linguistic feature. The difference between pidgin and creole is a bit more subtle than you think. Are they genetically related to their source languages. These books represent the most systematic and comprehensive guide ever published to the worlds pidgins, creoles and mixed languages, designed, edited, and written by the worlds leading experts in the field.
Mixed languages that arrise as products of language shift without normal transmission. It outlines the origins and results of contactinduced language change, extreme language mixturewhich can produce creoles, pidgins, and bilingual mixed languagesand language death. Definition and examples of pidgins in language studies. Part i presents the theoretical background, with chapters devoted to the definition of terms, the sociohistorical settings, theories on the genesis of pidgins and creoles, as well as discussions on language. Chapter three is a sociolinguistic survey of the worlds creoles, with a brief introduction to a group of languages followed by a more detailed look at one example. Are pidgin genesis and creole genesis the same thing. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
However, from then 1672 until 1788 the slave trade was a cornerstone of english economic life. The term is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages relexification is not synonymous with lexical borrowing, by. Pidginscreoles and african american english arthur k. For instance, michif retains the complexities of its french nouns and its cree verbs. Most english creoles were formed in british colonies, following the great expansion of british naval military power and trade in the 17th. What we know about the history and origins of existing creoles suggests that this may happen at any stage in the development of a pidgin. While hitchhiking through mexico and central america as a teenager, mr. Its scholarly rigor and breadth is exemplary, as it provides no less than 45 language sketches. In linguistics, what is the difference between pidgin and creole. We will deal with the definition, discuss the precursors of studies in this area and after that, explain how englishbased pidgins and creoles were formed. This introduction to pidgins, creoles and mixed languages has raised the bar of introductory books to a new level. An introduction to pidgins and creoles cambridge textbooks in linguistics cambridge. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creoles. In addition to pidgins, mixed languages are treated in a separate chapter.
Pidgins and creoles stages in the linguistic development of pidgins and creoles felix staufer seminar paper american studies linguistics publish your bachelors. Introduction the contact languages that are commonly referred to as pidgins and creoles henceforth pc were not recognized as fullfledged languages until recently. The german philologist hugo schuchardt 1881, 1883 was the first to note the challenge of fitting creole languages in the genealogical tree that philologists had designed and which divided indoeuropean languages into distinct language families. The term is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages. It is one of haitis official languages the other being french. This lucid and theoryneutral introduction to the study of pidgins, creoles and mixed languages covers both theoretical and empirical issues pertinent to the field of contact linguistics. Pidgins are developed by people who do not have a common language to communicate in the same geographical area. The pidgin incorporates words from both source languages and has a. It does not demand a high level of previous linguistic knowledge. Velupillais comprehensive introduction sets new standards by taking the recent typological work on pidgins and creoles into account.
Do pidgins and creoles arise solely through ordinary processes of language change. Pidgins can turn into creoles when they have been used for a long time. In linguistics, relexification is a mechanism of language change by which one language changes much or all of its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with the lexicon of another language, without drastically changing the relexified languages grammar. This section should be quite thoughtprovoking for class discussions. There is a common assumption in the literature that there is a pidgincreole cycle, whereby pidgins are no ones first languages, whereas creoles are nativized and typically evolve from pidgins. The book is designed for students of courses with a focus on. An introduction to pidgins and creoles is, however, a survey of creoles with some suggestions as to theoretical implications, not an argument for a particular theoretical position. Most studies of pidgins and creoles pc have focused on their origins, despite an undeniable increase during the 1990s in the number of works on structural features. Pidginscreoles and historical linguistics the handbook. Hornberger cambridge university press, 1996, contains an excellent chapter on pidgins and creoles by patricia c. An englishbased creole language often shortened to english creole is a creole language for which english was the lexifier, meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of english served as the basis for the majority of the creoles lexicon. A simplified language derived from two or more languages is called a pidgin.
In the third section we will discuss several study branches in this area, bringing different hypotheses for the pidgins creoles formation. While the concept is similar to that of a mixed or hybrid language, creoles are often characterized by a tendency to systematize their inherited grammar. Theories of genesis constitute the core for presentation and discussion in the classroom, while part iii. Originally thought of as incomplete, broken, corrupt, not worthy of serious attention. When two or more people from different languages meet and tried to communicate, what should they do. Its also pedagogically very clever in providing exercises, key points and language snapshots that promise to be invaluable resources for both students and instructors alike. Such heavily mixed languages are thus inappropriate for genetic classification or reconstruction.
Pidgin languages pidgins are simplified languages that occur from two or more languages britannica, 2014. While creoles tend to have drastically simplified morphologies, mixed languages often retain the inflectional complexities of one, or both, of parent languages. The other minority languages that contribute to the pidgin are called the substrate languages. Spears 1 introduction this chapter deals with the relationship between african american english aae and atlantic creoles, including u. Ebook an introduction to pidgins and creoles as pdf. At first, youre just two languages who are sort of seeing each other. The chapter is a comprehensive but very accessible introduction to pcs and some of the educational issues concerning them, and. The book concludes with a brief survey of language endangerment.
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