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Pidgins and Creoles
Pidgins and Creoles
A pidgin is a contact language that
developed in a situation where speakers of
different languages need a language to
communicate.
A pidgin becomes a creole when it is
adopted as the native language of a
speech community.
Creoles in the Caribbean
Superstrate and substrate
languages
Superstrate language
Provides the bulk of the vocabulary and is
more prestigeous. (also called the ‘lexifier
language’)
Substrate languages
Provide a few words but may have
significant influence on the grammatical
structure.
Pidgin and creole studies
Pidgin and creole languages have been
studied extensively in linguistics:
1. Sociolinguistic aspects
2. Grammaticalization
3. The innateness hypothesis
Butler English
Butler English is a pidgin language
spoken in India. The language emerged
when Indian servants had to find a way to
communicate with their English masters.
It is still spoken in hotels, clubs, and
households.
Butler English
1. Omission of grammatical morphemes
(1) Because ball is going nearly 200 yards.
(2) Members hitting ball.
2. No inflectional morphology
(1) two spoon coffee
(2) Master like it.
Butler English
3. Me vs. I
Me not drinking madam
4. Extensive use of progressive verb forms
and putting masala and
5. No copula
That the garden.
Butler English
6. Negation without auxiliary
then I not worry
No water add.
7. ‘No’ (or ‘eh’) is used as a general tag-question
English-speaking sabih is all gone, no?
He nice, eh?
PNG - Tok Pisin
Melanesian Pidgin
Tok Pisin
Papua New Guinea
Bislama
Vanuatu
Pijin
Solomon Islands
Papua New Guinea
Independence
1975
Tok Pisin Newspaper
Wantok
Papua New Guinea
Urban centers
Creolisation
In urban centers, the children of mixed couples
learn Tok Pisin as their first language.
Thus, Tok Pisin is changing from an ‘extended
pidgin’ to a creole language.
Tok Pisin - Vocabulary
spak
nogut
baimbai
sekan
kilim
pisin
gras
(‘spark’)
(‘no good’)
(‘by and by’)
(‘shake hands’)
(‘kill him’)
(‘pigeon’)
(‘grass’)
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
drunk
bad
soon
to make peace
to kill /hit /beat
bird / pidgin
gras /hair /fur
Tok Pisin – Word Formation
gras
=
gras/hair/fur
mausgras
=
moustache
gras bilong hed
‘grass belong head’
=
hair
gras belong fes
‘grass belong face
=
beard
gras belong pisin
‘grass belong bird’
=
feathers
gras antap long ai
‘grass on top of long eye’
=
eyebrow
Tok Pisin – Word Formation
man bilong save
‘man belong know’
> saveman ‘expert’
Tok Pisin - Vocabulary
Tolai
lapun
kumul
palai
old
bird of paradise
lizard
Malay
binatang
lombo
sayor
insect
chilli
vegetable leaf
Tok Pisin - Vocabulary
German
gumi
beten
raus
bros
rubber
pray
get out
chest
Tok Pisin
PNG - Tok Pisin
Melanesian Pidgin
Tok Pisin
Papua New Guinea
Bislama
Vanuatu
Pijin
Solomon Islands
Tok Pisin
Superstrate language:
English
Substrate language:
Austronesian and Papuan languages
Tok Pisin Vocabulary
The bulk of the vocabulary comes from English
(i.e. the superstrate language).
In addition, Tok Pisin includes words from
various Austronesian and Papuan languages
(e.g. Tolai, Malay).
Finally, Tok Pisin includes some words of
German origin (e.g. gumi, beten, raus)
Tok Pisin – Word Formation
gras
=
gras/hair/fur
mausgras
=
moustache
gras bilong hed
‘grass belong head’
=
hair
gras belong fes
‘grass belong face
=
beard
gras antap long ai
‘grass on top of long eye’
=
eyebrow
Plural marker
‘spines’
(1)
nil nil
needle needle
(2)
SG
yu
bik haus
PL
yu-pela
bik-pela haus
-pela
‘fellow’
(3)
SG
man
PL
ol man
ol
‘all’
Pronouns
em
yu
yutupela
yutripela
yupela
he / she / it
him / her / it
you
you two
you three
you all
SUBJ
OBJ
SG
DUAL
TRIAL
PL
Causative/transitive marker
(1)
Em i rit
Em i ritim buk
‘He is reading.’
‘He’s reading a book.’
(2)
Wara i boil pinis
Meri i boilim wara pinis
‘The water has boiled.’
‘The woman has boiled
the water.’
(3)
Bai mi rait.
Bai i raitim pas.
‘I’ll write.’
‘I’ll write a letter.’
make him
boil him
>
>
makim
tellim
Predicative Marker
mi kam
yu kam
em i kam
Tom i wok
‘I come’
‘You come’
‘He/she comes’
‘Tom works’
(1)
a.
b.
c.
d.
(2)
The man, he talked to the woman.
Qustion Words
Tok Pisin
wanem
husat
‘what name’
‘who’s that’
=
=
‘what/which’
‘who’
=
=
‘where’
‘why’
=
‘what’
Guyanese Creole
wisaid
wa mek
‘which side’
‘what makes’
Cameroon Creole
wetin
‘what thing’
Word Order
(1)
mi
kukim
rais.
I
cook
rice
‘I cooked the rice.’
Complex Sentences
(1)
Mi no save. Ol I wokim dispela haus.
I don’t know (that) they work in this house.
(2)
Mi no save olsem ol i wokim dispela haus.
‘I didn’t know that they built this house.’
Relative clauses
(1)
Stereo ia mitla putim lo kout ia, em no lukim.
‘The stereo which we put in the coat he didn’t
see.’
(2)
ia:
(3)
[[tree] here] [that has leaves] here]]
here > the > REL
Verb Phrase in Krio
a bin rait
‘I wrote’
a de rait
‘I am writing’
a bin de rait
‘I was writing’
a don rait
‘I have written’
a bin don rait
‘I had written’
a bin don de rait
‘I had been writing’
Verb Phrase in Krio
bin
de
don
=
=
=
PAST
PROGRESSIVE
PERFECT
Future
(1)
em
He/she
bai
will
kam
come
‘He/she will come’
bai
‘by and by’
Past
(1)
Em
bin
He/she
PASTsay
‘He/she said …
Bin
‛been’
tok
Immediate Future
(1)
em
i
laik
go long gaden
(S)he P is about to go to the garden
‘He/she is about to go to the garden.’
laik
‛like’
Perfect
(1)
mi
kukim
pinis
I
cook
COMPLETE
‘I have cooked it.’
pinis
‛finish’
Habitual marker
(1)
Miplea sa
harim ol
We
HAB hear
PL
‘We heard the guns firing.’
sa ‛save’
> ‛know’ >
gan i pairap.
gun P fire
Habitual
Continuous marker
(1)
ol
i
wokabout i stap.
They P
walk
CONT
‘They were walking.’
i stap
???
How does a pidgin language develop
grammatical expressions?
What drives the process of creolisation?
The Bioprogram Hypothesis
The human species comes equipped… with
the capacity to reconstitute language itself should the normal generation-to-generation
transmission of input data be inserted or
distorted by extralinguistic forces.
(Muysken & Bickerton 1988)
Grammaticalization
Source
Target: AUX
go (motion)
gonna
will (intention)
will
have (possession)
have
Grammaticalization
Source
Target: P
during (verb)
during
in front of (PP)
in front of
a-gone (PRE-verb)
ago
Grammaticalization
Source
Target: CONJ
by cause (PP)
because
DEM while SUB
while
given
given
Grammaticalization
Source
Target: PRO/ART
some body (NP)
somebody
one (numeral)
the one
one (numeral)
a
Grammaticalization
Source
Target: Bound
NOUN
-ly
NOUN
-hood
did
-ed
Grammaticalization
Grammaticalization is cross-linguistically
so pervasive that some linguists suggested
that all grammatical expressions are
eventually derived from a lexical source.
Grammaticalization
Grammaticalization is of central signifiance for
the theory of language:
1. Challenges rigid division between lexicon
and grammar.
1. Challenges the assumption that grammatical
categories have clear-cut boundaries.
1. Suggests that grammar is dynamic and
emergent.
African American English
African American English
The origin of AAE
1.
Pidgin/creole
2.
Second language of a particular
variety of English spoken in the
South.
The African Substratum Hypothesis
Since the first slaves spoke a variety of
African languages and since they had only
little contact with their white masters, they
used a simplified version of English with
elements of their native language as a lingua
france. AAE developed from this early
pidgin/creole language.
The English Origin Hypothesis
When the first African slaves where brought to
America, they gave up their African languages
and learned the English variety that was
spoken at that time in the south. According to
this hypothesis, AAE shows many linguistic
features of this substandard variety of southern
American English, which explains why AAE and
the southern variety of white American English
are relatively similar.
African American English
Until the beginning
of the 20th century,
90% of all African
American lived in
the South, mainly in
rural areas.
African American English
Today, more
than 60% of
all African
Americans live
in the nonSouth, mainly
in urban
centers.
LSA resolution
The variety known as "Ebonics," "African American
Vernacular English" (AAVE), and "Vernacular Black
English" and by other names is systematic and rulegoverned like all natural speech varieties. In fact, all
human linguistic systems--spoken, signed, and
written -- are fundamentally regular. …
Characterizations of Ebonics as "slang," "mutant,"
"lazy," "defective," "ungrammatical," or "broken
English" are incorrect and demeaning.
LSA resolution
As affirmed in the LSA Statement of Language
Rights (June l996), there are individual and group
benefits to maintaining vernacular speech varieties
and there are scientific and human advantages to
linguistic diversity. For those living in the United
States there are also benefits in acquiring Standard
English and resources should be made available to
all who aspire the mastery of Standard English. The
Oakland School Board's commitment to helping
students master Standard English is commendable.
Phonology - AAE
(1)
[wes said]
[kol k@ts]
(2)
[brn maI h{n]
[mEs öp]
(3)
[het@d]
[SaUt@d]
‘west side’
‘cold cuts’
‘burned my hand’
‘messed up’
‘hated’
‘shouted’
Phonology - AAE
(3)
[de]
[d@]
[d{t]
(4)
[nöfn]
[Of@r]
[rUf]
[saUf]
‘they’
‘the’
‘that’
‘nothing’
‘author’
‘Ruth’
‘south’
Phonology - AAE
(5)
[hEp]
[ro]
[skuw]
[fUbOw]
(6)
[{ks]
[gr{ps]
‘help’
‘roll’
‘school’
‘football’
‘ask’
‘grasp’
Agreement - AAE
(1)
He need to get a book from the shelf.
She want us to pass the papers to the front.
Genitive - AAE
(1)
The dog tail was wagging.
The man hat was old.
Copula deletion - AAE
(1)
That my Ø bike.
The coffee Ø cold.
He Ø all right.
Habitual ‚be‘ - AAE
(1)
Do they be playing all day?
Yeah, the boys do be messin’ around a lot.
I see her when I be on my way to school.
The coffee be cold.
(2)
a.
b.
(3)
*The coffee be cold right now.
The coffee cold.
The coffee be cold.
Perfective ‚done‘ - AAE
(1)
She done did it.
They done used all the good ones.
They done go.
Negative inversion - AAE
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Can’t nobody beat’em.
Don’t nobody say nothin’ to dem peoples!
Wasn’t nobody in there but em an’ him.
Ain’t no white cop gonna put his hands on
me.
Double negation - AAE
(2)
I ain’t go yesterday.
I didn’t have no lunch.
He don’t never go nowhere.
This is the end.