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Language Contact: Lingua Franca, Pidgin, Creole

This document discusses language contact situations that can lead to the formation of pidgins and creoles. It defines a lingua franca as a common language used between groups with different native languages, and provides examples like English in various countries. Pidgins are simplified languages that develop for communication in trade or work environments. Over time, pidgins can become more standardized and used in more contexts, and some may become the first language of communities and be called creoles. Theories on the origins of creole grammatical structures are discussed. An example creole, Tok Pisin, is provided to illustrate its features. The process of decreolization is also summarized.

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100 views

Language Contact: Lingua Franca, Pidgin, Creole

This document discusses language contact situations that can lead to the formation of pidgins and creoles. It defines a lingua franca as a common language used between groups with different native languages, and provides examples like English in various countries. Pidgins are simplified languages that develop for communication in trade or work environments. Over time, pidgins can become more standardized and used in more contexts, and some may become the first language of communities and be called creoles. Theories on the origins of creole grammatical structures are discussed. An example creole, Tok Pisin, is provided to illustrate its features. The process of decreolization is also summarized.

Uploaded by

Byozde
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Language contact

Lingua franca, pidgin, creole


Lingua franca
• A common language that people who come from different language
backgrounds use in communication with each other.
• Examples: English in Nigeria, Singapore, India
• English for international business, science, technology, aviation,
maritime.
Pidgin
Some linguistic contact situations lead to formation of a pidgin, a
language stripped down to its essentials. They consist of a small set of
content words and very little grammatical complexity.

Trade situations (Australian Pidgin English, Chinese Pidgin Portuguese)

Plantations or other work environments where people with different


languages are brought together.
Pidgin
Pidgins tend to become Lingua francas because they develop in
response to a need for an LF typically for economic purposes.
Common features:
• Pidgins are formed when features of at least two languages combine
in such a way that
i) the language of the more powerful group provides the lexicon
lexifier /superstratum
ii) the language of the less powerful group provides the phonological,
morphological and syntactic components substratum
pidgins
• Pidgins are no one’s first language. Their users are multilinguals.
• Pidgins are language of business and trade, NOT of home and family
• Pidgins begin typically with a jargon phase.
• When they get more standard grammatical features with less
individual variation they reach stable pidgin phase.
• As they come to be used in more contexts, they reach the expanded
pidgin phase.
creole
A language variety that develops out of a pidgin in a language contact
situation.
• Spoken as a first language of some speakers
• Used in an entire set of social settings
Ex: Bajan (Barbadian English), Haitian creole, Tok Pisin (New Guinea),
Jamaican creole
Origins of creoles
• Worldwide pidgins share many grammatical similarities despite developing
from different lexifier languages in different contexts.
Two theories:
i) Proto-Pidgin (a west African Language, spread by traders and slaves)
Relexification hypothesis

ii) Many similarities happen when the language is acquired by children.


All children have access to an innate biological program that leads them to
restructure the input of Pidgin in the same way
Language bioprogram hypothesis
Creole example: Tok Pisin
Gras mousgras gras bilong fes

Tu buk di gyal place buk bilong yu

Baimbai hed bilongyu i-arrait gain


By and by head belong you be-allright again
‘your head will soon get well again’
creoles
With the passage of time, creoles end up co-existing with a variety of their lexifier language.
In contrast to creolization process, now, the speakers who have grreater contact with a
standard variety of the language through e.g. education, refrain from using creole.
Where education and greater social prestige are associated with a " higher" variety, a number
of speakers will tend to use fewer creole forms and structures
 decreolization

Multiple levels of creole can develop  post-creole continuum


• Basilect: Most creole like variety "a fi mi buk dat"
• Mesolect: intermediate variety between basilect and acrolect "is mi buk"
• Acrolect: the least creole like or most standard / prestigious variety "it’s my book"

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