The interplay of relexification and levelling in creole genesis and development
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4849560 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Claire Lefebvre (0000-0001-6299-7887, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2001 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2001-01-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0024-3949 • E-ISSN: 1613-396X |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/ling.2001.015 |
| OpenAlex | W2066175356 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 7 |
This paper bears on the relationship between relexification and levelling, two processes that play a role in Creole genesis and development. It is a well-documented fact that situations where creoles develop involve several substratum languages and one (or at least one major) superstratum language. Relexification of several substratum languages on the basis of a single/major superstratum language provides the creole community with a common lexicon, hence a common language. As a mental/cognitive process, relexification is an individual process. Consequently through relexification, the specificities of the various substratum languages are reproduced in the incipient creole, thus creating what might be referred to as different dialects of the new language. Relexification of several substratum languages, on the basis of a single superstratum language, can be viewed as the major source of variation in an incipient creole. This provides a sound explanation for the fact that different substratum languages may contribute different features to a particular creole. Dialect levelling, as discussed in the literature on dialects in contact, refers to the reduction of variation between dialects of the same language, in situations where these dialects are brought together. On the basis of three sets of data from Haitian creole, it is shown that, in creole development, dialect levelling operates on the output of relexification. The role of levelling in creole genesis and development accounts for the fact that the properties of some specific lexical entries of the creole may depart from those of the corresponding lexical entries in the individual substratum languages
Cartography · Creole language · Geography · Levelling · Linguistics · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · French Language Learning Methods · History · Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies · Philosophy
Dutch and English demonstratives
The space and time adverbials nan/can in Hausa
Binding domains in Haitian
On two asymmetrical uses of the demonstrative determiners in English
The role of deictics in discourse coherence
The Homogeneity of the Substrate as a Factor in Pidgin/Creole Genesis
Cognitive Status and the Form of Referring Expressions in Discourse
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 2005 - 2015 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |