Wardhaugh CH 3

LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011
Slide 1 Wardhaugh Ch 3
Contact linguistics – when languages come into contact
Pidgin – a language created by people to communicate (usually for

commerce). Usually uses the lexical items from the dominant language
(superstrate) (colonizing language like English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish,
French) and uses other aspects of grammar from the native languages where
the pidgin occurs (substrate languages). Always acquired as a second
language, and is relatively transparent and simplistic. Where pidgins are used
are limited – usually in the marketplace.
Creole – the development of a pidgin when spoken as a first/native

language by children. At this point, the language becomes more complex as it
evolves. The use of creoles are expanded to all aspects of social life (at home,
in the church, as well as in the marketplace).
Lingua Franca = a common language that speakers use to communicate

Greek koine, vulgar Latin, Chinook jargon, English today
Pidgin = a contact language that does not have native speakers (can
serve as a lingua franca).
Social and cultural phenomenon - product of multilingual contact
3 or more languages usually make up a pidgin
Need social difference (1 lang more dominant - usually used as lexifier
(where the words come from))
Very negative reactions to pidgin as lesser variety of the dominant
(superstrate) language
Used for limited reasons - usually for trade - not used in all aspects of
life
Pidgin involves a more transparent lang system - simplified syntax,
morphological and phonological structure
Ch 3 - Pidgins and Creoles

Creole = when a pidgin has advanced and becomes the first language of
speakers it is a creole
Some (Tok Pisin and Nigerian Pidgin Eng) exist as both a pidgin and
creole at the same time
Creole is more complex with expansion of morphology and syntax
including irregular forms as well as increase in number of functions
language is used for (to talk to family members as well as trade)
Ch 3 - Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgins and Creoles are socially created languages - usually around the
slave trade.
English, Dutch, Portuguese, French and Spanish are the most common
pidgin/creole bases
These are not simply L2 varieties of these languages, but really different
languages - you would have to learn as if you were to learn Icelandic
See discussion on p. 66 for Tok Pisin examples
Pidgins and Creoles

Solomon Islands Pidjin
2. Steretwe taem Jisas i go soa, 2. When he had stepped out of the boat,
wanfela man wea i stap long berigiraon i kamaot fo immediately a man out of the tombs met him.
mitim hem.
Desfala man ia devol nogud i stap long hem. This man was possessed by an unclean spirit.
3. Ples bulong hem nao long berigiraon. 3. He lived in the cemetery;
Bikos hem i karangge tumas, and no-one could restrain him any more, even with
chains,
no man i save taemapim. because he was too strong.
4. Plande taem olketa i hankapem han an lek 4. For he had often been restrained with
bulong hem, shackles and chains on his arms and legs,
bat hem i smasing olketa nomoa. but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he
broke in pieces,
No man i storong fitim fo holem. and no one had the strength to subdue him.
Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgin Creole
Contact language that arose naturally Yes Yes

Has native speakers Not usually Always
Linguistic form and grammar are... Reduced* Expanded*
Restricted in contexts of use Yes No
Stable and independent norms No Yes
Fully adequate natural language No Yes
Pidgins/creoles with same European lexifier language are somewhat

mutually intelligible
Some consider them to be this way because they are just dumbed-down
version of that language (not the best explanation)
Polygenesis - similarities arise from shared circumstances of creation,
but the many pidgins/creoles come from many different sources
Maybe they are similar due to the same substrate (the native languages
that the p/c is based on)
Monogenetic theories of origin - all from one source (all from one P/C
and variation has occurred in different regions)
Relexified single source - all from one pidgin and each modern pidgin
has just put in new words into the same structure using whatever
European language was in contact
P/Cs have often similar grammatical structure but different vocabularies
Bickerton - Language Bioprogram hypothesis - universal principles of

first lang acquisition are involved
Creoles are the clearest and most pure forms of language that represent
innate language abilities since there is no current model to choose from
Not all pidgins become creoles! Some die out

Tok Pisin example - acquired as first language and expanded linguistic
forms (p. 75)
As a sign of the new culture - became a language of identity
Used in many domains - government, religion, education
Reduction and assimilation in phonetics are found in creole (not so
much in pidgin)
Because we know the origins of a creole is how we know it is any
different than any other language
A continuum may form if there is continual contact with lexifier

language
Decreolization when some varieties of the creole develop more toward
the lexifier language (look more like English for example)
Jamaican situation is this continuum (See Table 3.1 on page 82)
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/pijcreol/continuum.html
Diglossic situation = 2 varieties are kept socially and functionally apart
(can be true of bilingual situations too) with one being more prestigious
than the other (Haiti)
Jamaica has changed and Jamaican Creole has been gaining covert
prestige
Creoles show the same relationship between standard and non-standard

varieties of the same language - correct vs. pleasant perceptual diffs

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LING 432-532 – Sociolinguistics – Spring 2011

Contact linguistics – when languages come into contact

Pidgin – a language created by people to communicate (usually for

Creole – the development of a pidgin when spoken as a first/native

Lingua Franca = a common language that speakers use to communicate

Ch 3 - Pidgins and Creoles

Ch 3 - Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgins and Creoles

Contact language that arose naturally Yes Yes

Pidgins/creoles with same European lexifier language are somewhat

Bickerton - Language Bioprogram hypothesis - universal principles of

Not all pidgins become creoles! Some die out

A continuum may form if there is continual contact with lexifier

Creoles show the same relationship between standard and non-standard

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