The Complex of Creole Typological Features: the Case of Mauritian Creole
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The Case of Nominal Plural Marking in Zamboanga Chabacano
Language Documentation & Conservation Special Publication No. 19 Documentation and Maintenance of Contact Languages from South Asia to East Asia ed. by Mário Pinharanda-Nunes & Hugo C. Cardoso, pp.141–173 http:/nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/sp19 4 http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24908 Documenting online writing practices: The case of nominal plural marking in Zamboanga Chabacano Eduardo Tobar Delgado Universidade de Vigo Abstract The emergence of computer-mediated communication has brought about new opportunities for both speakers and researchers of minority or under-described languages. This paper shows how the analysis of spontaneous contemporary language samples from online social networks can make a contribution to the documentation and description of languages like Chabacano, a Spanish-derived creole spoken in the Philippines. More specifically, we focus on nominal plural marking in the Zamboangueño variety, a still imperfectly understood feature, by examining a corpus composed of texts from online sources. The attested combination of innovative and vestigial features requires a close look at the high contact environment, different levels of metalinguistic awareness or even some language ideologies. The findings shed light on the wide variety of plural formation strategies which resulted from the contact of Spanish with Philippine languages. Possible triggers, such as animacy, definiteness or specificity, are also examined and some future research areas suggested. Keywords: nominal plural marking, Zamboangueño Chabacano, number, creole languages Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 142 Eduardo Tobar Delgado 1. Introduction1 Zamboanga Chabacano (also known as Zamboangueño or Chavacano) is one of the three extant varieties of Philippine Creole Spanish or Chabacano and totals around 500,000 speakers in and around Zamboanga City in the Southern Philippines. -
Making Sense of "Bad English"
MAKING SENSE OF “BAD ENGLISH” Why is it that some ways of using English are considered “good” and others are considered “bad”? Why are certain forms of language termed elegant, eloquent, or refined, whereas others are deemed uneducated, coarse, or inappropriate? Making Sense of “Bad English” is an accessible introduction to attitudes and ideologies towards the use of English in different settings around the world. Outlining how perceptions about what constitutes “good” and “bad” English have been shaped, this book shows how these principles are based on social factors rather than linguistic issues and highlights some of the real-life consequences of these perceptions. Features include: • an overview of attitudes towards English and how they came about, as well as real-life consequences and benefits of using “bad” English; • explicit links between different English language systems, including child’s English, English as a lingua franca, African American English, Singlish, and New Delhi English; • examples taken from classic names in the field of sociolinguistics, including Labov, Trudgill, Baugh, and Lambert, as well as rising stars and more recent cutting-edge research; • links to relevant social parallels, including cultural outputs such as holiday myths, to help readers engage in a new way with the notion of Standard English; • supporting online material for students which features worksheets, links to audio and news files, further examples and discussion questions, and background on key issues from the book. Making Sense of “Bad English” provides an engaging and thought-provoking overview of this topic and is essential reading for any student studying sociolinguistics within a global setting. -
A Discrete Co-Systems Approach to Language Variation on the Panamanian Island of Bastimentos
University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics Volume 7 Issue 3 Papers from NWAV 29 Article 20 2001 A Discrete Co-Systems Approach to Language Variation on the Panamanian Island of Bastimentos Peter Snow Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl Recommended Citation Snow, Peter (2001) "A Discrete Co-Systems Approach to Language Variation on the Panamanian Island of Bastimentos," University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 7 : Iss. 3 , Article 20. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol7/iss3/20 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol7/iss3/20 For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Discrete Co-Systems Approach to Language Variation on the Panamanian Island of Bastimentos This working paper is available in University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol7/iss3/20 A Discrete Co-Systems Approach to Language Variation on the Panamanian Island of Bastimentos 1 Peter Snow 1 Introduction In its ideal form, the phenomenon of the creole continuum as originally described by DeCamp (1971) and Bickerton (1973) may be understood as a result of the process of decreolization that occurs wherever a creole is in direct contact with its lexifier. This contact between creole languages and the languages that provide the majority of their lexicons leads to synchronic variation in the form of a continuum that reflects the unidirectional process of decreolization. The resulting continuum of varieties ranges from the "basilect" (most markedly creole), through intermediate "mesolectal" varie ties (less markedly creole), to the "acrolect" (least markedly creole or the lexifier language itself). -
Describing Creole: Researcher Perspectives on Endangerment and Multilingualism in the Chabacano Communities
Describing creole: researcher perspectives on endangerment and multilingualism in the Chabacano communities Eeva Sippola University of Helsinki This paper discusses perspectives on language description and endangerment in creole communities, with a special focus on Chabacano-speaking communities in the Philippines. I will show how, from the early days of research on these varieties, linguists with an interest in Chabacano often present the varieties under study as endangered in a moribund state or aim to describe a ‘pure’ Chabacano system without Philippine or English influences, silencing a great deal of the daily multilingualism and hybrid language practices that have always been present in the communities. In general, this paper sheds light on the complex dynamics of discourses on endangerment and authenticity in research about multilingual communities. It also contributes to the discussion on how these types of contexts challenge common Western assumptions about language loss and on authenticity in multilingual communities. Keywords: Chabacano, linguistic research, ideology, authenticity, multilingual communities. 1. Introduction This paper examines practices and ideologies of language description and documentation in the Chabacano-speaking communities in the Philippines. Chabacano is the common name used for creole varieties that have Spanish as the lexifier and Philippine languages as the adstrates and that have historically been spoken in several locations in the Philippines. There is documentation of varieties in Zamboanga, Cotabato, and Davao in Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and in the Ermita district of Manila, Cavite City, and Ternate in the Manila Bay region of the northern island of Luzon. They are for the most part mutually intelligible, but there are sociohistorical circumstances and linguistic differences that distinguish them (Lesho & Sippola 2013, 2014). -
Contact Languages Around the World and Their Levels of Endangerment
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Vol. 12 (2018), pp. 53–79 http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc http://hdl.handle.net/10125/24764 Revised Version Received: 23 Jan 2017 Contact languages around the world and their levels of endangerment Nala H. Lee National University of Singapore This paper provides an up-to-date report on the vitality or endangerment status of contact languages around the world, including pidgins, creoles, and mixed lan- guages. By utilizing information featured in the Endangered Languages Project and the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Languages online portals, 96 contact languages are assessed on the Language Endangerment Index, a method of assessment that is based on four factors including intergenerational transmission, absolute num- ber of speakers, speaker number trends, and domains of use. Results show that the contact languages are most at risk with respect to intergenerational transmis- sion and domains of use. This is explained by the social and historical nature of contact languages. Overall results further raise the concern that the proportion of pidgins, creoles and mixed languages at some level of risk is extremely high. Rea- sons are provided for why linguists should be concerned about the endangerment of these languages. 1. Introduction1 While the language endangerment problem has been generally well- highlighted in linguistics, the endangerment of contact languages has not received the same level of attention. Krauss (1992) postulates that at least half and possibly as much as 90% of the world’s languages will no longer be spoken by the end of the present century, while a more recent empirical study estimates a slightly less catas- trophic rate of loss, at one language every three months (Campbell et al. -
Nominal Contact in Michif. by Carrie Gillon and Nicole Rosen , with Verna De - Montigny
806 LANGUAGE, VOLUME 9 5, NUMBER 4 (201 9) Corbett, Greville G. 2009. Canonical inflection classes. Selected proceedings of the 6th Décembrettes , ed. by Fabio Montermini, Gilles Boyé, and Jessie Tseng, 1–11. Online: http://www.lingref.com/cpp/decemb /6/paper2231.pdf . Dahl, Östen . 2004. The growth and maintenance of linguistic complexity . Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Harley, Heidi. 2008. When is a syncretism more than a syncretism? Impoverishment, metasyncretism, and underspecification. Phi theory: Phi-features across modules and interfaces , ed. by Daniel Harbour, David Adger, and Susana Béjar, 251–94. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Parker, Jeff, and Andrea D. Sims. 2020. Irregularity, paradigmatic layers, and the complexity of inflection class systems: A study of Russian nouns. Morphological complexities , ed. by Peter Arkadiev and Francesco Gardani. Oxford: Oxford University Press, to appear. Sagot, Benoît, and Géraldine Walther. 2011 . Non-canonical inflection: Data, formalisation and com - plexity measures. SFCM 2011: The second workshop on Systems and Frameworks for Computational Morphology , ed. by Cerstin Mahlow and Michael Piotrowski, 23–45. Berlin: Springer. Stump, Gregory T . 2016. Inflectional paradigms: Content and form at the syntax-morphology interface . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Zwicky, Arnold M. 1992. Some choices in the theory of morphology. Formal grammar: Theory and imple - mentation , ed. by Robert Levine, 327–71. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Department of Linguistics 1712 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH 43210 [[email protected]] Nominal contact in Michif. By Carrie Gillon and Nicole Rosen , with Verna De - montigny . (Oxford studies of endangered languages.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xxii, 202. ISBN 9780198795339. $88 (Hb). Reviewed by Sarah G. -
Mauritian Creole: an Introduction. INSTITUTION Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C
DOCUMENT RESUME ED 048 598 AL 002 785 AUTHOR Goodman, Morris F.; And Others TITLE Mauritian Creole: An Introduction. INSTITUTION Center for Applied Linguistics, Washington, D.C. SPONS AGENCY Peace Corps (Dept. of State) ,Washington, D.C. PUB DATE Apr 71 NOTE 355p. EDRS PRICE EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$13.16 DESCRIPTORS Audiolingual Me'aods, *Conversational Language Courses, Cultural Context, Glossaries, Grammar, *Instructional Materials, *Language Instruction, *Mauritian Creole, Pattern Drills (Language), Pronunciation Instruction IDENTIFIERS Microwave Approach ABSTRACT The format of this 23-unit course in Mauritian Creole is based on "microwave', cycles, each cycle beginning with the introduction of new material and ending with the use of that material in communication. A small amount of new material is introduced at a time (usually in a monolog, drill, or dialog) which, after a brief bit of practice is used for communication (in a communication activity or a dialog). An introductory section presents a short description of the history cf this form of Creole, considered the national language by many Mauritians, notes on the spelling, and suggestions to the student and the teacher: for using the material. Appended are additional dialogs and a section on pronunciation to provide practice on some of the aspects of Mauritian Creole likely to prove troublesome for American learners. An English-Mauritian Creole glossary concludes the text. (AMM) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRO- DUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIG- INATING IT. POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIN- IONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OFFICIAL OFFICE OF EDU- CATION FOSITION OR POLICY. -
Pidgins and Creoles
Chapter 7: Contact Languages I: Pidgins and Creoles `The Negroes who established themselves on the Djuka Creek two centuries ago found Trio Indians living on the Tapanahoni. They maintained continuing re- lations with them....The trade dialect shows clear traces of these circumstances. It consists almost entirely of words borrowed from Trio or from Negro English' (Verslag der Toemoekhoemak-expeditie, by C.H. De Goeje, 1908). `The Nez Perces used two distinct languages, the proper and the Jargon, which differ so much that, knowing one, a stranger could not understand the other. The Jargon is the slave language, originating with the prisoners of war, who are captured in battle from the various neighboring tribes and who were made slaves; their different languages, mixing with that of their masters, formed a jargon....The Jargon in this tribe was used in conversing with the servants and the court language on all other occasions' (Ka-Mi-Akin: Last Hero of the Yakimas, 2nd edn., by A.J. Splawn, 1944, p. 490). The Delaware Indians `rather design to conceal their language from us than to properly communicate it, except in things which happen in daily trade; saying that it is sufficient for us to understand them in that; and then they speak only half sentences, shortened words...; and all things which have only a rude resemblance to each other, they frequently call by the same name' (Narratives of New Netherland 1609-1664, by J. Franklin Jameson, 1909, p. 128, quoting a comment made by the Dutch missionary Jonas Micha¨eliusin August 1628). The list of language contact typologies at the beginning of Chapter 4 had three entries under the heading `extreme language mixture': pidgins, creoles, and bilingual mixed lan- guages. -
Traditional Mauritian
11111111111111111111111111111 0100300026 TRADITIONAL MAURITIAN - SEGA TIPIK M ORIS/EN 1.0 IDENTIFICATION OF THE ELEMENT 1.1 Name of the element, as used by Sega Tipik Marisien- Sega Tradisionel, Sega community or group concerned; Ravann 1.2 Short, maximally informative title Performing Arts- Songs, music and dance in (including indication of domain(s)); Mauritian Kreollanguage 1.3 Community(ies) concerned; Practitioners and Bearers: Slave descendants Audience and Custodians: Entire Mauritian population 1.4 Physicallocation(s) of element; Mauritius 1.5 Short description The Traditional Mauritian Sega locally known as Sega Tipik Morisien, also called Sega Tradisionel or sega ravann or only sega tipik is a performing art form which encompasses musical instruments, songs in the Mauritian creole language and dance. The instruments basically consist of the ravann , the maravann and the triyang . The Sega tipik can be grouped in 2 categories, the formal and the informal performance. The formal performance is often choreographed and performers where uniforms where generally woman wear long and large skirts often white and man wear rolled pants, colourful or plain shirts and straw hat. Presently, Sega Tipik Morisien is performed during folkloric festivals, national events like National Day celebrations, the commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery and Music Day and in even in hotels. However, sega tipik is viewed in its simple form in informal performances. lt is often performed in family events in the backyard of the house, on the beach or any place of gathering of family members and friends. The traditional performance of Sega Tipik Morisien is divided into several stages: • The heating of the ravann next to a fire to tune it • The call of the ravann (lape/L given by a soloist and that motivates people to gather around the instrumentalists. -
'The Most Cosmopolitan Island Under the Sun'
‘The Most Cosmopolitan Island under the Sun’? Negotiating Ethnicity and Nationhood in Everyday Mauritius Reena Jane Dobson Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Cultural Research University of Western Sydney December 2009 The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. Reena Dobson Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my grandmother, my Nani, whose life could not have been more different from my own. I will always be grateful that I was able to grow up knowing her. I also dedicate this thesis to my parents, whose interest, support and encouragement never wavered, and who were always there to share stories and memories and to help make the roots clearer. Acknowledgements At the tail end of a thesis journey which has involved entangled routes and roots, I would like to express my deepest and most heartfelt thanks to my wonderful partner, Simon White, who has been living the journey with me. His passionate approach to life has been a constant inspiration. He introduced me to good music, he reminded me to breathe, he tiptoed tactfully around as I sat in writing mode, he made me laugh when I wanted to cry, and he celebrated every writing victory – large and small – with me. I am deeply indebted to my brilliant supervisors, Associate Professor Greg Noble, Dr Zoë Sofoulis and Associate Professor Brett Neilson, who have always been ready with intellectual encouragement and inspiring advice. -
Notes on the History and the Syntax of Mauritian Creole1
Notes on the history and the syntax of Mauritian Creole1 PIETERA. M. SEUREN Abstract The central question behind the various topics discussed in this paper is the question of the LINGUISTIC status of Creole languages. They do have similar historical backgrounds, but do they also have linguistic features in common, and if so, how can they be explained? Certain features of the history and syntax of Mauritian Creole (MC) are used to bring more light to this problem area. The view is defended that MC was not, or not significantly, influenced by any West African languages. Verb serialization and predicate clefting, two clearly West African linguistic features found in the Caribbean Creoles, are notably absent in MC. No other convincingly West African features can be identified. The highly particular features common to MC and the French-based Caribbean Creoles are tentatively attributed to a French-based nautical pidgin and/or Creole in French trading posts in East and West Africa. Against this background a few MC-specific grammatical phenomena, in particular the rule of verb apocope, in connection with phenomena of verb complementation, the formation of WH-words, and the system of preverbal markers for tense, modality, and aspect, are described and analyzed. MC appears to have two raising rules, predicate raising and subject raising, which alternate in such a way that SVO word order is not disturbed. It is shown that all the phenomena in question manifest a tendency to maximize semantic transparency (in the sense that the amount of process- ing required to get from semantic structures to surface structures and vice versa is minimized). -
Cg 2018 Sarah Schieferstein
c 2018 Sarah Schieferstein IMPROVING NEURAL LANGUAGE MODELS ON LOW-RESOURCE CREOLE LANGUAGES BY SARAH SCHIEFERSTEIN THESIS Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018 Urbana, Illinois Adviser: Associate Professor Julia Hockenmaier ABSTRACT When using neural models for NLP tasks, like language modelling, it is difficult to utilize a language with little data, also known as a low-resource language. Creole languages are frequently low-resource and as such it is difficult to train neural language models for them well. Creole languages are a special type of language that is widely thought of as having multiple parents and thus receiving a mix of evolutionary traits from all of them. One of a creole language's parents is known as the lexifier, which gives the creole its lexicon, and the other parents are known as substrates, which possibly are thought to give the creole language its morphology and syntax. Creole languages are most lexically similar to their lexifier and most syntactically similar to otherwise unrelated creole languages. High lexical similarity to the lexifier is unsurprising because by definition lexifiers provide a creole's lexicon, but high syntactic similarity to the other unrelated creole languages is not obvious and is explored in detail. We can use this information about creole languages' unique genesis and typology to decrease the perplexity of neural language models on low-resource creole languages. We discovered that syntactically similar languages (especially other creole languages) can successfully transfer learned features during pretraining from a high-resource language to a low-resource creole language through a method called neural stacking.