Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

Pidgin Languages and Their Phonology

B.A. Major Thesis

Kateřina Valová

Supervisor: PhDr. Kateřina Tomková

Brno 2006

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the

primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

......

ii

I would like to thank Kateřina Tomková, my supervisor, for her kind guidance,

and Ondřej Šefčík from Department of Linguistics for valuable

suggestions that helped to improve my work.

iii Contents

1 Introduction...... 1 1.1 Content...... 1 1.2 Formal Arrangement...... 2 2 The Theoretical Part...... 3 2.1 Definitions of Terms Lingua Franca, Pidgin and Creole...... 3 2.2 Development of a Pidgin ...... 7 2.3 Classification of Pidgins and Their Common Features ...... 13 2.4 Theories of Origin...... 17 2.5 English-based Pidgins...... 21 2.6 Phonology of Pidgin and Creole Languages...... 25 2.6.1 The Vowel System...... 27 2.6.2 The Consonantal System...... 30 2.6.3 Phonotactics ...... 35 2.6.4 Suprasegmental Phonology...... 36 2.6.5 Morphonology...... 38 3 The Practical Part...... 39 3.1 Description of Material...... 39 3.2 Description of the Passages Chosen ...... 40 3.3 Text in Standard English...... 41 3.4 English Transcript...... 42 3.5 Tok Pisin Transcript...... 44 3.6 Recording Analysis...... 46 4 Conclusion ...... 55 Bibliography ...... 57 Appendix: CD with Tok Pisin recording

iv 1 Introduction

1.1 Content

This bachelor’s thesis will discuss the problem of creation and development of pidgin and

creole languages, paying special attention to their phonological systems.

For a linguist, pidginization is remarkable especially for its dynamics that causes radical restructuring of language systems within a very short period of time and virtually before an observer’s eyes. This makes them considerably different from diachronic processes accompanying developments of non-pidgin languages. These proceed very slowly and are perceptible only after a considerable lapse of time.

The main concern of the thesis will be in phonological systems that are relatively accessible for investigation. They are reasonably well described, available in literature and what is more, they are comprised only of a few phonemes and phonological oppositions which makes them quite easy to compile.

The theoretical part of the thesis will be rather synthetical, while in the practical part, a recent pidgin language recording that is attached to the thesis will be analyzed. As the main source of information for the theoretical part and the most comprehensive work that has been available was written in the mid-sixties, this thesis will try to contribute to current studies of pidgins. It will try to find out how much has a pidgin, Tok Pisin in this case, evolved since

Hall’s (1966) major work.

1 1.2 Formal Arrangement

As this thesis is phonologically oriented, numerous phonetic and phonological signs will be used that may be unknown for an ordinary reader. However, for those who have at least some knowledge of linguistics, there should be no problem with understanding. All signs that emerge in the thesis are commonly used and are based on International Phonetic Alphabet. As far as this work is concerned, Gimson’s Pronunciation of English was used as a source.

To ensure total comprehensibility of the thesis, several more ways of marking will be used. In angle brackets / /, phonemic transcriptions will be enclosed, and square brackets [ ] will symbolize phonetic transcription, which is customary in linguistics. In round brackets ( ), an expression in superstrate language will be written; and in the case of non-English-based pidgins, English translation of such expressions will be put into inverted commas “ ”.

2 2 The Theoretical Part

2.1 Definitions of Terms Lingua Franca, Pidgin and Creole

A language is, according to Ferdinand de Saussure, a sign system of which the main function is communication among people. Speech is then the main instrument for human communication (1959: 8-10).

A problem may occur if people who are not speakers of the same language meet, and they need to communicate for some reason. Then two situations can arise:

First, the speakers can use a language that is not a first language for any of them, but they

are all able to use it. Generally, such language is called a lingua franca1. In some cases,

however, it can be more closely specified by its dominating function. It can be a trade

language (like Swahili in East African), a contact and a cultural language (like Koinf, a

general Greek language in the Ancient World), or an auxiliary language (artificial languages

like Esperanto, Novial or Basic English). English is usually called an international (or

universal) language, because it is being used as lingua franca throughout much of the world

today (Warhaugh 2002: 56).

Second, if no appropriate lingua franca exists for speakers of different languages,

improvised alternative language constructions tend to arise. They can be said to be a mixture

of the speakers’ first languages in some respects and generally, they are called pidgin

languages.

It logically follows that such languages do not have any native speakers and their

grammar and vocabulary, as well as their functions, are considerably reduced when compared

1 The term is in fact a semantic extension of a name of a language that was being used in the eastern part of the Mediterranean during the crusade period and it is considered to be the first pidgin of which we have a direct recording. The actual name lingua franca comes from the word Franci, a general designation of the west Europeans, which originates in the fact that there was a great predominance of the French among the crusade warriors (Hall 1966: 3).

3 to the original languages. Only those parts of vocabulary and grammar are retained that are

found to be essential for basic communication and thus enable the pidgin language to survive

(Hall 1966: 25).2

We can encounter pidgin languages at all social levels and on various occasions. They

may origin in the need for communication between a master and his servant (as we can see in

the case of Papua New Guinea or South Pacific area), between a slaveholder and slaves

themselves (in Africa and on American plantations), or between tourists and their guide (out

of which a simplified Italian language of tourist guides in Florence or Rome arose) (Hall

1966: 127). However, pidgins are mostly created as a short-term instrument for trading and

other concerns that do not require any close exchange of information.

To create such a language in its basic form, it is enough for the speakers to communicate

just for several hours. To gain its stable form, the language has to be used for several months

or even years. However, it usually does not take a long time for a pidgin to disappear. That

can happen if the situation because of which the pidgin arose disappears; if the community

using the pidgin disintegrates; or if one of the communicating parties learns to use the other

party’s language.

Such pidgins very often emerge in conflict areas, where language of an engaged remote

power is not known or used. In the twentieth century, for example, there was a clear evidence

of Pidgin English varieties in Korea or in Vietnam. However, there is no doubt that similar

pidgins arose in all such areas, where the power engagement lasted more than several days.

These pidgins are very likely to disappear as soon as the oversea army leaves the country and

that is why the pidgins originating in trade contacts and other long-term concerns tend to be

more durable (Crystal 1997: 336).

2 Although vocabulary is considerably reduced in pidgin languages, its meaning extent is wide. Each word has a clearly specified semantic value (although polysemy is very common in pidgin language systems as well), but new phrases can be created due to combination of individual words; these words then gain a single idiomatic meaning as a whole. The process is called circumlocution (Malmkjær 1991: 83 ).

4 In process of such language contamination it may happen (as it very often does) that people use pidgin so long that new generations start accepting it as their first language – it becomes a creole language. Its grammar and vocabulary gradually becomes wider and more perfect, so that it could start to be used in all spheres of common life. Its form gets stabilized and the creole can become an official language in the course of time. Then one can encounter it in media, both in broadcasting and press, and it can even become an instrument for literary output, or language of state authorities.

As far as etymological origins of the terms pidgin and creole is concerned, several theories have been suggested. There is an excellent probability that the term pidgin originates in China and it emerged as a result from the wrong pronunciation of the English word business. This pronunciation by non-English speaking Chinese people was influenced by phonological and phonetic systems of their native southern China dialects (Hall 1966: 7).

The term creole then probably comes from a Portuguese word crioulo that originally denoted a person of European origin who was born and grown up in a colonial territory

(Crystal 1997: 338), or from a Spanish word criollo meaning “local, native” (Hall 1966: xiii).

However, it is necessary to say that the names pidgin and creole are only terms used by linguists but not by the speakers of given languages, or at least not together at the same time and in the same place. Even the functional distinction of both terms (stated above) in linguistics is artificial, because no speakers take themselves as still pidgins or already creoles.

As far as the self-appellation of pidgin and creole languages is concerned, they tend to be of different origins. Jamaican Creole is for example called patwa by its speakers (which comes from English, or rather French patois), but for example speakers of Hawaiian Creole call their language just pidgin (the origin of the name is explained above; expansion of this term probably happened due to contacts between Hawaii and eastern Asia in the nineteenth century). Speakers of Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea even call their language tok waitman,

5 which means “language of Europeans”; however, a native speaker of English would hardly understand the language. Regarding the situation on Papua New Guinea, it is interesting to mention that most of its territory originally used to be a German territory, but local pidgin is based on a business language and that was English.

6 2.2 Development of a Pidgin

It has been mentioned above (see p. 3) that pidgins result from a mutual influence of two or more languages. The language that is dominant (it is typically a language of socially, economically and/or politically dominant group) and usually initiates creation of the pidgin through its arrival on a foreign territory is generally called a superstratum language3. It is usually one of European languages4 and as it influences vocabulary of a pidgin in particular,

such language tends to be called a lexifier as well (König 1994: 567).

A local language that is rather subordinate to the lexifier (especially in vocabulary) is

called a substratum language5. This one influences grammar and the overall structure of the pidgin on the contrary (König 1994: 566).

A kind of dichotomy of a universal language structure, and since lexicon and grammar, is

applied to a pidgin formation. One of the participating languages provides one part of it

(lexicon), another language provides the other part (grammar). Such an adoption is neither

mechanic, nor is it complete. It could be put to contrary with an idiolect of a particular speaker who acquired a foreign language vocabulary and uses it in his first language without any changes in its structure. This would be called a code mixing.

A process that is accompanied by some kind of dominant language simplification, which means creation of a pidgin in fact, is called pidginization. It includes reduction in both morphology and syntax, blending of otherwise significant phonemic contrasts, reduction in a

3 In this context, the term superstratum has a different and wider meaning than what is usually used in linguistics, and since “the perishing language of conquerors” (Erhart 2001: 130). 4 Superstratum does not necessarily have to be only a European language, because pidgins emerged even before colonial assaults of Europeans overseas, and since in all places where different groups of people got in touch. In Northwest America for example, a pidginized variety of Chinook language was used for communication among Indian tribes (Wardhaurh 2002: 57); in South America it was Pidgin Tupí-Guaraní which was later called lingua gêral, meaning “general language”, by Portuguese settlers (Hall 1966: 4). 5 The meaning here is again different from “a language of a subjugated people, that was absorbed by a language of a subjugator people” (Erhart 2001: 130).

7 number of language functions, and extensive borrowings of words from the local language

vocabulary.

Creolization, on the other hand, is a completely converse process. In this case, the main

change consists in re-expansion of morphology and syntax; phonology adjusts to fixed rules,

a number of language functions is deliberately being increased, and a stable system for

vocabulary expansion, including word derivation, starts to develop (Wardhaugh 2002: 60).

However, although the processes of pidginization and creolization seem to be completely

different, they are only two stages of a single, but much broader process of a language

development.

The whole cycle begins with a jargon, which is a very simple language system that is

created to serve in particular situations and differs a lot with individual speakers. It consists of

one- or two-word sentences in fact and has a very limited vocabulary and grammar.

Such a language in its simplified form can become stable and give rise to a pidgin. At this

stage, a shared system of rules starts to develop, and the whole process of stabilization is thus characterized by grammaticalization in particular (Malmkjær 1991: 88).

If the pidgin takes root in the society, starts to be used widely by the new generation of speakers and even becomes their mother tongue, it starts to get more perfect and complicated.

The changes mentioned above initiate the process of creolization and with one or two generations of speakers, the pidgin can transform into a fully developed creole language. The process is very quick and in the broad sense of the word we could call it a nativization. This term stands for a situation when a group of speakers takes over a language that is different from their original one, and this language thus becomes their mother tongue. This process of language replacement has occurred many times in the history, for example when the tribes of

Italy, Gaul and Iberia gradually gave up their earlier languages and went over to Latin which then developed into the various Romance tongues (Hall 1966: xiii).

8 However, the process that comes after the creolization of a pidgin is influenced by many

other social factors.

The most elementary situation that may possibly happen is that pidgin gets creolized,

becomes a prevailing language in the society and occupies all places in its verbal

communication. Thus a new language arises that works according to its own rules and

functions. When any other changes happen in its structure, they happen due to mutual

language influence, as it is with all other languages. This situation can come about when, for

instance, the original colony breaks contact with colonialists and their metropolis, and is left

to itself.

However, the sociolinguistic insight brings another, more interesting situation. The

superstratum language, which may become an official language in the given country and its

status grow superior when compared to local languages, can exert pressure on the creole; and

the pressure can even become stronger in the course of time. A significant number of

speakers yields to the pressure and adjusts their language to the lexifier (Crystal 1997: 338).

A considerable social stratification thus arises: the elite uses practically a standard form of

the superstratum, the middle class uses the creole deprived of more or fewer local features,

and the lower class speaks “a pure creole”, which means naturalized pidgin with substantial

substratum features. The low social status then pushes lower classes to displace substratum

features from their language, and the creole thus automatically, though at various speeds,

approaches the standard at all social levels.6

This process of so called decreolization means a shift to another stage of development, a post-creole continuum. The differences between creole and standard language begin to disappear and thus a whole range of varieties, which form a continuum, is created. The form that is closest to the top of the continuum, that means to the standard, is called an acrolect.

6 It may happen, however, that due to possible political ferment, the original creole becomes a prestigious concern at least for a certain group of society, and the process of decreolization stops. In fact, a situation similar to the elementary situation discussed above comes up.

9 The other extreme closest to the bottom (the original creole) is called a basilect and would be

least comprehensible to the speaker of the standard. The intermediate varieties are called

mesolects (Wardhaugh 2002: 80).

However, if the society splits in the way that speakers of superstratum language and

speakers of creole do not get in contact very often, and if each of the languages holds a

different function in the society, the continuum will not be created. Instead, a diglossia7 will arise (Wardhaugh 2002: 83).

This situation can be found for instance in Haiti where there is no intermediate language variety between Haitian Creole and Standard French. They co-exist next to each other in a society but they differ almost as much as two quite unrelated languages. French became a

“high” variety. It is an official language of Haiti now, and its use symbolizes intelligence and social superiority. On the other hand, Creole was, as a “low” variety, pushed to the background. It has no social status and is thus considered to be a common people language.

Individual stages of the whole process do not need to run chronologically at all. Not only can some of them be dropped altogether; acrolect does not necessarily need to follow the basilect; but even such conflicting stages as creolization and decreolization can be in motion simultaneously. The latter situation may appear when adoption of pidgin by a new generation of speakers coincides with promotion of the dominant language to schools, and so on (König

1994: 570).

Excessive effort to adjust one’s language to the superstratum and move thus up the social

ladder may cause hypercorrection not only as far as an individual is concerned but the whole

group of speakers, as well. Such speakers use features that they assume to be typical of the

standard even where they should not occur at all (Crystal 1997: 429).

7 Diglossia is a language situation in which two markedly divergent varieties of a language, each with a distinct set of social functions, coexist as standards throughout a speech community (Crystal 1997: 43, 425).

10 In the Atlantic8 group of creoles, for example, SVO (subject-verb-object) word order is

typical of all sentences, that means even of questions. In the dominant language (which is

English here), a verb and subject inversion occurs in direct questions. As local speakers try to

get closer to the superstrate, they apply such inversion to questions in their language, as well.

They do not apply it only to direct questions, though, but also to the indirect ones, which, in

English, is not acceptable.

Hypercreolization is a completely opposite phenomenon, as it is a negative reaction of

some speakers against a strong superstrate influence. Their endeavour to bolster a creole

language social status is thus accompanied by excessive use of features that they assume to be

purely creole (Crystal 1997: 338).

Recreolization is then a process through which European minorities of creole origin try to

restore their creole language and this way, to preserve their ethnic group identity in

environment that is linguistically unfamiliar to them (Wardhaugh 2002: 86).

8 The Atlantic group includes such pidgin and creole languages that were created on the West African coast or in the Caribbean, and have been influenced with English as their superstrate language.

11 Fig. 1 An English sentence in different stages of a Guyanese continuum (Warhaugh 2002: 80).

Standard 1 aâ wΛn him English Acrolect geâv 2 3 âm 4 i: 5 him ↑ 6 gâv âm 7 a 8 dâd gâv Mezolect 9 dâ gâ i: d d 10 â wan 11 gi: 12 ↑ dâ 13 hi: gâ 14 15 i: 16 mâ bân Basilect 17 gi: Guyanese âm 18 Creole

12 2.3 Classification of Pidgins and Their Common Features

Pidgins and creoles that are based on European languages exist mostly in equatorial

regions and at the same time in places with unlimited access to oceans of the world. It means

that one can encounter them especially in the Caribbean and in the West Indies, on Indian and

Pacific Oceans islands, and along African coast, the western9 one in particular. A necessary condition for the emergence of pidgin in these regions is a long-lived tradition of trading, including the slave trade of course. Pidgin and creole languages tend to be associated with dark-skinned speakers and their belonging to the Third World countries (Wardhaugh 2002:

62).

Some sources (Wardhaugh 2002: 62) state that there should be 127 pidgins and creoles altogether and that thirty-five of them are English-based. These include for instance Hawaiian

Creole, Gullah or Sea Island Creole (a language used on the islands off the Unites States southeastern coasts), Jamaican Creole, Guyana Creole, Krio (spoken in Sierra Leone), Sranan and Djuka (which are used in Suriname10), Cameroon Pidgin English, Tok Pisin or Neo-

Melanesian (an official language of New Guinea) and many others. The other fifteen out of the whole number, such as Haitian or Seychelles Creoles, are influenced by French, and other fourteen with Portuguese. Smaller numbers have Spanish, Dutch, Italian or German language as their superstratum; however, a few pidgins and creoles exist that are based on Russian,

Swahili, Hindi, or Arabic.

The fact that we put pidgins and creoles together with other languages does not

necessarily mean that they are genetically related to each other. We can connect them like this

9 On the East-African coast, Swahili or creolized Arabic is used as lingua franca (Wardhaugh 2002: 57). 10 Suriname was originally a Portuguese colony. However, the Portuguese-based pidgins were replaced with the English ones that were brought there by descendants of seventeenth-century runaway slaves. A large number of the original Guianese Pidgin Portuguese words has been preserved anyway, and it was considerably influenced (its vocabulary in particular) with Dutch, as well (Wardhaugh 2002: 64). It is because between 1667 and 1975, Guyana came under the Dutch rule.

13 on the basis of their vocabulary (in the same way as comparative linguistics does it), but their structure and way of formation are completely diverse. Pidgins arise under very specific socio-historical conditions which are totally different from those that influenced creation of languages relative to their superstrate11. It could even be said that, from typological point of view, pidgins and creoles show more similarities among themselves (whatever language they are based on) than with their lexifiers.

There are many features that are common to all pidgin languages. It could be a complete reduction of inflection, and since in case of substantives, adjectives, pronouns and verbs, or the fact that adjectives and adverbs have identical forms. Instead of inflectional endings, alternative ways to express number, comparison, or tense need to be found. Simple particles tend to be used very often, which is a case of /de/, /Ãpe/ and /kÃ/ in English, French and

Portuguese Creoles respectively. They denote tense continuity, as it can be seen in following sentences: /à de go wok/, (I am going to work in Krio), /mo Ãpe trÃvÃj/ (which means “I am working” in Louisiana French; in standard French, it would be je travaille), and /e kà ndÃ/

(meaning “he is going” in St Thomas; ele esta indo in Portuguese) (Wardhaugh 2002: 65).

A simple negative particle is used to express any negation in the sentence, as well. In

English-based Krio, it is /no/, like in /â no t¦ hÃd/ (it is not too hard); and /pÃ/ in French-based

Seychelles Creole, e.g. /â pà tro dâfâsâl/ (ce n’est pas trop diffusile, meaning the same as the sentence in Krio) (Wardhaugh 2002: 65).

As far as syntax of pidgin languages is concerned, simple or paratactic sentences tend to be preferred. No relative sentences would be found in their structure, for example; their appearance is associated only with creolization. The same applies also to morphophonemic

11 A similar approach can be seen in a case of English, as well. A significant part, as much as 50 percent, of its lexicon (or rather of its lexical morphemes) is borrowed from Romance languages, such as French, Latin or Greek; however, it is usually classified as a Germanic language (Hall 1966: 99). It is because basic morphemes of English, the grammatical morphemes in particular, show phonological agreement with Germanic languages. It is the same with English syntax, that is why English corresponds more to Germanic languages rather than any other language group.

14 variations that will be mentioned in second part of my thesis, dealing with phonology of pidgin and creole languages.

Reduplication is another feature that can be found in all pidgins. It can serve various semantic purposes regarding both word derivation and sentence structure. One of its functions is intensification of meaning, as in Jamaican Creole /flÃt-flÃt / “very flat”, or Haitian Creole

/r9-r9/ “very round” (from French rond). However, reduplication can be a sign of diminution, as well. For example, /lâk-lâk/ in Tok Pisin, meaning “small” (coming either from Polynesian liki or English little), or /jKl‹–jKl‹/ “yellowish” in Jamaican Creole. Furthermore, it can indicate repetition or continuation, like in Cameroons Creole /dr‹—k-dr‹—k/ “continually drunk” (Hall 1966: 65), or even a phonological contrast that can’t be expressed any other way in the pidgin. In Neo-Melanesian, /â/ and /i:/ make such a contrast for instance, that is why

“ship” is called simply /lâp/ here, while “sheep” would be /lâplâp/ (Wardhaugh 2002: 65).

Except for the language features discussed above, a part of vocabulary can be found that is common to all pidgins, or at least, seems to be of the same origin. One of the most widespread words among pidgins is /sÃvy/, meaning “to know”. It originates in Portuguese

(saber), but it occurs in various forms throughout the world. Some of these are /sÃbâ/

(Romance-based pidgins), /sÃbe/ (Indo-Portuguese pidgins), /sÃbâr/ (North African Pidgin

French), /sKvâ/ (English-based pidgins), /sÃve/ (Tok Pisin), or /sÃbâ/ (Sranan) (Hall 1966:

100).

It is interesting not only that pidgins with different superstrate languages have many features in common (see Fig. 2), but also that pidgins with the same lexifier from completely opposite parts of the world are mutually comprehensible. It is the case of French-based pidgins and creoles, for example, that are spoken in Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and South

Pacific as well.

15

Fig. 2 The comparison of European-based Creoles (Crystal 1997: 338).

Guianese Creole Krio Standard French Standard English (French superstrate) (English superstrate)

Mangez M,µe ChQp Eat

J’ai mangé Mo m,µe A chQp I ate

Il/Elle a mangé Li m,µe I chQp He/She ate Je mange/Je suis en Mo ka m,µe A de chQp I am eating train de manger J’avais mangé Mo te m,µe A bin chQp I ate/had eaten

Je mangeais Mo te ka m,µe A bin de chQp I was eating

Je mangerai Mo ke m,µe A go chQp I shall eat Il/Elle est plus He/She/It is bigger Li gros pas u I big pas yu grand que vous than you

16 2.4 Theories of Origin

There are various theories concerning the origin of pidgin languages, but none of them is fully sufficient on its own.

Anyway, such beliefs that pidgins are only primitive languages of people who are not capable of learning standard forms of languages that they are in contact with, can be excluded. They are, as it has been already stated, contact languages that arise under very specific social conditions. Moreover, local people who are using a pidgin do not need to communicate only with native speakers of the superstrate, but also among themselves if their first languages are not the same. Thus a compromise between imitations of all languages concerned, and made by all parties involved, arises. (This assumption is also a part of polygenetic theory that is discussed below, see p. 18.)

One of the less probable theories is the one of Bloomfield (1935: 472). He claims that pidgins are products of Europeans who deliberately simplified their own languages. Believing that unsuccessful efforts of the natives to use a foreign language is caused by their mental inferiority, Europeans were to use such language in their communication that mothers in their country talked to small children. According to Bloomfield, native people did not have any correct model of the superstrate language, and its pidginized variety that came from excessive simplification, was thus the best that they could learn. This theory is generally called a foreigner-talk or baby-talk theory. However, there are too many similarities among pidgins based on different superstrates for the theory to be true. Moreover, it is supposed today that it was Europeans who learned the language from local people, not the other way round.

Another theory claims that the pidgin common features are relics of African languages that slaves brought along. Their languages, though different in lexicon, were alike in their structure, and that is why slaves and their descendants were to adjust their masters’ tongues to

17 the structure of African languages. However, Hawaiian Creole that shares many features with other pidgins, has no relation to African substratum at all (Wardhaugh 2002: 73).

One of the theories given is the so-called polygenetic. It claims that individual pidgins and creoles are of different origin, but that the socio-historical circumstances of their origin are the same; which means that they developed parallelly in essence (König 1994: 568). Because of need for trading, both Europeans and local people had to change their language somehow, so that it would be comprehensible for the other party. The simplified forms were always created with the assistance of some kind of language universals, and that is why pidgins and creoles based on the same superstrate should be so similar even in different parts of the world.

If the polygenetic theory should be true, we could treat all pidgins with the same lexifier as the lexifier’s dialects in fact (Wardhaugh 2002: 73-4).

Language universals that are so essential for the polygenetic theory, appear in another interpretation of pidgin origin, as well. This theory is based on the so-called bioprogram that should be stored in every single person. It should allow a child to learn a language spoken around him without any effort, and it tends to be associated with language development in human society generally.

As pidgin and creole languages development is only an accelerated process of any other language development, the bioprogram should be, according to this theory, applied to them as well. Children, who do not have a sufficient language model in a society where pidgin starts to be used, tend to employ their bioprograms to create new rules for the language. However, due to the universals, such rules are alike throughout the whole world, and so many similarities can thus be found among pidgins (König 1994: 568).

Monogenetic theory that was first introduced by Hugo Schuchardt, a German linguist, is the one that tends to be given as the most probable. It is based on a traditional approach of diachronic linguistics to a linguistic change and it says that all languages have a common

18 ancestor. As it is supposed that all French, Spanish, or Italian come from Latin, in case of

pidgins with a European superstrate, their common ancestor would be Sabir.

This language served as lingua franca in Mediterranean in Middle Ages, and during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries it spread as a trade language to India and Far East; in this function, Sabir replaced Arabic and Malay here. At this time, it had already a Portuguese vocabulary predominantly, which was a result of relexification. This is a process of lexical

replacement during which the original vocabulary is substituted with a new one, while the

structure stays original (König 1994: 567).

According to the monogenetic theory, this Portuguese proto-pidgin was further relexified

in areas colonized by other nations; and thus French-, English-, or Spanish-based pidgins

arose. In these languages, a radical change of lexicon came about; however, the grammatical

structure remained unchanged in fact. This concept of pidgin languages origin could thus

explain not only their similar structure, but also the part of vocabulary, frequently of

Portuguese origin12, that they have in common (Wardhaugh 2002: 75).

Another fact could contribute to veracity of the monogenetic theory and the idea about a common proto-pidgin that got relexified. Saramaccan, a pidgin language used in Suriname13,

looks as if it stopped in the middle of the whole process. At the stage of replacing Portuguese

lexicon with English vocabulary, Guyana became a Dutch colony and its inhabitants were

separated from the English superstrate. Although Saramaccan tends to be classified as an

English-based pidgin, most of its vocabulary (up to 38%) is of Portuguese origin, and Dutch

words gradually join in it, as well (Crystal 1997: 339).

12 Besides savvy mentioned above, a lot of other words coming from Portuguese were preserved in English- based pidgins; e.g. piccaninny from Portuguese (pequeno), meaning “little”, or Joss from (Deus/Deos) that gave rise to expressions like Joss-house “a church”, Joss-pidgin, “a faith”, or topside Joss-pidgin man, “a clergyman”. 13 Saramaccan is, along with Djuka, spoken in the central part of Suriname, while Sranan is more typical of its coastal, urbanized territories.

19 It is important to say that the theory of relexification brought along a change in approach to pidgins. It no more talks about English, for instance, that has been creolized, but about a pidgin that has been anglicised instead.

20 2.5 English-based Pidgins

There are much more pidgin and creole languages that are based on English than those

based on any other language. According to historical, geographic and linguistic factors,

English-based pidgins could be divided into two main groups–the Atlantic and the Pacific

(König 1994: 577).

The Atlantic group of pidgin languages was arising predominantly in the course of the

seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and since in the Caribbean and West Africa. It logically

follows that this group was a consequence of slave trading in particular. The substratum is the

same for all Atlantic pidgins in fact; therefore they share many common features. On the

basis of settlement patterns, these pidgins could be subcategorised into five other divisions:

those of West Africa, Suriname, the Eastern Caribbean, the Western Caribbean, and North

America (König 1994: 580).

In Africa, Pidgin English is usually used in such countries where English is the official

language (in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, or Cameroon). It is not

uncommon here, as well as in the Pacific group of pidgin languages, that pidgin and creole forms coexist together at the same time. It means that a given variety may serve as a mother tongue for a certain group of people in the society, while for others, it would only be a second language. Languages that can be included in the Atlantic group are for example Krio, or

Liberian and West African Pidgin English (König 1994: 580).

I have already mentioned a peculiar language development in Suriname, so I will only juxtapose Caribbean creole languages here. They have been in constant contact with English superstrate since the seventeenth century, and thus they have moved to a stage of developing

a post-creole continuum nowadays. Moreover, the creole languages that are common in the

21 Lesser Antilles, Trinidad, Guyana, Belize or Jamaica are getting to Europe, and the United

Kingdom in particular, with West Indies immigrants (König 1994: 581).

It is important, from both historical and linguistic reasons, to separate those pidgins that

originally arose on the North America mainland. In this group, Bahamas Creole English,

Gullah, Afro-Seminole, or United States Black English14 could be classed.

The Pacific group of pidgin and creole languages started to be formed as late as in the nineteenth century. Moreover, both substrates of the languages involved and socio-historical conditions of the whole area have been very different when compared to the Atlantic group.

The plantation setting was crucial for development of pidgin in both groups, but in the Pacific one, labourers were recruited and indentured rather than slaved (König 1994: 577).

English was brought to the Pacific by explorers, traders, and sailors in particular who also probably significantly participated in spreading language features among individual territories.15 As sea slugs, together with sandalwood, were the main articles of trading in

Melanesia, the pidgin languages spoken in that area started to be denominated after either

English name for sea slug, or its French equivalent, which is bêche-de-mer. Bêche-de-mer gradually changed to beach-la-mar and started to be used not only to designate Pidgin English in the Melanesia, but also the whole territory itself (König 1994: 581).

Melanesian pidgin split up into several varieties in the course of the twentieth century which include Tok Pisin, spoken in Papua New Guinea, Pijin, a language used in the

Solomon Islands, or Bislama, spoken in Vanuatu, that arose from the pidgin called beach-la- mar mentioned above. Moreover, the Pacific group includes Australian Pidgin, as it also

14 Black English of United States is regarded to be Gullah in a very late stage of its post-creole continuum. It is approaching its superstrate, that means American English, so much that any marked features (relics of the original creole in fact) that are still present in Black English are generally assumed to be only regional or social varieties of standard; a southern dialect or lower-class language in effect (Wardhaugh 2002: 84). 15 They were probably sailors, as well, who brought four-letter and taboo words from English to general pidgin vocabulary. Local people adopted them without any shade of meaning as part of their language and even extended their semantic values. Neo-Melanesian /Ãrs/ (from English arse) means not only “a buttocks” (without any abusive meaning), for example, but also “a bottom”, “a source”, or “a cause” of anything (Hall 1966: 33). An expression /bəgərəp/ (bugger up) can thus similarly mean just “to spoil”, or “to break” (Hall 1966: 91).

22 shares many features with languages of Melanesia. One of them could be the use of by and by

in the function of a future marker (König 1994: 583).

If some features that are common to both the Atlantic and Pacific groups of pidgin

languages should be stated, it would be the absence of articles, putting words one after

another without use of any preposition or genitive case (Justice Peace instead of Justice of the

Peace) (Hall 1966: 8), or affixing /-âm/16 to transitive verbs, like in /mâ râ dâm b¦k/ (meaning I read a book) (Hall 1966: 53).

Their next common feature could be use of zero copula, as in Tok Pisin /pâkânânâ sâk/ (the

child is sick) (König 1994: 599), or in /mâ taâÃd no¦/ (I am tired now) in Jamaican Creole.

However, if the copula should be used to express a temporary state or location, a verb /steâ/

(stay) would have to be used in pidgin. For example /dà wÃter steâ kold/ (meaning the water is

cold) in Hawaiian Creole English.

Use of get/got instead of English (have) is another such feature. An English sentence

(there is a woman who has a daughter) would for example be /dem get wÃn ¦mÃn we get gyal

pâknâ/ in Guyanese Creole English, and /get wÃn wÃhâne lâ get wÃn dÃtÃ/ in Hawaiian Creole

English (König 1994: 579).

Pre-verbal negation should be included here, as well, and two sentences from Kru Pidgin

English and Australian Kriol respectively can be compared as an instance: /hongrâ mÃn no de

set dÃn won ples/ (meaning hungry man doesn’t sit down in one place), and /melÃbÃt no ka:n

go gÃrÃm yumob/ (we can’t go with you) (König 1994: 580).

On the basis of numerous similarities between the Atlantic and Pacific groups, various

theses have arisen, claiming that all English-based pidgins originate in a single Proto-Pidgin-

English. There were some efforts, as well, to reconstruct such a pidgin, and the conclusion

16 The suffix /-âm/ comes from English unstressed (him), or (them) (Hall 1966: 8).

23 was that the seventeenth century English used by lower classes served as a superstrate for this ancestor of all English-based pidgins.

24 2.6 Phonology of Pidgin and Creole Languages

A sound system of any language in the world can always be divided into a phonemic and a phonetic part. The phonemic part of language, called phonology, as well, deals with sound

contrasts, and interprets a sound system from a functional point of view. Phonetics, on the

other hand, examines the sounds themselves; and since in the way that speakers of a given

language really use them.

A phoneme is a basic element of a language sound system. It is a bundle of distinctive

features, and the smallest language element that carries the meaning on its own at the same

time. In a language, it can be realized with more than one sound; these sounds are then called

allophones of the given phoneme.

Phonology of pidgin and creole languages has been explored much less than, for example,

their syntax or morphology. Pidgins do not have only one phonological system, and

phonology remains to be the least stable part of language even in cases of otherwise stable

varieties of creole languages. Phonological changes that come along here so often can be

caused by substrate and/or superstrate influences, as well as by universal tendencies in language development. Moreover, external factors like education, sex, and age of a speaker, or like the history of a whole society can play a role here as well. It can result in various kinds

of pronunciation of a single expression even in a small group of speakers.

However, it is obvious that phonological inventories of such languages are considerably

limited, and since not only when compared to their superstrate, but also to their substrate

languages. In general, the languages in contact build on those sounds that they have in common. The actual pronunciation, or phonetic realization, of the phonemes frequently varies according to speakers’ first languages though (Malmkjær 1991: 82-3).

25 With spreading of pidgin, a number of phonological contrasts usually increases, and some kinds of phonological rules start to emerge. During decreolization, when pidgin is under pressure from the side of superstrate, the phonological systems of languages involved can blend, and individual speakers’ phonologies may extend from the heavily anglicized form to so called “core phonology” that is shared by all speakers of a given pidgin in fact (König

1994: 586). It is necessary to mention, as well, that the sound systems of pidgins and creoles are subjects to the general patterns of phonological change which can be found throughout the world’s languages.

Two basic kinds of phonemes can be distinguished in pidgins, as well as in any other known language–vowels and consonants. Vowels are produced by a breath which comes out of the organs of speech. The tone that arises is then modified into various ways, according to a tongue and lips positions, but with the vocal organs being used only to produce resonance.

As far as consonants are concerned, an obstruction that goes in a way to the air flow is necessary; it creates a kind of noise instead of a vocalic tone.

Numbers of both vowels and consonants are smaller in pidgin languages when compared to their superstrates, and the whole subsystems are considerably simpler, as well. Absence of some phonological contrasts can cause that there is, for example, no difference between

English words it and eat, or sip, ship, and chip in Tok Pisin. The difference needs to be made by an alternative way, which could be a reduplication that has already been mentioned (see p.

15).

26 2.6.1 The Vowel System

The vowel phonemes of pidgin languages are very often reduced toward the cardinal

vowels only, which can be symbolized by a vowel triangle (see Fig. 3). It is because all kinds

of extremes are usually removed from vocalic subsystems of such languages, which usually

means that so called inner phonemes (mid-central, high-central and so on) are eliminated. The

whole process of pidginization is thus a process of reducing the number of both phonological

contrast members and of phonological contrasts themselves. Creolization is an inverse

process during which those numbers are increased.

Fig. 3 The vowel triangle17; vowels that are most frequently used in pidgin languages (Hall 1966: 28).

Front Central Back (-unrounded) (-rounded) High â ¦ e o Mid ε Q Low Ã

Other types of vowels, like front-rounded /y/ (written u in French and t in German) or /[/

(eu in French and . in German), emerge very rarely in pidgin languages. A kind of

simplification usually occurs instead: either the lip-rounding is lost and the fronting kept, so

that /y/ becomes /â/ and /[/ becomes /e/, or the front articulation is changed to back and the

resultant phonemes are thus back-rounded vowels /¦/ and /o/ (Hall 1966: 28).

17 The vowel triangle is a schematic representation of the vowel sounds of human speech. It is arrived at by abstracting the positions that the top of the tongue assumes in pronouncing them, and by placing the corresponding phonetic symbols in a similar position on paper (Hall 1966: 27).

27 It happened in a similar way when the distinction between tense and lax vowels disappeared in the early stages of English-based pidgins. There was no longer contrast between /i:/ (of English beat) and /â/ (bit); between /u:/ (fluke) and /¦/ (foot); /e/ (bait) and /ε/

(bet); or /o/ (coat) and /Q:/ (caught). In Tok Pisin, for example, changes like /lέg/ (leg) >

/leg/18, or /fQrgâv/ (forgive) > /pogâp/ appeared as a result. The English retroflexed sound /ər/ was replaced by /o/, and thus they have /w‘rk/ (work) > /wok(âm)/ or /b‘rn/ (burn) >

/bon(âm)/ here, too (Hall 1966: 29).

Further, the distinction between /æ/ (the low-front-unrounded vowel) and /ε/ (the mid- front vowel), or between /ə/ (the mid-central/neutral vowel) and /Ã/ (the low-central vowel) also disappeared. English /k‘t/ (cut), for instance, was thus changed to /kÃt(âm)/ in Tok Pisin.

The contrasts that disappeared as a result of such simplification in the earlier stages of pidgin development, usually re-emerge in the latter stages again, when the pidgin spreads significantly or when it becomes creolized. In today’s Tok Pisin, for example, there already is the phonological contrast between tense and lax vowels–/ki:l/ (keel) vs. /kâlâm/ (kill); and some vowels appear that were not present in the pidgin before–/fælân/ (fashion) vs. /pÃspÃs/

(armlet) vs. /fərstaâm/ (at first) (Hall 1966: 30).

Approaching the superstrate language can result in hypercorrection, of course. Speakers of pidgin may use analogy of phonological contrasts that they already know to such cases that, according to standard, do not allow it. It is not rare, for instance, to hear forms like

/bænâs/ or /bÃnâs/ together with /bεnâs/ (from English fence) in Papua New Guinea (Hall

1966: 30).

18 The same change happened in black English, but what is more, it reflected in ortography, as well. The word leg can thus be found as laig here, as well as head /hέd/ > haid /hed/ (Hall 1966: 15).

28 A phoneme that does not belong to cardinal vowels, or a feature that is not present in contrasts of widespread use in human languages, can be preserved in pidgin anyway.

However, it has to be common to both parties involved in a pidgin in the early stages of its development.

Nasalization, for example, is not normally present in Tok Pisin or other English-based pidgin, but it can be found in French-based pidgins, especially those with an African language substratum. Nasalization is a common feature in both French and West African languages pronunciation, and thus it can be found in Haitiian Creole among others (Hall 1966: 31).

It can even happen that pronunciations which are no longer retained in the pidgin superstrate are retained in the pidgin itself. In polite eighteenth century English, for example,

/aâ/ diphthong was current in words like bail “boil” or jain “join”. Although it later became

/Qâ/ in Standard English, the change did not happen in Miskito Coast Creole English. This makes the creole word for “lawyer” homophonous with English liar, but there is no confusion, because the latter expression takes the dialectal form liard analogous to criard

“crier” and stinkard “stinker”, coming from standard drunkard (Malmkjær 1991: 83).

As far as pronunciation of vowels is concerned, it was already suggested that a strong substratum influence could be expected in pidgins. It holds true for pronunciations of cardinal vowel, too. While in English, tense vowels /â, e, o, ¦/ are usually pronounced [i j e j ow uw], in pidgin languages, the touch of diphthongisation disappears. English /go/ is thus pronounced

w j [ˈgo] instead of [ˈgou ], and /mâ/ becomes [ˈmi] instead of [ˈmi ] (Hall 1966: 37).

29 2.6.2 The Consonantal System

The same rule is valid for consonantal systems of pidgin languages as it is for the vowel systems–if a phonemic feature does not exist in inventories of both languages involved, there is an excellent probability that it will not emerge in the pidgin inventory either. It thus very often happens that a number of marked sounds in the lexifier language is represented by a single phoneme in the pidgin.

It is evident in the case of Fanagalo, where the clics are replaced by /k/, when used by non-Bantu speakers. Similarly, the English interdental fricatives /ð/ and /θ/, that means voiced and unvoiced th, that are very rare to be found in the world’s languages, tend to be replaced

with /d/ and /t/ stops respectively in pidgins. Examples can be found in many of them: Neo-

Melanesian /tâŋktâŋk/ (from English think) or /dâsfelÃ/, /dâswÃn/ (British Solomon Islands

Pidgin English), /dâsâ/ (Sranan), or /dâs/ (Gullah) – all of them meaning (this) in English (Hall

1966: 30).

Many English-based pidgins tend to replace /f/ and /v/ phonemes, as well, and since with

bilabial /p/ and /b/ respectively. English (finger) thus changed to /pâŋgə(r)/ in Tok Pisin,

(fighter) to /paâtmÃn/ (Wardhaugh 2002: 79) and (believe) changed to /bâlâbâm/ there; in

Chinese Pidgin English, (very) became /belâ/ due to the same tendencies (Hall 1966: 31).

In Tok Pisin, /—/, /q/ and /l/ phonemes were replaced by a single /s/; therefore there is

/senâs/ (from English change) or /sâkâ/ (cheeky). Originally, /h/ phoneme was even completely

omitted, and thus /ÃmbÃk/ arose from English (humbug) and (hurry up) became /ÃrâÃp/ in the

pidgin. However, as a result of hypercorection, such forms as /hælâs/ (< /ælâs/, English

ashes), or /hÃj/ (< /Ãj/, eye) can be found in some varieties of English-based pidgins (Hall

1966: 31-2).

30 In the latter stages of pidginization, the missing contrasts were re-established again.

However, only some of the speakers acquired their use and even those tended to apply them

only to some words in their pidgin. Various pronunciations of a single word, English change

for example, can thus be found in Tok Pisin; some of the forms are /senâs/, /lenâs/, /—enâs/,

/lenis/, /—enl/, /—en—/, or /—enq/ (Hall 1966: 31).19

There is a problem with /p/ and /f/ phonemes, as well, as there is no constant opposition between them in Jamaican Creole, Sranan, or many languages in Papua New Guinea. In Tok

Pisin, for instance, only a /p/ phoneme is used in some words derived from English words with /p/, as in /pen/ (English pain) or /plÃntâ/ (plenty). However, an expression that includes

/f/ in English can be pronounced in one of the following three ways: [f], [pf] or [p]. English

(foot) can thus become [fυt], [pfυt] or [pυt], without speakers seeing any considerable

difference between them. (It is similar with North American and British pronunciations of the middle consonant in the word butter for example.) It may even happen, that speakers change

English /p/ >/f/ and /pâk/ (from English pig) becomes /fâk/, or /pâsân/ (pigeon) becomes /fâsân/.

These changes, however, come about usually only in the countryside and are again just signs

of hypercorrection that is caused by insufficient acquisition of the superstrate language

(König 1994: 586, 7).

Altogether, Romaine states following inventory for consonants in pidgin and creole

languages: /p, t, k, b, d, g, f, s, m, n, l- r, w, y/ (1988: 63).

Another problem that comes about during pidginization concerns consonant-

combinations. Especially consonant clusters that are quite common in European languages

19 Such a wide scale of pronunciation varieties of a single word causes problems in phonemic transcription of a pidgin though. It is more convenient to use a diaphonic transcription which provides a single representative symbol for all phonemes that occur in the same position in the same word, and can thus stand for various ways of pronunciation in two or more related dialects (Hall 1966: 31).

31 were completely unknown for languages of Africa, Melanesia, Micronesia, or Polynesia, and

therefore they were simplified.

Such simplification could consist in complete omission of one or even more consonants,

as in Sranan /mÃsrÃ/ < English (master), or in inserting a vocal element, so called epenthetic

vowel. The latter option, when a consonant cluster is broken up in fact, very often happened

in Micronesian languages, where English (ink) changed to /ânâk/, or (September) became

/sepetember/ (Hall 1966: 32).

Pidgin languages thus try to adopt difficult words to a simple syllable structure which

consists of alternating consonants and vowels, e.g. CVCV. This phenomenon is even

regarded to be one of the universals of pidginization and will be discussed later (see p. 35).

Clusters involving s + consonant or consonant + s turned out to be the most difficult for

the natives. That is why [sipiər] will be found instead of English (spear) in Tok Pisin, as well

as [siton] (stone), or [sQ:sipεn] (saucepan). The intercalated vowels are pronounced only lightly in these cases, so that they do not become fully syllabic. The phonemic statuses of the clusters are thus not changed at all, so the words would be still transcribed as /spâr/, /ston/ a

/sQ:spεn/. However, if the vowel happens to be fully pronounced, the stress could be shifted on it at the same time (because it is always the first syllable that takes the stress in Tok Pisin).

The intercalated vowel would thus acquire a phonemic status and the phonemic transcription of the words would change to /sâpâr/ and /sâton/ (Hall 1966: 32).

In Jamaican Creole, s is completely omitted in the s + consonant clusters and English

(split) thus becomes /plât/, or (sky) becomes /ka:j/ (Hall 1966: 32).

Generally, there are fewer fricatives and affricates in the phonological inventories of pidgin and creole languages. Fricatives are much more marked than occlusives here, so their

32 presence in a given pidgin automatically presupposes presence of the occlusives, as well.

Elimination of marked features shows pressure from the side of substratum, as it belongs to

the language universals (König 1994: 586-7).

An example from Tok Pisin can be set to demonstrate natural phonological processes. It

will be the word /Ãb¦s/ that comes from English (animal). The /l/ phoneme was vowelized in this case, the unstressed syllable was lost, and /n/ was replaced with a homorganic occlusive.

An expression for “animal” has motivated meaning neither for native speakers of English, nor

for the speakers of Tok Pisin. This is proved by the fact that English word animal was re-

borrowed to Tok Pisin, as well, and is commonly used alongside of local abus (König 1994:

587).

Another way of losing phonological information in pidgin languages can be merging of

several English phonemes into one. The contrast needed is lost here again and thus numerous

homonyms are created. A Neo-Melanesian /sol/ thus bears meanings of English (salt) and

(shoulder) at the same time, as well as /hÃt/ stands for (hot) and (hard).

Alternate pronunciations of /r/ phoneme in individual varieties of pidgin languages were predominantly influenced by its divergent realizations in individual English dialects. English

/r/ can thus be reflected either by a typical tongue-tip flap or trill against the inner side of the upper front teeth, even when /r/ follows a vowel; as a semi-vowel [7] or [y] when it follows vowels like /â, e, o, ¦/; by greater length of /Ã/ vowel sound when it follows it immediately; or

by a complete omission of unstressed /r/ from the /ər/ combination. However, all of its

realizations can be diaphonically transcribed as /r/, because they will all re-emerge as [r] in

i related forms of the same word. For instance, alongside of [s ˈpiy] (from an English noun

i spear), there is [s ˈpârâm] form, as well, meaning (to spear), a verb (Hall 1966: 33).

33 However, a strong influence of the substrate language on Tok Pisin consonantal system can be seen, as well, and since in the pronunciation of /b, d, g/. These phonemes have

nasalized beginnings in Melanesian languages, [mb, nd, ng], that is why nasalization occurs before the consonants in Tok Pisin in a similar way. In orthography, this pre-nasalization is reflected only if it is used by both native speakers and Europeans, which could be an example of /sânda¦n/ (from English sit down) or /kr¦ng¦t/ (crooked). Anyway, this kind of change comes about only if a given occlusive is in an intervocalic position, because the same rule holds good in Melanesian languages (König 1994: 585).

In the substratum of Hawaiian Creole, /l/ phoneme is realized as /o/ or /ol/ in the end of the word. In consequence, English (mental) becomes /mento/, or (people) changes to /pi:po/ in this pidgin.

In Saramaccan, even so called double stops /@/ and /«/ have been retained from the

African substratum languages (König 1994: 585-6).

34 2.6.3 Phonotactics

As has been already mentioned (see p. 32), there is a general tendency towards open syllables in pidgin languages, that means to a CV syllable structure.

The most common way of forming the open syllables is putting a vowel after a consonant either in the middle of the word (so called epenthesis), or in its end (paragogue). It can be seen in Tok Pisin /gâra¦n/ (from English ground), West African Pidgin English /sâkân/ (skin), or Jamaican Creole /tÃkâ/ (talk) and /hÃbâ/ (have) (König 1994: 588).

Presence of words that include consonant clusters is generally regarded to be a sign of decreolization. In Tok Pisin, where pressure coming from the side of superstrate is growing stronger, forms like /gâra¦n/ and /gra¦n/ can be found at the same time (König 1994: 588).

To see how strong the tendency towards the open syllables is, Romaine cites a word list for an English word worm in various English-based creoles. It illustrates in what ways a cluster sequence of /r + m/ can be broken (1988: 64).

Krio worom Sranan woron Saramaccan wanu Cameroons wom Guyana worm Jamaican worom Gullah βurum

35 2.6.4 Suprasegmental Phonology

Most of pidgin and creole languages reflect their superstrate’s stress and intonation

system to a large extent.

In Haitian Creole and other French-based pidgin languages, the stress will automatically

fall on the last syllable of each word, as it does in French. Therefore there will be [b¦ˈke]

(from French. fatigue, „tired“) or [kõtribiˈsjõ] (contribution, “contribution, tax”). Because

stress is automatic in these languages, it will be not phonemically relevant in any of them

(Hall 1966: 34).

In English, on the other hand, stress is not predictable, so it has both delimitative and

distinctive function here. It means that words composed of identical syllables, with stress

position being the only difference between them, will each have different meaning; compare

English conˈtrast, a verb, and ˈcontrast, a noun.

It will be similar in most of the English-based pidgins, like in Chinese Pidgin English

/ˈpâqân/ (business) vs. /bâˈloŋ/ (to be). Even in those, however, an automatic stress can be

20 found , as in /ˈbâlQŋ/ or /ˈkÃrÃpelə/ (propeller), but words that have been borrowed from

English recently do not follow this rule at all and retain their original stress (Hall 1966: 34-5).

Intonation-pattern of English-based pidgins and creoles involves four relative levels of

pitch (as well as English does), and their combinations form individual sentences (Hall 1966,

34). A declarative utterance, for instance, passes from a middle level pitch to a higher one and

then to a lower one, and so on.

20 It is not evident, whether the loss of phonemic status for stress due to its moving on the first syllable was caused by substrate languages, or whether it is only a continuation of habit of speakers of Germanic languages (and its generalization at the same time) to put stress as close to the beginning of the word as possible. In lower- class British English, for example, forms like ˈgarridge can be found besides traditional garage, as well as ˈcigarette, ˈviolin, or ˈeclipse can be found in vulgar American English (Hall 1966: 35).

36 Pitch, as a suprasegmental feature itself, is a more complicated problem in pidgins. In

African languages that form their substrata quite often, the level of pitch on individual

syllables is very important. In making a difference in the meanings of words, a word’s

intonation21 is as important as vowel and consonant phonemes here. In most pidgin and creole languages, a distinctive function of word intonation is quite rare, as in Haitian Creole /ˈmãmã/,

meaning “enormous”, vs. /mãmã/, “mother”, but in Saramaccan, for example, it is very

important.

In the word /deési/, meaning “medicine”, four different ways of intonation are possible

(depending on what elements precede or follow the word in a sentence). In the following

examples (Hall 1966: 36), acute accent mark will indicate high pitch, while its absence will

indicate a low pitch.

deesi at the end of a negative construction déési dí déési (the medicine) deési mi tá tjá deésí dá dí ómi (I am taking medicine to the man) déésí mi tá tjá déésí dá dí ómi (I am taking the medicine to the man)

In the same language, presence or absence of a tonemic feature in syntactical

combinations may make such a difference in meaning, as it is between subject pronoun and

the personal possessive construction. /mi gó/ means “I went” here, while /mí wós¦/ means

“my house” (Hall 1966: 36).

21 A word intonation is a sequence of tones within a word, and individual syllables are the tone carriers.

37 2.6.5 Morphonology

As morphonogy, a discipline dealing with phonemic structure of morphones22, is a part of

phonology, it is necessary to include it in phonological description of pidgin and creole

languages, as well.

In languages like English, a lot of complex phonological relations occur between morphs

that are connected on both semantic and formal levels. Considering different pronunciations

of the first vowel in English expressions type and typical, of the c consonant in space and

spacious, or the plural ending phoneme in cats, dogs, or boxes, they are all what is generally

called morphonemic variations (Wardhaugh 2002: 65).

Such morphonemic variations are a natural part of language, however, they do not occur

in pidgin languages at all. Their existence and possible development are again only signs that

the language finds itself in the stage of creolization, and that the given pidgin is gradually

becoming a creole language (Wardhaugh 2002: 65).

22 Morphone is an isolated form (or signifier) of a morpheme and its existence follows from a bilateral nature of a sign. It can be perceived as a set of phonemic or zero realizations of a single morpheme, as well.

38 3 The Practical Part

3.1 Description of Material

In the practical part of the thesis, a pidgin language recording will be analyzed. From

English-based pidgins I have decided to work with Tok Pisin, as it is one of the best known

pidgins, and a large part of the examples given in the theoretical part of the thesis comes

particularly from Tok Pisin.

The material that will be used as a basis for the analysis comes from Australian Radio

One recordings. The radio station broadcasts predominantly in English, but Tok Pisin is used

as a main language in several of its programs. Recordings of one of them called Time To Talk

are published on the internet (), but what is more, transcripts of the conversations held are available there, too. Because the analysis will be based on comparison with English, translation of the recording had to be done. This made the whole process rather complicated.

The advantage of the material used is that I had recordings of several speakers at disposal, both male and female. Their speeches were authentic and natural, because they participated in the program that was aimed at other native speakers. They hardly knew that their language would be subjected to a linguistic analysis.

On the other hand, I could not gain much information about the speakers when working with this kind of material. It has been already mentioned (see p. 25) that besides sex, age and social background of a speaker play roles in the way he/she speaks and what variety of pidgin he/she uses. This drawback has made further sociolinguistic analysis almost impossible.

39 3.2 Description of the Passages Chosen

From the whole series of programs called Time To Talk that deals with governance in the

Pacific I have decided to work with the first one that generally introduces the problem. Its topic is called 'Governance - What's in a word?' and it discusses what governance actually means for the people of that area. There are several reasons why this particular part was chosen for analysis.

First, there are many speakers talking in this passage. It enables me not only to compare their tongues in general and to study more varieties of the pidgin, but as the participants discuss the same problem, it is also possible to concentrate on pronunciation of identical words uttered by different speakers.

Second, the speakers in the recording are of both sexes and it is really important to deal with male-female varieties when analysing a language.

Moreover, there are rather long passages of a male and a female speaker present in the extract. They are continuous when compared to the other speeches, which makes the language sound slightly different, but most importantly, it enables the same or similar features to be observed in the speech of a single person.

And finally, some sentences with English words, or rather English terms, emerge in the extract as well. These words uttered by native Tok Pisin speakers can be easily compared to

Standard English pronunciation.

40 3.3 Text in Standard English

M1: Governance supports only good jobs. Its decisions may help a few people in the whole

community to find a job.

F1: It means no more than governing a community or a family or a nation in a good way.

M2: It is an issue of who knows how to look after the well-being of our community.

F2: Good government is when the government looks after its people.

M3: I believe that my mother is a good government, because with little money, my mother

can make a budget for two weeks or even a year. She can manage all family.

M4: Hello, I’m Pius Bonjui. In the coming thirteen weeks we will look at what 'Governance'

means, and what World Bank and all donor groups and countries that work with the Pacific

government have improved in the countries themselves.

M1: ‘Governance’ is a new word and I know that plenty of people around us do not

understand enough what this governance is, because it is a new word that came from

English, and I think that not many people in PNG, in the villages around know what this

governance is.

M4: According to Helen Hakena, …, good governance is a matter of good leadership and

freedom of people to make all kinds of decisions or to realize thoughts that could establish

various kinds of work in developing places.

F3: For me, governance and organisation mean only good leadership, freedom–total freedom–

of everything that comes, but we may not like it, as it can bring something bad. Men must

be free to work at any good job that appears at his place; women must be free to realize all

their decisions; we, people of Bougainville, must be able to do anything we want by

ourselves. This is good governance for me, how I understand it.

41 3.4 English Transcript

M1: [ˈgÃv‹n‹ns s‹ˈpQ:ts o¦nlâ ˈg¦d ˈqSbz / âts dâˈsâµnz meâ ˈhelp ‹ ˈfju: ˈpi:pl ân j‹ ho¦l

k‹mˈju:nâtâ t‹ ˈfaând ‹ ˈqSb]

F1: [ât ˈmi:nz n‹¦ ˈmQ: jæn ˈgÃvnâ— ‹ k‹mˈju:nâtâ Q: ‹ ˈfæm‹lâ Q: ‹ ˈneâln ân ‹ g¦d ˈweâ]

M2: [ât âz ‹n ˈâlu: Sv hu: ˈno¦z ha¦ t‹ ˈl¦k ˈa:ft‹r j‹ ˌwel ˈbi:â— Sv a¦‹ k‹mˈju:nâtâ]

F2: [g¦d ˈgÃv‹nm‹nt âz wen j‹ ˈgÃv‹nm‹nt ˈl¦ks ˈa:ft‹r âts ˈpi:pl]

M3: [aâ bâˈli:v jæt maâ ˈmÃj‹ âz g¦d ˈgÃv‹nm‹nt / bâkSz wij ˈlâtl ˈmÃnâ maâ ˈmÃj‹ kæn ˈmeâk

‹ ˈbÃqât fQ: ˈtu: ˈwi:ks / Q: i:vn ‹ ˈjâ‹ li: kæn ˈmænâq Q:l ˈfæm‹lâ]

M4: [h‹ˈlo¦ / aâm *ˈpÃj‹s *bonˈµ¦â / Ân j‹ ˈkÃmâ— ˈ†®:ti:n ˈwi:ks wi: wâl ˈl¦k æt wSt ˈgÃv‹n‹ns

ˈmi:nz / ænd wSt ˈw®:ld ˈbæ—k ænd Q:l ˈdo¦n‹ ˈgru:ps ænd ˈkÃntrâz jæt ˈw®:k wâj j‹ p‹ˈsâfâk

ˈgÃv‹nm‹nt hæv âmˈpru:vd ân j‹ ˈkÃntrâz j‹mˈselvz]

M1: [ˈgÃv‹n‹ns âz ‹ ˈnju: ˈw®:d ænd aâ ˈno¦ jæt ˈplentâ Sv ˈpi:pl ‹ra¦nd Ãz du: ˈnSt ˈÃnd‹ˌstænd

âˈnÃf wSt jâs ˈgÃv‹n‹ns ˈâz / bâkSz ât âz ‹ ˈnju: ˈw®:d jæt ˈkeâm frSm ˈâ—glâl / ænd aâ ˈ†â—k jæt

nSt menâ ˈpi:pl ân ˈpi:‹nqi: ân j‹ ˈvâlâqâz ‹ˈra¦nd ˈno¦ wSt jâs ˈgÃv‹n‹ns âz]

M4: [‹ˈkQ:dâ— t‹ *ˈhel‹n *hÃˈkenÃ/ … /g¦d ˈgÃv‹n‹ns âz ‹ ˈmæt‹r Sv g¦d ˈli:d‹lâp ænd ˈfri:d‹m

Sv ˈpi:pl t‹ meâk ˈQ:l ˈkaândz ‹v dâˈsâµnz Q: t‹ ˈrâ‹laâz ˈ†Q:ts jæt k¦d âsˈtæblâl ˈve‹râ‹s ˈkaândz

Sv ˈw®:k ân dâˈvel‹pâ— ˈpleâsâz]

42 F3: [fQ: ˈmi: ˈgÃv‹n‹ns ænd ˈQ:g‹naâˌzeâln mi:n o¦nlâ ˈg¦d ˈli:d‹lâp / ˈfri:d‹m / ˈto¦tl ˈfri:d‹m /

Sv ˈevrâ†â— jæt ˈkÃmz / bÃt wi: meâ nSt ˈlaâk ât / æz ât kæn ˈbrâ— sÃm†â— ˈbKd / ˈmen mÃst bi:

ˈfri: t‹ ˈw®:k Kt ˈenâ g¦d ˈqSb jæt ‹ˈpâ‹z Kt hâz ˈpleâs / ˈwâmân mÃst bi: ˈfri: t‹ ˈrâ‹laâz Q:l je‹r

dâˈsâµnz / ˈwi: / ˈpi:pl Sv ˈbQ:g‹nvâl / mÃst bi: ˈeâbl t‹ du: ˈenâ†â— wi: ˈwSnt a¦‹ˈselvz / ˈjâs âz

g¦d ˈgÃv‹n‹ns fQ: mi: / ha¦ ˈaâ ˈÃnd‹ˌstænd ât]

43 3.5 Tok Pisin Transcript

M1: [ˈgÃv‹rn‹ns â sÃˈpQ:tâm ˈtÃzol g¦tplà ˈwQ:k / baâ Q:l dâˈsâsân â ken ˈhelpâm ˈwQ:k blo—

ˈwÃnwÃn ˈmÃn ˈmerâ ânˈsaât lo— komˈj¦nâtâ]

F1: [em â ˈmânâm noˈmo se ha¦ j¦ ˈgÃv‹nâm wÃn komˈj¦nâtâ Q: wÃn ˈfÃmâlâ Q: wÃn ˈnâln lo—

wÃn ˈg¦tf‹là ˈwi:]

M2: [‹m ˈâlu: blo— ˈh¦set sÃv l¦ˈka¦tâm sânˈda¦n blo— wel ˈbi:â— blo— komˈj¦nâtâ blo— ˈj¦mâ]

F2: [ˈg¦tplà sâˈda¦n blo— ˈgÃv‹rm‹nt we ˈgÃv‹rm‹nt â l¦ˈka¦tâm Q:l ˈpi:pol blo— ‹m]

M3: [mâ bâˈlâb ˈmÃmà blo— mâ ‹m ˈg¦tpl‹ ˈgÃv‹rm‹nt / bâkos ˈmÃmà blo— mâ wÃntaâm ˈlâklâk

ˈmÃnâ em â ken ˈmekâm ˈbÃdzet lo— ˈt¦ wi:ks / Q: i:v‹n ‹ ˈjâ‹r ‹m ken ˈmenâqâm ˈfemâlâ]

M4: [heˈlo¦ / mâ *ˈpÃj‹s *bonˈµ¦â / ânˈsaâd lo— dâsplà ˈwÃn ˈten ˈtri: ˈwi:k âˈkÃm j¦mâ baâ ˈl¦kl¦k

lo— ˈgÃv‹n‹ns em â ˈwSn‹m ˈsÃm†â— / nà blo— wSn‹m ˈw®:l ˈbæ—k nà Q:l ˈdon‹ ˈgru:p nÃ

ˈkÃntrâ â wok lo—k ˈs¦wâm Q:l p‹ˈsâfâk ˈgÃv‹m‹nt lo—k kÃˈma:pâm ‹m ˈgQ:d ânsaâd lo—

ˈwÃnwÃn ˈkÃntrâ blo— Q:l ˈjet]

M1: [ˈgÃv‹rn‹ns â ˈnju:plà ˈwQ:d nà mâ ˈsÃv Q:ls‹m ˈplÃntâ ˈlaân ˈmÃn ˈmerâ lo— ˈj¦mi: â no âˈnÃp

ˈÃnd‹ˌstændâm ˈwSn‹m ˈdâsplà ˈgÃv‹rn‹ns / bâkoz ‹m â ˈnju:plà ˈwQ:d kÃˈmÃp na¦ lo— ˈâ—lâs /

nà mâ ˈtâ— Q:ls‹m â nogÃt ˈplÃntâ ˈmÃn lo— ˈpi:‹ndzi: lo— ol ˈvâlâdz nÃba¦t ol â no sÃv wSn‹m

ˈdâsplà ‹m ˈgÃv‹n‹ns]

44 M4: [lo— ˈl¦kl¦k blo— *ˈhelen *hÃˈkenà / … / ˈg¦d ˈgÃv‹n‹ns â su:t lo— ˈg¦tplà ˈli:d‹lâp nÃ

ˈfri:d‹m lo— ˈmÃn nà ˈmerâ â ˈmekâm Q:l kaân dâˈlâln Q:r ˈti—tâ— bâlo— kâˈra:pâm ˈkaân kaân ˈwQ:k

blo— kÃˈma:pâm ˈple:s]

F3: [lo— ˈgÃv‹n‹ns lo— ˈmi: nà lo— ˈQ:g‹naâˌleâln blo— mi: ‹m ˈmi:nâm tesol ˈg¦d ˈli:d‹lâp /

ˈfri:d‹m / ˈtQ:tl ˈfri:d‹m / lo— ˈQ:lgetà ol ˈkaân kaân ˈsÃmtâ— â kÃˈmÃp / mâplà no ˈlaâkâm ol baâ

âno mÃs gÃt ol ˈsÃmtâ— no ˈg¦d / ˈmÃn â mÃs ˈfri: lo— ˈwokâm ˈwSn‹m kaân ˈwQ:k lo—

kÃˈma:pâm g¦tplà sânˈda¦n blo— ‹n ânˈsaât lo— ˈpele:s / ˈmerâ â mÃs ˈfri: ˈwokâm wSn‹m kaân

dâˈsâsn blo— em / ˈmâplà ˈpi:pol lo— ˈbQ:g‹nvâl â mÃs ˈmekâm ol ˈsÃmtâ— lo— ˈlaâk blo— mâplÃ

ˈjet â ˈsu:tâm wSn‹m kaân sânˈda¦n blo— ˈmâplà / ˈdâsplà ‹m â ˈg¦d ˈgÃv‹n‹ns lo— mâ / ha¦ ˈmâ

ˈÃnd‹ˌstendâm]

45 3.6 Recording Analysis

If we take short vowels into consideration, /â, e, Ã, o, ¦/ have been recognized in the Tok

Pisin recording. These correspond with, or at least are included in the cardinal vowels, as

could be expected (see p. 27). However, /‹/ occurs in the recording very often, too. It is a

mid-central vowel and belongs thus, according to Hall, to inner phonemes that tend to be

eliminated in pidgin languages (1966: 27-8).

This neutral vowel appears especially in words that apparently come from English and

have been borrowed recently. These are for example /gÃv‹rn‹ns/, /p‹sâfâk/, /fri:d‹m/,

/Q:g‹naâleâln/, etc. In other words coming from English, /‹/ phoneme is very often found in

positions where er originally occurs. The same phenomenon is present in British English

pronunciation, so the superstrate influence is apparent in words like /don‹/ < /do¦n‹r/,

/li:d‹lâp/, /Ãnd‹stændâm/, or again /gÃv‹n‹ns/.

If both transcriptions of the word governance from the examples above are juxtaposed, one can see that er does not necessarily need to be realized only as /‹/, but also as /‹r/.

However, none of the pronunciations seems to be prevailing or consistent, not even in a speech of a single person. It can be proved in case of speaker M1 who uses both of the varieties.

Enclitics23 are other cases where /‹/ phoneme can appear, but its presence is not consistent again. We encounter both /em/ and /‹m/ (meaning he, she or it) in different positions said by

different speakers as well as in a speech of the same person.

Morphs like –pelà that can indicate adjectives, plural of pronouns or even just pronouns

themselves contain /‹/ phonemes as well. It can be supposed that they are consequences of

23 Enclitic is an unstressed form attached to a preceding word. Presence of enclitics is common in informal speech and is occasionally reflected in writing (Crystal 1992: 119-120).

46 reduction of /e/; however, because these morphs are very frequent in Tok Pisin, /‹/ tends to be

further reduced and thus completely omitted. Forms like /g¦tplÃ/ (good), or /mâplÃ/ (we, us)

therefore occur more often than /g¦tp‹lÃ/ or /mâp‹lÃ/. It is similar with /â/ in /bâlo—/ which

stands for any possessive case, and changes to /blo—/ almost everywhere.

In spite of strong superstrate influence in the recording, not every English /‹/ is realized

the same way in Tok Pisin. /s‹pQ:t/ becomes /sÃpQ:tâm/ for instance, /k‹mju:nâtâ/ >

/komj¦nâtâ/, /fæm‹lâ/ > /femâlâ, fÃmâlâ/, or /h‹lo¦/ > /helo¦/.

According to the linguistic information found in the recording, it seems that /‹/ is not phonological in Tok Pisin and therefore does not distinguish meanings of words. It rather seems to be a supporting, or epenthetic phoneme instead.

It is interesting that /®:/, although it is a kind of neutral sound as well, appears only in a

single case in the whole recording. Moreover, this case is a pronunciation of World Bank,

/w®:l bæ—k/, which is an English expression and has nothing to do with Tok Pisin in fact.

English /®:/ is usually replaced with / Q:/, like in /wQ:k/ < /w®:k/, or /wQ:d/ < /w®:d/.

Another phoneme that does not belong to cardinal vowels but still occurs in Tok Pisin is

/S/. It appears in a single word in fact but in all cases that are recorded here. The word is

/wSn‹m/ and comes from English (what name) that includes the same vowel when being pronounced. Other /S/ phonemes that can be found in English transcript are realized as /o/ or

/Ã/ in Tok Pisin; /bâkos/ < /bâkSz/ or /gÃt/ < /g St/ can serve as examples.

/Ã/ is one of the phonemes that are very common in Tok Pisin. It not only appears in

words that are evidently native, like /sÃv/ (to know) or /n Ã/ (and), but also replaces non-native

phonemes to a large degree. In can be found in place of /‹/ or /S/, which has been discussed

47 above, but it stands for /æ/ in majority of cases. It is obvious in /mÃn/ < /mæn/, or /f Ãmâlâ/, but

it could be also a case of /tÃzol/, meaning “only”, that could originate in (that’s all).

Furthermore, a shift /e/ > / Ã/ can be found in the recording, as in /plentâ/ > /plÃntâ/, and even

/‹r/ > / Ã / suggests itself in /Q:lgetÃ/, “all, everybody, completely”, that could arise from

/Q:lt‹gej‹r/.

Similarly as it is with / Ã /, /e/ phoneme appears in place of /æ/ quite often. For example in

a way of saying (family) again, /femâlâ/, or in /ken/ < /kæn/, /Ãnd‹stendâm/ < /Ãnd‹stænd/,

/menâqâm/ < /mænâq/, or in /tesol/ which is the same case as /tÃzol/ (see above). In the recording, a shift /â/ > /e/ can also be noticed in /bÃdzet/ < /bÃqât/.

There is nothing unusual in realization of /â/ phoneme. In words of English origin, /â/

seems to appear in the same positions as it appears in English.

As far as /o/ and /¦/ is concerned, they predominantly replace diphthongs or long vowels

therefore they will be paid more attention later on in the analysis.

Long vowels that are present in the recording include /a:/, /e:/, /i:/, / Q:/, /u:/, and /®:/ that

has already been discussed.

It very often holds good that Tok Pisin long vowels accord with English long vowels in

similar words, as in /pi:pol/ < /pi:pl/, /wi:k/, /Q:g‹naâleâln/ < /Q:g‹naâzeâln/, /sÃpQ:tâm/,

/âlu:/, /gru:p/, or /nju:pl Ã/ < /nju:/. However, it also happens that long vowels in Tok Pisin are only substitutions for English diphthongs, /pele:s/ < /pleâs/, /wi:/ < /weâ/, /tQ:tl/ < /to¦tl/; or for a different long vowel that does not have its place in phonological subsystem of Tok

Pisin, as it is in case of /®:/ (see above, p. 47 ).

48 Viewed from another angle, English long vowels very often change to short vowels in

Tok Pisin, for example /bâli:v/ > /bâlâb/, /mQ:/ > /mo/, /ju:/ > /j¦/, or /tu:/ > /t¦/. It should be the same with English /mi:/ or /mi:n/, but it is not exactly. Gradual approach toward the superstrate is visible even in this short recording, as both /mâ/ and /mi:/, or /mânâm/ and

/mi:nâm/ occur here alongside. The same phenomenon can be observed with /ol/ and /Q:l/, or maybe even /wokâm/ and /wQ:k/.

Comparing all long vowels in Tok Pisin inventory, /a:/ behaves quite differently from those above. It occurs only in two words in the analysed material, and both of the words look similar. /kÃma:pâm/ comes from English /kÃm Ãp/, and /kâra:pâm/, considering that one of its meanings is “get someone up from bed”, could originate in /get Ãp/. It logically follows that the process is inverse here, because the short vowel changes to the long one.

Although it has been suggested that diphthongs tend to be replaced in Tok Pisin, they are not rare at all here. Use of /aâ/ and /a¦/ prevail significantly over other diphtonghs and correspond completely with their English use in words like /ânsaât, ânsaâd/, /kaân/ < /kaând/,

/laâkâm/ < /laâk/, /l¦ka¦tâm/ < /l¦k a¦t/, /sânda¦n/ < /sât da¦n/, or /na¦/.

However, a single case of /o¦/, /eâ/ and /¦â/ respectively occurs in the recording, too. /¦â/, the only ascending diphthong here, is a part of a name, so its origin cannot be certain. The other two seem to be signals of approaching superstrate, because /o¦/ and /eâ/ present in

English words are usually monophthongized or substituted with a long vowel at most; compare /don‹/ < /do¦n‹r/, /tQ:tl/ < /to¦tl/, /nâln/ < /neâln/, /wi:/ < /weâ/, /mekâm/ < /meâk/, or /ple:s/ < /pleâs/. It is similar with English /‹¦/ that becomes /o/ in /n‹¦/ > /no/ for example.

49 All in all, it could be said that Tok Pisin shows a general tendency towards reduction of

diphthongs to long vowels (or towards monophthongization and creation of new long

vowels), and reduction of quantity in the original long vowels.

Taking consonants into consideration, the most important thing that can be noticed when

reading the transcripts of the recording is that the inventory of consonants is much wider than

the theoretical works have suggested, for example Romaine (see p. 31).

Even a difficult sound such as /†/ occurs in the recording, although only once and in the

speech of M4 whose language seems to be closest to the superstrate. In other cases, /†/

changes to /t/, as it is in /tri:/ < /†ri:/, /tiŋ/ < /†iŋk/, or /sÃmtâ—/ < /sÃm†â—/ which is the word that was pronounced according to Standard English by M4.

/j/ does not appear anywhere in the recording. The only word that could be used for comparison is English /jâs/ that changes to /dâsplÃ/ in Tok Pisin and proves thus a shift /j/ >

/d/ that has been suggested (see p. 30).

Use of /h/ in Tok Pisin corresponds with its English use and this phoneme seems to have a

stable position in the idiolects of all speakers in the recording.

/z/ appears a few times in the material, but always in words and positions where /s/ can be

found as well, compare /tÃzol/, /tesol/ and /tÃsQ:l/, or /bâkoz/ and /bâkos/. For this reason, /z/

cannot be regarded as phonologically valuable in Tok Pisin.

An instable opposition between /p/ and /f/ that has been suggested above (see p. 31) is

confirmed in the recording. Every English /p/ is retained in Tok Pisin material used here, but a case of a /f/ > /p/ shift emerges in /ânÃf/ > /ânÃp/. Moreover, alternation between /gutp‹lÃ/ and /g¦tf‹lÃ/ is documented in the recording.

50 Similar problem should accompany also /b/ and /v/ phonemes, that means voiced

counterparts of the pair above. An example is really given in the material when English

/bâli:v/ changes to /bâlâb/.

It seems that this kind of change will take place in final positions, as in initial or middle

positions these phonemes remain the same in similar words. However, there is /v/ at the end

of Tok Pisn /sav/, which shows that there should be no problem with using such sounds in the

final positions. It rather suggests that there is really no constant phonological opposition

between /p/ and /f/, and /b/ and /v/.

Bilabial /b/ is accompanied by another phenomenon. It has been mentioned (see p. 34)

that substratum influence can be signified by pre-nasalization of occlusives /b, d, g/ and so examples of both /sinda¦n/ and /sâda¦n/ can be found in the recording, too.

Situation with sibilants and affricates, including /s, l, z, µ, dz, q, ts, —/ is more complex.

Although /l/ is the most stable and does not change very often, as in /âlu:/, /li:d‹lâp/ or /nâln/

< /neâln/, there is evidently no constant oppositions between individual phonemes of this group and therefore various combinations in changes appear.

It has been suggested (see p. 30) that all such sounds originally used to be replaced by /s/, and were thus simplified. In the recording, examples of such simplification can be noticed when /l, z, µ, ts/ change to /s/ in /â—glâl/ > /â—lâs/, /bâkSz/ > /bâkos/, /dâsâµn/ > /dâsâsân/, or

/jKts Q:l/ (that’s all) > /tesol, tÃsQ:l/; or when /q/ changes to /dz/ in /bÃqât/ > /bÃdzet/ or

/vâlâq/ > /vâlâdz/.

However, there are also cases that show shifts from simplicity towards complexity and

seem to be examples of hypercorrection, like /s/ > /l/ in /dâsâµn/ > /dâlâln/ and /z/ > /l/ in

51 /Q:g‹naâzeâln/ > /Q:g‹naâleâln /. Moreover, a change /µ/ > /l/ can be seen in the former

example.

Consonantal clusters that were said to be very problematic in pidgin languages (see p. 31)

do not seem to be so difficult for the speakers in the recording. It is probably a signal of

decreolization that numerous clusters can be found in initial positions (CCV-), in the middle

of words (-VCCV-) as well as in final positions (-VCC).

However, some kinds of clusters evidently cause difficulties in initial positions, because

in all cases in the recording, the last consonant of the cluster is only either a liquid or a semi-

vowel. It can be seen in /gru:p/, /fri:d‹m/, /plÃntâ/, /nju:plÃ/ or /blo—/ which is a reduced form

of /bâlo—/. Although /ple:s/ emerges in the speech of M4 as well, it is still supplemented with

an intercalated vowel in the speech of F3, which makes it /pele:s/.

Clusters in middle positions are the most numerous, often ended with plosives (which is

not usual in other clusters), as in /Ãnd‹stendâm/ or /sÃmtâ—/, and in a few cases they contain

even three consonants, /kÃntrâ/ or /g¦tplÃ/, a reduced form again. A problem emerges with

pronunciation of /—g/ in /â—glâl/ when the velar plosive is not pronounced at all and the velar

quality of the original cluster gets satisfied with the velar nasal on its own, /â—lâs/. This

phenomenon appears in clusters at the end of words, too.

In the final position, it can be found in words like /tâ—/ < /†â—k/. However, one of the

speakers uses /—/ + velar consonant combination correctly, namely in the word /bæ—k/. It is also the only case where a plosive appears in a cluster in the final position. In other words, the final plosive is omitted, as in /w®:l/ < /w®:ld/ or /kaân/ < /kaând/. Another unusual combination is ended with /s/ and it is even in a plural form, /wi:ks/. This automatically

52 suggests a strong influence of the superstrate, because plural is a signal of decreolization

again. The same speaker, although his phonology does not show many similarities with

English, uses the indefinite article in his speech as well.

There is a cluster in the final position ending with /l/ in the recording, but in another case

such a cluster is broken by inserting a vowel; compare /tQ:tl/ and /pi:pol/. The combination of

a sibilant and a nasal seems to be the most usual, as it can be seen in /nâln/, /dâlâln/,

/Q:g‹naâleâln/ or /dâsâsn/, but still, there is a single case of /dâsâsân/, too.

In summary, none of the clusters seems to have a stable position in the phonological

subsystem of Tok Pisin, at least not as far as the recording demonstrates, and the tendency

towards an open syllable structure in pidgin languages is still visible here.

Phonological processes do not seem to appear regularly. Compare /sânda¦n/ (with sandhi

of location) and /tâ—tâ—/ or /sÃmtâ—/ (without sandhi of location); and /ânsaâd lo—/ (with sandhi of voice) and /ânsaât lo—/ (without sandhi of voice).

Concerning suprasegmental phonology, Tok Pisin does not show any significant

differences from English. Stresses in the recording correspond with those in English, even in

rather long words like /ˈÃnd‹ˌstændâm/ or /ˈQ:g‹naâˌleâln/. The only difference is that the stress

is not so strong, which makes the language not as rhythmical as English is. However, there is

no example of such stress that would change meanings of two otherwise authentic words, as it

is in English /ˈKksent/ (a noun) and / Kkˈsent/ (a verb). The phonological status of stress in Tok

Pisin can thus still be questioned.

On the other hand, it is obvious that intonation (within the bounds of words) does not have any phonological value in Tok Pisin.

53 From the sociolinguistic point of view, there is nothing that could be generally stated

about male and female divergences. In parts of the recording that are not included in the

extract, some information was provided about the speakers; specifically about M1, a vice-

president of Business Council in Papua New Guinea, and F3 who started the Leitana Nehan

Women’s Development Agency. Since M4 is the presenter of the program, these three

speakers can be assumed to be educated. It suggests that the program may not interview natives who do not get in contact with English at all, or who are uneducated. Here the differences between male and female speakers would be more perceptible.

If fluency and speed of speech should be compared, M2, M3 and F3 would be noticeable.

As far as closeness to the superstrate, M4 uses the most phonological features that are rather typical of English. He uses phonemes like /†/, /l/ or /®:/, as well as consonantal clusters in

/bæ—k/, /gru:p/, /kÃntrâ/, /dâlâln/ or /ple:s/. But still, there is /tri:/ < /†ri:/, /w®:l/ < /w®:ld/ or

/kaân/ < /kaând/ present in his speech. Moreover, there are signs of hypercorrection in

/dâlâln/, /lo—k/ and probably even /gQ:d/ < /g¦d/.

Hypercorrection can be seen in F3’s /Q:g‹naâleâln/ as well, but in /dâsâsn/ she does not

use a fricative at all. There are many clusters in all positions in her speech, but /pi:pol/,

/pele:s/ or /kaân/ make their use inconstant again.

A significant fact about M3 is that he uses a plural form and an indefinite article (which is

a matter of morphology), and /q/ can be recognized in his speech. However, he uses /dz/ in

another case, and phonological opposition between /b/ and /v/ is not present in his language.

M1 does not use /l/, /µ/ or / q/ at all, some clusters seem to be problematic for him, and he

has not acquired the opposition between /p/ and /f/. Anyway, contact with English is visible

even in his case.

54 4 Conclusion

As this thesis clearly demonstrates, two processes take place during the development of phonological systems of pidgin and creole languages, and each of the processes is different:

A stage of pidginization is always accompanied by extensive reduction of a superstrate’s phonological system. In English-based pidgins, for example, vowel inventory is reduced only to so-called cardinal vowels, as can be seen in chapter 2.6.1. The following chapter shows that changes regarding consonants are even more extensive. In fact, the superstrate phonological system is projected in the system of the substratum, and all phonemes or oppositions that are not present in their intersection are removed. Considerable reduction of both vowel and consonantal systems are thus consequences of pidginization.

It has been suggested in chapter 2.6.3 and demonstrated to a certain degree in the analysis

(see pp. 52-3) that syntagmatic organization of phoneme strings is modified during pidginization as well. Syntagmatic patterns of the superstrate are projected in syntagmatic patterns of the substratum again, and their intersection is preserved. It has been proved that this intersection most typically includes open syllables, as these are found in all languages (as opposed to close syllables that do not belong to language universals).

The thesis clearly explains that the stage of creolization is an extending stage (see p. 8).

No projection of one system into another has been noticed here. The processes run within the bounds of an independently existing language as they do in any other non-creole language; and it concerns individual phonemes, phonological oppositions as well as syntagmatic strings.

Such modification of an inherited phonological system into a new system is no more dependent on processes that take place in the substrate or superstrate languages. However, previous researches show (see p. 9) that for sociolinguistic reasons, they can be subjected to secondary influence by them and brought thus to decreolization; and analysis of the recording proves this fact.

55 The influence of superstratum is evident when words with the same meaning but said by different speakers are compared. Divergences in their idiolects clearly show that some speakers are approaching the superstrate, while the others keep on using the pidgin, or rather creole principles. Moreover, morphological alternations such as use of articles or plural forms

(see pp. 52-53) emerge in the stage of decreolization, which is virtually unconceivable in the first stage.

As the whole thesis supports the idea that the principal of projection (which is so typical of pidgin languages) concerns lexical, morphological as well as syntactical levels, it can be stated that it is not true that superstrate provides paradigmatic components, while substratum provides syntagmatic strings.

Not surprisingly, analysis of the current recording has shown numerous divergences from

Hall’s work (1966) that has been used as one of the main sources for the thesis. Evidence has been collected of sounds that were never present in the substrate language, as it is in case of

/†/ or /h/ (see p. 30) that even seems to have a stable position in Tok Pisin inventory. All these are signs of decreolization in progress.

Another significant change concerns the spread of consonantal clusters. Hall mentions just a pair of examples where they appear (1966: 31-2), but König (1994: 588) does not observe their progressive appearance either. The thesis clearly demonstrates that although open syllables are still used to avoid clusters in some cases, the current trend in Tok Pisin heads towards the use of clusters in all positions of a word (see pp. 52-3).

However, as far as information from the radio interview allows, there is evidence that the participants are rather well-educated people (see p. 54). They can therefore be in contact with

English more than natives from villages.

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