ON THE SYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH PIDGINS AND CREOLES Andrei A. Avram B.A. (Bucharest - Romania) Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Linguistics and Modem English Language Lancaster University October 2004 ProQuest Number: 11003561 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11003561 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT This thesis is an optimality-theoretic investigation of syllable restructuring in the Atlantic and Pacific English-lexicon pidgins and creoles, both in their earlier stages and in the modem varieties. The theoretical framework and the methodology are presented in chapter 2. The next three chapters examine the adjustments that occur in the English pidgins and creoles in two syllabic positions: the onset and the coda. Thus, chapter 3 looks into the strategies used to resolve illicit /s/-initial onset clusters. Chapter 4 investigates the fate of obstruent + sonorant onset clusters, to the exclusion of /s/-initial ones. The clusters at issue are of two types: obstruent + glide, and obstruent + liquid. Particular attention is paid to the treatment of obstruent + liquid onset clusters in the creoles of Surinam, a matter of some dispute in the literature. Syllable restructuring in coda position is discussed in chapter 5, in which reflexes of etyma with both complex and simple codas are analyzed. The last chapter places the findings in the wider context of their implications for phonological theory and for the study of language contacts, as well as of the relevance of optimality theory to the study of syllable restructuring in the English pidgins and creoles. The issues discussed include the role of markedness, the relation between constraints on syllable structure in the English pidgins and creoles and in their respective substrate languages, syllable restructuring in the Atlantic Dutch and French creoles, and a comparison of syllable restructuring in first and second language phonology, in loanword phonology, and in the English pidgins and creoles. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my supervisors, Francis Katamba, Professor of Linguistics, and Dr Mark Sebba, Reader in Linguistics, for their constant, meticulous and prompt feedback as well as for much needed encouragement. Their suggestions were always stimulating ands thought-provoking, and made me look for unexpected links between seemingly disparate phenomena. I would also like to thank my examiners, Professor Anna Siewierska (Lancaster University) and Professor Norval Smith (University of Amsterdam), for their comments. I am also grateful to Professor Alexandra Comilescu (University of Bucharest), my first teacher of linguistics, for her permanent support. For endless discussions on ideas presented in the thesis I thank Larisa Avram. A big thank you to my son Andrei, a real computer wizard and an exceptional proofreader. Last but not least, thank you Larisa and thank you Andrei for everything. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 1 2 The theoretical framework and methodology 3 2.1 The theoretical framework 3 2.1.1 Introduction 3 2.1.1 Classification of constraints 9 2.1.2.1 Markedness constraints 9 2.1.2.2 Correspondence constraints 10 2.2 Advantages of optimality theory 12 2.3 Optimality theory and the acquisition of first language phonology 13 2.4 Optimality theory and the acquisition of second language phonology 14 2.5 Optimality theory and variation in phonology 15 2.5.1 Free variation 16 2.5.2 Speech style 17 2.5.3 Co-phonologies 19 2.6 Optimality theory and sound change 20 2.7 Optimality theory and the phonology of pidgin and creole languages 21 2.8 Methodology 21 2.8.1 The varieties considered 21 2.8.2 The sources 21 2.8.3 The examples 22 3 The treatment of /s/-initial onset clusters 23 3.1 Introduction 23 3.2 Early Atlantic English pidgins and creoles 24 3.2.1 Cameroon Pidgin English 24 3.2.2 Barbadian 27 3.2.3 Saint Kittitian 28 3.2.4 Trinidadian English Creole 29 3.2.5 Tobagonian 30 3.2.6 Sranan 31 3.2.7 Antiguan 34 3.2.8 Jamaican 35 3.2.9 Special case 1: Saramaccan 38 3.2.10 Special case 2: Ndyuka 48 3.3 Modem Atlantic English pidgins and creoles 56 3.3.1 Krio 56 3.3.2 Ghanaian Pidgin English 57 3.3.3 Nigerian Pidgin English 60 3.3.3.1 Introduction 60 3.3.3.2 Kano Nigerian Pidgin English 60 3.3.3.3 Nigerian Pidgin English 61 3.3.3.4 Yoruba Nigerian Pidgin English 62 3.3.3.5 Pidgin Proper 63 3.3.3.6 General Nigerian Pidgin English 64 3.3.3.7 Urban Port Harcourt Nigerian Pidgin English 65 3.3.3.8 Instead of conclusions 66 3.3.4 Cameroon Pidgin English 66 3.3.4.1 Introduction 66 3.3.4.2 Assimilated Pidgin English 66 3.3.4.3 Broad Pidgin English 67 3.3.4.4 Kamtok 69 3.3.4.5 Cameroonian 71 3.3.4.6 Instead of conclusions 72 3.3.5 Sranan 72 3.3.6 Antiguan 74 3.3.7 Jamaican 75 3.3.8 Gullah 78 3.4 Early Pacific English pidgins and creoles 79 3.4.1 Melanesian Pidgin English 79 3.4.2 Tok Pisin 80 3.4.3 Bislama 81 3.4.4 Solomon Islands Pidgin 83 3.4.5 Kriol 84 3.5 Modem Pacific English pidgins and creoles 85 3.5.1 Tok Pisin 85 3.5.2 Bislama 87 3.5.3 Solomon Islands Pidgin 88 3.5.4 Kriol 88 3.5.5 Naum Pidgin English 89 3.6 Conclusions 90 4 The treatment of obstruent + sonorant onset clusters 93 4.1 Introduction 93 4.2 Early Atlantic English pidgins and creoles 94 4.2.1 Introduction 94 4.2.2 Early Sranan 96 4.2.2.1 Herlein (1718) 97 4.2.2.2 Court records (1707-1777) 98 4.2.2.3 van Dyk (ca. 1765) 99 4.2.2.4 Fermin (1765) 101 4.2.2.5 Nepveu (1770) 101 4.2.2.6 Stedman (1777) 103 4.2.2.7 Schumann (1781) 104 4.2.2.8 Schumann (1783) 105 4.2.2.9 Schouten (1783) 107 4.2.2.10 Weygandt (1798) 108 4.2.2.11 Occurrence of obstruent + liquid onset clusters in early Sranan 109 4.2.2.12 Early Barbadian and early Saint Kittian 110 4.2.2.13 Portuguese words shared by Sranan and Saramaccan 112 4.2.2.14 Conclusions 112 4.2.3 Early Saramaccan (1778-1805) 114 4.2.3.1 Schumann (1778) 114 4.2.3.2 Riemer (1779) 116 4.2.3.3 Maroon letters (1789, 1790 and 1791) 119 4.2.3.4 Wietz (1805) 120 4.2.3.5 Occurrence of obstruent + liquid onset clusters in early Saramaccan 121 4.3.3.6 Conclusions 122 4.2.4 Early Aluku 124 4.2.5 Special case 1: Kwinti 129 4.2.6 Special case 2: Ndyuka 131 4.2.7 The distribution of obstruent + liquid onset clusters in the early stages of the creoles of Surinam 133 4.2.8 The substrate languages of the English creoles of Surinam 133 4.2.9 Obstruent + liquid onset clusters in the early stages of the creoles of Surinam: conclusions 135 4.3 Modem Atlantic English pidgins and creoles 136 4.3.1 Ghanaian Pidgin English 136 4.3.2 Yoruba Nigerian Pidgin English 138 4.3.3 Assimilated Cameroon Pidgin English 139 4.3.4 Modem Aluku 140 4.4 Early Pacific English pidgins and creoles 144 4.4.1 Introduction 144 4.4.2 Tok Pisin 146 4.4.3 Bislama 148 4.4.4 Solomon Islands Pidgin 150 4.4.5 Torres Strait Creole 152 4.4.6 Kriol 153 4.5 Modem Pacific English pidgins and creoles 154 4.5.1 Tok Pisin 154 4.5.2 Bislama 157 4.5.3 Solomon Islands Pidgin 158 4.5.4 Torres Strait Creole 159 4.5.5 Kriol 160 4.6 Conclusions 161 The treatment of codas 162 5.1 Introduction 162 5.2 Early Atlantic English creoles 163 5.2.1 Barbadian 163 5.2.2 Saint Kittitian 166 5.2.3 Guyanese 169 5.2.4 The creoles of Surinam 172 5.2.4.1 Sranan 172 5.2.4.2 Saramaccan 175 5.2.4.3 Special case 1: Ndyuka 180 5.2.4.4 Special case 2: Aluku 180 5.2.4.5 Conclusions 181 5.2.5 Jamaican 182 5.3 Modem Atlantic English pidgins and creoles 186 5.3.1 Ghanaian Pidgin English 186 5.3.1.1 Uneducated Ghanaian Pidgin English 186 5.3.1.2 Jargonized Ghanaian Pidgin English 187 5.3.2 Nigerian Pidgin English 188 5.3.2.1 Pidgin Proper 188 5.3.2.2 Yoruba Nigerian Pidgin English 190 5.4 Early Pacific English pidgins and creoles 195 5.4.1 Tok Pisin 195 5.4.2 Bislama 197 5.4.3 Solomon Islands Pidgin 200 5.5 Conclusions 203 Conclusions 205 6.1 Introduction 205 6.2 Markedness 205 6.3 The phonological status of the “intrusive” vowel 208 6.3.1 Previous analyses 209 6.3.1.1 Ghanaian Pidgin English 209 6.3.1.2 Nigerian Pidgin English 209 6.3.1.3 Tok Pisin 209 6.3.2 Lexical or phonetic 210 6.3.3 Empirical evidence 211 6.3.3.1 Tone assignment in West African Pidgin English 211 6.3.3.2 Tone assignment in Ghanaian Pidgin English 212 6.3.3.3 Phonetic reduplication in Tok Pisin 212 6.3.3.4 Morphological reduplication in Bislama 213 6.3.3.5 Fossilized forms in Tok Pisin 214 6.3.3.6 Stress shift in Tok Pisin 215 6.3.3.7 Anglicized variants in Ghanaian Pidgin English 215 6.3.3.8 Anglicized variants in Tok Pisin 216 6.3.3.9 Inter-generational variation in Tok Pisin 216 6.3.3.10 Intra-speaker variation in Tok Pisin 217 6.3.3.11 Speech tempo in Tok Pisin 217 6.4 The role of the substrate languages 218 6.4.1 Paragoge in Gbe, Kikongo, Yoruba, Akan, and Sranan 218 6.4.2 Epenthesis and paragoge in Akan and Ghanaian Pidgin English 220 6.4.3 Onsets and codas in Yoruba and Yoruba Nigerian Pidgin English 221 6.4.4 Obstruent + liquid onset clusters in Tolai and Tok Pisin 223 6.5 Syllable restructuring in Atlantic Dutch and French creoles 224 6.6 Acquisition of first language phonology 227 6.6.1 Complex onsets 227 6.6.2 Complex codas 229 6.6.3 Simple codas 230 6.7 Acquisition of second language phonology 231 6.7.1 Complex onsets 232 6.7.2 Complex codas 233 6.7.3 Simple codas 233 6.8 Loanword phonology 233 6.8.1 Complex onsets 234 6.8.2 Complex codas 237 6.8.3 Simple codas 237 6.9 Evidence from pidgin and creole phonology and theories of pidginization and creolization 239 6.10 Optimality theory and syllable restructuring in English pidgins and creoles 240 References 242 1 Introduction The present thesis investigates a number of aspects of syllable structure in the English pidgins and creoles.