Article Incorporation in Mauritian Creole Rachel Eva Strandquist B.A., University of Victoria, 2003 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Linguistics O Rachel Strandquist, 2005 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. Supervisor: Dr. Suzanne Urbanczyk ABSTRACT In Mauritian Creole, and in other French creoles, there is a phenomenon called article incorporation, where a French article becomes fused with a noun in the creole language. Of all the French creoles, Mauritian Creole has the most article incorporation, with at least five times more nouns with article incorporation. In this thesis, I explain why Mauritian Creole has so many nouns with article incorporation, why certain nouns receive incorporated articles while others do not, and why certain articles are more commonly incorporated than others. All of these issues can be at least partly explained by influence from Bantu languages. I argue that incorporated articles are modelled on noun class prefixes from Bantu languages, and that Bantu vowel harmony affects which nouns receive incorporated articles and which articles are incorporated. Articles whose vowels are consistent with Bantu vowel harmony are more likely to be incorporated than those that are not. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. 11 ... TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ 111 LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... vii Chapter 1 .Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 1.1 . Statement of Intent .............................................................................................. 1 1.2 . Mauritian Creole .................................................................................................. 5 1.2.1 .Background ..................................................................................... 5 1.2.2 .Phonology ............................................................................................. 7 1.2.3 . Morphology .................................................................................... 9 I .3 . Literature Review ................................................................................................ 10 1.4 . Methodology ....................................................................................................... 12 . 1.5 . Organization ........................................................................................................ 13 Chapter 2 .The Data ................................................................................................. 14 2.1 . Introduction ....................................................................................................... 14 2.2 .What is article incorporation? .............................................................................. 14 2.3 .Types of article incorporation ............................................................................. 2.3.1 - Syllabic article incorporation ................................................................ 2.3.1.1 - la- (la) ................................................................................... 2.3.1.2 - le-1% (le) ............................................................................... 2.3.1.3 - di- (du) ................................................................................. 2.3.2 - Consonantal article incorporation ......................................................... 2.3.2.1 - 1- (1') ...................................................................................... 2.3.2.2 - z- (les) ................................................................................... 2.3.2.3 - n- (unlune) ............................................................................ 2.3.3 - Biconsonantal article incorporation ...................................................... 2.3.3.1 - dil-Idel- (de 1') ...................................................................... 2.3.3.2 - diz- (des) .............................................................................. 2.3.3.3 - les-Iliz- (les) .......................................................................... 2.4 - Obsolete Forms .................................................................................................. 2.5 - Conclusion ......................................................................................................... iv Chapter 3 . Bantu Influence and the Development of Article Incorporation in Mauritian Creole. RCunionnais. Haitian Creole and Louisiana Creole .................. 3.1 . Introduction ...................................................................................................... 3.2 .History and Development of Four Creole Languages ......................................... 3.2.1 . Introduction .......................................................................................... 3.2.2 .Mauritian Creole ................................................................................... 3.3.2.1 . History ................................................................................... 3.3.2.2 .Conclusion ............................................................................. 3.2.3 . Rkunionnais ......................................................................................... 3.3.3.1 . History ................................................................................... 3.3.3.2 .Article Incorporation .............................................................. 3.3.3.3 .Conclusion ............................................................................. 3.2.4 .Haitian Creole ...................................................................................... 3.3.4.1 . History .................................................................................. 3.3.4.2 .Article Incorporation ............................................................. 3.3.4.3 . Conclusion ............................................................................ 3.2.5 .Louisiana Creole .................................................................................. 3.3.5.1 .History .................................................................................. 3.3 S.2 .Article Incorporation .............................................................. 3.3.5.3 .Conclusion ............................................................................. 3.2.6 .Summary and Conclusions ................................................................... 3.3 . Baker's Bantu Hypothesis ................................................................................... 3.4 . Conclusion .......................................................................................................... Chapter 4 .Substrate Influence and Linguistic Universals in Mauritian Creole Article Incorporation .............................................................................................. 65 4.1 . Introduction ........................................................................................................ 65 4.2 .Substrate Influence in Mauritian Creole Article Incorporation ............................. 68 4.2.1 . Introduction ......................................................................................... 68 4.2.2 . The Hypothesis ............................................................................... 68 4.2.2.1 .Introduction ...................................................................... 68 4.2.2.2 .French Articles and Noun Class Prefixes: SLA and Transfer ... 69 4.2.2.3 .Vowel Harmony and Mauritian Creole: Phonological Transfer . 75 4.2.2.4 .Testing the Hypothesis: Chi Square ........................................ 79 4.2.2.5 .Article Incorporation as Nominal Marking .............................. 83 4.2.2.6 . Conclusion ............................................................................ 85 4.2.3 .The Evidence: Bantu Languages ........................................................... 86 4.2.3.1 . Introduction ........................................................................... 86 4.2.3.2 .Description and Classification of Bantu ................................ 87 4.2.3.3 .Bantu Noun Classes and Noun Class Prefixes ......................... 89 4.2.3.4 .Vowel Harmony in Kikuria and Mauritian Creole ................... 95 4.2.3.5 . Conclusion ............................................................................ 102 4.3 .Additional Issues in the Study of Mauritian Creole Article Incorporation ............ 102 4.3.1 . Introduction ......................................................................................... 102 4.3.2 . Homophony Avoidance .................................................................. 103 4.3.3 .Frequency of Collocation ................................................................. 107 4.3.4 .Number of Syllables ............................................................................