How do we understand and model the effects of language contact and creolization?
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Understanding and Modeling the Effects of Language Contact and Creolization
Introduction to Language Contact and Creolization
Language contact occurs when speakers of different languages interact regularly, leading to linguistic influences and changes. Creolization is a specific outcome of language contact, where a new, stable language (a creole) emerges from the blending of multiple languages. This process is complex and influenced by various factors, including social, psychological, and linguistic elements.
Models of Language Contact and Change
Post-Creolization Contact and Change
The Afro-Caribbean English-lexifier Creoles (AECs) provide a rich context for studying language contact and change. A model of post-formative contact and change in these creoles highlights the importance of distinguishing between terms like "superstrate," "lexifier," "substrate," and "adstrate" to understand their typological diversity and genealogical differentiation1. This model helps explain the structural outcomes of language contact in multilingual ecologies.
Feature Pool Approach to Creolization
The feature pool approach suggests that the emergence of new grammar in creoles is driven by the prominence, markedness, and frequency of available features. However, case studies from Surinamese creoles and Sri Lanka Malay indicate that typological similarity alone does not predict the outcomes of language contact. Instead, processing constraints and second language acquisition play significant roles in shaping the structural outcomes2.
The Role of Social and Psychological Factors
Influence of Language Ideologies
Language ideologies, encompassing shared beliefs and attitudes towards specific language forms, significantly impact language usage and shift within communities. A model incorporating language ideologies shows that speaker preferences can outweigh the influence of language prestige, affecting the dynamics of language contact and the coexistence or extinction of language varieties6.
Social Stratification and Network Relations
Social factors, such as social stratification and network relations, are crucial in determining the outcomes of language contact. For instance, the formation of Sranan in Suriname was influenced by social hierarchies and the interactions within different social networks4. These social dynamics can lead to varying degrees of language mixing and the emergence of new linguistic forms.
Typological and Genetic Linguistics Perspectives
Typology and Language Contact
Typological studies challenge the notion that grammatical borrowing only occurs between typologically similar languages. Research shows that social factors and the context of language contact are more critical in determining the structural outcomes than typological similarity5. This perspective broadens our understanding of how languages influence each other and evolve over time.
Genetic Linguistics and Creolization
The relationship between language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics has been explored extensively. Studies highlight the impact of language contact on a language's genetically inherited characteristics and the formation of mixed languages. This research underscores the importance of considering both linguistic and social factors in modeling language contact and creolization3 8.
Second Language Acquisition and Creolization
Pidginization and Creolization in SLA
The processes of pidginization and creolization offer valuable insights into second language acquisition (SLA). Pidginization, characterized by limited input and simplified structures, parallels early SLA stages. Creolization, involving the creation of new form-meaning relationships, resembles later SLA stages. These processes illustrate how language contact can lead to the development of new linguistic systems7 9.
Experimental Studies on Language Development
Experimental sociolinguistic studies, such as those on Gastarbeiterdeutsch, provide laboratory-like conditions to observe the initial and subsequent stages of language acquisition and development. These studies are crucial for understanding the common features of language development in contact situations and the potential emergence of creoles10.
Conclusion
Understanding and modeling the effects of language contact and creolization require a multifaceted approach that considers linguistic, social, psychological, and ideological factors. By integrating insights from various models and perspectives, researchers can better explain the complex processes and outcomes of language contact in diverse multilingual ecologies.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic
Towards a model of language contact and change in the English-lexifier creoles of Africa and the Caribbean
This paper presents a model of post-formative contact and change in Afro-Caribbean English-lexifier Creoles, explaining their typological diversity and contributing to our understanding of language contact and change in multilingual ecologies.
Creolization and admixture: Typology, feature pools, and second language acquisition
The feature pool approach to creolization is flawed, as it neglects processing constraints and overlooks the role of second language acquisition in shaping structural outcomes.
Comptes rendus
Language contact is influenced more by social factors than typology, implicational constraints, or naturalness arguments, with grammatical borrowing and structural borrowing playing crucial roles in the outcome of language contact.
Modeling language ideologies for the dynamics of languages in contact.
Language ideologies significantly influence language shift in multilingual societies, with speaker preferences playing a crucial role and interactions between individuals with opposing preferences leading to non-random transitions between coexistence and extinction.
LANGUAGES IN CONTACT: THE PARTIAL RESTRUCTURING OF VERNACULARS, John Holm
Languages in contact undergo partial restructuring, influenced by factors such as input, language contact, and language use, resulting in a variety with minimal stylistic alternatives.
Introduction: Languages of the Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area – Grammatical Sketches
Language contact and genetic affiliation may influence the linguistic characteristics of unrelated languages in Mainland Southeast Asia, highlighting the need for linguistic area definitions.
The Relationship of Pidginization, Creolization and Decreolization to Second Language Acquisition.
Pidginization can account for early second language acquisition, decreolization for later stages, and creolization is inappropriate as a model for any aspect of the SLA process.
Incipient creolization in Gastarbeiterdeutsch?: An experimental sociolinguistic study
Gastarbeiterdeutsch, a German language influenced by southern European and North African foreign workers, offers ideal conditions for studying language acquisition and development, potentially leading to a Creole.
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