World Englishes

j
 Contact Induced Varieties of English
j j j j j

Topic-031: jPidgins jand jCreoles

Pidgin
It jis jthe jproduct jof ja jmultilingual jcontact jsituation jin jwhich jthose jwho jwish jto jcommunicate jmust jfind
jor jimprovise ja jsimple jlanguage jsystem jthat jwill jenable jthem jto jdo jso.

Language jcontact
• A jlinguistic jand jsocial jphenomenon
• Speakers jof jdifferent jlanguages jinteract jwith jone janother
• jThis jresults jin jtransfer jof jlinguistic jfeatures j
Pidgin
• A jreduced jvariety jof ja jlanguage
• Results jfrom jextended jcontact jbetween jgroups jof jpeople jwith jno jlanguage jin jcommon
• Arises jto jfulfill jthe jrestricted jcommunication jneeds jof jsuch jpeople
Origin jof jthe jterm jpidgin
• A jChinese jcorruption jof jthe jEnglish jword j‘business’
gospidgin jman j= jGod’s jbusinessman j(priest)
chow jchow jpidgin j= jcooking
• Portuguese jocupaçao jmeaning j‘trade, jjob, joccupation’.
Origin jof jthe jterm jpidgin
• A jform jfrom jthe jSouth jAmerican jlanguage jYayo j‘pidian’ jmeaning j‘people’
• Hebrew jword j‘pidjom’ jmeaning j‘barter’ j
Creole
• A jpidgin jthat jhas jbecome jthe jfirst jlanguage jof ja jnew jgeneration jof jspeakers. j
• Creoles jarise jwhen jpidgins jbecome jmother jtongues

Topic-032: jProcess jof jPidginization-I

Background
• A jresult jof jEuropean jcolonization jinto jAfrica jand jAsia
• New jWorld jslavery
Background
• Slaves jwere jdeliberately jdrawn jfrom ja jvariety jof jlanguage jbackgrounds.
• The jreason jwas jto javoid jrebellion jagainst jtheir jmasters.
j

Background
Communication jwas jneeded jbetween:
• Slave jmaster jand jslave
• Slave jand jslave
j

Process jof jpidginization

The jsimplification jof ja jlanguage jused jby jgroups jof jspeakers jseparated jfrom jeach jother jby jdifferent
jlanguages.
j
 Process jof jpidginization
Contact jbetween jspeakers jof:
• A jdominant jEuropean jlanguage j
• Mutually junintelligible jAfrican jand jAsian jlanguages
j

Topic-033: jProcess jof jPidginization-II j

Simplification jof jdominant jlanguage
• The jneed jfor jrestricted jcommunication
• Simplification jof jthe jdominant jlanguage
Simplification jof jdominant jlanguage
• Has jsimplified jgrammar
• Fewer jwords j(700 j– j2000)
• Less jmorphology
• Restricted jrange jof jphonological jand jsyntactic joptions
Simplification jof jdominant jlanguage
• Grammatical jredundancy jis jnot jneeded j
Example
Two jbig jnewspapers
Three jtall jgirls
Les jdeux jgrands jjournax
Di jtu jbig jpepa
Simplification jof jdominant jlanguage
• Bros j= jfriend, jmale jfriend j j
• Show j= jto jcome, jto jarrive
• Haus j= jhouse
Bros jshow jma jhaus
Dok j= janimal
Sik j= jsick
Haus jdok jsik j= jhospital j(house jdog jsick)
Simplification jof jdominant jlanguage
• jDogbaby j= jpuppy
• jCowbaby j= jcalf
• jTalkitalki j= jvery jtalkative
• jGras jbilong jhead j= jhair
• Gras jbling jmoth j= jmoustache
Common jviews jabout jpidgins
• jMarginal jlanguages
• jDegenerations
• jDeviations
• jImperfectly jlearned jlanguages
Common jviews jabout jspeakers jof jpidgins
• jDeficient
• Ignorant
• Inferior
• Lazy
Features jof ja jpidgin
• Has jno jnative jspeakers j
• Is jno jone’s jfirst jlanguage
• Has ja jlimited juse
• Has jsimplistic jstructure
• Has jlimited jfunctions
• Is jan jadjunct jlanguage j(no jone jspeaks jonly ja jpidgin)
Topic-034: jProcess jof jCreolization-I
Creole
• Evolves jfrom ja jpidgin jinto ja jricher jlanguage
• Has jnative jspeakers j(the jchildren jlearn jthe jpidgin jas jtheir jfirst jlanguage)
Origin jof jthe jterm jcreole
• Comes jfrom jthe jPortuguese jword j‘criar’ jmeaning j‘to jnurse’, j‘breed’, j‘bring jup’
• Crioulo j= jan jAfrican jslave jborn jinto jthe jnew jworld
A jpidgin jor ja jcreole?
• Some jpidgins jexist jas jboth jpidgins jand jcreoles.
Process jof jcreolization
• Opposed jto jthe jprocess jof jpidginization
• Used jfor ja jwide jrange jof jfunctions
• Has ja jlarger jvocabulary
• Has jmore jcomplicated jgrammatical jresources jthan jpidgins
• Expansion jof jmorphology jand jsyntax
• Regularization jof jthe jphonology
• Deliberate jincrease jin jthe jnumber jof jfunctions
• Development jof ja jrational jand jstable jsystem
"Sapos jyu jkaikai jplanti jpinat, jbai jyu jkamap jstrong jolsem jphantom." j

"Fantom, jyu jpren jtru jbilong jmi. jInap jyu jken jhelpim jmi jnau?“

"Fantom, jem ji jgo jwe?"

Process jof jcreolization
"Sapos jyu jkaikai jplanti jpinat, jbai jyu jkamap jstrong jolsem jphantom." j

"Fantom, jyu jpren jtru jbilong jmi. jInap jyu jken jhelpim jmi jnau?“

"Fantom, jem ji jgo jwe?"

j“If jyou jeat jplenty jof jpeanuts, jyou jwill jcome jup jstrong jlike jthe jphantom.”

“Phantom, jyou jare ja jtrue jfriend jof jmine. jAre jyou jable jto jhelp jme jnow?”
“Where jdid jhe jgo?”
Common jview jabout jcreoles
• Speakers jrange jfrom ja jlow jof j6–7 jmillion jto jas jmany jas j10–17
• Often jregarded jas jlesser jlanguages j
• Speakers jfeel ja jgreat jsense jof jinferiority jabout jtheir jlanguages
Topic-035: jProcess jof jCreolization-II
Process jof jCreolization
• Most jpidgins jare jlingua jfrancas, jexisting jto jmeet jtemporary jlocal jneeds.
• Very jfew jpidgins jundergo jthe jprocess jof jcreolisation.
• Pidgins jare jspoken jby jthose jwho jalso juse janother jlanguage. j
• jIf ja jpidgin jis jno jlonger jneeded, jit jdies jout.
Emergence jof jcreole jcontinuum
• A jcreole jcontinuum jarises jbecause jof jits jrelationship jwith ja jsuperstrate jlanguage
• An jEnglish jbased jcreole jcan jdevelop ja jnumber jof jvarieties jwhen jit jis jin jcontact jwith jStandard
jEnglish

Decreolization
• Increase jin jvarieties jleads jto jan jincrease jin jthe jinfluence jof jthe jStandard jEnglish
• This jprocess jhas jbecome jknown jas jdecreolization
• Considerable jsocial jstratification jis jinvolved jin jthe jprocess
Parts jof jthe jcreole jcontinuum
Acrolect j(High jspeech)
• Shift jtoward jstandard jform jof jthe jlanguage
• Educated jvariety
• Has jvery jfew jdifferences jfrom jthe jstandard jlanguage
Basilect j(Low jspeech)
• The jvariety jat jthe jother jextreme jof jthe jcontinuum
• Least jcomprehensible jto ja jspeaker jof jthe jstandard jlanguage
Mesolect j(Middle jspeech)
• Intermediate jvarieties
• Not jdiscrete jvarieties
• Blend jinto jeach jother
Condition jfor jcontinuum
• Two jextreme jvarieties jare jvarieties jof jthe jsame jlanguage
• When jdifferent jlanguages jare jinvolved jthere jcan jbe jno jcontinuum
• In jcase jof jno jcontact jbetween jthe jstandard jlanguage jand jthe jcreole jthere jwill jbe jno jcontinuum
Hypercreolization
• Aggressive jreaction jagainst jthe jstandard jlanguage jon jthe jpart jof jcreole jspeakers j
• Speakers jfocus jon jwhat jthey jsee jas jthe j“pure” jform jof jthe jcreole
Recreolization
• Deliberately jrecreolize jthe jstandard jlanguage jthey juse jto jassert jtheir jethnic jidentity jand
jsolidarity

Samples jfrom jthe jcontinuum

1. jai jtÑuld jhim
2. jai jto:ld jhim
3. jai jto:l jim
4. jai jtyl jim
5. ja jtyl jim
6. jai jtyl ji
7. ja jtyl ji
8. jmi jtyl ji
9. jmi jtyl jam

Topic-036: jGeographical jDistribution j

• Distributed jmainly jin jthe jequatorial jbelt jaround jthe jworld

• Found jin jplaces jwith jdirect jor jeasy jaccess jto jthe joceans
• found jmainly jin:
• jthe jCaribbean j
• around jthe jnorth jand jeast jcoasts jof jSouth jAmerica
• jaround jthe jcoasts jof jAfrica, jparticularly jthe jwest jcoast
• across jthe jIndian jand jPacific jOceans j
• jHancock j(cited jin jWardaugh, j2006) jlists j127 jpidgins jand jcreoles, jout jof jwhich j35 jare jEnglish-
based. j
There jare jcountries jor jareas jthat jare jalmost jexclusively jSpanish-speaking jand jhave jno jsurviving jpidgins
jor jcreoles jas ja jresult jof jtheir jsettlement jhistories, je.g., jthe jDominican jRepublic, jCuba, jand jPuerto jRico.

• Some jcountries jhave jonly jEnglish-based jcreoles, je.g., jAntigua, jBarbados, jGrenada, jJamaica, jand
jGuyana.

• Still jothers jhave jonly jFrench-based jones, je.g., jMartinique, jGuadeloupe, jSt jLucia, jand jHaiti.
• Sierra jLeone jhas jboth jpidginized jand jcreolized jEnglishes. j
• The jpidgin jis jindigenous jWest jAfrican jPidgin jEnglish jused jas ja jtrading jlanguage.
• The jcreole, jKrio, jis jfound jin jand jaround jthe jcapital, jFreetown.
• It jmay jhave joriginated jamong jthe jreturning jslaves jfrom jJamaica jand jBritain. j
• The jlanguage jdistribution jreflects jthe jsocial jand jpolitical jhistory jof jthese jregions.