Creolization and Contact (review)

The twelve papers in this volume were inspired by a 1995 workshop on language contact and creolization at the University of Amsterdam. They cover five general topics: relexification, second-language learning, koine-formation, contact linguistics, and sociolinguistics. The collection focuses on contact between social groups and individuals rather than merely on interactions of communities.

Claire Lefebvre begins the first section by describing how relexification, dialect leveling, and re-analysis apply to the genesis and development of functional category lexical items in Haitian. She shows that both superstratum and substratum languages (specifically Fongbe) are reflected in creole lexical entries. In the next chapter, ‘Voodoo chile’, Norval Smith compares Haitian to Saramaccan. Asking why these two languages have different end-results despite shared Eastern Gbe influence, Smith examines work by Lefebvre. He suggests that both universalist and substrate approaches partially explain creole genesis. In Ch. 3, Anthony Grant provides an informative overview of research on language intertwining. He argues that this process is distinct from creolization and offers a detailed look at three languages: Berbice Dutch, Zamboangueño, and Cotabateño. In the next paper, Maarten Mous explains paralexification. He suggests that this process of adding word forms to lexical entries leads to language intertwining.

In the first contribution on second-language learning, Ulla-Brit Kotsinas describes learner varieties of Swedish. She identifies several ‘deviant’ features of pidginized Swedish, characteristics she sees as evidence of compensatory strategies rather than L1 interference. Kotsinas also presents evidence of creolization among first-generation immigrants. In the next chapter, responding to Kotsinas, Pieter Muysken looks at the grammatical properties of Negerhollands in terms of L2 acquisition of Dutch. Muysken recognizes features that can be attributed to the acquisition of Dutch as a second language as well as some that seem to reflect West African patterns.

The section on koine-formation and convergence begins with Jeff Siegel’s article on creole genesis and Fiji Hindi. He describes a sociolinguistic model in which mixing, leveling, and simplification each play key roles. Frans Hinskens responds to Siegel in the next chapter by questioning how empirical the latter’s sketch is. He includes questions about Siegel’s methodology and suggestions for further development of the model. In Ch. 9, Silvia Kouwenberg points out that there is no coherent theory of convergence in historical linguistics. Criticizing analyses that identify convergence only retrospectively, she shows that it serves primarily as a descriptive concept.

Sarah Thomason contributes the volume’s first chapter on contact linguistics. She compares pidgin/creole genesis with more typical contact-induced change. Relatedly, she holds that borrowing plays a significant role in mixing but not in genesis. In Ch. 11, Ellen Prince approaches Yiddish not as a creole but as a language in contact. She advances the theory that contact effects result from pragmatic and semantic intentions in which speakers target concepts as expressed in the contact scenario.

The final chapter, ‘Social stratification and network relations in the formation of Sranan’, focuses on sociohistorical factors operating at the microlevel. Highlighting insightful sociolinguistic studies written in Dutch on this topic, Jacques Arends dispels myths about plantation life and lists examples of overlooked network relations. As in previous chapters, this exciting work reminds the reader that similar phenomena could be investigated for other creoles. This excellent and impressive volume approaches the problems it addresses at a variety of levels and will surely motivate provocative discussion and research.