Languages in Contact: The Partial Restructuring of Vernaculars (review)

In the book under review, John Holm, a well-established figure in the field of pidgin and creole linguistics, tackles key issues pertaining to the study of partially restructured languages, also referred to as "semi-creoles". By examining five language varieties, the author argues that drawing parallels between the linguistic structure and social factors behind unrelated languages can shed light on the processes behind their creation. This book, which stems from a seminar on language restructuring conducted at the City University of New York, offers a fresh new look at language contact and at features shared by languages created through partial restructuring.

In the preface (pp. xi–xvi), the author outlines problematic issues associated with the term "semi-creoles" and makes a case in favor of using an alternate term, "partially restructured languages", when referring to languages that have not undergone full creolization. He explains that researchers have long struggled with connotations and confusions associated with the term "semi-creoles", and argues that "partially restructured languages" better describes the process, as well as the result of what was formerly known as "semicreolization". Holm also debates McWhorter's (1998) view that creole languages can be synchronically distinguished from non-creoles through purely linguistic criteria. However, the author of the present book maintains that the rapidity with which creoles are created and the sociolinguistic setting from which they develop further set them apart from non-creoles.

Following a brief introduction in which the author reasserts his choice of terminology, Chapter 1 (pp. 1–23) draws a clear distinction between the process of partial restructuring and that of decreolization. Through a review of the literature, Holm demonstrates that although their result may be similar, the two processes display a distinct development: the latter refers to the creation of a new language variety resulting from the loss of creole features from a fully restructured, creolized language, while the former involves restructuring without ever achieving full creolization. He points out that researchers, some as early as the 18th century, have acknowledged the existence of degrees of creolization, foreshadowing the emergence of partial restructuring as an area of study distinct from full creolization. He then briefly describes the five languages presented in this book for the characteristics that set them apart from creoles and from their European superstrates—African American English (AAE), Afrikaans, Brazilian Vernacular Portuguese (BVP), Nonstandard Caribbean Spanish (NSCS), and the Vernacular Lects of Réunionnais French (VLRF)—and outlines research that has been conducted on each variety.

In Chapter 2 (pp. 24–71), the author presents the social factors that may have played a role in the restructuring of the five varieties under study. Through a socio-historical description of the creation of each language, Holm highlights the key factors that may have played a crucial role in their partial restructuring. He describes the ethnic origin and mother tongue spoken by settlers of the territory where each variety is spoken, as well as the economic development of the territory and the interaction that it created between settlers and native inhabitants of the New World on the one hand, and with slaves imported from overseas on the other hand. He discusses a proposal by Parkvall (2000), according to which the demographic ratios between native speakers of the European lexifier and the non-native population correlate with the degree of restructuring of the language variety.

The next three chapters discuss linguistic evidence from each of the partially restructured languages. More specifically, the author examines linguistic features that are commonly known to be restructured in the process of creolization. In Chapter 3 (pp. 72–91), Holm describes key features of the verb phrase by examining the use of auxiliaries and of preverbal markers, the structure of negation, and the occurrence of non-verbal predicates. Number, gender, possession, and pronouns are considered in Chapter 4 (pp. 92–115), which presents aspects of the noun phrase. Chapter 5 (pp. 116–134) is devoted to clauses; it examines word order and...