Questions tagged [creoles]
Fully functional languages which have evolved from simple pidgins by being adopted as native languages.
21 questions
2
votes
1
answer
169
views
Is "的" (de) used in Singlish for possession or subordination? Or neither?
In Singlish (Singaporean English creole), is 的 used? And if so, is it used for simple possession ("*Jenny de dog") or for introduction of a subordinate clause? ("*Jenny found last week ...
- 159
1
vote
1
answer
147
views
What would /ɯ/ most likely be replaced by? [closed]
If a language was borrowing words from another language that has /ɯ/, what would the first language possibly substitute it with?
Borrowing language phonology -
Consonants:
m n ɲ p b t d c ɟ k g ts dz ...
- 19
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are mixed languages so rare?
It seems to be an established fact that mixed languages are rare, and that most languages can be classified as belonging to some family. And this seems to be true; for example, in the former ...
- 729
0
votes
0
answers
111
views
Adoption of another language by a community
I am interested in conditions under which a community adopts (or does not adopt) another language, even though this community is sufficiently isolated to be able to continue the use of its previous ...
- 978
9
votes
0
answers
112
views
Is anything known about the origin of the hard "g" in "guénti" in Santiago, Cape Verdean Creole?
There is a word "guénti" /'gɛn ti/ in the Santiago dialect of Cape Verdean Creole, which is used to mean "people" or "you people/you all". It clearly comes from the ...
- 455
6
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Minimum population for language survival
What is the minimum population required to keep a language alive?
- 169
1
vote
1
answer
918
views
What is the full distinction between creoles and other natural languages?
English being a great mess of multiple languages such as French and Old Norse, would it be safe to consider the language that came about a creole? Obviously, most would not consider English a Germanic/...
- 189
3
votes
1
answer
535
views
Why Creole languages aren't the default
I am new to exploring Creole languages, after seeing them compared to "Riau Indonesian":
The dialect of Malay spoken in Riau Province is considered by linguists to have one of the least complex ...
- 4,438
0
votes
0
answers
77
views
Is it plausible there will be an established form of European English in the future?
What is more probable:
A) there will be an established form of European English in the future that will differ slightly from British or American English?
Or
B) the English dialects in the world ...
- 597
7
votes
2
answers
653
views
How does Tok Pisin get by with just a few prepositions?
I know the language only has 'two' prepositions (though there seems to be a some dispute to that). Regardless, the two prepositions 'long' and 'bilong' seem to be quite broad in definition.
I do ...
user19661
3
votes
2
answers
199
views
Help identifying words in unknown language from the Caribbean
These words come from a language known as Guene or Lenga di Luandu (Language of Luando) spoken by blacks on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. They were recorded in the early 20th century and are not ...
1
vote
1
answer
135
views
How did "li" come to mean "here" in Cape Verdean Creole?
The words li and la in Cape Verdean Creole look parallel to the Portuguese words ali and lá. There's just one problem: li and ali are opposites. Li means "here", while ali means "there". There are ...
- 455
6
votes
2
answers
551
views
A language that was a creole/pidgin long ago
Is there a language that is proved to descend from a creole/pidgin language that existed many centuries ago? If yes, in what aspects is its creole origin visible now?
- 317
10
votes
1
answer
246
views
What sound change(s) underlie [iʒ-] in São Vicente?
Is there a particular sound change that would explain changing a word-initial [ʒu] (or alternatively [dʒu]) to [iʒ] before a stressed syllable? Or might this be best explained as dropping the [u] by ...
- 455
1
vote
0
answers
93
views
How common are indefinite pronouns in creole languages?
I understand that creole languages from all parts of the world share many disparate features. Amongst them, how common are third–person, singular, indefinite pronouns (like the French “on”) in creole ...
- 687
3
votes
3
answers
650
views
Do mixed languages have families?
It seems to me that when linguists talk about mixed languages, they talk about the parent languages that resulted in the creole or pidgin tongue, rather than what language family it belongs to. I've ...
- 133
7
votes
2
answers
197
views
Are there some studies or resources comparing the two living creole languages in Australia?
In Australia there are two creoles in daily use, Kriol (rop, also known as Roper River Creole etc) in the Northern Territory with about 30,000 speakers and Torres Strait Creole (tcs, also known as ...
- 14.8k
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Are there examples of pidgins or creoles in sign languages? If so, which are the major ones?
The other day I was wondering, are there occurrences of pidgins or creoles in the world of Sign languages? So I made a quick search but there doesn't seem to be much.
For example, I found the Hawaii ...
- 9,493
11
votes
1
answer
396
views
Are there creoles of three languages?
Are there examples of creole languages that have had three or more other languages as parents without intermediate two-language creoles? If they exist, then how high is the 'or more', i.e. what is the ...
- 1,793
23
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Is Yiddish a creole language? And if not, what is it?
A "creole" language is formed by the merging of two parent languages, usually through an earlier rudimentary mixture of the two. Does this make Yiddish a creole language?
My question is really about ...
- 802
4
votes
1
answer
5k
views
What is the difference between a "mixed language" and a "creole"?
A creole is defined as a pidgin (or trading language) which becomes a full language after being used by a new generation as their first language. Generally they take most of their grammar from one ...
- 14.8k