1

Var|at|on |n ]C Stud|es: Var|at|on |n ]C Stud|es:

8eyond 8eyond the Creo|e Cont|nuum the Creo|e Cont|nuum
Margot v.d. Berg
Introduct|on
- nWC vLnl pro[ecL 'Creoles aL blrLh? 1he role of
naLlvlzaLlon ln creole formaLlon'
([an. 2009 - dec. 2012, 8u nl[megen)
- Language mlxLure ln Lhe pasL: creole formaLlon
1he Surlnamese Creoles SrananLongo, ndyuka
negerhollands (uS vlrgln lslands)
- Language mlxLure ln Lhe presenL:
codeswlLchlng, mulLlllngual language use ln
WesL Afrlca and 1he neLherlands
Creo|es at b|rth?
Ghanaian PE
Ghanaian Engl
Codeswitching
Gbe
Akan
Gbe
Akan
Main research question: Did different rates of nativization have structural
effects on the developing linguistic systems of Sranan and Negerhollands?
WA Mu|t|||ngua| Language Use
GnANA
(dr. Amuzu, Llvls ?evudey)
1CGC
(kamal 1agba, dr. komlan Lsslzewa)
8ohnemeyer's 1LMLS1 vldeocllps, Cullberg's 1C 1ask
2,3 weeks, 14 speaker palrs, 3hr per sesslon, 42 hrs of recordlngs
LWL - LnCLlSP l8LnCP - LWL
LWL - AkAn kA8l?L - LWL
AkAn - LnCLlSP l8LnCP - kA8l?L
WACl

2
If you're st||| |ook|ng for .
An lnLernshlp ...
Cr a Loplc for your Lhesls ...
Cr ...
lease conLacL me! vla m.v.d.berg[leL.ru.nl
Cr come vlslL me ln my offlce:
kamer 9.22 Lrasmusgebouw
8ot oot oo 1botsJoys
1oday's ouLllne
- 1he Creole ConLlnuum
- LlLerary dlalecL and Lhe Creole ConLlnuum
- A new hybrld reglsLer: LexLlng
1he Creo|e Cont|nuum
Cuyanese Creole
(Creolese/Cuyanese)
-Each line represents a lect
-Where does the acrolect begin and
end?
-Patterns displayed by individual
speakers cannot always be accounted
for by grouping them according to soc.
class, geographical position, gender or
ethnicity.
=> CC is a purely linguistic
dimension, non-discrete
and unidimensional
Creo|e Cont|nuum - synchron|c v|ew
- non-dlscreLeness
buL: 1) AlLhough no dlvldlng llne can be esLabllshed beLween
mesolecL & acrolecL, Lhe absence of lexlfler forms, rules, &
consLralnLs provlde a crlLerlon for Lhe dellmlLaLlon of basllecLal
speakers as a dlscreLe group (eLer L. aLrlck)
2) feaLures belonglng Lo dlfferenL lecLs ln Lhe language use of
dlfferenL speakers could be arranged lmpllcaLlonally (ueCamp
1971).
Note. tbe metboJ of of lmpllcotloool scolloq ls oow JlsmlsseJ os
ootelloble ooJ oosoooJ, bot votloble tole ooolysls bos moJe lt
posslble to oocovet lmpllcotloool pottetos lo looqooqe votlotloo
3
Creo|e Cont|nuum - Un| vs. Mu|t|
- unldlmenslonallLy [+/- creoleness]
creole sLandard/lexlfler
basllecL mesolecL acrolecL
MulLldlmenslonal model
urban
v4 v1
creole sLandard/lex.
v3 v2
rural

Creo|e Cont|nuum - d|achron|c v|ew

- CC as a posslble flnal sLage ln Lhe llfe cycle of a
creole: Lhe merger of Lhe creole wlLh lLs lexlfler
- CfL-assumed llnk beLween CC and decreollzaLlon:
Synchronlc varlaLlon reflecLs dlachronlc change,
Laklng Lhe form of decreollzaLlon
8ot.
1) speokets coo expooJ tbelt polylectol competeoce,
wltboot losloq o lect (Lscure 1981)
2) votlotloo olteoJy lo tbe eotllest stoqes of tbe cteole (van
den 8erg 2007)
Creo|e Cont|nuum - d|achron|c v|ew
Lscure (1997): MesolecLs are noL lnLermedlaLe or
lmperfecL approxlmaLlons of Lhe sLandard, buL
overlapplng varleLles whlch are asslgned
dlsLlncLlve psychosoclal funcLlons ln Lhe overall
sysLem, dlsplay Lhelr own llngulsLlc
characLerlsLlcs and usually co-occur ln a slngle
speaker's compeLence" (p. 63).
Lx: Creole speakers of lacencla (8ellze) among Lhemselves
ln lnformal slLuaLlons produced only Lraces of pasL
marklng, whlle Lhey marked pasL Lense 63 of Lhe Llme
when Lhe group of speakers lncluded 8lack Carlbs.
Creo|e Cont|nuum - d|achron|c v|ew
- varlaLlon ls found already ln Lhe earllesL sLages of
developmenL. Maybe noL of Lhe Cuyanese Creole Lype,
where every varlable has 3 or more varlanLs, buL sLlll,
varlaLlon ln Lar|y Sranan (LSk) can be lllusLraLed for some
30 varlables, lncludlng dlfferenL forms for numerals,
reclprocal markers, preposlLlons as well as copular usage,
Lhe expresslon of possesslon, body-sLaLe expresslons eLc.
(van den 8erg 2007).
Lxamples of LS8 varlaLlon along [+/- creoleness] dlmenslon
N|ngretongo: 8akratongo
- teJl/lepl 'yellow' qeel/qeelle
- prop. lLem ls predlcaLor prop. lLem ls compl. of copula
4
LSk var|at|on - other d|mens|ons
Geograph|ca| (urban vs. rura|, o|d rura| o|d vs. recent rura|)
'randasl Longo' 'sLandard'
- boe (< orL. bolo) 'yellow' teJl, leJl
- flkko (<orL. flcot) 'sLay behlnd, llbl, too
remaln'
- blko (< Lng. becoose) 'because' blkosl, Jl
- oJjobte (< Cbe?) 'lle, beLray' lel, mekl lel, totl lel
8teos, das Cehlrn, tomtom vo beJJl (Lngl. bralns) Jo tetl
oqllsb tooqo, wl oo bobl bem, kobo Jem fotto Nloqte oo jetl
bem kwetlkwetl, oo Jem oote oqllsb plootosl Jem bobl bem,
wl oo tokkl tottofosl, lekl tomtom voo beJl (Sch 1781: 21)
LSk var|at|on - other d|mens|ons
Sty||st|c (terms of address, casua| vs. carefu| sty|e)
Akesl of joe too oo boose? (PL 1718: 121)
3S-ask lf 2S sLay LCC house
[Ln vraagL of [e L'Puls zulL bll[ven?]
' She asks lf you wlll be sLaylng aL home?'
Aboklsl effl mlssle so too oo nosso (n 1770: 274)
3S-ask lf lady lu1/C1 sLay LCC house
'She asks lf you wlll be sLaylng aL home?'
LSk var|at|on - other d|mens|ons
So Lo accounL for LS8 varlaLlon, a mulLldlmenslonal
model seems Lo make more sense,
as noL all varlanLs can be explalned ln Lerms of
[+/- creoleness]
Creo|e Cont|nuum - other sett|ngs?
- ueCamp sLaLes LhaL CCs can only arlse ln creole-
lexlfler conLacL slLuaLlons.
- 8uL ln Surlnam (and Lhe neLherlands), Lhere ls no
Sranan - uuLch conLlnuum, alLhough varleLles
exlsL LhaL are Lhe producL of convergence of boLh
languages. 1hls aL leasL suggesLs Lhe posslblllLy of
a creole/non-lexlfler language conLlnuum. See
Lssegbey (2003) for conLemporary Sranan, van
den 8erg (2007) for Larly Sranan.
5
Creo|e Cont|nuum - other sett|ngs?
- Lssegbey (2003: 237): spaLlal elemenLs can occur
afLer or before Lhe noun Lo express locaLlon .
o boko Je oo o tofto
uLl book be_locaLed 8L uLl Lable Lop
o boko Je (oo) o tofto
uLl book be_locaLed 8L Lop uLl Lable
'1he book ls on Lhe Lable.'
Sranan speakers ln Lhe neLherlands only accepL
prenomlnal use of 'conLalnlng reglon'. (u. lo?)
Creo|e Cont|nuum - other sett|ngs?
So wh||e some var|at|on can be exp|a|ned |n
terms of |nf|uence from the
|ex|f|er]standard, th|s may not be the on|y
exp|anat|on.
Un|d|mens|ona| CC not app||cab|e to
every sett|ng.
What type of contact sett|ng?
Creo|e Cont|nuum - spoken vs. wr|tten
So far we've dealL mosLly wlLh spoken
language daLa - whaL abouL wrlLLen daLa?
Can wrlLLen records be regarded as falLhful
represenLaLlons of speech evenLs? Can Lhey
be used Lo reconsLrucL speech evenLs? Can
we study speech through wr|t|ng?
LlLerary represenLaLlon of !amC CC
Ldgar Schnelder &
ChrlsLlaan Wagner (2006)
ln Lhe Iootool of llJqlo
ooJ cteole looqooqes:
'Lhe varlablllLy of llLerary
dlalecL ln !amalcan creole:
1helwell's 1be botJet tbey
come'.
llLerary represenLaLlon of
Lhe !amC conLlnuum ln
1helwell's (1980) novel,
based on Lhe moLlon plcL.
6
LlLerary represenLaLlon of !amC CC
Plot Summary (from www.imdb.com )
Ivanhoe Martin comes to the city to make it big singing Reggae. However, he
finds life in the city to be harder than he thought, and is taken advantage of by
both the record producer and the marijuana boss he later starts dealing for.
When he kills a police officer, events start escalating that make him the
Jamaica's most wanted man, and a momentary hero to all the oppressed
Jamaicans. This is based on a true story. Written by Andrew Hyatt
<dres@uiuc.edu>
A poor Jamaican, a 1970s anti-hero, tries to make it with a hit record but finds
that payola rules. His record will only be played if he signs away his rights. He
turns to dealing marijuana and runs afoul of the law. As an underground
fugitive, he becomes a political hero. An outstanding reggae soundtrack
underscores the plot, in particular the lines from the title song: "I'd rather be a
free man in my grave than living as a puppet or a slave." Written by David
Carroll <davidc@atom.ansto.gov.au>
LlLerary represenLaLlon of !amC CC
honologlcal and morphologlcal varlables as represenLed ln
Lhe speech of fourLeen flcLlve characLers, lncludlng:
-llnal consonanL deleLlon ql 'glve'
-ConsonanL clusLer reducLlon mos 'musL'
-lrlcaLlve replacemenL tlok 'Lhlnk'
-lnlLlal h- e 'he'
-1hlrd person slngular verb lnflecLlon 3rd sg
-asL/anLerlor marklng pasL - dld v
-rogresslve/conLlnuaLlve asp. marklng a/da/de v - vln'
-Copula forms cop. o/_n, cop _Ad[, cop. Je/ _loc
-negaLlon oo/oob v, Jooo v, oebo v
-lural formaLlon -dem/ - /-s + dem
-osseslve marklng poss
Noun morpho|ogy: p|ura| and possess|ve
|ura| format|on: 1) basllecLal -Jem, 2) zero plural noL used ln
Lhe acrolecL. A mlxed form of redundanL, hypercorrecL
plurallzaLlon wlLh boLh -s and -Jem (mesolecLal, Cassldy 1961,
Pelllnger 1983) can be found ln Lhe speech of slx characLers on
dlfferenL poslLlons of Lhe conLlnuum.
ossess|ve mark|ng: [uxLaposlLlon raLher Lhan lnflecLlon ln
!amC (Alleyne 1980, 8alley 1966, Cassldy 1961). 1hls ls also
reflecLed ln Lhe 1helwell corpus:
varlanL !8 Mn MM M 8S L ! 8 l L L P 8! 8
l: Jem 42 28 28 42 43 39 28 40 24 22 26 3 3 0
l: - 30 28 32 30 43 26 37 27 32 0 22 18 6 0
l:-s - Jem 12 2 0 0 7 0 3 0 6 0 0 0 3 0
poss 30 83 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 73 0 100 0
LlLerary represenLaLlon of !amC CC
Cn Lhe basls of Lhese feaLures Lhey calculaLe LoLal of
basllecLal Lokens by speaker. 1he 8asLafarlans and Lhe
urban young lower clase males have Lhe mosL basllecLal
grammar. 1he rural speakers come close." (p. 73).
Also, lL ls noLeworLhy LhaL dlfferenL sLraLlflcaLlon Lypes can
be observed when looklng aL Lhe phonology and grammar
Lables, someLhlng whlch also conforms largely Lo Lhe
flndlngs of many soclollngulsLlc lnvesLlgaLlons (...)
honologlcal phenomena Lend Lo dlsplay 'flne
sLraLlflcaLlon' (...) WlLh grammaLlcal phenomena, on Lhe
oLher hand, 'sharp sLraLlflcaLlon' can be found" (p.73)
+]- d|screteness of CC ||nked to phon]morphosyn
7
LlLerary represenLaLlon of !amC CC
ua||tat|ve ana|ys|s: |d|o|ecta| competence and sty|e-sh|ft|ng
Speakers dlffer noL only ln Lhelr performances from each
oLher, buL also ln Lhelr lndlvldual usage (sLyles, soclal conLexL
of Lhe speech acL, ldenLlLy of dlalogue parLner) =>
-Lach speaker commands several lecLs of Lhe CC (ueCamp 1971)
-Plgher sLaLus speakers dlsplay blgger dlfferences beLween
sLyles Lhan lower sLaLus speakers (Wlnford 1991)
ulsplayed ln Lhe llngulsLlc performances of Lhe characLers ln
1helwell's novel? ?es. Speakers use dlfferenL sLyles when
'Lalklng' Lo dlfferenL people wlLh dlfferenL soclal sLaLus.
Plgher-sLaLus, more acrolecLal speakers show more ablllLy Lo
sLyle shlfL. See for example Llsa.....
Llsa - mlxLure of acr., basll.
When Lalklng Lo PllLon, Lhe muslc producer:
- no, Mr. PllLon, . ls only a message l have for
you, slr - from lvan .. lvan say Lell you, say LhaL
'lm moLher C dead ln Lhe counLry and he had Lo
go. 8uL he sald he wlll have Lwo good Lunes for
you when he reLurn."
When gosslplng wlLh her glrl frlends:
- ?ou can all sLop you glggllng and slgnlfylng. unu
Loo have bad mlnd for you own good."
Llsa - change over Llme
Per language changes sllghLly over Llme, wlLh more
basllecLal creole varlanLs ln her speech laLer ln Lhe
novel: Lh- becomes d-. ln llne wlLh her change ln
soclo-economlc sLaLus, as she leaves Lhe shelLered
llfe of reacher's mlsslon for a llfe wlLh lvan/8hygln.
AnyLhlng else, sah? . ah [us' LhoughL maybe you
wanLed Lo see hlm, sah. . ls LhaL you Lhlnk of me
reacher? 1bot?
Cho forgeL daL, . 8ead dls - an' copy lL ln lnk and
den slgn lL. ?ou doan ha'fe undersLan'. !us' copy lL -
ln lnk.
1he harder Lhey come - Lhe movle
LlsLen Lo Lhe cllp, and ldenLlfy some varlables ...
(vla you.Lube.com)
8
- 1helwell has succeeded remarkably well ln
creaLlng a flcLlve world whlch reflecLs Lhe
llngulsLlc varlaLlon wlLhln Lhe speech
communlLy hlghly accuraLely."
(Schnelder & Wagner 2006: 83)
- 1helwell's language compeLence ls an lnLulLlve
pan-lecLal super-"compeLence": lL enables hlm
Lo recreaLe accuraLe and conslsLenL
represenLaLlons of whaL would be Lhe posslble
seLs of performance ouLpuL phenomena of
more Lhan a dozen oLher lndlvlduals of dlfferenL
soclal ranks and backgrounds.
(Schnelder & Wagner 2006: 83)
LlL. !amC CC - concluslons
WhaL we can learn from Lhls sLudy ln prep. of fleldwork:
- lnLra-lndlvldual varlaLlon: varlablllLy ln Lhe communlLy
and ln ldlolecLs
- lnLer-lndlvldual varlaLlon: dlalogue parLner (soclal
dlsLanclng), dlscourse seLLlng (emoLlonallLy), buL also
age/Llme.
- oslLlons along Lhe llngulsLlc conLlnuum correspond Lo a
soclal sLaLus conLlnuum (hlgher sLaLus speaker Lend Lo
use acrolecLal varlanLs, lower sLaLus speaker use more
basllecLal forms)
- uesplLe clear overall Lendencles, Lhe paLLern ls anyLhlng
buL non-llnear and slmple. Soclal and llngulsLlc
dlmenslons overlap, and Lhere ls ldlosyncraLlc and
random varlablllLy. !usL llke real llfe.
- L|terary d|a|ect |s not necessar||y |naccurate or |nva||d as
||ngu|st|c data. Can be used as a source of rea|-t|me data
of |anguage change, |f the qua||ty of the recorder can be
proved.
LlL. !amC CC - concluslons ll