1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Plural nouns in contact
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

In Chabacano, certain words from the lexifier language Spanish have been adopted in their plural-derived form, although their number is singular. These invariable plural forms can also be found in Philippine languages as Spanish loanwords, without the plural marker that is common for these languages. This article presents an inventory of the invariable plural words in Chabacano and offers a detailed analysis of their semantics. The results are used to evaluate theories about the development of the invariable plurals and to explain the commonalities between their use in Chabacano and the Philippine languages. In addition, similar uses are shown to occur in present-day contact situations with English in the Philippines. In general, the results show a continuity in the adoption and semantics of the plurals between the substrate and the varieties of Chabacano, thus adding to the substratist explanations in language contact and to the discussion about the origins of the Chabacano varieties.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jpcl.24019.sip
2025-09-09
2026-05-13

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/jpcl.24019.sip
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Ang bagong tipan (Filipino Standard Version)
    Ang bagong tipan (Filipino Standard Version) 2009 Philippine Bible Society.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Ang Salita ng Dios (Tagalog Contemporary Bible)
    Ang Salita ng Dios (Tagalog Contemporary Bible) 2015 Biblica, Inc.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Ariston, Emerson Macrohon
    2002 Chabacano-English dictionary. Manila: Ms. [Patrocinado por el proyecto de la Agencia Española de Cooperación toward a Common Future].
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Baptista, Marlyse
    2003 Inflectional plural marking in creoles and pidgins: A comparative study. InIngo Plag (ed.), The phonology and morphology of creole languages, –. Tübingen: Niemeyer. 10.1515/9783110929560.315
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110929560.315 [Google Scholar]
  5. Borromeo, Soledad Masangkay
    1974 El Cadiz filipino: Colonial Cavite, 1571–1896. University of California Berkeley PhD dissertation.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Brochard, Marie–José
    1995 Datation et attestation (avec une notule sur leur importance quant aux emprunts). Plurilinguismes, –. 10.3406/pluri.1995.983
     https://doi.org/10.3406/pluri.1995.983 [Google Scholar]
  7. Buzeta, Manuel & Felipe Bravo
    1850–1851 Diccionario geográfico-estadístico-histórico de las islas Filipinas. Madrid: J. C. de la Pena.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Camins, Bernardino S.
    1999 [1988] Chabacano de Zamboanga handbook and Chabacano-English Spanish dictionary. Zamboanga: Office of the city mayor.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. CDH. Real Academia Española; Banco de datos (CDH)
    CDH. Real Academia Española; Banco de datos (CDH) [online]. Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua Española. 〈https://www.rae.es/banco-de-datos/cdh〉 (accessed24 March 2025)
  10. Considine, John
    2010 Introduction: historical dictionary projects. InJohn Considine (ed.), Current projects in historical lexicography, –. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. 2016 Historical dictionaries: History and development. Current Issues. InPhilip Durkin (ed.), The Oxford handbook of lexicography, –. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Corbett, Greville
    2000 Number. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139164344
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164344 [Google Scholar]
  13. CORDE [Corpus Diacrónico del Español]
    CORDE [Corpus Diacrónico del Español]. Real Academia Española: Banco de datos (CORDE) [online]. www.rae.es (accessed24 March 2025)
  14. Dunagan, Donald, Shulin Zhang, Jixing Li, Shohini Bhattasali, Christophe Pallier, John Whitman, Yiming Yang & John Hale
    2022 Neural correlates of semantic number: A cross-linguistic investigation. Brain and Language. . 10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105110
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2022.105110 [Google Scholar]
  15. Durkin, Philip
    2022 Tracking the history of words: Changing perspectives, changing research. Journal of the British Academy. –. 10.5871/jba/010.067
     https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/010.067 [Google Scholar]
  16. Encarnación, Félix de la
    1851–1852 Diccionario bisaya-español y español -bisaya. Manila: Imprenta Amigos del País.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Escalante, Enrique
    2005 Chabacano… for everyone. A guide to the Chabacano language. Manila: Baby Dragon Printing Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Fernández, Mauro
    2006 Las lenguas de Zamboanga según los jesuitas y otros observadores occidentales. Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. 2008 Las interrogativas indirectas en chabacano: un caso de acción del sustrato. InHans-Jörg Döhla, Raquel Montero Muñoz. & Francisco Báez de Aguilar (eds.), Lenguas en diálogo. El iberorromance y su diversidad lingüística y literaria. Ensayos en homenaje a Georg Bossong, –. Madrid/Frankfurt: Iberoamericana/Vervuert.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. 2009 La partícula con en el chabacano, el español de Filipinas y el taglish, InMaria Iliescu, Heidi Siller-Runggaldier, & Paul Danler (eds.), Actes du XXVe Congrès International de Lingüistique et de Philologie Romanes : Innsbruck 2007, –. Berlin / New York, De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110231922.1‑305
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110231922.1-305 [Google Scholar]
  21. 2011 Chabacano en Tayabas: Implicaciones para la historia de los criollos hispano-filipinos. Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana(). –.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. 2012 Leyenda e historia del chabacano de Ermita (Manila). UniverSOS. –
     [Google Scholar]
  23. 2013 Los marcadores TMA y el origen de los criollos hispano-filipinos: el caso de de/di/ay. InEmili Casanova & Cesáreo C. Rigual (eds.), Actas del xxvi Congreso Internacional de Lingüística y de Filología Románicas, vol., –. Berlin: De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110300031.559
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110300031.559 [Google Scholar]
  24. 2014 El español frente al inglés en los discursos sobre la identidad filipina a la vuelta del siglo XX. InKlaus Zimmermann (ed.), Prácticas y políticas lingüísticas: Nuevas variedades, normas, actitudes y perspectivas, –. Madrid / Frankfurt: Iberoamericana / Vervuert. 10.31819/9783954872954‑003
     https://doi.org/10.31819/9783954872954-003 [Google Scholar]
  25. 2015 La emergencia del chabacano en Filipinas: pruebas, indicios, conjeturas. InJosé María S. Rovira (ed.), Armonía y contrastes: estudios sobre variación dialectal, histórica y sociolingüística del español, –. Lugo: Axac.
     [Google Scholar]
  26. 2019 El escenario lingüístico de Zamboanga (Filipinas) a mediados del siglo XVIII. InAntonio Briz, M.ª José Martínez Alcalde, Nieves Mendizábal, Mara Fuertes Gutiérrez, José Luis Blas & Margarita Porcar (eds.), Estudios lingüísticos en homenaje a Emilio Ridruejo, –. Valencia: Universitat de València.
     [Google Scholar]
  27. 2020 Los hablantes de chabacano (criollo hispano-filipino): Un manojo de identidades entreveradas. El español en el mundo. Anuario del Instituto Cervantes, , –. Madrid: Instituto Cervantes / Bala perdida.
     [Google Scholar]
  28. . In press a. The history of the Chabacano Creole. InLeonardo Cerno, Hans-Jörg Döhla, Miguel Gutiérrez Maté, Robert Hesselbach & Joachim Steffen eds. Contact varieties of Spanish and Spanish-lexified contact varieties. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
     [Google Scholar]
  29. . In press b. Cronología del léxico y la formación de las variedades de los criollos hispano-filipinos. InMiguel Gutiérrez Maté & Joachim Steffen eds. Continuidades y rupturas en la evolución de ecologías multilingües. Pidgins, criollos y otras variedades iberorrománicas. Madrid / Frankfurt: Iberoamericana / Vervuert.
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Fernández, Mauro & Eeva Sippola
    2017 A new window into the history of Chabacano: Two unknown mid-19th century texts. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages(). –. 10.1075/jpcl.32.2.04fer
     https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.32.2.04fer [Google Scholar]
  31. 2018 On the chronology of the formation of the Chabacano varieties: A reply to Parkvall and Jacobs. Journal of Ibero-Romance Creoles. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Forman, Michael L.
    1972 Zamboangueño texts with grammatical analysis: A study of Philippine Creole Spanish. Cornell University PhD dissertation.
  33. German, Alfredo B.
    1932 The Spanish dialect of Cavite. University of the Philippines Master’s thesis.
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Haspelmath, Martin & the APiCS Consortium
    2013 Occurrence of nominal plural markers. InSusanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath & Magnus Huber (eds.), The Atlas of pidgin and creole language structures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Haspelmath, Martin & Uri Tadmor
    (eds.) 2009 Loanwords in the world’s languages: A comparative handbook. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110218442
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110218442 [Google Scholar]
  36. Holm, John
    1988 Pidgins and creoles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Jackendoff, Ray
    1991 Parts and boundaries. Cognition(). –. 10.1016/0010‑0277(91)90031‑X
     https://doi.org/10.1016/0010-0277(91)90031-X [Google Scholar]
  38. Jacobs, Bart & Mikael Parkvall
    2020 Chavacano (Philippine Creole Spanish) Are the varieties related?Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages(). –. 10.1075/jpcl.00049.jac
     https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.00049.jac [Google Scholar]
  39. Kaufmann, John
    1934 Visayan-English dictionary (Kapulúñgan binisayá-ininglís). Iloilo: La Editorial.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Magandang Balita Biblia
    Magandang Balita Biblia 2012 Philippine Bible Society. Available online athttps://bible.org.ph/ (accessed24 March 2025)
  41. Matras, Yaron
    2009 Language Contact. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511809873
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511809873 [Google Scholar]
  42. Nigoza, Evangelino
    2007 Bahra. The history, legends, customs and traditions of Ternate, Cavite = Bahra. Manga historia, alamat, custumbre y tradiciong di Bahra. [Emmanuel Franco Calairo & Neriza M. Villanueva (eds.)] Cavite: Cavite Historical Society.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Miravite, Rommel M., Ulysses Clint N. Sanchez, Day S. Tardo, Shirven John B. Viloria & David John M. Delos Reyes
    2009 Chabacano Reader. Hyattsville: Dunwoody Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Ocampo, Esteban A. de
    2007 [1943] The ternateños: Their history, language, customs and traditions. Manila: National Historical Institute.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Parkvall, Mikael & Bart Jacobs
    2018 The genesis of Chavacano revisited and solved. Lingua. –. 10.1016/j.lingua.2018.09.006
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2018.09.006 [Google Scholar]
  46. Quilis, Antonio & Celia Casado Fresnillo
    2008 La lengua española en Filipinas: Historia, situación actual, el chabacano, antología de textos. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.
     [Google Scholar]
  47. RAE [Real Academia Española]
    RAE [Real Academia Española] 1726–1739 Diccionario de autoridades. Madrid: Real Academia Española.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. RAE [Real Academia Española]
    RAE [Real Academia Española]. s. d.Diccionario de la lengua española. 23.ª ed., [versión 23.8 en línea]. 〈https://dle.rae.es〉.
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Retana, Wenceslao Emilio
    1921 Diccionario de filipinismos: con la revision de lo que al respecto lleva publicado la Real Academia Española. Revue Hispanique. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Riego de Dios, Isabelita
    1989 A composite dictionary of Philippine Creole Spanish. Studies in Philippine Linguistics(). –.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. San Buenaventura, Pedro de
    1613 Vocabulario de la lengua tagala. Pila, La Laguna.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Santos, Felino
    2011 Chavacano handbook: El español que se habla en Zamboanga: Usage and dictionary. Zamboanga: Linus Multimedia & Editorial Services.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Santos, Rolando Arquiza
    2010 Chavacano de Zamboanga. Un compendio y diccionario. Zamboanga: Ateneo de Zamboanga University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Schachter, Paul & Fe T. Otanes
    1972 Tagalog reference grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10.1525/9780520321205
     https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520321205 [Google Scholar]
  55. Schuchardt, Hugo
    1883 Kreolischen Studien IV: über das Malaiospanische der Philippines. Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Seco Reymundo, Manuel
    1980 Las palabras en el tiempo: los diccionarios históricos. Madrid: Real Academia Española.
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Sippola, Eeva
    2011 Una gramática descriptiva del chabacano de Ternate. Helsinki: Unigrafia.
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Sippola, Eeva & Marivic Lesho
    2020 Contact-induced grammatical change and independent development in the Chabacano creoles. Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. –. 10.3828/bhs.2020.6
     https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.2020.6 [Google Scholar]
  59. Smith-Stark, Cedric
    1974 The plurality split. Chicago Linguistic Society. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  60. Thomason, Sarah Grey & Terrence Kaufman
    1988 Language contact, creolization and genetic Linguistics. Berkeley: University of California Press. 10.1525/9780520912793
     https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520912793 [Google Scholar]
  61. Tobar Delgado, Eduardo
    2019 Documenting online writing practices: The case of nominal plural marking in Zamboanga Chabacano. InMário Pinharanda-Nunes & Hugo C. Cardoso (eds.), Documentation and maintenance of contact languages from South Asia to East Asia. Language Documentation and Conservation Special Publication. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Velupillai, Viveka
    2015 Pidgins, creoles and mixed languages. An introduction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/cll.48
     https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.48 [Google Scholar]
  63. Whinnom, Keith
    1956 Spanish contact vernaculars in the Philippine Islands. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University.
     [Google Scholar]
  64. Wierzbicka, Anna
    1985 Oats and wheat: The fallacy of arbitrariness. InJohn Haiman (ed.), Iconicity in syntax. Proceedings of a symposium on iconicity in syntax, Stanford, June 24–26, 1983, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. [Typological Studies in Language 6] 10.1075/tsl.6.16wie
     https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.6.16wie [Google Scholar]
  65. Wolff, John Ulrich
    1972 A dictionary of Cebuano Visayan. (Philippine Journal of Linguistics Special Monograph Issue no. 4.) Manila: Cornell University, Southeast Asia Program and Linguistic Society of the Philippines.
     [Google Scholar]
  66. Yap-Aizon, Jose Genaro R.
    2017 Zamboanga Chavacano / Chabacano lexicography English to Zamboanga Chavacano / Chabacano. Zamboanga: Local Government.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jpcl.24019.sip
Loading
Plural nouns in contact
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.24019.sip
/content/journals/10.1075/jpcl.24019.sip
/content/journals/10.1075/jpcl.24019.sip
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: semantics ; pluralia tantum ; number ; Philippine languages ; Chabacano ; substrate

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error