Expressiveness in Contact Situations: The Fate of African Ideophones

Typically not the focus of linguistic analysis, the expressive function nonetheless represents a core linguistic behavior. Throughout Africa, ideo-phones robustly manifest that function. When adult speakers learn and begin to use a second language, particularly in contact situations with limited L2 input, they often draw on structures and resources from L1. These facts suggest that when languages with ideophones serve as the substrate for a contact language, ideophones will be found in that new language, as is the case for, e.g., Krioulo (Guinea Bissau), Krio (Sierra Leone), and Liberian English. Yet, not all African contact languages possess ideophones. This paper characterizes the distribution of ideophones in pidgins, Creoles, and other contact varieties.