Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages - Volume 40, Issue 2, 2025

Abstract

The reconstruction of the kinship terminology of the now-extinct Tugu Creole Portuguese (TCP) results from the triangulation between TCP’s available kinship terminology, the complete mapping for Malacca Creole Portuguese (MCP), and the terminology used currently by the Tugu community, which experienced a language shift towards Indonesian Malay and Betawi Malay. By examining the Tugu Village community in Jakarta, Indonesia, this paper adds more evidence for the existence of parallel kinship structures within one community and establishes linguistic and anthropological evidence for markers of inclusion and distinction among Jakarta’s ethnic groups. Thus, the Malay variety spoken in Tugu (TuM) possesses sociohistorical and linguistic elements that distinguish the community from other local communities, together with elements that bind the community to other Asian-Portuguese creole communities.

Abstract

The story of Babel has been used for centuries to prompt negative evaluations of linguistic diversity. It has been instrumentalised in debates about English, to attest linguistic purity and propagate the standard variety. In (post)colonial discourses, Babel came to project imperialist language ideologies and hierarchies onto new contexts. This paper demonstrates how Babel, as a recurring theme in debates on Hawai‘i Creole and Tok Pisin, has undergone transformation, having been employed in seemingly contradictory ways, variably used to legitimise or delegitimise the creoles. These competing, diametrically opposed lines of argumentation reflect different concepts of community and nation. Yet, as I propose here, Babel remains consistent in its core function: It serves as a topos, invoking ostensibly common knowledge about the dangers of (unmonitored) linguistic heterogenisation. Thus, regardless of its ideological force to challenge or maintain the (post)colonial status quo, it perpetuates a basic imperialist understanding of the nation as monolingual.

Abstract

This article presents an argument that bare (singular) nouns in Papiamentu include additional silent functional structure, as proposed in Kester and Schmitt (2007). The argument is based on Dutch-Papiamentu code-switched noun phrases and exploits the crucial datum that a Dutch bare noun is grammatical when inserted in a Papiamentu sentence, although bare nouns are ungrammatical in a Dutch unilingual sentence. We propose that this datum can be accounted for if the Dutch bare noun is the complement of a silent Papiamentu category, D or Num. The locus of cross-linguistic variation that yields the (un)acceptability of bare nouns is a property in D or Num.

Abstract

Though Creole nominal systems have been intensely researched, in-context, corpus-based examinations are uncommon, and there are Creole languages whose noun phrases remain understudied. I use a corpus of conversational data and a pattern-building task designed to elicit demonstrative and definite noun phrases, exophoric reference, and co-speech pointing gestures to explore the noun phrase in Kwéyòl Donmnik, an endangered, understudied French lexifier Creole. I focus on noun phrases that are bare, marked by the post-nominal determiners definite la ‘the’ or demonstrative sa-la ‘this/that’, or accompanied by the pre-nominal indefinite determiner yon ‘a(n)’. Results pinpoint the readings conveyed by each noun phrase type, identify the word categories of their nouns, and address similarities in usage between definite la and demonstrative sa-la.

Abstract

This article investigates language choice and usage of teenage Mauritians and possible variations due to gender differences. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from our investigation, we analyse language differences in male and female students when interacting with peers, using social media, evaluating language preference and making future plans. The findings reveal that teenage girls are more likely to use trilingual combinations (English, French, Kreol) in everyday interactions with friends and on social media whereas boys tend to favour Kreol predominantly. Respondents’ language attitudes towards English and French were influenced by academic success, opportunities for global mobility and employment. Positive attitudes towards Kreol were associated with its role as the Mauritian native language that allows ease of communication. Quadralingual combinations (English, French, Kreol and an Asian heritage language) were low, but preference for heritage languages was related to one’s cultural and ancestral ties as well as career prospects.

Abstract

The study first introduces relativization, then describes strategies for relativization in Vincentian, as well as the syntactic positions that can be relativized. Comparative references to Eastern Maroon Creole (EMC) are made, particularly concerning gapping and the use of resumptive pronouns. The phenomenon of headless or free relative clauses is also examined. It is argued that both headed and free relatives in Vincentian and EMC can be analyzed similarly, except that the slot typically filled by the head of the relative clause remains empty and is understood implicitly. This absence of an explicit head highlights the distinctive capacity of free relatives to operate independently.

This article reviews Cultural Linguistics and World Englishes978-981-15-4695-2$ 94.64978-981-15-4698-3$ 107.62

This article reviews Liquid Languages: Constructing Languages in Late Modern Cultures of DiffusionGBP 100.00/USD 130.00