Creolization and admixture: Typology, feature pools, and second language acquisition
نویسنده
چکیده
1 Proponents of a ’feature pool’ approach to creolization (e.g. Mufwene 2001, Aboh 2 Ansaldo 2006) have claimed that the emergence of the new grammar is driven by 3 the syntax-discourse prominence, markedness and frequency of available features, 4 with typological similarity or dissimilarity of the languages involved playing a cru5 cial role in the competition and selection process. This paper takes a closer look at 6 the predictions of a feature pool-based approach to creolization and tests whether 7 these predictions are borne out by the facts. Three case studies from the Surinamese 8 creoles and Sri Lanka Malay show that the feature pool approach suffers from a 9 number of conceptual, theoretical, and empirical problems. The typology alone of 10 the languages involved in the contact is not a good predictor for the outcome of 11 language contact. The feature pool approach neglects processing constraints: one 12 can only select from what one can process. ‘Creolization’, as in the case of the 13 emergence of the Surinamese Creoles, is not ‘exceptional’, but happens in contact 14 situations in which second language acquisition plays a significant role. The pro15 cessing restrictions inherent in second language acquisition play an important role 16 in shaping the structural outcome.‘Admixture’, as in the case of Sri Lanka Malay, 17 is not ‘exceptional’ either, but happens in different situations and shows different 18 processes at work. And these processes allow structural outcomes that are very 19 different from those found under the conditions of second language acquisition. 1 20
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تاریخ انتشار 2009