Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas

In honor of John V. Singler

Editors

Philipp S. Angermeyer

Cecelia A. Cutler

Zvjezdana Vrzić

Hardbound – Available

ISBN 9789027252777 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

e-Book –

ISBN 9789027265449 | EUR 105.00 | USD 158.00

Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas brings together the original research of nineteen leading scholars on language contact and pidgin/creole genesis. In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the role of historical, cultural and demographic factors in language contact situations. John Victor Singler’s body of work, a model of what such a research paradigm should look like, strikes a careful balance between sociohistorical and linguistic analysis. The case studies in this volume present investigations into the sociohistorical matrix of language contact and critical insights into the sociolinguistic consequences of language contact within Africa and the African Diaspora. Additionally, they contribute to ongoing debates about pidgin/creole genesis and language contact by examining and comparing analyses and linguistic outcomes of particular sociohistorical and cultural contexts, and considering less-studied factors such as speaker agency and identity in the emergence, nativization, and stabilization of contact varieties.

[Creole Language Library, 53] 2017. vii, 369 pp.

Publishing status: Available
Published online on 12 July 2017

https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.53

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments | pp. vii–7

Introduction

Philipp Angermeyer, Cecelia Cutler and Zvjezdana Vrzić | pp. 1–20

Part 1.. The sociohistorical matrix of language contact

Population factors, multilingualism and the emergence of grammar

Enoch O. Aboh | pp. 23–48

The African diaspora in Latin America: Linguistic contact and consequences

Gregory R. Guy | pp. 49–78

The sociohistorical matrix of creolization and the role children played in this process

Silvia Kouwenberg | pp. 79–100

Creole as necessity? Creole as choice? Evidence from Afrikaans historical sociolinguistics

Ana Deumert | pp. 101–122

Bahamian Creole English: Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Chanti Seymour | pp. 123–144

Linguistic commonality in English of the African diaspora: Evidence from lesser-known varieties of English

Walt Wolfram and Caroline Myrick | pp. 145–176

Historical separations: Race, class and language in Barbados

Renée Blake | pp. 177–200

Part 2. Sources of grammar and processes of language contact

Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure: Re-examining the creole connection

Donald Winford | pp. 203–224

Unity in diversity: The homogeneity of the substrate and the grammar of space in the African and Caribbean English-lexifier creoles

Kofi Yakpo | pp. 225–250

Krio as the Western Maroon Creole language of Jamaica, and the /na/ isogloss

Norval Smith | pp. 251–274

Number marking in Jamaican Patwa

Peter L. Patrick | pp. 275–304

Variationist creolistics, with a phonological focus

John R. Rickford | pp. 305–322

Pidginization versus second language acquisition: Insights from basilang and mesolang varieties of Zulu as a second language

Rajend Mesthrie | pp. 323–342

Crosslinguistic effects in adjectivization strategies in Suriname, Ghana and Togo

Margot van den Berg, Evershed Kwasi Amuzu, Komlan Essizewa, Elvis Yevudey and Kamaïloudini Tagba | pp. 343–362

Author index | pp. 363–364

Language index | pp. 365–366

Subject index | pp. 367–369

“With an impressive line-up of contributors and a focus on the socio-historical context of language contact, this volume is a fitting tribute to John Singler and his outstanding work in creole studies.”

Jeff Siegel, University of New England

“Throughout his career, John Singler has stressed the need to bring in very good evidence, both historical and linguistic, when trying to account for language contact processes. The present volume bears testimony to this, with a number of very interesting studies about Africa as well as the African Diaspora.”

Pieter Muysken, Radboud University Nijmegen

“John Singler's illustrious career, as measured in research and publications, shows only some of the mentoring and support he has offered to many, many people, both here and abroad, especially to Africans and to the people of Liberia, his adopted country. Some of that testimony is contained here but much of it is beyond academe. His stature in the scholarly world is confirmed by the illustrious names of those who have contributed to the volume, all leaders in the study of pidgins and creoles and of contact phenomena in general.”

Tucker Childs, Portland State University

“This volume is a worthy tribute to John V. Singler's many years of enormously important and influential research on New World creoles and related contact situations in Africa. The chapters reflect Singler's impact on the field, in particular his emphasis on details of sociohistorical context in analyzing creole histories and his rejection of one-size-fits-all theories of creole genesis. The authors are a who's who list of prominent creolists, and the volume as a whole deserves a place on every creolist's bookshelf.”

Sarah Thomason, University of Michigan

Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Núñez-Méndez, Eva

2022. Variation in Spanish /s/: Overview and New Perspectives. Languages 7:2 ► pp. 77 ff.

Mufwene, Salikoko S.

2019. Pidgins and Creoles. In The Handbook of World Englishes, ► pp. 299 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Subjects