This paper examines the pluralization system of Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE). Extrapolating from proposals in the literature on English-based créoles as well as other vernaculars, we utilize quantitative methodology to assess the contribution of syntactic, semantic, and phonological features to variability in plural marking.
Although the English plural marker -s is most robust in the data, its patterning reflects neither English grammar nor a conventional functionalist distribution. Instead, surface variability in NPE is conditioned by two factors: animacy and nominal reference. Our findings suggest that these are substratal features whose effects are sensitive to speaker position on the créole continuum. This is strong empirical confirmation that the grammar underlying variable linguistic elements may be inferred from the distribution and conditioning of surface variants, even when none of them originate from that grammar.
2011. Variable plural marking in Jamaican Patwa and Tok Pisin: A linguistic perspective. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 56:1 ► pp. 37 ff.
Hollmann, Willem B. & Anna Siewierska
2011. The status of frequency, schemas, and identity in Cognitive Sociolinguistics: A case study on definite article reduction. cogl 22:1 ► pp. 25 ff.
PETER, LOTHAR & HANS‐GEORG WOLF
2007. A comparison of the varieties of West African Pidgin English. World Englishes 26:1 ► pp. 3 ff.
Tagliamonte, Sali
2004. Comparative Sociolinguistics. In The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, ► pp. 729 ff.
Tagliamonte, Sali & Jennifer Smith
1999. Analogical Leveling in Samaná English. Journal of English Linguistics 27:1 ► pp. 8 ff.
Eze, Ejike
1998. Lending Credence to a Borrowing Analysis: Lone English-Origin Incorporations in Igbo Discourse. International Journal of Bilingualism 2:2 ► pp. 183 ff.
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