Article published in:
Substrate Influence in Creole FormationEdited by Bettina Migge and Norval Smith
[Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 22:1] 2007
► pp. 57–72
Gbe and other West African sources of Suriname creole semantic structures
Implications for creole genesis
George L. Huttar | SIL & Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology
James Essegbey | University of Florida
Felix K. Ameka | Leiden University
This paper reports on ongoing research on the role of various kinds of potential substrate languages in the development of the semantic structures of Ndyuka (Eastern Suriname Creole). A set of 100 senses of noun, verb, and other lexemes in Ndyuka were compared with senses of corresponding lexemes in three kinds of languages of the former Slave Coast and Gold Coast areas, and immediately adjoining hinterland: (a) Gbe languages; (b) other Kwa languages, specifically Akan and Ga; (c) non-Kwa Niger-Congo languages. The results of this process provide some evidence for the importance of the Gbe languages in the formation of the Suriname creoles, but also for the importance of other languages, and for the areal nature of some of the collocations studied, rendering specific identification of a single substrate source impossible and inappropriate. These results not only provide information about the role of Gbe and other languages in the formation of Ndyuka, but also give evidence for effects of substrate languages spoken by late arrivals some time after the “founders” of a given creole-speaking society. The conclusions are extrapolated beyond Suriname to creole genesis generally.
Keywords: semantic structure, creole genesis, Gbe, Kwa, Eastern Maroon Creole, areal linguistics
Published online: 06 April 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.22.1.05hut
https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.22.1.05hut
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