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Article In: Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages: Online-First Articles

[dja:], [dia], [dɪɛ], ‘deer’

Accounting for the continuum in Belize Kriol

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Abstract
This paper examines the realization of stop-glide-vowel sequences in Belize Kriol (BK), focusing on basilectal forms such as byaa [bja:] ‘bear’ and dyaa [dja:] ‘deer’, which have structures corresponding to front vowels [ɛ] and [ɪ] in English. I argue that the BK forms derive from an underlying diphthong /ia/, shared across the creole continuum, lacking the loss of coda [ɹ]. In the basilect, /i/ surfaces as non-moraic [j] in the onset, triggering compensatory lengthening of the following [a:]. In the mesolect, the same underlying /ia/ surfaces as a diphthong or front monophthong in the nucleus, yielding forms closer to English. Using Optimality Theory, in particular the framework of Output-to-output correspondence, the analysis models lectal variation as the result of different constraint rankings rather than distinct underlying representations. This approach begins to account for systematic variation in creole continua and inter- and intra-speaker variation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous research
  • 3.Basilectal data analysis
    • 3.1Markedness constraints against faithful realization of lexifier diphthongs
      • 3.1.1Rising and falling diphthongs in BK
      • 3.1.2The phonemic status of glides
      • 3.1.3Diphthongs with rising sonority are not permitted
    • 3.2Preserving linear order of segments
    • 3.3Preventing added and deleted segments
    • 3.4Preservation of syllable weight in the nucleus
      • 3.4.1Reassignment of moras
      • 3.4.2Against moraic reassignment from loss of coda [ɹ]
    • 3.5No hiatus
    • 3.6Features may not change
  • 4.Mesolectal BK vowels and glides
    • 4.1Criteria for basilectal and acrolectal BK
    • 4.2The Belmopan study
    • 4.3Participant data
    • 4.4Mesolectal data analysis
      • 4.4.1*RisingDiphthong in mesolectal BK
      • 4.4.2English lexifier influence
    • 4.5Output-to-output correspondence
  • 5.Summary and conclusions
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
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