Creole typology is analytic typology
This paper reviews a number of specific features typical of analytic languages, in an attempt to investigate
whether Creole languages can indeed be grouped, at least structurally, with other languages of the analytic (or isolating) type.
Based on
Sybesma et al. (forthcoming), a study of the nature of analyticity, we
select eight features which constitute rather obvious structural parallels between two unrelated groups, namely Sinitic and Kwa.
In terms of Creole languages, these eight features can be also clearly located within the APiCS (
Michaelis et al. 2013). Contrary to works like
Bakker
et al. (2011) which argue for the existence of a “Creole Prototype”, our results show that Creole languages do not
cluster with each other against other non-Creole languages. Instead, various Creoles clearly owe their grammatical profile to the
languages that dominate the typological environment in which they are formed.
Article outline
- 1.On linguistic complexity
- 2.Kwa and Sinitic
- 2.1Tone
- 2.2Bare Nouns
- 2.3Determiners and classifiers
- 2.4Inherent objects
- 2.5Verb-object compounds
- 2.6Tense
- 2.7Serialization
- 2.8Reduplication
- 2.9Nominal case marking
- 3.Creole features
- 4.Additional features that Creoles and analytic languages share
- 4.1‘Say’-complementizer
- 4.2Utterance particles
- 5.Conclusions
- Notes
-
References
References (65)
References
Aboh, Enoch O. 2010. The morphosyntax of the noun phrase. In Enoch O. Aboh and James Essegbey, eds. Topics in Kwa Syntax. Dordrecht: Springer. 11–37. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Aboh, Enoch O. and Michel DeGraff. 2016. A null theory of Creole formation based on Universal Grammar. In Ian Roberts, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 401–458.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Aboh, Enoch O. and James Essegbey. 2010. General properties of the clause. In Enoch O. Aboh and James Essegbey, eds. Topics in Kwa Syntax. Dordrecht: Springer. 39–64. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ameka, Felix K. 2008. Aspect and modality in Ewe: A survey. In Felix K. Ameka and Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, eds. Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 135–194. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ansaldo, Umberto. 2009. Contact Languages: Ecology and Evolution in Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ansaldo, Umberto. 2010. Contact and Asian varieties of English. In Raymond Hickey, ed. The Handbook of Language Contact. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. 498–517. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bickerton, Derek. 1984. The language bioprogram hypothesis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 7(2): 173–188. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blasi, Damián E., Susanne Maria Michaelis and Martin Haspelmath. 2017. Grammars are robustly transmitted even during the emergence of creole languages. Nature Human Behaviour 11: 723–729. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Brousseau, Anne-Marie. 1988. Triptyque sur les composés: les noms composés en français, fongbe et haïtien en regard des notions de tête et de percolation. Travaux de recherche sur le créole haïtien 21: 1–109.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bryant, David and Vincent Moulton. 2004. Neighbor-Net: An agglomerative method for the construction of phylogenetic networks. Molecular Biology and Evolution 21(2): 255–265. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chappell, Hilary. 2008. Variation in the grammaticalization of complementizers from verba dicendi in Sinitic languages. Linguistic Typology 12(1): 45–98. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Collins, Chris. 1994. The factive construction in Kwa. Ms. Cornell University.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Collins, Chris. 1997. Argument sharing in serial verb constructions. Linguistic Inquiry 281: 461–497.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Daval-Markussen, Aymeric. 2013. First steps towards a typological profile of creoles. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 45(2): 274–295. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Dede, Keith. 2007. The deep end of the feature pool: Syntactic hybridization in Chinese dialects. Journal of Chinese Linguistics 35(1): 58–80.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
DeGraff, Michel. 2007. Kreyòl or Haitian Creole. In John Holm and Peter L. Patrick, eds. Comparative Creole Syntax: Parallel Outlines of 18 Creole Grammars. London: Battlebridge. 101–126.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Essegbey, James. 1999. Inherent Complement Verbs Revisited: Towards an Understanding of Argument Structure in Ewe. PhD thesis, Leiden University.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Essegbey, James. 2008. The potential morpheme in Ewe. In Felix K. Ameka and Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, eds. Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 195–214. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fattier, Dominique. 2013. Haitian Creole. In Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages (Vol. II1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 195–204.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Gil, David. 2009. How Much grammar does it take to sail a boat? In Geoffrey Sampson, David Gil and Peter Trudgill, eds. Language Complexity as an Evolving Variable. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 19–33.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Givón, Talmy. 1979. On Understanding Grammar. New York: Academic Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Holm, John. 2007. Creole typology and substrate typology. Presentation at the Symposium on Language Contact and the Dynamics of Language: Theory and Implications: Max Planck Institute, Germany, May 10–13.
Holm, John and Peter L. Patrick, eds. 2007. Comparative Creole Syntax: Parallel Outlines of 18 Creole Grammars. London: Battlebridge.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Huang, C.-T. James, Y.-H. Audrey Li and Yafei Li. 2009. The Syntax of Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Huson, Daniel H. and David Bryant. 2006. Application of phylogenetic networks in evolutionary studies. Molecular Biology and Evolution 23(2): 254–267. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Larson, Martha. 2010. The Empty Subject construction: Verb serialization in Baule. In Enoch O. Aboh and James Essegbey, eds. Topics in Kwa Syntax. Dordrecht: Springer. 195–232. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lefebvre, Claire. 1998. Creole Genesis and the Acquisition of Grammar: The Case of Haitian Creole. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lefebvre, Claire. 2010. On the relevance of Pidgins and Creoles in the debate on the origins of language. Presentation at the Summer Institute on The Origins of Language: Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, June 21–30.
Lefebvre, Claire and Anne-Marie Brousseau. 2002. A Grammar of Fongbe. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Charles N. and Sandra A. Thompson. 1981. Mandarin Chinese: A Functional Reference Grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lim, Lisa. 2007. Mergers and acquisitions: On the ages and origins of Singapore English particles. World Englishes 27(4): 446–473. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lim, Lisa and Umberto Ansaldo. 2006. Keeping Kirinda vital: The endangerment-empowerment dilemma in the documentation of Sri Lanka Malay. In Enoch O. Aboh and Miriam van Staden, eds. ACLC (Amsterdam Centre for Language & Communication) Working Papers 11: 51–66.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lord, Carol. 1974. Causative constructions in Yoruba. Studies in African Linguistics, Supplement 51: 195–204.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lyons, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Manfredi, Victor. 1991. Agbo and Ehugbo: Igbo Linguistic Consciousness, its Origins and Limits. PhD dissertation, Harvard University.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Matras, Yaron. 2010. Romani in Britain: The Afterlife of a Language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Maurer, Philippe and the APiCS Consortium. 2013a. Tense-aspect systems. In Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 192–195.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Maurer, Philippe and the APiCS Consortium. 2013b. Tone. In Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 480–483.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
McWhorter, John H. 2011. Linguistic Simplicity and Complexity: Why do Languages Undress? Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Michaelis, Susanne Maria, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. 2013. The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pfänder, Stefan. 2013. Guyanais. In Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages (Vol. II1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 220–228.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Roberts, Sarah Julianne. 1998. The role of diffusion in the genesis of Hawaiian creole. Language 74(1): 1–39. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schwegler, Armin. 1990. Analyticity and Syntheticity: A Diachronic Perspective with Special Reference to Romance Languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schwegler, Armin. 2013. Palenquero. In Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages (Vol. II1). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 182–192.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stewart, Osamuyimen. 2001. The Serial Verb Construction Parameter. New York: Garland.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Su, Lily I-wen. 2004. Subjectification and the use of the complementizer SHUO. Studies in Linguistics 30(1): 19–40.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sybesma, Rint, Enoch O. Aboh, Umberto Ansaldo and Lisa L. S. Cheng (forthcoming). Analyticity: A Comparison of Sinitic and Kwa. Unpublished draft.
Szeto, Pui Yiu, Umberto Ansaldo and Stephen Matthews. 2018. Typological variation across Mandarin dialects: An areal perspective with a quantitative approach. Linguistic Typology 22(2): 233–275. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Wang, Jian. 2015. Bare classifier phrases in Sinitic languages: A typological perspective. In Hilary M. Chappell, ed. Diversity in Sinitic Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 110–133.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Xu, Dan. 2014. 甘青一帶的賓格標記及其類型學上的意義 Gānqīng yīdài de bīngé biājì jí qí lèixíngxué shàng de yìyì [Accusative case marking in the Gansu-Qinghai region and its significance on typological studies]. In Che Wah Ho and Shengli Feng, eds. 承繼與拓新:漢語語言文字學研究 Chéngjì yǔ tuòxīn: Hànyǔ yǔyán wénzìxué yánjiū [Inheritance and Innovations: Studies in Chinese Linguistics and Philology]. Hong Kong: The Commercial Press. 494–514.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yakpo, Kofi. 2013. Pichi. In Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath and Magnus Huber, eds. The Survey of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 194–205.![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Szeto, Pui Yiu & Chingduang Yurayong
2021.
Sinitic as a typological sandwich: revisiting the notions of Altaicization and Taicization.
Linguistic Typology 25:3
► pp. 551 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 5 july 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.