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Creole Studies – Phylogenetic Approaches
Edited by Peter Bakker, Finn Borchsenius, Carsten Levisen and Eeva M. Sippola
[Not in series 211] 2017
► pp. 103–140

Chapter 6
Creole typology II

Typological features of creoles: from early proposals to phylogenetic approaches and comparisons with non-creoles

| Aarhus University
| Aarhus University

In the late 1950s, creolists started drawing lists of shared lexical and grammatical properties of creole languages. In this chapter, a number of proposals and features are presented. We show that few of the proposed common properties are in fact shared by all creoles. We also discuss typological studies in which samples of creoles are compared with samples of non-creoles. Creoles, despite their diversity, tend to cluster in a different pattern from non-creoles, even when non-European creoles are added, providing robust evidence for a creole typological profile. Finally, the chapter deals with the neglected area of diachronic aspects of creoles. No systematic surveys comparing language change in creoles and non-creoles have yet been conducted. The pre-existence of a pidgin phase is a plausible explanation for some of the major differences observed between creoles and non-creoles.

Article outline
  • 6.1Introduction
  • 6.2Claims about typological properties of creoles, 1950s–2000s
    • 6.2.1 Taylor (1971)
    • 6.2.2 Markey (1982)
    • 6.2.3Bickerton (1981, 1984)
    • 6.2.4 Baker (2001)
    • 6.2.5 Muysken & Law (2001)
    • 6.2.6 Holm & Patrick (2007)
      • 1.Unmarked verbs
      • 2.Anterior (or past) tense
      • 3.Progressive aspect
      • 4.Habitual marker
      • 5.Completive aspect
      • 6.Irrealis mode
      • 7.Other combinations of verbal markers
      • 8.Complementizers
      • 9.Dependent clauses
      • 10.Negation
      • 11.Passive
      • 12.Adjectives as verbs?
      • 13.The copula
      • 14.Serial verbs
      • 15.Noun phrase
      • 16.Possession
      • 17.Pronouns: case distinctions
      • 18.Coordinating conjunctions
      • 19.Prepositions
      • 20.Miscellaneous
    • 6.2.7 Szmrecsanyi & Kortmann (2009)
    • 6.2.8 Cysouw (2009)
    • 6.2.9Mauritian Creole and proposed creole features (Grant & Guillemin 2012)
    • 6.2.10Summary of structural overviews and conclusions
  • 6.3Mass comparisons of creoles and non-creoles
    • 6.3.1Holm & Patrick’s creole sample among the languages of the world
    • 6.3.2WALS features: Non-creoles and creoles
    • 6.3.3WALS features and APiCS features compared
    • 6.3.4The four WALS features that set creoles apart from non-creoles
    • 6.3.5Surinamese creoles, the lexifiers and the Gbe and Kikongo substrates
    • 6.3.6Summary mass comparisons
  • 6.4Diachrony and creoles
    • 6.4.1Pidgins
    • 6.4.2Grammaticalization
    • 6.4.3Phonological processes
    • 6.4.4Speed of change
    • 6.4.5Summary: Change
  • 6.5Conclusions
  • Note
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 31 May 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.211.06dav
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