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

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.
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 rights@benjamins.nl.

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