Manfred Görlach

John Holm

This collection represents an important contribution not only to creole linguistics but also to Caribbean studies and English dialectology. It contains eleven essays on the special development and present-day functions of English and Creole in the Caribbean, ranging from Central America to Guyana. Topics include the spread of English and Creole, Spanish-English contact, the reconstruction of early phonology, the semantics of syntactic markers, the impact of colonial language policies, language and class, and the speech of Rastafarians. Half of the contributors are from the Caribbean region; the others are from Europe, Africa and the United States.

Focus on the Caribbean

Harry Harrison

Hammer of the North - Der Weg des Königs

There is widespread agreement that certain non-Creole language varieties are structurally quite different from the European languages out of which they grew; however, until recently, linguists have found difficulty in accounting for either their genesis or their synchronic structure. This 2003 study argues that the transmission of source languages from native to non-native speakers led to 'partial restructuring', whereby some of the source languages' morphosyntax was retained, but a significant number of substrate and interlanguage features were also introduced. Comparing languages such as African-American English, Afrikaans and Brazilian Vernacular Portuguese, John Holm identifies the linguistic processes that lead to partial restructuring, bringing into focus a key span on the continuum of contact-induced language change which has not previously been analysed. Informed by the first systematic comparison of the social and linguistic facts in the development of these languages, this book will be welcomed by students of contact linguistics, sociolinguistics and anthropology.

The Partial Restructuring of Vernaculars

Languages in Contact

Professor John Holm

Ebrary Inc

A clear and concise introduction to the study of how new languages come into being.

John Holm

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