
Contents
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17.1 Terminological and Methodological Preliminaries from a Historical Perspective 17.1 Terminological and Methodological Preliminaries from a Historical Perspective
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17.1.1 Basic Caveats: What’s in the Name? 17.1.1 Basic Caveats: What’s in the Name?
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17.1.2 A Brief History of the Label ‘Creole’ 17.1.2 A Brief History of the Label ‘Creole’
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17.1.3 Racial Hierarchies and Linguistic Structure in Creole Studies 17.1.3 Racial Hierarchies and Linguistic Structure in Creole Studies
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17.2 A Primer against Creole Exceptionalism 17.2 A Primer against Creole Exceptionalism
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17.2.1 Some Historical Background and Preliminary Data 17.2.1 Some Historical Background and Preliminary Data
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17.2.2 Empirical Issues with ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Creole Typology’ Claims 17.2.2 Empirical Issues with ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Creole Typology’ Claims
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17.2.3 Methodological Issues with ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Creole Typology’ Claims 17.2.3 Methodological Issues with ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Creole Typology’ Claims
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17.2.4 Conceptual and Theoretical Issues with ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Creole Typology’ Claims 17.2.4 Conceptual and Theoretical Issues with ‘Simplicity’ and ‘Creole Typology’ Claims
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17.2.5 The Broken Pieces of ‘Break in Transmission’ Claims 17.2.5 The Broken Pieces of ‘Break in Transmission’ Claims
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17.2.5.1 Creole Languages Are Bona Fide Genetic Languages in the Scope of the Comparative Method 17.2.5.1 Creole Languages Are Bona Fide Genetic Languages in the Scope of the Comparative Method
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17.2.5.2 Nonnative Acquisition in Stammbaumtheorie Genetic Branches 17.2.5.2 Nonnative Acquisition in Stammbaumtheorie Genetic Branches
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17.2.5.3 Theoretical and Empirical Issues in Computational Phylogenetics in Creole Studies 17.2.5.3 Theoretical and Empirical Issues in Computational Phylogenetics in Creole Studies
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17.3 A Null Theory of Creole Formation (NTC) 17.3 A Null Theory of Creole Formation (NTC)
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17.3.1 The Rationale from a Language Acquisition Perspective Informed by History 17.3.1 The Rationale from a Language Acquisition Perspective Informed by History
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17.3.2 Superstrate Inheritance, Substrate Influence, and Innovation in HC Formation 17.3.2 Superstrate Inheritance, Substrate Influence, and Innovation in HC Formation
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17.3.2.1 Reanalysis in the Clausal Domain 17.3.2.1 Reanalysis in the Clausal Domain
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17.3.2.2 From V-to-T to V-in-Situ: Restructuring vs. Simplification 17.3.2.2 From V-to-T to V-in-Situ: Restructuring vs. Simplification
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17.3.2.3 Superstrate Inheritance, Substrate Influence, and Innovation in the Nominal Domain 17.3.2.3 Superstrate Inheritance, Substrate Influence, and Innovation in the Nominal Domain
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17.4 Creole Formation as Normal Language Change: A Recursive L2A–L1A Cascade 17.4 Creole Formation as Normal Language Change: A Recursive L2A–L1A Cascade
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17 A Null Theory of Creole Formation Based on Universal Grammar
Get accessEnoch O. Aboh is Professor of Linguistics and Learnability at the University of Amsterdam. He explores issues of learnability of human languages with a special focus on theoretical syntax as related to the discourse-syntax interface, language creation and language change.
Michel DeGraff is Professor of Linguistics at MIT and Director of the ‘MIT–Haiti Initiative’ funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. He is also a founding member of Haiti’s Haitian Creole Academy. He studies Creole languages, focusing on his native Haitian Creole. His research deepens our understanding of the history and structures of Creole languages. His analyses show that Creole languages, often described as ‘exceptional’ or ‘lesser,’ are fundamentally on a par with non-Creole languages in terms of historical development, grammatical structures, and expressive capacity. His research projects bear on social justice as well. In DeGraff’s vision, Creole languages and other so-called ‘local’ languages constitute a necessary ingredient for sustainable development, equal opportunity, and dignified citizenship for their speakers—a position that is often undermined by theoretical claims that contribute to the marginalization of these languages, especially in education and administration.
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Published:06 February 2017
Cite
Abstract
Creole languages are typically the linguistic side effects of the creation of global economies based on the forced migration and labor of enslaved Africans toiling in European colonies in the Americas. Section 1 addresses terminological and methodological preliminaries in Creole studies, including definitions of ‘Creole’ languages that contradict some of the fundamental assumptions in studies of Universal Grammar (UG). Section 2 evaluates Creole-formation hypotheses, including claims about the lesser grammatical complexity of Creoles and about an exceptional ‘Creole typology’ outside the scope of the Comparative Method in historical linguistics. Section 3 offers the sketch of a framework for a Null Theory of Creole Formation (NTC) that excludes sui generis stipulations about Creole formation and Creole languages and that is rooted in UG, as it applies to all languages. Section 4 concludes the paper with open-ended questions on the place of Creole formation within larger patterns of contact-induced language change.
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