Areal studies and language families

Alex François LACITO-CNRS, Paris

„

Parallel meanings, divergent forms in the north Vanuatu Sprachbund Diffusion or genetic inheritance?

Linguistic areas ƒ “A linguistic area is generally taken to be a geographically delimited area including languages from two or more language families, sharing significant traits.” [Dixon 2001]

ƒ “The central feature of a linguistic area is the existence of structural similarities shared among languages of a geographical area, where usually some of the languages are genetically unrelated or at least are not all close relatives.” [Campbell 2006] স

Most areal studies involve distinct language families: Balkans, Mesoamerica, Ethiopia, SE Asia, India, Siberia...

স

Another type:

Contact situations involving languages which are genetically closely related. e.g. Heeringa et al. 2000 for Germanic lgs; Chappell 2001 for Sinitic lgs…

ƒ Structural similarities < common ancestor or diffusion?

28 September 2007 — ALT7, Paris

স

This case study:

the 17 languages of north Vanuatu. 2

Torres Is. Banks Is.

Santo

Maewo Ambae

Pentecost

Malekula

Efate

Tanna

Hiw

The 17 languages of north Vanuatu

LoToga

tȪ‫׀‬ƥ

Negative existential

tatȪ‫׀‬ȳ Löyöp

mȳp

Lehali

tȳt‫׀‬ȳ

taƒȳ‫׀‬ȳh

Volow

Close genetic relationship Austronesian > Oceanic > North-Central Vanuatu [Clark 1985] > North Vanuatu [François 2005]

Mwotlap

Lemerig

Mota

Veraa

Negative existential

Vurës Nume

Olrat

Modern vehicular language: Bislama (Eng-lexifier pidgin)

Dorig

Koro

wugωƥ‫׀‬

bȳk iƒ iƒ bȳk

Mwerlap

Adverb “properly properly”

շrƒȳ

І‫א‬utujȪ

t́‫́׀‬

wȪrȪІƥ wjȳ

‫׀‬alsæ

ȳwwȳ

‫׀‬alsi ‫׀‬alsi

٧ørma٧

‫׀‬ȳẃ ́ẃ

kp‫א‬ƥ‫׀‬ƥr

‫׀‬ap

manta‫׀‬

mintȳ‫׀‬

• • • •

ƥbȳk

Qualitative restrictive adverb

tԙøjmat

Adverb ‘properly’ “(do s.th.) properly, correctly” “(eat, drink+) completely” “(speak) sincerely” “nicely (fat+)”…

ȳnȳІ odiaІ

• “not be there, be absent” • “have not; lack” • (sentential) “no” • “it's alright” • “(try) to no avail”

Lakon

Little mutual intelligibility

ta‫׀‬ai

‫׀‬ita‫׀‬

Mwesen

Sustained language contact and plurilingualism through trade, exogamy, shared cultural events… [Vienne 1984]

tatȳh

niƒ

‫׀‬iƒa

maІtȳ warȳ‫׀‬

• ‘just, only’ • restrictive with adjectives pragmatically oriented negatively • used with small numbers • used with recent past • ‘just (fine)’

liІliІi kȳrȳ ƒ́ĺ‫ڴ‬

taƒul taƒul

‫׀‬ƥp

Qualitative restrictive adverb

menmen

‫׀‬ȳm am wƥ‫ڴ‬ wƥj

wƥr wƥr

‫׀‬ƥm

“just just tell the truth” truth

‫׀‬at́t wugωƥ‫ ׀‬І‫א‬utujȪ

The case of Bislama

speakV wellADV onlyADV ƒȪsȪ շrƒȳ wȪrȪІƥ

„

ƒap tԙøjmat wjȳ

Bislama স

English-based Pidgin with various Oceanic languages as its substratum (XIXth century)

ƒƒap ‫׀‬alsæ ȳwwȳ

ƒap ‫׀‬alsi ‫׀‬ȳẃ

স

[Tryon & Charpentier 2004]

Bislama is the Vanuatu variety of Pacific English pidgins. (The variety here discussed is the one spoken in North Vanuatu)

hƥlȳ ‫׀‬alsi ́ẃ

tȳk ٧ørma٧ kp‫א‬ƥ‫׀‬ƥr

„ Structural isomorphism • on the paradigmatic axis (semantic structure of lexicon)

‫׀‬ato manta‫׀ ׀‬ap

t́k mintȳ‫׀ ׀‬iƒa

স

from the target language in the lexical entry is the phonological information”

kp‫א‬akp‫ א‬warȳ‫׀ ׀‬ȳm

(syntax)

manȳs liІliІi am [cf. Friedman 1997]

স

Pre-existing functional moulds (lexemes, constructions…) were re-lexified with “phonological” (formal) material from the lexifier language.

স

Bislama = Oceanic structures x English forms [Camden 1979, Keesing 1991]

luw kȳrȳ wƥ‫ڴ‬

… or 18 counting Bislama!

ƒ‫׀‬at taƒul wƥr

ƒit ƒ́ĺ‫ ڴ‬wƥj BISL

About Haitian Creole, Lefebvre (1998: 9) defines relexification as

“a process of vocabulary substitution in which the only information adopted

ƒ́trƥw maІtȳ ‫׀‬ƥp

• on the syntagmatic axis

“One grammar, 17 lexicons”

Relexification

tok gut nomo

ƒit taƒul wƥr

< *talk good no-more

11

luw menmen ‫׀‬ƥm

tȪ‫׀‬ƥ

Negative existential

The model of areal convergence

tatȪ‫׀‬ȳ

স Another case where languages with different forms come to share parallel structures:

mȳp tȳt‫׀‬ȳ

Negative existential

BISL