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Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–5Cite as

Pidgins and Creoles

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Synonyms

Mixed languages

Definition

A pidgin is a mixed language that emerges as a new medium of communication among speakers with distinct first languages.

A creole is a nativized mixed language.

Introduction

This chapter focuses on theories of creole genesis, elaborating on various scenarios accounting for the emergence and development of creole languages. First, we draw a distinction between pidgins and creoles and discuss the connections between the two, including the supposed pidgin-to-creole cycle. Then, we introduce the superstratist, substratist, and universalist views of creole genesis and elaborate on the most recent theories that instantiate these different positions. We focus on processes of second language acquisition (Plag 2008), relexification (Lefebvre 1998), language creation (Baker 1994), and feature recombinations (Mufwene 2001; Aboh 2006).

On the Nature of Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgin and creole languages are considered “mixed” languages in the sense that they cannot...

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References

  • Aboh, E. (2006). The role of the syntax-semantics interface in language transfer. In C. Lefebvre, L. White, & C. Jourdan (Eds.), L2 acquisition and creole genesis: Dialogues (pp. 221–252). Amsterdam: Benjamins.

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  • Baker, P. (1994). Creativity in creole genesis. In D. Adone & I. Plag (Eds.), Creolization and language change (pp. 65–84). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.

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  • Bakker, P., Daval-Markussen, A., Parkvall, M., & Plag, I. (2011). Creoles are typologically distinct from non-creoles. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 26, 5–42.

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  • Bickerton, D. (1984). The language bioprogram hypothesis. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 7, 173–221.

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  • Chaudenson, R. (2001). Creolization of language and culture. London: Routledge.

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  • Lefebvre, C. (1998). Creole genesis and the acquisition of grammar: The case of Haitian creole. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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  • McWhorter, J. (1998). Identifying the creole prototype: Vindicating a typological class. Language, 74, 788–818.

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  • Michaelis, S., Maurer, P., Haspelmath, M., & Huber, M. (2013). The atlas of pidgin and creole structures. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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  • Mufwene, S. (2001). The ecology of language evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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  • Plag, I. (2008). Creoles as interlanguages: Syntactic structures. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages., 23, 307–238.

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  • Thomason, S. (2008). Pidgins/creoles and historical linguistics. In S. Kouwenberg & J. Singler (Eds.), The handbook of Pidgin and creole studies (pp. 242–262). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Linguistics Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

    Marlyse Baptista

Authors
  1. Marlyse Baptista
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marlyse Baptista .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  2. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Abertay University, Dundee, Scotland

    Christopher Watkins

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© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

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Baptista, M. (2017). Pidgins and Creoles. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3351-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3351-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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