Papers by Silvia Kouwenberg
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
John Benjamins Publishing Company eBooks, 2013
Although many aspects of Creole languages remain relatively unexplored, the morphology of Creole ... more Although many aspects of Creole languages remain relatively unexplored, the morphology of Creole languages has been especially neglected. This is largely because it is still widely believed that Creoles have very little in the way of morphology, even compared to an inflection-poor language such as English. Moreover, the morphology that Creoles do have is often assumed to be quite similar from one Creole language to another and is further thought to be predictable and transparent. However, there is an emerging body of research on Pidgin and Creole morphology showing that the hypothesis of semantic transparency and regularity in Creole morphology does not stand up to scrutiny. The purpose of this paper is to explore the typological characteristics of morphological reduplication in Caribbean Creole (CC) languages, and to assess these characteristics against this background. To this purpose, we will examine reduplication in a sample of CC languages of different lexifiers (Dutch, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish), with respect to their form, semantics and distribution. Our research confirms that morphological reduplication is not uniform across these languages. Moreover, it shows that reduplication is surprisingly complex within a single language.
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, Aug 3, 2011
For creolists, Jamaica is a place where an English-lexifier Creole is spoken. Officially though, ... more For creolists, Jamaica is a place where an English-lexifier Creole is spoken. Officially though, Jamaica is English-speaking only. This means that Jamaican Creole, known as Patwa (or “Patois,” in an English-derived spelling) does not have official status, and has no legitimacy in any of the public institutions through which the state interacts with and intervenes in the lives of its citizens, including the judicial system, public health care institutions, and schools. In this column, I collaborate with 11 graduates of the linguistics programme at The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, to trace their journey to language awareness and language activism.
Battlebridge eBooks, 2003
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
Berbice Dutch determinerless nouns occur frequently in factive contexts, as specific reference no... more Berbice Dutch determinerless nouns occur frequently in factive contexts, as specific reference nouns – an unexpected finding, as specific reference is usually associated with definiteness, and Berbice Dutch does not lack a definite article. I argue that specific reference as established in discourse is marked by an overt definite article, but that specific reference which is established outside the discourse is marked by a covert definite article. Roberts's (2003) distinction between strong and weak familiarity is able to distinguish between these types of specific reference. Determinerless nouns occur also as plural and mass indefinites on first mention, and as nonreferential nouns, in predicate-like positions. Such bare nouns can be overtly pluralized and are in complementary distribution with overt indefinites, pointing to the presence of a covert indefinite article. This, I argue, heads NumP, like its overt counterpart.
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
De Gruyter eBooks, May 17, 2011
A Grammar of Berbice Dutch Creole
A Grammar of Berbice Dutch Creole
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Papers by Silvia Kouwenberg