Paris, LABEX, 3 May 2016
Complex sentences in pidgin and
creole languages
SUSANNE MARIA MICHAELIS
Universität Leipzig & Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (Jena)
1
Three kinds of complex sentences:
(i) relative clauses
(ii) complement clauses
(iii) adverbial clauses
2
The Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures
(APiCS)
edited by
Susanne Maria Michaelis (Leipzig University, MPI-SHH)
Philippe Maurer (University of Zurich)
Martin Haspelmath (MPI-SHH, Leipzig University)
Magnus Huber (University of Gießen)
in collaboration with Melanie Revis, Bradley Taylor
and the APiCS Consortium
2013, Oxford University Press
3
• The printed atlas with 130 maps showing the
geographical distribution of 130 features
(structural and phonological) in 76 contact
languages
• Each feature is dealt with on four pages: two
map pages and a two-page chapter text, with
detailed description and discussion of the
feature
• The chapter texts were written by the four
editors (Michaelis, Maurer, Haspelmath, Huber)
4
• Three survey volumes: survey chapters giving a
concise outline of the structures and sociohistorical
and sociolinguistic profiles of every contact
language (864 pages) written by the APiCS
Consortium members
5
APiCS Online
http://apics-online.info
• APiCS Online contains the entire database
• References and more than 15,000 glossed and
translated example sentences are published
exclusively online
• Each dataset (Sranan structure dataset, Tok Pisin
structure dataset etc.) is treated as a separately
citable online publication
6
Geographic distribution of pidgins and creoles in APiCS
7
8
9
(i) Relative clauses
Definition of relative clause:
• a relative clause is defined as a clause that helps narrow
the reference of a noun (the head) and in which the referent
of the noun head has a semantic role. (Headless relative
clauses are left aside.)
• we look
(i) at the marking of relative clauses and
(ii) at the way in which the head's role is indicated
inside the relative clause
Peter traf
den
Mann,
[dem
er
gestern
geschrieben
hatte].
Peter meet.PST DEF.ACC man.ACC REL.DAT 3SG yesterday schreiben.PTCP AUX
'Peter met the man to whom he had written yesterday.'
10
Subject relative clauses
• Relative clauses can be marked by a special morpheme that
occurs at the beginning (or more rarely at the end) of a
relative clause, which we call relative particle
(1) Kikongo-Kituba (Bantu-based; Mufwene 2013)
muntu ya _ kwis-aka
person [REL _ come-PST]
'the person that/who came'
• Alternatively, overt marking may be lacking (zero)
(2) Fanakalo (Zulu-based; Mesthrie 2013)
Mina bona lo
muntu yena gula.
I
see DEF.ART man [he be.sick]
'I see the man who is sick.'
11
• The role of the head inside the relative clause can be indicated
by a gap (no overt expression)
(3) Guinea-Bissau Kriyol (Ptg.-based; Intumbo et al. 2013) Mindjer ki _ da-n
e livru i nha kolega.
woman [REL _ give-1SG ART book] COP my colleague
'The woman who gave me the book is my colleague.'
or by a resumptive pronoun
(4) Cameroon Pidgin English (English-based; Schröder 2013)
‘man ‘we i
di ‘pas fo ‘rot
man [REL 3SG.SBJ IPFV pass for road]
'the man who is crossing the road’
(lit. ‘the man that he is crossing the road’) 12
• In addition, there is the possibility of marking the relative
clause and the head’s role by the same element, a relative
pronoun
(5) Angolar (Ptg.-based; Maurer 2013a)
(a) ome si
ki
ba tamba
(b) ome si ma
m bê
man DEM [REL.SBJ go fish] vs.
man DET [REL.N-SBJ 1SG see]
'the man who went fishing'
'the man I have seen'
• The relative pronoun ki marks the beginning of the relative
clause (like a relative particle), and at the same time it indicates
that the head is a subject inside the relative clause (it contrasts
with the object form ma).
13
Subject relative clauses (Michaelis & Haspelmath & APiCS
Consortium 2013a)
14
In APiCS, a relative clause marker is regarded as a relative
pronoun if
(i) it has different subject and object forms, as is the case
in Angolar (5a) vs. (5b)
(ii) if it can be combined with an adposition: For
example, the marker kyen in Chabacano counts as a
relative pronoun because it can be combined with the
object marker kun
15
(6) Zamboanga Chabacano (Spanish-based; Steinkrüger 2013)
a. Akél el ómbre kyen ya-bené
ayér.
that the man [who PRF-come yesterday]
'That is the man who came yesterday.'
b. Akél el ómbre (kun) kyen ya-mirá yo ayér.
that the man [(OBJ) who PRF-see 1SG yesterday]
'That is the man whom I saw yesterday.'
---->
pied-piping
16
• Relative pronouns are uncommon worldwide (Comrie
& Kuteva 2005), and they mostly occur in European
languages
• In APiCS, relative pronouns are found only in
languages with European lexifers, and one suspects
that the pied-piping constructions are often due to
later lexifer influence.
17
• The case of Angolar, which has a subject–object distinction
independently of its lexifer, is quite unusual (another case is
Casamancese Creole: ki vs. ku)
(7 ) Casamancese Creole (Ptg.-based; Biagui & Quint 2013)
a. Miñjer ki
paŋgá bo
kasa
beŋ
na.
woman [REL.SBJ build POSS.2PL house] come ASS
'The woman who built your house has come'.
b. Miñjer ku
Pidru wojá bonitu.
woman [REL.OBJ Peter see] pretty
'The woman whom Peter has seen is pretty.'
18
The most common way of forming subject (and object) relative
clauses is by marking the relative clause with a particle and
leaving the head's role implicit via a gap:
(8) Guadeloupean Creole (French-based; Colot & Ludwig 2013a)
Mwen konnèt on ti boutik ki _ ka vann bèbèl
kréyòl.
1SG know INDF little shop [REL _ PROG sell fancy.jewels creole]
'I know a little shop which sells creole fancy jewels.'
• the relative particle ki indicates that a relative clause
follows. But contrary to the relative pronoun kyen (in the
Chabacano example) ki does not contribute to indicate
the head's role in the relative clause (= subject)
––> this must be inferred from the gap
19
• some relative markers are inherited from the lexifiers
ki/ku < Ptg que
ma
< ? Old Ptg coma 'as'
dat
< Engl that
• others seem to be new, not found in standard/nonstandard varieties
we
< Engl where (in West African English-based lgs)
di
< Engl this
See Kortmann & Lunkenheimer (2011: features 189, 190) for nonstandard relativizers in varieties of English: where is absent in English
dialects, only very rarely attested in the North
• 'where' as relative particle is widespread in dialectal/substandard
Romance varieties and in German!
20
• In some APiCS languages (especially West Africa), subject relative
clauses contain a relative particle and a resumptive pronoun:
(9) Pichi (English-based; Yakpo 2013)
ɛf̀ yù chɔp ɔl dis chɔp we è
no dɔn,
if 2SG eat all this food [REL 3SG.SBJ NEG done]
tumɔro
yù gò sik.
tomorrow 2SG POT be.sick
'If you eat all this food that is not well-done, tomorrow you will
be sick.'
• Resumptive pronouns are not common in subject position (e.g.
Hawkins 1999: 258, Cristofaro 2003: 199), but they do occur in
West African substrate languages, so in some creole languages
this construction seems to be due to substrate influence.
21
• Zero-marked subject relative clauses with a simple gap in
subject position ( ) are also quite common (mostly shared
option), despite the fact that they introduce local ambiguity
(i.e. the head noun could be mistaken for the subject of the
relative clause verb).
(9) Juba Arabic (basilectal; Arabic-based; Manfredi & Petrollino 2013)
íta bi=ligó nas
_ ma bi=háfiz súra kwes
2SG IRR=find people [_ NEG IRR=save image good]
'You come across people who do not give a good impression.'
(10) Reunion Creole (French-based; Bollée 2013)
Sak létablisman na in
klos _ i fé
lèv azot.
each sugar.estate has INDF bell [ _ FIN make wake OBL.3PL]
'Each sugar estate has a bell which wakes them up.'
22
In a few languages, the relative clause is zero-marked, but
there is an overt subject pronoun, which functions as a
resumptive pronoun:
(11) Tok Pisin (English-based; Smith & Siegel 2013)
Dispela pik _ em sa kaikai ol man em sa raun.
this
pig [_ 3SG HAB eat PL man] 3SG HAB go.round
'This pig who eats people was going around.'
23
"(...) we classify our sample languages according to the mechanisms by
which the language in question expresses the syntactic-semantic role of
the head noun in the relative clause, whereby we consider only formally
expressed morphosyntactic means." (Comrie & Kuteva 2005, 2013)
24
WALS–APiCS: Subject relative clauses, Africa
Casamancese
GB Kriyol
Yoruba
Krio
Ewe
Nigerian P
Ghanaian
25
WALS–APiCS: Subject relative clauses South Asia, Indonesia
Hindi
Diu
Kannada
SLP
Acehnese
SLM
Batak
Papiá Kristang
Singlish
Indonesian
S Bazaar Malay
Batavia Creole
26
WALS–APiCS: Subject relative clauses, Philippines, Melanesia,
Australia
Chabacano
Tagalog
Ambon Malay
Yimas-Arafundi Pidgin
Bislama
Gurindji Kriol
Tayo
P Hindustan
Norf'k
27
Summary subject relatives
• APiCS languages often show more than one strategy
• "particle and gap" most widespread strategy
• "relative particle and resumptive pronoun" areally restricted
• "zero and gap" often only minor strategy
• relative pronouns as the main lexifier strategy (except for
Spanish and Portuguese) is not continued, but newly created in
some cases (Angolar, Casamancese)!
• substrate pattern ("gap") prevails in all parts of the world
28
Object relative clauses (Michaelis & Haspelmath & APiCS
Consortium 2013b)
The woman whom we saw yesterday...
29
Comparison between subject relative clauses and
object relative clauses
• The numerical distribution is quite similar for subject and
object clauses.
• The main significant difference is that object relative clauses
have the type "zero and gap" more often.
subject rel clause
object rel clause
30
• Zero-marking with a simple gap ( ) is more common in
object relative clauses because object relative clauses do not
introduce local ambiguity (i.e. a danger of misparsing),
unlike subject relative clauses.
• In English-based languages, this pattern is not
surprising because it exists in English (but maybe also in
the substrates, research needed here!)
(12) Gullah (English-based; Klein 2013)
The woman love the girl she boy marry.
the woman love the girl [her boy marry _]
'The woman loves the girl her boy married.'
31
(13) Papiá Kristang (Ptg.-based; Baxter 2013)
prau bo fai
_ ńgua sumana ńgka balé
boat [2SG make _ one week ] NEG value
'A boat that you make in a week is useless.'
subject relative clause
object relative clause
32
(ii) Complement clauses
Complementizer with verbs of knowing (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013a)
We knew that they had come.
33
• verbs of knowing, such as 'know', 'forget', and 'learn'.
• verbs of knowing belong to the group of factive verbs
where the content of the knowledge – expressed in the
complement clause – is entailed.
• This fact puts factive verbs apart from non-factive
verbs such as 'think', 'believe', and 'trust', where the
complement clause can be questioned or denied. (For
'think' complements, see APiCS Chapter 98)
34
• Complementizers are defined here as elements that link
the embedded clause to the verb of knowing, not belonging
either to the verb of knowing or to the embedded clause.
(14) Zamboanga Chabacano (Spanish-based; Steinkrüger 2013)
Sábe silá kay ay-bené le légu.
know they [COMP IRR-come 3SG later]
'They know that she will come later.'
(15) Fa d'Ambô (Ptg.-based; Post 2013)
Fo desyise nge
tudu sé
fa bibi na sa patu d'ogó-f.
since day-DEM person all know [say bibi NEG be bird of-jungle-NEG]
'Since then everybody knows that bibi is not a jungle bird.'
35
Complements with verbs of knowing (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium 2013a)
36
Complements with verbs of knowing (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium 2013a)
37
In 25 APiCS languages we find a complementizer which is
identical to a 'say' verb ( ). Seven of these languages have this
type as their only option (out of which Krio is one):
(16) Krio (English-based; Finney 2013)
a no
se
di titi lɛk mi
1SG know [COMP ART girl like me]
'I know that the girl likes me.'
(17) Gullah (English-based; Klein 2013)
Then they going know say what they been-a
do ain't right.
then they going know [COMP what they PST-PROG do NEG.AUX right
'Then they are going to know that what they have been doing is
not right.' (2 Tm 2.26)
38
In the Surinamese creoles, the complementizer is taki/táa
'say’ (< English talk):
(18) Sranan (English-based; Winford & Plag 2013)
A no ben sab' taki na wan bigi Anansi.
He NEG TNS know [COMP COP ART big Anansi]
'He did not know that this was a grown-up Anansi.'
39
Only three languages show a 'say' verb with some additional
marker ( ): Berbice Dutch (bi dato 'say that'), Sri Lanka
Portuguese (falaa-tu 'say-PFV'), and Seychelles Creole (pourdir
'for.say'):
(19) Seychelles Creole (French-based; Michaelis & Rosalie 2013)
Pa konnen pourdir i pe
mor,
i 'n mor.
NEG know [COMP
3SG PROG dead/die 3SG PRF dead/die
'One didn't know whether he was going to die, (but) he died.'
(see Kriegel 2004 on pourdir in Seychelles Creole)
40
The next two values are by far the most frequent values in
this feature. Forty-two languages show a complementizer
which is not synchronically related to ‘say’:
(20) Cape Verdean Creole of Brava (Ptg.-based; Baptista 2013)
Es sabe ma na kel tenpu, es tinha ses kazinha.
they know [COMP in that time they had their home]
'They know that during that time, they had their house.'
(21) Mauritian Creole (French-based; Baker & Kriegel 2013)
mo kóne ki
li en kúyoṅ
1SG know [COMP 3SG INDF fool]
'I know he is a fool.'
41
• Complementizers can be complex, as for instance in Vincentian
Creole da hou (where both parts, da and hou, can be used on their
own as complementizers).
(22) Vincentian Creole (English-based; Prescod 2013)
Hi no
da hou shi sik.
3SG know [that how 3SG sick]
'He knows that she is ill.'
• In Korlai we find a circumpositional complementizer composed
of the general complementizer ki and the element puris:
(23) Korlai (Ptg.-based; Clements 2013)
Yo sab
ki
ʋɔ
parmi lә mustra puris.
1SG know [COMP 2SG.INFORMAL 1SG.OBJ FUT show COMP]
'I know that you will show me.'
42
• Fifty-four APiCS languages allow for no complementizer
after verbs of knowing ( ), 16 of which have this as their
only option:
(24) Kriol (English-based; Schultze-Berndt & Angelo 2013)
Ai nomo bin jabi yu bin go, Nangari.
1SG NEG PST know [2SG PST go Nangari]
'I didn’t know that you went away, Nangari.'
• Interestingly, all pidgins in APiCS show exclusively this value.
(25) Eskimo Pidgin (Eskimo-based; van der Voort 2013)
innuk ababa tusara
awoña
[man say] understand 1SG
'I know that a man is talking.'
43
Comparison between complementizer with verbs of
knowing and verbs of speaking
• An interesting question is whether languages which have
the bare 'say' construction with verbs of knowing also have
a bare 'say' construction with verbs of speaking (APiCS
chapters 95 and 96)
• Indeed, it is striking that the values for the APiCS languages
with verbs of speaking and with verbs of knowing are nearly
identically distributed, not only regarding the bare 'say'
constructions.
44
Complementizer with verbs of speaking (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013b)
She told me that she knew it.
indirect-speech constructions
(with person shift)
45
Complements with verbs of
speaking (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013b)
Complements with verbs of
knowing (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013a)
46
Complements with verbs of
speaking (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013b)
47
Complements with verbs of
knowing (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013a)
• But there are some languages which show differences
between complements of saying and knowing
– Angolar, Ambon Malay, and Vincentian Creole
where the bare 'say' construction is not possible with verbs
of knowing whereas it is possible with verbs of saying.
• In Papiá Kristang and in Hawai'i Creole, verbs of saying
show both strategies (with the complementizer ki/dæt and no
complementizer) whereas verbs of knowing only show no
complementizers.
• In Diu Indo-Portuguese and Batavia Creole the option of a
zero complementizer is only found with verbs of saying, and
not with verbs of knowing.
48
• APiCS languages show far fewer possible construction
types with verbs of knowing than with verbs of saying (1.63
vs. 1.82 average value choices per language).
49
Substrate influence in complementizers of verbs of speaking/
knowing
• Bare 'say' constructions are almost exclusively concentrated
in Africa and the Atlantic creoles.
• As has been extensively discussed (e.g. Lord 1993: 151,
Boretzky 1983: 176, Holm 1988: 185, Parkvall 2000: 64), these
'say' constructions have clear counterparts in the African
substrate languages.
• BUT: We also find some languages in South Asia and
Southeast Asia, with Bislama as an outlier. As (Southeast)
Asian languages also show bare 'say' constructions in
complementizer function (e.g. Lord 1993: 207, Bisang 1992:
398f.) we can invoke substrate/adstrate influence here, too.
50
Complementizer with verbs of speaking (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium
2013b)
51
Complementizer with verbs of speaking (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium
2013b)
52
Complements with verbs of knowing (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium 2013a)
53
Complements with verbs of knowing (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium 2013a)
54
• A puzzling point: in both features we see a striking difference
between English- and French-based creoles.
• No single French-based creole shows a bare 'say' serial even
though Atlantic French- and English-based creoles have largely
the same Macro-Sudan substrates.
There are other features where French- based and English-based
creoles differ in a surprising way (e.g. noun-phrase conjunction
and comitative, and 'hand' and 'arm').
• Also substrate influence/adstrate in Seychelles Creole
pourdir: similar construction in Eastern Bantu languages
Swahili kw-amb-a
INF-say-TNS > kwamba 'complementizer'
(see Kriegel 2004 who argues in favor of convergence)
55
Complements of 'think' and 'want' (Michaelis & APiCS
Consortium 2013c)
She thinks that her son is at home.
She wants her son to come home.
56
• complement clauses which depend on the verb 'think' and
where the subject of the main clause is different from the
subject in the complement clause (e.g. English She thinks that
her son is at home)
• complement clauses of 'want' where the subject of the matrix
clause is again different from the subject in the complement
clause (e.g. English She wants her son to come home)
• similarities and differences between two types of
complement clauses
57
In comparing these two complement clause types, two
separate parameters are relevant:
(i) whether there is an overt complementizer, and
(ii) if so, whether both complement types show the
same complementizer or different complementizers.
58
Complements of 'think' and 'want' (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium 2013c)
59
Complements of 'think' and 'want' (Michaelis & APiCS Consortium 2013a)
60
same complementizer
(26) Bislama (English-based; Meyerhoff 2013)
a. mi ting se
bae mi lukaotem 1SG think [COMP IRR 1SG look.out]
'I think that I’ll go find [one].' b. plante taem hem i
wantem se
mas folem
[COMP man AGR must follow
plenty time 3SG AGR want
ting~ting
man i
blong hem
think~think POSS 3SG]
'There are lots of times when she wants everyone to do
what she thinks.'
61
same complementizer
(27) Korlai (Ptg.-based; Clements 2013)
a. Mari pesan
ki su rhapa dә kadz tɛ.
Mari think.PROG [COMP her boy LOC house COP.PRS]
'Mari thinks that her boy is at home.'
b. Ku Mari kere ki
su rhapa kadz ʋi.
OBJ Mari want [COMP her boy house come]
'Mari wants her boy to come home.'
62
different complementizers
(28) Guinea-Bissau Kriyol (Ptg.-based; Intumbo et al. 2013)
a. I pensa kuma si
dju sta na kasa. 3SG think [COMP POSS son COP at home]
'She thinks that her son is at home.'
Ptg. Ela pensa que o seu filho está em casa.
b. I
misti pa
si
dju bay kasa.
3SG want [COMP POSS son go home]
'She wants her son to go home.'
Ptg. Ela quer que o seu filho vá para casa.
---> all Portuguese-based Atlantic creoles show this value
63
only 'think' complement has a complementizer
(29) Pichi (English-based; Yakpo 2013)
a. À
bìn chɛk se
ren gò fɔl.
1SG.SBJ PST think [COMP rain POT rain.]
'I thought it might rain.'
b. À
want mek yù du mi
sɔ̀n febɔ.
1SG.SBJ want [SBJV 2SG do 1SG.EMPH some favour]
'I want you to do me a favour.'
"The subordinate subject can only be overtly expressed in a
subjunctive clause introduced by the modal complementizer
mek [SBJV]. It does matter if the subordinate subject is
coreferential with the main subject or not." (Yakpo 2013)
64
only 'want' complement has a complementizer
(30) Louisiana Creole (French-based; Klingler & NeumannHolzschuh 2013)
a. Mo krwa
se myeu
1SG believe [it.is better]
'I think it's better.'
b. Mo te p
ole
ke
ye te kone mo te parle.
1SG PST NEG want [COMP 3PL PST know 1SG PST speak]
'I didn't want them to know that I spoke (Creole).'
"The verb ole 'want' takes either ke or zero as complementizer.
Krwa 'think' appears only with zero complementizer (...)".
(Klingler & Neumann-Holzschuh 2013)
65
no complementizer
(31) Kinubi (Arabic-based; Luffin 2013)
a. ána féker
lúga
de bi-já
wóduru
1SG think [language DET TAM-come disappear]
'I think that this language will disappear.'
b. ána ázu
íta rúo
1SG want [2SG go]
'I want you to go.'
66
no complementizer
(32) Papiá Kristang (Ptg.-based; Baxter 2013)
a. eli lembrá bos já bai kaza
3SG think [2SG PFV go home]
'He thinks you have gone home.'
b. eli kere bos bai kaza
3SG want [2SG go home]
'He wants you to go home.'
67
"subjunctive"/"infinitive" marker in 'want' clauses
• 'Think' complements and 'want' complements often differ in
ways that are unrelated to the presence, absence, or form of the
complementizer.
• 'want' complements often carry a "subjunctive" or
"infinitive" marker of some sort, which is lacking in 'think'
complements.
• In this way, there can be a fairly striking difference
between the two clause types even when the language has
same complementizer ( ) or no complementizer in both
cases ( ).
68
• In Nigerian Pidgin, different-subject 'think' and 'want'
complement clauses are introduced by the same
complementizer se
the 'want' complement clause (33b) shows the subjunctive
marker mek (from English make; see Ihemere 2006 for the use of
mek in Nigerian Pidgin, and Yakpo 2009 for a similar situation in
Pichi, ex. 29b).
BUT:
(33) Nigerian Pidgin (English-based; Faraclas 2013)
a. À
tink se
dèm
go tawn.
̱
1SG.SBJ think COMP 3PL.SBJ go town
'I think that they went to town.'
b. À
want se
mek dèm
go tawn.
̱
1SG.SBJ want COMP SBJV 3PL.SBJ go town
'I want them to go to town.'
69
• in quite a few Atlantic English-based languages, the
'want' complement clause has a marker such as fi, fo, or fu
(deriving from for), corresponding to the infinitival marker
to in English:
(34) San Andres Creole English (English-based; Bartens 2013)
Ihn waahn evribady fi get hapi
3SG want everybody to get happy.
'He wants everybody to become happy.'
(35) Negerhollands (Dutch-based; van Sluijs 2013)
Am mangkḗ fo gi am twalәfhondәrt
patakón [...].
3SG want
for give 3SG twelve-hundred patacons [...]
'He wants to give him twelve hundred patacons [...].'
70
• Such markers have often been called "infinitival" markers (cf.
Mufwene & Dijkhoff 1989) or even "complementizers".
• But we do not consider them complementizers, as they do
not occur in a clause-peripheral position.
• Their immediately preverbal position makes them more
similar to modality markers. We did not single them out as a
special type because one cannot readily distinguish such
markers from other modality markers such as gò in (10).
(36) Ghanaian Pidgin English (English-based; Huber 2013)
à wɔn se
dè gò kam fiks àm
1SG want COMP 3PL FUT come fix 3G.OBJ
'I want them to come and fix it.'
71
lack of person marking in 'want' clauses
• Another way in which 'want' complements may be distinct
from 'think' complements is that they may lack person
marking, as in Seychelles Creole, where the third-person
marker i is missing (see also Michaelis 1994: 82–91).
(37) Seychelles Creole (French-based; Michaelis & Rosalie 2013)
Mari ti a oule son
garson al kot lakour.
Mari PST FUT want POSS.3SG son
go at house
'Mari would like her son to go home.'
*Mari ti a oule son
garson i
al kot lakour.
Mari PST FUT want POSS.3SG son
PM.3SG go at house
72
(iii) Adverbial clauses
•
only little comparative data, one feature in APiCS: "Verb
doubling in temporal clauses"
• only one feature in WALS: Cristofaro 2005 on purpose clauses
• I will add some language-specific observations from
Seychelles Creole
73
Verb doubling in temporal clauses (Michaelis & Haspelmath & APiCS
Consortium 2013c)
(38) Haitian Creole (French-based; Fattier 2013)
Wè l pa wè pitit la, li tonbe endispozisyon.
[see 3SG NEG see child DEF] 3SG lose consciousness
'Since she doesn't see her son, she loses consciousness.'
'(lit. see she doesn't see her son, ...)'
French: Ne voyant pas son fils, elle perd connaissance.
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• Verb-doubling constructions occur widely in Atlantic creoles
and pidgins to express focus (see APiCS 105):
(39) Saramaccan (English-based; Aboh et al. 2013)
Síki
dí
wómi síki.
be.sick DEF.SG man be.sick 'The man is really sick.'
• BUT: verb-doubling constructions are much less prominent
in the function of marking temporal clauses.
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Verb doubling in temporal clauses (Michaelis & Haspelmath & APiCS
Consortium 2013c)
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(40) Nicaraguan Creole English, older variety Holm 1978: 235)
di kom yu kom
[PST come 2SG come]
'as soon as you come'
(41) Martinican/Guadeloupean Creole (French-based; Colot &
Ludwig 2013)
Fini i
fini,
i chapé.
[finish 3SG finish] 3SG escape
'As soon as he finished, he left.'
(42) Berbice Dutch (Dutch-based; Kouwenberg 2013)
di drai wati ju drai-tɛ, o ku-tɛ
ju
[the turn REL 2SG turn-PFV] 3SG catch-PFV 2SG
'As soon as you turn around, it catches you.'
(lit. The turning that you turned,...)
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(43) Cape Verdean Creole of Santiago (Ptg.-based; Lang 2013)
Na kume k'
es ta kume, e nguli
spinhu,
[in eat COMPL 3PL IPFV eat ] 3SG swallow fishbone
e
ka xinti.
3SG NEG feel
'While they were having lunch, he swallowed a fishbone
and didn't even notice.' (lit. In the eating that they ate,...)
According to Lefebvre (2011: 21–2), such constructions
are also found in Saramaccan and Papiamentu, but the
APiCS contributors on these languages did not conform
this.
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(44) Haitian Creole
a. Rive a Jan rive (epi) Mari pati.
arrive DEF Jean arrive (and) Marie leave
'As soon as John arrived, Marie left.' (Lefebvre 1998: 369)
b. Rive Jan rive a Mari pati.
arrive Jean arrive DEF Marie leave
'As soon as John arrived, Marie left.'
(Lefebvre & Ritter 1993:65)
--> substrate influence
(45) Fongbe (Kwa; Lefebvre 1998: 363)
(tróló)
Wá
Jan wá
bɔ Màrí yì.
[arrive Jean arrive (as.soon.as)] and Marie leave
'As soon as Jean arrived, Marie left.'
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• language-specific observations from Seychelles Creole
(Michaelis 1994: 76)
(a) syntactically flexible connectives (adverb/preposition/
subordinator): avan
avan = adverb
(46.a) avan nou servi lalwa pour
anpay lanmson
before 1PL use sisal in.order.to attach hook
'In the past, we used sisal to attach hooks.'
avan = adverbial subordinator
(46.b) Bokou zot ti kit
sware
avan i ti fini
many 3PL PST leave evening.event [COMP 3SG PST end
pour
al get
en kou sa gran bal (...)
in.order.to go watch a bit DET big prom
'Many left the party before it was finished to go and see the
big party (...)'
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(b) new complementizers: pangar < French prends garde 'lest'
(see typological study on negative purpose clauses in
Schmidtke-Bode 2009)
(47) Seychelles Creole (French-based; Michaelis 1994: 80)
ou depay
ou
lasen pangar
i
ava tonm
2SG disentangle POSS.2SG net [so.that.not 3SG FUT fall
dan lelis
in motor.screw]
'You disentangle your net so that it won't fall into the
motor screw.'
– restricted TAM marking: PM i, FUT a(va) (* FUT pou, PST ti, PRF
in, PROG pe)
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(c) nominalizations: use of the preposition dan 'in'
– temporal relation
(48) Seychelles Creole (French-based; Michaelis 1994: 92)
En zour, dan son
pe
pronmnen pronmnen lo
lans,
on day [in
POSS.3SG PROG walk.around
along bay]
i ti war en lepa
ater
dan disab
3SG PST see a footprint on.the.ground in sand
'One day, while walking along the bay, he saw a footprint in
the sand.' (lit. 'In his walking along the bay, ...')
– argument marking POSS ; restricted TAM marking
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– concessive relation (cf. Engl. while)
(49) Seychelles Creole (Michaelis 1994: 96 cit. after Corne
1977: 148)
Dan tou mon
meg,
ou a konnen ki mon kapab fer!
[in all POSS.1SG be.skinny] 2SG FUT find.out who 1SG can do
'Even though I'm skinny, you'll find out what I can do.' (lit.
'In all my being skinny, you'll find out what I can do.')
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Conclusion
• Pidgins and creoles show a great variety of subordination
strategies.
• We can detect substrate influence in:
– resumptive pronouns in relative clauses;
– gap construction in relative clauses;
– 'say' serials in Atlantic and Southeast Asian/Pacific creoles;
– 'say' plus other marker in Seychelles Creole in
complements of saying/ knowing;
– verb doubling in temporal clauses.
• it seems that lexifier patterns are much less continued
(relative pronouns)
• interesting new patterns, e.g. relative pronouns (Angolar,
Casamancese)
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Your agenda
• describe and compare pidgin and creole subordination
strategies
• describe and compare subordination strategies of all
contributing languages (lexifiers, different layers of substrates)
• comparison of the data from pidgins/creoles and their
contributing languages with the world's languages
• framework: Cristofaro's typological work
• only then can we say something about which strategies
tend to be calqued on substrate patterns, which ones are
continued from the lexifier and which strategies are typical
for pidgins/creoles in general
85
Bon courage!
86
References
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Paris, LABEX, 3 May 2016
Complex sentences in pidgin and
creole languages
SUSANNE MARIA MICHAELIS
Universität Leipzig & Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (Jena)
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