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Pidgins and Creoles: Volume 1, Theory and Structure

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Pidgins and Creoles: Volume 1, Theory and Structure
Authors and Contributors      By (author) John A. Holm
SeriesCambridge Language Surveys
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:280
Dimensions(mm): Height 226,Width 150
Category/GenreHistorical and comparative linguistics
ISBN/Barcode 9780521271080
ClassificationsDewey:417.2
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 5 May 1988
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This first volume of Holm's major survey of pidgins and creoles provides an up-to-date and readable introduction to a field of study that has become established only in the past few decades. Written for both students and general readers with a basic knowledge of linguistics, the book's original perspective will also attract specialists in the field seeking a broad overview of the linguistic relationships among these languages. Creolized, or restructured versions of English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portugese, and other languages arose during European colonial expansion. These resulted in such creoles as Jamaican, Haitian, Papiamentu, and some one hundred others, as well as such semi-creoles as Afrikaans, non-standard Brazilian Portugese, Papiamentu, and American Black English. Scholars have tended to work on particular language varieties in relative isolation, making comparative research into the genesis, development, and structure of creoles difficult. In writing this book, Holm draws on broad studies of many languages to make clear how far-reaching creoles'similarities are and to challenge current linguistic theories on creoles and pidgins. The emphasis of this volume is largely empirical rather than descriptive. Its core is a comparative study of creoles based on European languages in Africa and the Caribbean that demonstrates the striking similarities among the languages in terms of their lexical semantics, phonology, and syntax. A forthcoming volume provides a socio-historic overview of variety development and text examples, with translations, of the restructured languages.

Reviews

"A remarkable compendium of all there is to know about the subject..." Journal of Indo-European Studies