Relexification
In linguistics, relexification is a mechanism of language change by which one language changes much or all of its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with the lexicon of another language, without drastically changing the relexified language's grammar. The term is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages.[1][2][3]
Relexification is not synonymous with lexical borrowing, by which a language merely supplements its basic vocabulary with loanwords from another language.
Language creation and relexification hypothesis
Relexification is a form of
A hypothesis that
Second language acquisition
Spontaneous second language acquisition (and the genesis of pidgins) involves the gradual relexification of the native or source language with target-language vocabulary. After relexification is completed, native language structures alternate with structures acquired from the target language.[6]
Conlangs and jargon
In the context of
While the practice is most often associated with novice constructed language designers, it may also be done as an initial stage towards creating a more sophisticated language. A language thus created is known as a relex. For instance,
See also
Notes
- ^ Matthews (2007:343)
- ^ Campbell & Mixco (2007:170)
- ^ Crystal (2008:412)
- ^ Wardhaugh (2002:76)
- ^ Bakker (1997), Muysken (1981), Wittmann (1994)
- ^ Bickerton & Odo (1976)
- ^ Wittmann (1989, 1994).
- ^ Section on the term "relex" in the Conlang Wikibook
- S2CID 141941862.
References
- Bakker, Peter (1997), A Language of Our Own, New York: Oxford University Press
- Bickerton, Derek; Odo, Carol (1976), General phonology and pidgin syntax, Change and variation in Hawaiian English, vol. 1, University of Hawaii
- ISBN 978-0-7486-2379-2
- (PDF) from the original on 29 March 2016
- Danchev, Andrei (1997), "The Middle English creolization hypothesis revisited", in Fisiak, Jacek (ed.), Studies in Middle English Linguistics, Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs [TiLSM], De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 79–108, OCLC 203288487
- DeGraff, Michel (2002), "Relexification: A reevaluation" (PDF), Anthropological Linguistics, 44 (4): 321–414
- Joyce, James (1916), A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York: The Modern Library
- OL 2654835W
- Muysken, Pieter (1981), "Halfway between Quechua and Spanish: The case for relexification", in Highfield, Arnold; Valdman, Albert (eds.), Historicity and variation in creole studies, Ann Arbor: Karoma, pp. 52–78
- Singler, John Victor (1996), "Theories of creole genesis, sociohistorical considerations, and the evaluation of evidence: The case of Haitian Creole and the Relexification Hypothesis", Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 11 (2): 185–230,
- Wardhaugh, Ronald (2002), "Pidgins and Creoles", An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (fourth ed.), Blackwell Publishing, pp. 57–86
- Wittmann, Henri (1989), "Relexification et argogenèse," Communication, 1er Colloque international d’argotologie, Université de Besançon, Oct. 13-1, 1989
- Wittmann, Henri (1994), "Relexification et créologenèse" (PDF), Proceedings of the International Congress of Linguists, 15 (4), Québec: Presses de l'Université Laval: 335–38
- Wittmann, Henri; Fournier, Robert (1996), "Contraintes sur la relexification: les limites imposées dans un cadre théorique minimaliste" (PDF), in Fournier, Robert (ed.), Mélanges linguistiques (in French), Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières, pp. 245–280
Further reading
- Arends, Jacques, Pieter Muysken & Norval Smith. 1995. Pidgins and Creoles: an introduction. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
- Sebba, Mark. 1997. Contact Languages: Pidgins and Creoles. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire and London: Macmillan Press.
- Speer, Rob; Havasi, Catherine (2004), Meeting the Computer Halfway: Language Processing in the Artificial Language Lojban (PDF), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, archived (PDF) from the original on 23 October 2014
External links
Learning materials related to Psycholinguistics/Pidgins, Creoles, and Home Sign#The Relexification Hypothesis at Wikiversity
