Between contact and internal development : towards a multi-layered explanation for the development of the TMA system in the Creoles of Suriname

Bettina Migge (1, 2) , Laurence Goury (2)

1 UCD - University College Dublin [Dublin]
2 CELIA - Centre d'Études des Langues Indigènes d'Amérique

This paper proposes a new analysis of the formation of the TMA system of the Surinamese Maroon Creoles based on a wide range of both contemporary and historical sources. The paper first provides a brief synopsis of the socio-historical context in which the Creoles of Suriname emerged and developed, and a broad overview of the TMA systems of those Creoles and of varieties of Gbe. It then discusses four processes that were involved in the emergence of the creole TMA system: substrate influence, internal change from a substrate calque, superstrate influence, and shift of form and category correlated with innovation. The paper then concludes that Creole formation is to be considered as a gradual and multi-layered process (Arends 1993, Bruyn 1995), involving processes of language change that also operate in other so-called 'normal' contact settings (Thomason & Kaufman 1988).

Mots clés: SURINAM; GUYANE FRANCAISE; MORPHOLOGIE LINGUISTIQUE; SOCIOLINGUISTIQUE; CONTACT DE LANGUE; CHANGEMENT LINGUISTIQUE

Domaines: Linguistique

Bettina Migge, Laurence Goury. Between contact and internal development : towards a multi-layered explanation for the development of the TMA system in the Creoles of Suriname. Suzanne Michaelis. Rules of Creole structures, John Benjamins, pp.301-331, 2008, Creole Language Library. ⟨halshs-00281545⟩