On the emergence of new language varieties: the case of the Eastern Maroon Creole in French Guiana

Bettina Migge (1, 2, 3) , Isabelle Léglise (2, 3)

1 CASL - Complex & Adaptive Systems Laboratory - University College Dublin
2 CELIA - Centre d'Études des Langues Indigènes d'Amérique
3 SeDyL - Structure et Dynamique des Langues

Discussions of creole language heavily draw on the creole continuum model and the notion of decreolization to explain patterns of language variation and change in creole communities. This is quite unsatisfactory because the continuum model and decreolization assume that the development of creoles is different in kind and in degree from that of other languages. In this paper we challenge this assumption by investigating the synchronic development of the creoles of Suriname in French Guiana. We show that their development is due to complex social forces and linguistic processes and that these are the same as in the case of non-creole languages.

Mots clés: Creoles of Suriname; creole continuum; language variation and change; koiné; new linguistic varieties; Language contact

Mots clés: Contact de langues; creoles; variation et changement linguistique

Domaines: Linguistique

Bettina Migge, Isabelle Léglise. On the emergence of new language varieties: the case of the Eastern Maroon Creole in French Guiana. Hinrichs, Lars & Farquharson, Joseph. Variation in the Caribbean: From Creole continua to individual agency, John Benjamins, pp.207-229, 2011, Creole language library. ⟨halshs-00576813⟩