Creoles, their substrates and language typology, the ninety-fifth issue in the “Typological studies in language” series, is introduced in detail by the editor and includes twenty-five chapters examining about thirty creoles and their respective substrate languages from mostly a comparative perspective. The final chapter, by Bernhard Comrie, discusses the problem of typological classification of creole languages and points out theoretical implications.
The comprehensive introduction by Lefebvre outlines the problem of typological classification of creole languages and gives an overview of substrate influence. The findings of the subsequent chapters are distinctly summarized and placed in relation to one another. A connection between areal features of substrate languages and creoles irrespective of properties of the lexifier languages is found for pronominal forms, classifiers, tense/mood/aspect systems, negation, semantic case systems, verbal properties, the existence of serial verbs, and discourse structures. The processes involved in the formation and development of creole languages are transfer, calquing, relexification, and restructuring. With regard to the question whether creoles constitute an identifiable typological class, the volume concludes that creoles reproduce features of their substrate languages. However, this conclusion only holds true for the mainly syntactic and morphological properties that have been investigated, and more research is needed into such areas as phonology, word order, and prosodic systems of substrate languages, which are not necessarily reproduced in the creoles.
The volume is divided into three parts, each focusing on a particular geographic region. The first part is on creoles spoken in Africa and the Caribbean and consists of nine contributions. The papers come to the conclusion that creoles with a Niger-Congo substrate all appear to manifest features of their substrate languages with regards to semantic, lexical, and morphosyntactic features (Tjerk Hagemeijer & Ota Ogie, Jürgen Lang, Lefebvre, Betina Migge, Angela Bartens, Armin Schwegler), syntactic phenomena (Geneviève Escure), and segmental inventories (Anne-Marie Brousseau, Schwegler). When certain features do not appear, it is argued to be due to the interaction between various processes such as transfer and leveling. Kriyol, spoken in Guinea-Bissau and Senegalese Casamance, departs from this general tendency. Alain Kihm observes that this is possibly due to the perfect bilingualism of its speakers and the formation of a tightly knit group of speakers.
The second part focuses on Asia, and all the creoles discussed appear to manifest features of substrate languages. The chapters examine usage patterns in discourse (Bao Zhiming), aspects of tone (Lisa Lim), semantic, lexical and morphosyntactic properties (Umberto Ansaldo, Stephen Matthews & Geoff Smith; Anthony P. Grant, June Jacob & Charles E. Grimes, Ansaldo, Peter Slomanson), and negation patterns (Eeva Sippola).
The third part is concerned with Creoles spoken in the Pacific. Again all creoles in this region show substrate languages’ influences in various aspects of creole grammar. The authors investigate semantic and morphosyntactical properties from a synchronic (Mark Donohue, Jennifer Munro) or diachronic perspective (Barbara Sandeman, Sarah J. Roberts, Angela Terrill, Harold Koch (in two chapters), Jeff Siegel). The volume concludes with a chapter by Comrie examining some aspects of creole languages from a typological perspective with particular focus on issues in simplification and substrate and superstrate influence. In contrast to Lefebvre's introduction, the conclusion mainly uses data from the Atlas of pidgin and creole structures (Susanne Maria Michaelis, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath, & Magnus Huber (eds.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013) to underline its results.
