1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910781036003321

Autore

Braun Maria <1973->

Titolo

Word-formation and creolisation [[electronic resource] ] : the case of early Sranan / / Maria Braun

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Tùˆbingen, : Niemeyer, 2009

ISBN

1-282-71534-8

9786612715341

3-484-97022-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (320 p.)

Collana

Linguistische Arbeiten, , 0344-6727 ; ; 517

Classificazione

18.96

Disciplina

427.9

Soggetti

Sranan language - Word formation

Creole dialects, English - Suriname

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-309).

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Table of contents -- 1 Introduction -- 2 Creolisation and word-formation: some central issues -- 3 The socio-historical and demographic background of Early Sranan -- 4 Methodology -- 5 Early Sranan word-formation: establishing a descriptive framework -- 6 Multifunctionality of lexical items in Early Sranan -- 7 Concatenative patterns -- 8 Reduplication patterns -- 9 The emergence of Early Sranan word-formation: a conclusion -- Backmatter

Sommario/riassunto

This book explores a relatively little investigated area of creole languages, word-formation. It provides the most comprehensive account so far of the word-formation patterns of an English-based creole language, Sranan, as found in its earliest sources, and compares them with the patterns attested in the input languages. One of the few studies of creole morphology based on historical data, the book discusses the theoretical problems arising with the historical analysis of creole word-formation and provides an analysis along the lines of Booij's (2005, 2007) Construction Morphology in which the assumed boundaries between affixation, compounding and syntactic constructions play a very minor role. It shows that Early Sranan word-formation is characterised by the absence of superstrate derivational affixes, the use of free morphemes as derivational markers and of



compounding as the major word-formation strategy. The emergence of Early Sranan word-formation involved multiple sources (the input languages, universals, language-internal development) and different mechanisms (reanalysis of free morphemes as derivational markers, adaptation of superstrate complex words, transfer from the substrates and the creation of innovations). The findings render untenable theoretical accounts of creole genesis based on one explanatory factor, such as superstrate or substrate influence.