|
|
|
|
Relexification
|
| |
|
| |
Relexification is a term in linguistics used to describe the mechanism of language change by which one language replaces much or all of its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with that of another language, without drastic change to its grammar. It is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages. Relexification is not synonymous with lexical borrowing, which describes the situation where a language merely supplements its basic vocabulary with words from another language.
xification is a form of language interference in which a pidgin, a creole or a mixed language takes the great majority of its lexicon from a superstrate or target language while its grammar either comes from the substrate or source language, or, according to universalist theories, arises from universal principles of simplification and grammaticalisation.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Relexification' Start a new discussion about 'Relexification' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Relexification is a term in linguistics used to describe the mechanism of language change by which one language replaces much or all of its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with that of another language, without drastic change to its grammar. It is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles, and mixed languages. Relexification is not synonymous with lexical borrowing, which describes the situation where a language merely supplements its basic vocabulary with words from another language.
Language Creation and the Relexification Hypothesis
Relexification is a form of language interference in which a pidgin, a creole or a mixed language takes the great majority of its lexicon from a superstrate or target language while its grammar either comes from the substrate or source language, or, according to universalist theories, arises from universal principles of simplification and grammaticalisation. The language from which the lexicon is derived is called the "lexifier". Michif, Media Lengua, and Karipúna are mixed languages which arose through relexification.
A hypothesis that all creole languages derive their grammar from the medieval Mediterranean Lingua Franca was widely held at the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s before falling out of favor. It was later argued that, for example, the grammar of Haitian creole is a substratum, created when Fon-speaking African slaves relexified their language with French vocabulary, because of underlying similarities between Haitian and Fon. However, the role of relexification in creole genesis is disputed by adherents of generative grammar, itself a highly disputed concept. , , , and , for example, have argued that the similarities in syntax reflect a hypothetical Universal Grammar, not the workings of relexification processes.
Second language acquisition
Spontaneous second language acquisition (and the genesis of pidgins) involves the gradual relexification of the native language or source language with target language vocabulary. After relexification is completed, native language structures alternate with structures acquired from the target language.
Conlangs and jargon
In the context of constructed languages, jargons, and argots, the term is applied to the process of creating a language by substituting new vocabulary into the grammar of an existing language, often one's native language.
While this 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, Lojban began as a relex of Loglan, but the languages' grammars have diverged since then. The same process is at work in the genesis of jargons and argots. Examples of this are:
- Caló is a jargon used by Gitanos (Spanish Gypsies), that mixes a Spanish grammar with Romany vocabulary.
Ego credo ut vita pauperum est simpliciter atrox, simpliciter sanguinarius atrox, in Liverpoolio.
I believe that the life of the poor is simply atrocious, simply bloody atrocious, in Liverpool.
Bibliography
- Brightman, Robert (1995), "Forget Culture: Replacement, Transcendence, Relexification," Cultural Anthropology 10:4.509-546
- Wittmann, Henri (1989), "Relexification et argogenèse," Communication, 1er Colloque international d’argotologie, Université de Besançon, Oct. 13-1, 1989
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 & Catherine Havasi (2004), Meeting the Computer Halfway: Language Processing in the Artificial Language Lojban, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
|
| |
|
|
