In his study, Sessarego argues that both approaches fail to consider the underlying processes driving the formation of creoles, specifically those involved in adult second language acquisition (SLA). A recent analysis of 48 creole languages by authors of this leaning found grammars to be strongly transmitted from the source languages, calling into question the existence of a rudimentary pidgin phase in creole formation. On the other side of the debate are those who believe creoles to be no different from any other languages.
Some in this camp argue that creole languages display distinct profiles and are grammatically simpler than languages that evolved over longer periods. One side of the debate claims that creoles initially form as pidgins (bare bones means of communication with minimal grammar) that graduate to fully developed languages only after the next generation of speakers infuses them with more systematic grammatical structure. Having emerged only a few centuries ago from extreme contact scenarios, creoles provide a unique window on the human mind and on the development of grammars,” said Sandro Sessarego, author of the Nature study and an associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UT Austin.įor decades a debate has raged among linguists about the defining properties of such languages and their evolution.
“The study of the evolution of creole languages is key to understanding the nature of the language faculty. AUSTIN, Texas - Creole languages neither retain all grammatical features of their origin languages, as some have claimed, nor are creoles the simplest grammars in the world, according to a new analysis published in Nature by The University of Texas at Austin.Ĭreoles are formed from a combination of several languages over a relatively short time to allow for communication between people who do not share a common language, such as the French-based Haitian Creole that emerged during the Atlantic slave trade.
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