Between contact and internal development: Towards a multi-layered explanation for the development of the TMA system in the creoles of Suriname

Bettina Migge (1) , Laurence Goury (2)

1 SeDyL - Structure et Dynamique des Langues
2 CELIA - Centre d'Études des Langues Indigènes d'Amérique

This paper proposes a new analysis of the formation of the tense-mood-aspect (TMA) system of the Surinamese Maroon creoles based on a wide range of both contemporary and historical sources. The paper first provides a brief synopsis of the socio-historical context in which the creoles of Suriname emerged and developed, and a broad overview of the TMA systems of those creoles and of varieties of Gbe. It then discusses four processes that were involved in the emergence of the creole TMA system: substrate influence, internal change from a substrate calque, superstrate influence, and shift of form and category correlated with innovation. The paper then concludes that creole formation is to be considered as a gradual and multi-layered process (Arends 1993; Bruyn 1995), involving processes of language change that also operate in other so-called " normal " contact settings (Thomason & Kaufman 1988).

Mots clés: creole genesis; Creoles of Suriname and of French Guiana; language contact; genèse des créoles; creoles du Surinam et de Guyane; contact de langues

Domaines: Linguistique

Bettina Migge, Laurence Goury. Between contact and internal development: Towards a multi-layered explanation for the development of the TMA system in the creoles of Suriname. S. Michaelis. Roots of Creole Structure, John Benjamins, pp.301 - 328, 2008, ⟨10.1075/cll.33.16mig⟩. ⟨hal-01496400⟩