The g amma icaliza ion o lexical i ems
in pidgin/c eole genesis
ANTHONY J. NARO
Uni e sidade Fede al do Rio de Janei o
The e a e many possible scena ios o he beginnings o pidgin/c eole
genesis, bu hey all ha e in common a need o communica e in a si ua ion in
which he e is no common language among he people in ol ed. The si ua ion
can be momen aneous o spo adic, such as con ac be ween No wegian and
Russian ishe men in he No h Sea in he las cen u y, o i can be d awn ou and
con inuous, such as con ac in Po ugal be ween he Po uguese and A ican
sla es b ough di ec ly om he A ican coas by he i s explo a o y expedi ions
beginning in he mid 15 h cen u y.
In mos o hese si ua ions one o he g oups in ol ed is socially and
economically dominan . In he ini ial pe iod o Eu opean o e seas expansion, as
well as du ing he occupa ion o he Ame icas and he colonial e a, o example,
he Eu opeans we e he mas e s and o e lo ds, imposing hei will on e e yone
else. When we conside he linguis ic s a e o a ai s ha ook hold o e seas, we
see ha he Eu opeans did manage o impose hei own ocabula y, o se o
lexical i ems. In ac , he lexicons o mos mode n day pidgin/c eole languages,
om he Ca ibbean o he Indian Ocean, a e composed o mo e han 90% o
i ems di ec ly aceable o Eu opean languages. Fo his eason, he language
spoken in Hai i, o example, is called C eole F ench and is some imes classi ied
as a F ench dialec , simpli ied F ench, bas a dized F ench, o wi h o he simila
labels.
I is a well known ac ha he syn ax and seman ics o he pidgin and
c eole languages do no bea he same deg ee o simila i y o he Eu opean
languages ha is so appa en in he case o he lexicon. Bu he lexicon oo, o
necessi y, unde wen d as ic changes. Fo one hing, in he i s s ages o con ac ,
when nei he side knew any hing o he o he 's language, he lexicon was as ly
educed in e ms o he numbe o i ems used. E en as con ac p og essed, he
ange o social con ex s in which he con ac language was used we e usually
qui e limi ed. Fo example, al hough China Pidgin English exis ed o many
decades, i s use was limi ed mainly o ade, and i s o al ocabula y p obably
ne e exceeded se en o eigh hund ed i ems.
In mos a eas, he language ha esul ed om con ac was app op ia ed by
hose om he socially in e io side. This was necessa y because, o di e se
easons, hese people had no language in common among hemsel es. In he
Ame icas, o example, sla es we e b ough om as a eas o he A ican
38 The g amma icaliza ion o lexical i ems in pidgin/c eole genesis
con inen , and he e is e idence ha a delibe a e e o was made o mix people o
di e en languages p ecisely in o de o hinde hei abili y o communica e
among hemsel es and hus lessen chances o ebellion. In o he cases, such as in
China and New Guinea, he economic ac i i y c ea ed by Eu opeans a ac ed
people om such a - eaching a eas ha he new a i als had no common
language ha hey could use o communica e among hemsel es. Unde hese
condi ions, he con ac sys ems based on Eu opean lexicons we e aken o e by
he o he side and came o be used in all o he con ex s ypical o daily li e. Thei
en i onmen o use was no longe limi ed o wha e e happened o in e es he
dominan side in he con ac o supe io wi h in e io .
When he social si ua ions in which he con ac language was used
unde wen expansion, he lexicon had o expand as well. Howe e , he dominan
Eu opeans we e oo a socially emo ed o be he sou ce o mo e lexical i ems,
and, as we ha e seen, hose om he in e io side had no common language om
which o b ing in new lexical i ems. The esul o his is ha he lexical i ems ha
exis ed had o be s e ched o mee he communica i e needs o he popula ion.
This occu ed in h ee ways: (1) he c ea ion o s anda dized ph ases o ake he
place o non-exis an lexical i ems, (2) he a ibu ion o new meanings o he
ela i ely small numbe o lexical i ems in use, (3) he a ibu ion o new
syn ac ic and mo phological oles o hese i ems.
The i s echniques, he in oduc ion o new ixed exp essions, esul ed in
ph ases ha seem pic u esque om he Eu opean poin o iew: g ass belong
head o 'hai ', o ass belong wo ld o big ellow o 'God' in New Guinea, o
example. The second me hod, enla ging o seman ic ields, esul ed in ce ain
lexical i ems gaining a wide seman ic anges han in he Eu opean languages.
A ypical case is he p eposi ion na, some imes hough o be de i ed om
s anda d Po uguese na 'in he ( em.)', used in many pidgin/c eole sys ems o
di e se lexical bases wi h a ex ensi e ange o meanings including ' o', ' om', 'in',
'in o', 'ou o ', e c. Ano he example is ound in New Guinea pidgin wo- ellow
moon he-die o ' wo days passed', in which he lexical i em die (as well as moon)
has acqui ed an addi ional sense no p esen in he s anda d.
I is o he hi d me hod o lexical expansion, change o mo phosyn ac ic
ole, ha we will u n ou a en ion in his pape . Unde his ca ego y one usually
has in mind examples such as change o he p eposi ion behind o an ad e b
meaning 'la e ' in New Guinea pidgin. An example is:
Behind by-'n-by he come-back again
o 'la e i will come back again'. Ano he case o he same ype is he use o a
noun as a e b in
Boa swain gammon me
An hony J. Na o 39
o ' he boa swain lied o me' (li e ally 'boa swain game me').
He e we will examine a change o ca ego y o a mo e adical ype, whe e
a lexical i em looses i s seman ic con en and becomes a unc ional i em wi hin
he g amma . This ype o change is called 'g amma icaliza ion'. A ypical case o
his so can be ound in he his o y o he u u e wi h gonna (going o) in
s anda d colloquial English. O iginally a cons uc ion such as
I am going o ead my pape
had a pu posi e meaning in ol ing ac ual physical disloca ion in space along he
lines o 'I am a eling ( om Rio de Janei o o G anada) in o de o ead my
pape '. F om his meaning he u u e de eloped: i I in end o do some hing, ha
hing hasn' happened ye , i.e., i is in he u u e. The mode n English going o
cons uc ion now has bo h meanings, and hey can some imes be di icul o
dis inguish. The phonologically educed auxilia y e b o m gonna, howe e , can
ha e only he g amma icalized u u e meaning, in which he lexical con en o
physical mo ion associa ed wi h he e b o go is no longe p esen . In ac , i is
now possible o use bo h going o and gonna wi h clauses in which he seman ic
elemen o pu pose o in en is i ually impossible and he u u e is he only
eading possible. An example is:
I am going o (gonna) hea he chime when he ala m goes o .
The common Romance u u e (Po uguese: can a ei; Spanish can a é,
F ench je chan e ai, e c.) also de eloped h ough a p ocess o g amma icaliza ion
om he cons uc ion can a e habeo, wi h loss o he lexical con en o
possession in habe e and he la e ex ension o in ansi i e e bs. In his case he
phonological educ ion o he o me lexical i em, he e b habe e, has p oceeded
u he o a cli ic s age, no ye a ained in he case o colloquial English gonna.
One o he mos in iguing aspec s o pidgin/c eole g amma ical s uc u e
is he e b and i s associa ed ca ego ies o numbe and ense/aspec . In gene al,
lexical i ems such as nouns, e bs, adjec i es, and so on end o ha e only one
in a ian phonological o m in pidgin/c eole languages. In he case o e bs he
mos impo an consequence o in a iance o o m is he ac ha he ense/aspec
and numbe elemen s o meaning mus be exp essed by means o independen
lexical i ems a he han h ough bound in lec ions. The e bal oo i sel does no
exp ess any pa icula ense o aspec . When used in a clause, i is up o he
lis ene o in e p e his aspec o meaning in acco d wi h he con ex . In a
Po uguese-based pidgin, o example, sol nasce migh mean ' he sun comes up',
' he sun came up', ' he sun will come up', ' he sun is coming up', ' he sum was
coming up', ' he sun will be coming up', and so on, acco ding o he discou se
con ex in which i occu s. In case he con ex is no clea in his ega d, he
40 The g amma icaliza ion o lexical i ems in pidgin/c eole genesis
speake migh add an ad e b such as ago a 'now', on em 'yes e day', amanhã
' omo ow', an ad e bial ph ase such as daqui a pouco 'in a li le while', o an
ad e bial pa icle such as já 'al eady' o logo ' igh away'. This would cla i y he
in ended meaning.
In he 1970's, New Guinea Tok Pisin was unde going a pe iod o
expansion and s abiliza ion as a language used in he ull ange o social
si ua ions o daily li e. In i s ea lie s ages, he u u e in Tok Pisin was indica ed,
op ionally, by he use o any lexical elemen wi h a u u e meaning such as he
ad e bs close- o 'soon' o behind 'la e ', o he mo e gene al and ague ad e bial
exp ession by-'n-by 'in a while', usually in sen ence ini ial posi ion. Sanko &
Labe ge (1982) s udied he expansion p ocess and ound ha by, a sho ened
o m o by-'n-by, was beginning o ake on p ope ies ypical o a g amma ical
u u e ma ke . The cha ac e is ics hey lis as di e en ia ing he new
g amma icalized u u e ma ke by om he p e ious lexical ad e bial exp ession
by-'n-by a e: (1) educ ion in phonological ma e ial, om he ull bisyllabic o m
o only one syllable, equen ly wi h a educed shwa-like owel; (2) educ ion in
s ess, om he ea lie p ima y wo d s ess le el o ha ypical o uns essed
syllables in ull lexical ca ego ies; (3) edundan use o by e en when he u u e
meaning is con eyed by lexical i ems such as ad e bs; (4) endency owa d
placemen o by immedia ely be o e he e b, a he han in sen ence ini ial
posi ion, especially wi h ull noun ph ase subjec s. In his way he ull lexical
exp ession by-'n-by is con e ed o he educed g amma ical i em by. In o he
wo ds, g amma a ises om he lexicon.
In Papiamen o, as well in many Po uguese-based c eoles (p incipally in
Asia), he u u e o , in mo e echnical e ms, he i ealis mood, is indica ed by
means o he g amma ical pa icle lo, de i ed om he lexical ad e b logo ' igh
away'. Like by in New Guinea, lo is uns essed and is used edundan ly e en
when he seman ic con en o u u eness is al eady es ablished by lexical i ems
p esen in he clause o ex a linguis ic con ex . Al hough we do no ha e a ully
documen ed his o y o Po uguese pidgin, i is possible o es ablish ea lie usage
by examining he imi a ion o he pidgin ound in ce ain 16 h cen u y plays. One
pa icula ly in e es ing example, ound in he anonymous play Au o dos enanos,
is a scene in which wo Po uguese peasan s a e ying o communica e wi h a
Cas ilian noblewoman. No A icans o o he non-Eu opeans a e p esen in his
pa icula scene, al hough he e we e many A icans in Po ugal a he ime. The
Spanish lady is consis en in always using s anda d Cas ilian, bu he Po uguese
peasan s a e no e y good a unde s anding he . A one poin , she complains,
saying o he peasan s "You don' unde s and", o which one o hem eplies:
Nam, senho a. No, madame.
Se ós ala como nós I you speak like us,
logo nós en ende ós We will unde s and you
& esponde logo ess' o a. And eply immedia ely.
An hony J. Na o 41
No ice ha all o he e bs in he Po uguese peasan 's speech a e in he
in ini i e and he p onouns a e all ully s essed non-cli ic o ms, in ypical
pidgin ashion. The e a e wo occu ences o logo in he peasan 's speech. The
i s is used as a gene al u u e ma ke , in a way qui e pa allel o by-'n-by in New
Guinea pidgin. The second, wi h he o iginal meaning o logo ' igh away', is
ein o ced wi h he exp ession ess' o a ' igh now' because he meaning o logo
had al eady been weakened o he poin whe e i no longe con ained he lexical
seman ic elemen o immedia eness. In he cou se o ime, logo was
phonologically educed o jus lo and became comple ely de ached om he
lexicon and in eg a ed in o he mo pho-syn ax, in a way pa allel o he
de elopmen o by om by-'n-by.
We see hen, ha he beginning o he pidginiza ion p ocess consis s o a
educ ion and simpli ica ion on he linguis ic le els o he lexicon and he
g amma , pa allel o he na owing o he social con ex s in which he pidgin is
used o he in e ac ion o lowe and uppe social s a a. When he social si ua ions
o language use expand upon he app op ia ion o he language by a communi y
o speake s o use in he ull ange o si ua ions ypical o daily li e, he lexicon
and g amma mus expand as well, in o de o adequa ely ul ill he new
unc ionali y. One o he ways in which his occu s is he ans o ma ion o ull
lexical i ems o mo pho-syn ac ic i ems, a p ocess known as g amma icaliza ion.
In e ec , he lexicon su e s a mino loss in o de o expand he g amma . The
lexicon's loss is only empo a y, howe e , as i oo unde goes expansion h ough
he p ocesses ou lined abo e. In he long un, a new ull language, capable o
ul illing all o i s social oles, is c ea ed om he limi ed esou ces o he pidgin.
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