The grammaticalization of lexical items in pidgin/creole genesis

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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