230049 Pidgins and Creoles (S) (SoSe 2016)

„[...] learning and using pidgins caused me to think more deeply about the standard language and about the many sorts of language subsumed by such a term as ‘English’.“
Loreto Todd, Modern Englishes - Pidgins and Creoles, 1984

Students are invited to live similar experiences by having a look at a variety of English-based (and some non-English based) pidgin and creole languages, studying their phonological, morpho-syntactical and lexical particularities and comparing them with Standard English. We will see how different types of English developed along trade routes, as a result of colonialism and slavery. Some of these varieties of English eventually developed into languages in their own right. Therefore, taking a look at a number of genesis-theories might teach us more about language change and language development. Finally, the use of pidgin and creole languages in literature, for example, or in popular music and in the world-wide web might give us an idea of how these often despised languages or language varieties have already enriched the cultural make-up of Britain and the US respectively.