Pidgins to creoles to full blown languages

Miscellaneous Other Topics.
Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Pidgins to creoles to full blown languages

Postby Philip Hudson » Fri Mar 09, 2012 2:11 pm

Pidgins to creoles to full blown languages

The good word HIGH-MUCK-A-MUCK has spawned a discussion about types of languages and their relationships with each other. LukeJavan8 suggested someone put a thread on Res Diversae on which we can continue this subject under a more descriptive name. This is my attempt to do so. Please read the comments under the good word Discussion of HIGH-MUCK-A-MUCK at
http://www.alphadictionary.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=5506 .
Then add your contributions here.

I first began my interest in linguistics when I was a masters’ degree candidate at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. It is an excellent school. I recommend it. In its own way, Perry Lassiter, it rivals Baylor University, and it costs a lot less to attend. I have a granddaughter, BS from Baylor, who is getting her MS at UNT in English for the deaf and mentally challenged.

At UNT I struggled to learn German under the not so deft hands of an ancient German professor. The good Dr. H was far from incompetent. He had taught German for sixty years and he was tired of teaching it. Instead he taught basic linguistics under the guise of teaching four semesters of German. I learned a little German. Linguistics was a welcome diversion for me. The class also had a lot of fun watching young ladies with low cut dresses squirm when Dr. H, meandering up and down the aisles, stopped his meandering to gaze on a particularly pleasingly exposed cleavage. Dr H hated the French and their language. When he said a French word he would always spit on the floor and mutter, "bastard Latin!"

Dr. H dwelt long on what he called Aryanism and is now prosaically called PIE. We learned to count in numerous PIE languages and then worked on the etymologies of many words in PIE languages. Count from one to ten in a few PIE languages and, if you need help get it, count from one to ten in Mandarin Chinese. The reality of PIE will readily dawn upon you. Then we moved on to the development of languages where we learned about regional and cultural accents, dialects, creoles, patios, and pidgins.

I was a major in mathematics and paid my professional dues to systems engineering for almost thirty years. Alas, a stroke ended my remunerative career, and, after some recovery, I became a volunteer English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. Sometimes I would be paid, but mostly not. For a paying example, I spent several years in part time work teaching ESL to blind students. This was with the Texas government’s program for the blind and it paid handsomely.

So here I am. I am not an expert in linguistics as is Dr. Beard, but I am ready to discuss languages in general with the Alpha Agora tribe. By the way, knowing multiple languages helps in teaching ESL and in being a linguist, But we also serve who only stand and speak English (a spoof on Milton).

Let’s talk language creations and modifications.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Pidgins to creoles to full blown languages

Postby Slava » Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:09 am

In Hawaii, there is a pidgin language that they call pidgin. There is even a book of "translations" from pidgin to English. It's called "Pidgin To Da Max" and quite fun. It's mostly in jest, but a lot of fun.

On a serious note, there is also this out there.

Just one of many pidgins, but it's a start.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8039
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Pidgins to creoles to full blown languages

Postby Slava » Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:52 pm

Here's a piece from The Economist on the differences between languages and dialects:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economis ... explains-8
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

bnjtokyo

Re: Pidgins to creoles to full blown languages

Postby bnjtokyo » Thu Feb 27, 2014 5:25 am

I see no one has mentioned the Middle English is a creole myth/hypothesis. Discussion may be found
http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/1 ... -chapter-4
and
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve ... hesis.html


Return to “Res Diversae”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests