Cover not available
Part of
Creole Studies – Phylogenetic Approaches
Edited by Peter Bakker, Finn Borchsenius, Carsten Levisen and Eeva M. Sippola
[Not in series 211] 2017
► pp. 315–344

Chapter 14
Lexicalization patterns in core vocabulary

A cross-creole study of semantic molecules

| Roskilde University, Aarhus University
| Aarhus University

The study of semantic domains is important for creolistics, given the complex label-meaning configuration in creoles vis-à-vis the European lexifiers. Due to the lexical semantic creativity in the creolization process as well as the subsequent developments and contacts with lexifiers, substrates, and other contact varieties, each domain seems to have its own history, its own configuration. Comparing words in four different semantic domains, we contrast the labels and lexicalizations of social concepts, body-part terms, environmental concepts, and abstract categories, with an anchor in core categories in conceptual semantics. Based on findings from cross-linguistic investigations into core vocabularies: semantic molecules and semantic primes, we study the lexicalizations of the following meanings in creoles: ‘children’, ‘women’, ‘men’, ‘mother’, ‘father’, ‘wife’, ‘husband’ (social molecules), ‘head’, ‘eyes’, ‘ears’, ‘mouth’, ‘nose’, ‘hands’, ‘legs’ (body-part molecules), ‘sun’, ‘sky’, ‘ground, ‘water’, ‘fire’, ‘day’, ‘night’ (environmental molecules), and ‘not’, ‘maybe’, ‘can’, ‘because’, ‘if’, ‘very’ and ‘more’ (semantic primes – abstract concepts). We utilize phylogenetic networks to compare and contrast lexicalization patterns between domains. Our study suggests that these core semantic-conceptual constructs tend to cluster with their lexifiers, but that there are important differences across domains – the label-meaning configurations of the social domain stand out as the most diverse, and the environmental domain as the most homogenous.

Keywords: Semantic domains, semantic molecules, cross-creole comparison, creole-lexifier relations
Article outline
  • 14.1Introduction
  • 14.2Creoles, lexifiers, and semantic domains
  • 14.3Words and coding
  • 14.4 Results
    • 14.4.1Abstract concepts
    • 14.4.2Social molecules
    • 14.4.3Body-part molecules
    • 14.4.4Environmental molecules
  • 14.5Discussion
  • 14.6Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 31 May 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.211.14lev
References
Andersen, E. S.
1978 Lexical universals of body-part terminology. In Universals of Human Language, Word Structure, Vol. 3, J. H. Greenberg (ed.), 335–368. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Apresjan, J.
1992 Lexical Semantics: User’s Guide to Contemporary Russian Vocabulary. Ann Arbor MI: Karoma.Google Scholar
2000 Systematic Lexicography, K. Windle (trans.). Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Aragón, K.
2016 Mexican colors and meanings: An ethnolinguistic study of visual semantics in Oaxaca. In Color Language and Color Categorization, G. Paulsen, M. Uusküla & J. Brindle (eds). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. 302–332.Google Scholar
2017 Visuality, identity and Emotion: Rosa mexicano as a keyword in Oaxaca. In Cultural Keywords in Discourse, C. Levisen & S. Waters (eds), 131–156.Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baggioni, D.
1990 Dictionnaire creole Reunionnais-Francais. Paris: L’Harmattan.Google Scholar
Bajao, E. & Dicks, T.
1991 Tok Pisin Grammar Workbook for English speakers. Papua New Guinea: Peace Corps.Google Scholar
Baker, P. & Huber, M.
2001 Atlantic, Pacific, and world-wide features in English-lexicon contact languages. English World-Wide 22(2): 157–208. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker, P. & Kriegel, S.
2013 Morisyen Creole structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Baptista, M.
2002 The Syntax of Cape Verdean Creole. The Sotavento Varieties [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 54]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
2013 Cape Verdean Creole of Brava structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Baxter, A. N.
1988 A Grammar of Kristang (Malacca Creole Portuguese). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Australian National University.Google Scholar
2005 Kristang (Malacca Creole Portuguese) – A long-time survivor seriously endangered. Estudios de sociolingüística 6: 1–37.Google Scholar
Baxter, A. N. & de Silva, P.
2004 A Dictionary of Kristang: Malacca Creole Portuguese – English. Fyshwick, Canberra: Ciril’s Printers.Google Scholar
Blair, T. P.
2013 A-Z of Jamaican Patois (Patwah): Words, Phrases and How we Use Them. Bloomington IN: Author House.Google Scholar
Borges, B.
2013 Linguistic archeology, kinship terms, and language contact in Suriname. Anthropological Linguistics 55(1): 1–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bromhead, H.
2011a The bush in Australian English. Australian Journal of Linguistics 31: 445–471. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011b Ethnogeographical categories in English and Pitiantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara. Language Sciences 33(1): 58–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Burenholt, N.
2006 Body part terms in Jahai. Language Sciences 28: 162–180. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carpooran, A.
2011 Diksioner Morisien, 2nd edn. Mauritius: Les editions Le Printemps.Google Scholar
Corne, C.
1997 Tayo causatives: The retention in a French-lexified contact- induced vernacular of transfers from New Caledonian Melanesian. Te Reo 40: 76–91.Google Scholar
Crowley, T.
1990 Beach-la-Mar to Bislama. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
2004 Bislama Reference Grammar [Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication 31]. Honolulu HI: University of Hawai‘i Press.Google Scholar
da Silva, T. V.
1987 Nabóka noti: Un libru di stórias tradicional organizadu y prizentadu pa T. V. da Silva. (1.) s. l.: Instituto Caboverdiano do livro.Google Scholar
DeBose, C. E.
1975 Papiamentu: A Spanish-based Creole. PhD dissertation, Stanford University.Google Scholar
Deignan, A.
2003 Metaphorical expressions and culture: An indirect link. Metaphor and Symbol 18 (4): 255–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dijkhoff, M.
1993 Papiamentu Word Formation: A Case Study of Complex Nouns and Their Relation to Phrases and Clauses. PhD dissertation, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Durrleman-Tame, S.
2008 The Syntax of Jamaican Creole: A Cartographic Perspective [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 127]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ehrhart, S.
1993 Le créole français de St-Louis (le tayo) en Nouvelle-Calédonie [Kreolische Bibliothek 10]. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.Google Scholar
Ehrhart, S. & Revis, M.
2013 Tayo structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Enfield, N. J.
2003 Introduction. In Linguistic Epidemiology: Semantics and Grammar of Language Contact in Mainland Southeast Asia, N. J. Enfield (ed.), 2–44. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
2015 The Utility of Meaning: What Words Mean and Why. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Enfield, N. J. & Wierzbicka, A.
2002 Introduction: The body in description of emotion. Pragmatics & Cognition 10(1–2): 1–25. Special issue The Body in Description of Emotion. Cross-linguistic Studies, N. J. Enfield & A. Wierzbicka (eds). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Escalante, E.
2005 Chabacano… for Everyone. A Guide to the Chabacano Language. Manila: Baby Dragon Printing Press.Google Scholar
Faraclas, N.
1996 Nigerian Pidgin. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Farquharson, J. T.
2013 Jamaican structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Fattier, D.
2013 Ayisyen Creole structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Fauconnier, G.
1999 Mappings in Thought and Language. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Forman, M. L.
1972 Zamboangueño Texts with Grammatical Analysis: A study of Philippine Creole Spanish. PhD dissertation, Cornell University.Google Scholar
Goddard, C.
2011 Semantic Analysis: A Practical Introduction, revised 2nd edn. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Goddard, C. & Wierzbicka, A.
2014a Words and Meanings: Lexical Semantics Across Domains, Languages, and Cultures. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
2014b Semantic fieldwork and lexical universals. Studies in Language 38(1): 80–127. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goddard, C.
2016 Semantic molecules and their role in NSM lexical definitions. Cahiers de Lexicologie 4. Special issue on Lexical Definition, A. Polguère & D. Sikora (eds), 2(109): 13–34.Google Scholar
Goilo, E. R.
1962 Papiamentu Textbook. Aruba: D. J. de Wit.Google Scholar
Grant, A. P. & Guillemin, D.
2012 The complex of creole typological features: The case of Morisyen Creole. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 27(1): 48–104. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hall, R. A.
1953 Ayisyen Creole: Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary. Philadelphia PA: American Folklore Society.Google Scholar
Hearn, L.
1885 “Gombo xhèbes.” Little Dictionary of Creole Proverbs, Selected From Six Creole Dialects: Translated into French and into English, with Notes, Complete Index to Subjects and Some Brief Remarks upon the Creole Idioms of Louisiana. New York NY: W. H. Coleman.Google Scholar
Hesseling, D. C.
1905 Het Negerhollands der Deense Antillen. Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Nederlandse taal in Amerika. Leiden: A. W. Sijthoff.Google Scholar
Hill, J.
2008 The Everyday Language of White Racism. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hualde, J. I. & Schwegler, A.
2008 Intonation in Palenquero. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 23: 1–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huber, M., The APiCS Consortium & Meeuwis, M.
2013 Pequenino. In Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures, S. M. Michaelis, P. Maurer, M. Haspelmath & M. Huber (eds), 436–439. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Josselin de Jong, J. P. B. de
1926 Het huidige Negerhollandsch (teksten en woordenlijst) [Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Academie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam 26]. Amsterdam: Koninklijke Academie van Wetenchappen te Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Koptjevskaja-Tamm, M.
2008 Approaching lexical typology. In From Polysemy to Semantic Change: Towards a Typology of Lexical Semantic Associations [Studies in Language Companion Series 106], M. Vanhove (ed.), 3–54. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(ed.) 2015 The Linguistics of Temperature [Typological Studies in Language 107]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kouwenberg, S.
2013 Papiamentu structure dataset. In Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online, Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Kouwenberg, S. & Murray, E.
1994 Papiamentu [Languages of the World/Materials 83]. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar
Kraska-Szlenk, I.
2014 Semantics of Body Part Terms: General Trends and a Case Study on Swahili. Munich: Lincom.Google Scholar
Kulick, D.
1992 Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction: Socialization, Self, and Syncretism in a Papua New Guinea village [Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language 14]. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Lang, J.
2013 Cape Verdean Creole of Santiago structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Levisen, C.
2015 Scandinavian semantics and the human body: An ethnolinguistic study in diversity and change. Language Sciences 49: 51–66. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Levisen, C. & Priestley, C.
2017 Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse: kastom ‘traditional culture’ and tumbuna ‘ancestors’. In Cultural Keywords in Discourse, C. Levisen & S. Waters (eds), 83–106. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lipski, J. M. & Santoro, M.
2007 Zamboangueño Creole Spanish. In Comparative Creole Syntax. Parallel Outlines of 18 Creole Grammars, J. Holm & P. Patrick (eds), 373–398. London: Battlebridge.Google Scholar
Llamado, L. C.
1969 An Analysis of the Structures of Cavite Chavacano. MA thesis, Philippine Normal College, Manilla.Google Scholar
Majid, A.
2010 Words for parts of the body. In Words and the Mind: How Words Capture Human Experience, B. C. Malt & P. Wolff (eds), 58–71. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Majid, A., Enfield, N. J. & van Staden, M.
2006 Parts of the body: Cross-linguistic categorization. Language Sciences 28: 137–147. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matisoff, J. A.
2004 Areal semantics: is there such a thing? In Himalayan Languages, Past and Present, A. Saxena (ed.), 347–393. Berlin: De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Michaelis, S. M., Maurer, P., Haspelmath, M. & Huber, M.
(eds) 2013 Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.Google Scholar
Moñino, Y. & Schwegler, A.
(eds) 2002 Palenque, Cartagena y Afro-Caribe. Historia y lengua. Tübingen: Niemeyer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mühleisen, S.
2013 Trinidad English Creole structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Newman, J.
(ed) 2009 The Linguistics of Eating and Drinking [Typological Studies in Language 84]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Peeters, B.
(ed) 2006 Semantic Primes and Universal Grammar: Empirical evidence from the Romance languages [Studies in Language Companion Series 81]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sabino, R.
2012 Language contact in the Danish West Indies: Giving Jack His Jacket. Leiden: Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schwegler, A.
2013 Palenquero structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Senft, G.
1998 Body and mind in the Trobriand Islands. Ethos 26 (1): 73–104. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sharifian, F.
2011 Cultural Conceptualizations and Language. Theoretical Framework and Applications [Cognitive Linguistic Studies in Cultural Contexts 1]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shnukal, A.
1988 Broken: An Introduction to the Creole Language of Yumplatok. Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.Google Scholar
Sippola, E.
2006 Hacia una descripción del ternateño. Revista Internacional del Lingüística Iberoamericana 1: 41–54.Google Scholar
2011 Una gramática descriptiva del chabacano de Ternate. Helsinki: University of Helsinki.Google Scholar
Sluijs, R.
2013 Negerhollands structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Smith, G. P. & Siegel, J.
2013 Tok Pisin structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Steinkrüger, P. O.
2013 Zamboanga Chabacano structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Swolkien, D.
2013 Cape Verdean Creole of São Vicente structure dataset. In Michaelis et al. (eds).Google Scholar
Travis, C.
2002 La metalengua semántica natural: The natural semantic metalanguage of Spanish. In Meaning and Universal Grammar – Theory and Empirical Findings, Vol. 1 [Studies in Language Companion Series 60], C. Goddard & A. Wierzbicka (eds), 173–242. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Turégano, M. P.
2002 Language and Society in Papua New Guinea: Pidginization, Creolization and Decreolization in Tok Pisin. Valencia: University of Valencia & Servei de Publicacions.Google Scholar
Valdman, A., Iskrova, I. & Hebblethwaite, B.
(eds) 2007 Ayisyen Creole-English Bilingual Dictionary. Bloomington IN: Indiana University, Creole Institute.Google Scholar
Vanhove, M.
(ed.) 2008 From Polysemy to Semantic Change: Towards a Typology of Lexical Semantic Associations [Studies in Language Companion Series 106]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Putte, F. & García, E. C.
1990 Where there is a message there is a way: ku versus null in Papiamentu. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 5: 187–222. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
van Rossem, C. & van der Voort, H.
1996 Die Creol taal. 250 years of Negerhollands texts. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Verhaar, J. W. M.
1995 Toward a reference grammar of Tok Pisin: An Experiment in Corpus Linguistics [Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication 26]. Honolulu HI: Univeristy of Hawai’i Press.Google Scholar
Vilsaint, F. & Berret, J. E.
2005 English Ayisyen Creole Dictionary. Pompano Beach FL: Educa Vision.Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, A.
1992 Semantic, Culture, and Cognition: Universal Human Concepts in Culture-specific Configurations. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
1999 Emotions across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007 Bodies and their parts: An NSM approach to semantic typology. Language Sciences 29(1): 14–65. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013a Imprisoned in English: The Hazards of English as a Default Language. Oxford: OUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013b Kinship and social cognition in Australian Languages: Kayardild and Pitjantjatjara. Australian Journal of Linguistics 33: 302–321. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Winer, L. S.
1993 Trinidad and Tobago [Varieties of English Around the World 6]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yakpo, K.
2012 Reiteration in Pichi: Forms, functions and areal-typological perspectives. In The Morphosyntax of Reiteration in Creole and Non-Creole Languages [Creole Language Library 43], E. O. Aboh, N. Smith & A. Zribi-Hertz (eds), 251–284. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zouheir, M. & Yu, N.
(eds) 2011 Embodiment via Body Parts: Studies from Various Languages and Cultures [Human Cognitive Processing 31]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 4 other publications

Bromhead, Helen
2022. Tensions in talking about disasters: Habitual versus climate-informed – The case of bushfire vocabulary in Australia. Australian Journal of Linguistics 42:3-4 ► pp. 207 ff. DOI logo
Levisen, Carsten & Carol Priestley
2017. Chapter 4. Social keywords in postcolonial Melanesian discourse. In Cultural Keywords in Discourse [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 277], ► pp. 83 ff. DOI logo
Levisen, Carsten & Sophia Waters
2017. Chapter 1. How words do things with people. In Cultural Keywords in Discourse [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 277], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Soto, Gloria & Kerstin Tönsing
2024. Is there a ‘universal’ core? Using semantic primes to select vocabulary across languages in AAC. Augmentative and Alternative Communication 40:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.