Baker, Philip 1982

Baker, Philip. 1982. The Contribution of Non-Francophone Immigrants To the Lexicon of Mauritian Creole: An Examination of the Peopling of Mauritius, An Analysis of the Non-French Part of the Lexicon of Its Creole Language, Including A Comparison of the Latter With Those of Reunion and the Seychelles, and A Discussion of the Origins and Affinities of Mauritian Creole. Ann Arbor: University of London dissertation. (xv+883pp.)

@phdthesis{155972,
  address               = {Ann Arbor},
  author                = {Baker, Philip},
  pages                 = {xv+883},
  publisher             = {UMI},
  school                = {University of London},
  title                 = {The Contribution of Non-Francophone Immigrants To the Lexicon of Mauritian Creole: An Examination of the Peopling of Mauritius, An Analysis of the Non-French Part of the Lexicon of Its Creole Language, Including A Comparison of the Latter With Those of Reunion and the Seychelles, and A Discussion of the Origins and Affinities of Mauritian Creole},
  year                  = {1982},
  abstract              = {The peopling of Mauritius is first examined thoroughly in order to determine potential sources of non-French words in its Creole lexicon. The origins of some 2,155 such words and calques, attested in the Creoles of Mauritius, Reunion and the Seychelles, are then discussed. A broad correlation is found between the contribution of non-European immigrants to the population of Mauritius and the number of words from their languages established in its Creole. However, a similar relationship is not found in Reunion (Bantu languages are underrepresented) or the Seychelles (languages not spoken by any known immigrant are represented). The degree of lexical affinity between these Creoles is measured, using a basic wordlist. This reveals that Mauritian and Seychelles Creole are almost identical in this area and that they share a striking feature-initial syllables wholly derived from French articles in many common nouns-which distinguishes them from other Creoles. This feature is examined and attributed to Bantu influence, a matter with implications for the date at which Mauritian Creole stabilized. In the light of all the above findings, and against the background of Bickerton's bioprogram theory, the probable timetable of the development of each of these Creoles is discussed, culminating in the presentation of a coherent theory of their evolution. It is claimed that Seychelles Creole is a continuation of the Mauritian Creole spoken 200 years ago, into which words brought by East African, Reunionnais and later immigrants have been introduced. Reunion Creole is seen as the less basilectal part of an earlier and broader speech continuum embracing an acrolectal 17th century non-Creole vernacular and a basilectal 18th century Creole, no longer extant as such, which developed out of pidginized varieties of the former but which failed to become established as an independent language, a matter responsible for the paucity of Bantu lexical influence in modern Reunion 'Creole'.},
  bestfn                = {africa\baker_mauritius1982_o.pdf},
  besttxt               = {ptxt2\africa\baker_mauritius1982_o.txt},
  cfn                   = {africa\baker_mauritius1982_o.pdf},
  degree                = {PhD},
  delivered             = {africa\baker_mauritius1982_o.pdf},
  digital_formats       = {PDF 20.27Mb image-only PDF},
  document_type         = {B},
  fn                    = {africa\baker_mauritius1982.pdf, africa\baker_mauritius1982_o.pdf, north_america\baker _creole1986_o.pdf},
  hhtype                = {comparative},
  inlg                  = {English [eng]},
  lgcode                = {Morisyen [mfe]},
  macro_area            = {Africa},
  mpi_eva_library_shelf = {PM 7854 BAK 2005},
  mpifn                 = {creole_baker1986_o.pdf},
  oclc                  = {64821347},
  source                = {DAI-A 46/10, p. 3016, Apr 1986},
  src                   = {hh, mpieva},
  subject               = {LANGUAGE, LINGUISTICS (0290)},
  umi_id                = {8529054}
}