Morphological simplicity in pidgins and creoles

Abstract

My first two columns will go back to the basics, and look at two ofthe fundamental notions used to define pidgin and creole languages – simplification and elaboration (or expansion), following Syea’s (2002: 200) call for a reassessment of these terms. I’ll start here with simplification (or simplicity). First, I’ll illustrate various conceptions of this notion, and then delineate a particular approach that I’ll use to talk about the origins of morphological simplicity in pidgins and creoles.