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Constraining Variation in Decreolization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2026

William Washabaugh
William Washabaugh*
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
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Abstract

A replication of D. Bickerton's analysis of fi-tu variation in Caribbean English (1971) indicates that a number of overly-strong hypotheses about variation in decreolization must be modified. Variation in decreolization is not always bidirectional, not completely directed by the pressure to acquire the standard language, and not entirely constrained by deep-structure categories. But this is not to deny that variation is systematic. Rather, it is directed by both social and linguistic pressures, and is constrained not only by purely linguistic factors, but also by lexical categories established by psychological processes.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , June 1977 , pp. 329 - 352
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 by Linguistic Society of America

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