Questions: Language Contact: Borrowing, Pidgins, and Creoles

Question 1

What most clearly distinguishes a creole from a pidgin?

• A. A creole uses vocabulary from more than one language
• B. A creole is spoken only in trade
• C. A creole has native speakers, and a pidgin does not
• D. A creole has no grammar of its own

Answer: (C)

The standard definition turns on native speakers. A pidgin is a contact language used as a second language for limited purposes. When children grow up speaking it as a first language and it serves all the needs of a community, it is a creole.

Question 2

Haitian Creole draws most of its vocabulary from French. In this relationship, French is called the language's what?

• A. Substrate
• B. Lexifier
• C. Dialect
• D. Calque

Answer: (B)

The lexifier is the language that supplies most of a pidgin's or creole's vocabulary. The substrate languages, here mainly West African languages, are those of the groups with less power in the contact situation, and they often influence the grammar and sounds.

Question 3

Because Tok Pisin takes most of its vocabulary from English, an English speaker can understand it without study.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

Tok Pisin, an official language of Papua New Guinea, has its own grammar, sound system, and meanings. Words of English origin often change form and meaning (for example, 'pela' from 'fellow' works as a grammatical marker), so English speakers usually need to learn it.

Question 4

English 'flea market' is thought to translate French 'marché aux puces' word by word. What is this kind of borrowing called, and how does it differ from an ordinary loanword?

Model answer: It is a calque, or loan translation. A loanword imports the foreign form itself (English 'café' from French), while a calque keeps native words and copies the structure and meaning of the foreign expression.

Calques show that contact can transfer meanings and patterns without transferring sounds. They are common where speakers know both languages well.