The African Anglo-Creoles in an areal-typological perspective

Abstract

The African branch of the family of Atlantic English-lexifier Creoles is a continuum of mutually intelligible varieties spoken across the entire West African subregion. Speaker numbers of the branch can be pegged at well above 50 million. The Anglo-Creole varieties therefore consitute one of the largest language continua of the continent. Inspite of the vastness of West Africa and one of the highest language/person ratios of the world, the languages of the area is characterised by a high degree of typological similarity. It seems natural that the African Anglo-Creoles would form part of the convergence movement that typifies the West African linguistic area. And adstratal pressure from African languages due to widespread multilingualism, ongoing language shift to Creole languages and the expanding functional range of the Creoles is indeed exacting its toll on the structure of the Creole languages. At the same time, adstratal contact with English, facilitated through lexical similarity, is exerting a counterpressure on the Creoles against convergence. Some questions of theoretical concern make a detailed analysis of these forces of language change worthwhile: How has continuous contact with the substrates of a putative Atlantic English-lexifier proto-creole contributed to the typological differenciation of the African from the Caribbean branch of the family? Which differences may be attributed to internal development? How has contact with English contributed to the typological profile of the African vs. the Caribbean Anglo-Creoles?