<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>The earliest stages of pidgin formation show a preference for analytic and morphologically reduced grammatical constructions relative to their lexifier or substrate languages, where the apparent morphological marking, if found, seems to be fossilized. Structural relations, therefore, are mostly expressed externally. Tense/aspect categories are marked through temporal adverbials or inferred from the context. Creole languages, however, are said to develop such categories through grammaticalization. This study examines tense/aspect marking in five Arabic-based pidgins: Juba Arabic, Turku Pidgin, Pidgin Madame, Romanian Pidgin Arabic, and Gulf Pidgin Arabic. Using Siegel’s (2008) scale of morphological simplicity, from lexicality to grammaticality, this study concludes that tense/aspect marking is expressed lexically through temporal adverbials or inferred from the context in the earliest stages of Arabic-based pidgins, which only later—in stabilized pidgins—develops into grammaticalized markers when certain criteria are met.</p>
</abstract>

The earliest stages of pidgin formation show a preference for analytic and morphologically reduced grammatical constructions relative to their lexifier or substrate languages, where the apparent morphological marking, if found, seems to be fossilized. Structural relations, therefore, are mostly expressed externally. Tense/aspect categories are marked through temporal adverbials or inferred from the context. Creole languages, however, are said to develop such categories through grammaticalization. This study examines tense/aspect marking in five Arabic-based pidgins: Juba Arabic, Turku Pidgin, Pidgin Madame, Romanian Pidgin Arabic, and Gulf Pidgin Arabic. Using Siegel’s (2008) scale of morphological simplicity, from lexicality to grammaticality, this study concludes that tense/aspect marking is expressed lexically through temporal adverbials or inferred from the context in the earliest stages of Arabic-based pidgins, which only later—in stabilized pidgins—develops into grammaticalized markers when certain criteria are met.

Tense/Aspect Marking in Arabic-Based Pidgins

Sustainable Multilingualism

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Tense/Aspect Marking in Arabic-Based Pidgins"}

The earliest stages of pidgin formation show a preference for analytic and morphologically reduced grammatical constructions relative to their lexifier or...

Tense/Aspect Marking in Arabic-Based Pidgins

Published Online: May 26, 2021

Page range: 14 - 44

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sm-2021-0002

Keywords
Arabic-based pidgins, tense, aspect, lexical markers

© 2021 Wafi Fhaid Alshammari, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Tense/Aspect Marking in Arabic-Based Pidgins

Published Online: May 26, 2021

Page range: 14 - 44

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sm-2021-0002

KeywordsArabic-based pidgins, tense, aspect, lexical markers

© 2021 Wafi Fhaid Alshammari, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Arabic-based pidgins, tense, aspect, lexical markers