engleski

Pidgin and creole languages

The study of pidgins and creoles is one of the newer fields in linguistics. The discipline was founded in the 50's and has developed since substantially. However, some earlier research was done in the 19th and 18th centuries, and today, pidgin and creole studies are a part of the curriculum in number of universities. The objectives of the thesis are to look into the definitions of 'pidgin' and 'creole' and try to find their common roots, their similarities and their differences, to view the development of various theories of pidgin and creole genesis, and to try to determine the level of familiarity with terms used in the study of pidgins and creoles among graduates of English language and literature in Rijeka. To accomplish this, five authors are consulted and their definitions are presented and compared. The development of genesis theories is viewed and presented through Holm's periodization, expending his notions with those of more recent authors. The level of familiarity is determined through conducting a research in the form of a questionnaire, whose results are later analyzed through comparison and presented. The results will show that the overview of definitions shows a plurality of views on the definition of 'pidgin' and 'creole'. More modern definitions do not even differentiate pidgins and creoles. The timetable presents the origin of certain theories of genesis still discussed today, and other, obsolete theories no longer used or discusses. The analysis of results of the study conducted among the students of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences in Rijeka showed that most of the participants were unfamiliar with the terms in the questionnaire, which usually occur in the study of pidgins and creoles, and gave definitions in accordance with the low level of their familiarity with the terms.

pidgin; creole; genesis theories; student awareness

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