%0 Journal Article
%T Saramaccan, a very mixed language: Systematicity in the distribution of function words?
%A Norval Smith
%J Lingu¨ªstica : Revista de Estudos Lingu¨ªsticos da Universidade do Porto
%D 2012
%I Universidade do Porto
%X Saramaccan is the descendant of a mixed creole language formerly spoken on Portuguese Jewish-owned plantations in Surinam, South America. Its mixed nature reveals itself in roughly equal numbers of monomorphemic English-derived and Portuguese-derived lexical items. In terms of function words, however, English-derived function words dominate to the proportion of 4:1. This still leaves us with a significant number of Portuguese function words. Here I make a preliminary study of spatial adpositions and question words. This reveals a strong correlation between words referring to ¡°place¡± and words derived from Portuguese.I take account of the presence of Jewish-owned plantations and large-scale marronnage towards the end of the 17th century, the latter leading to formation of the Saramaccan tribe
%K Saramaccan
%K Portuguese
%K function words
%K place
%K maroons
%K slavery
%U http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/10745.pdf