Abstract:We show that the theoretical construct "phase" underlies a number of restrictions on code-switching, in particular those formalized under the Principle of Functional Restriction (González-Vilbazo 2005) and the Phonetic Form Interface Condition (MacSwan and Colina 2014). The fundamental hypothesis that code-switching should be studied using the same tools that we use for monolingual phenomena is reinforced.

In traditional classifications of languages by inflectional subsystems, both creole languages and the results of untutored SLA (interlanguages) are classified as isolating. We focus on remnants of verbal inflectional morphology in French-related creoles and ask: (a) Can the properties of verbal morphology be attributed to SLA, and (b) what does this imply for creole genesis? We show how acquisition of inflectional morphology occurs in learner varieties of French from a basic variety perspective. We discuss reflexes of French inflectional morphology that survived the creolization process, resulting in a long–short opposition of verb forms: Across creoles, different grammatical properties are marked by this opposition. Finally, we consider the implications for creole genesis theories and propose a three-generational scenario of creolization with multiple agents.

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The aim of this article is a systematic investigation of certain grammatical aspects of three languages that came about as by-products of colonial expansion of the Dutch during the seventeenth century: Afrikaans, Negerhollands, and Berbice Dutch. The discussion is centered on three grammatical features that have played an important role either in creolis-tics or in theoretical linguistics: TMA-marking, adpositional phrases, and passive constructions. Since seventeenth-century Dutch is the common lexifier, this language is also taken into account in the overall comparison. It is shown that the three languages related to Dutch form a less homogeneous group than do some of the creoles related to English and French. The main conclusion is that while processes at work during creoli-zation do not have to be uniform and may have different outcomes, the social circumstances existing in the different contact situations constitute a significant factor in the development of the emerging contact languages.

In a number of French-related creoles a distinction is made between long and short forms of verbs. We argue that the alternation is a reflex of French inflectional morphology that has survived the creolization process, showing that the result is a long-short opposition of verb forms, similar to the formal variation in the learner varieties, and therefore ultimately due to learner strategies in the acquisition of French as a second language. We further discuss the potential role of substrate and argue that the alternation started out as a phonological/prosodic phenomenon (as it basically still is in Haitian Creole). We conclude that the alternation (or verb allomorphy) can be seen as a morphological reflex of the Spell-Out domain at the vP-level.