Language bioprogram theory
Encyclopedia
The language bioprogram theory or language bioprogram hypothesis (LBH) is a theory arguing that the structural similarities between different creole language
s cannot be solely attributed to their superstrate and substrate
languages. As articulated mostly by Derek Bickerton
, creolization
occurs when the linguistic exposure of children in a community consists solely of a highly unstructured pidgin
; these children use their innate language capacity to transform the pidgin, which characteristically has high syntactic variability, into a language with a highly structured grammar. As this capacity is universal, the grammars of these new languages have many similarities.
and Creole, Bickerton identified twelve features which he believed to be integral to any creole:
Having analyzed these features, he believed that he was able to characterize, at least partly, the properties of innate grammar.
Although this hypothesis has enjoyed much popularity, it has been criticized. Bickerton in his LBH, defined very precisely what he considers to be a creole: a language that has arisen out of a prior pidgin that had not existed for more than a generation and among a population where, at most, 20% were speakers of the dominant language and where the remaining 80% were linguistically diverse. Such a definition excludes many languages that might be called creoles. Moreover, lack of historical data makes it often impossible to evaluate such claims. In addition, many of the creole languages that fit this definition do not display all the twelve features, while, according to , the left-out creoles often display more of them. Another problem, raised by , is that if the same bioprogram was the starting point of all creoles, one must explain the differences between them, and language diversity in general, as the bioprogram is universal.
On the other hand, Bickerton, puts emphasis on children's contribution to the development of a creole and the abrupt character of this process. For example, in , he exhibits ungrammatical utterances made by English-speaking children between the ages of two and four, and argues that they are very similar to perfectly grammatical sentences of English-based creole languages
:
Normally, the grammar behind such utterances made by children is eventually altered as parents continue to model a grammar different from this innate one. Presumably, if such children were removed from exposure to English parents, their grammars would continue to be that of creole languages.
argue that this emphasis on child-input implies two different linguistic communities but that it is far simpler and more consistent with the data from multilingual communities to assume that the two groups form one speech community, and that both make contributions to the development of the emergent creole. Also, points out that children were scarce on plantations, where creoles appeared, for several reasons, including absence of women as well as high rates of sterility, miscarriage, and infant mortality.
However, according to , the differences between the speech of children and adults in Tok Pisin
are so big that communication is drastically hindered.
is typically close to an ideal tense–modality–aspect pattern. In this system, the absence or presence of auxiliary verb
s indicate tense (concurrent or anterior), modality (realis or irrealis) and aspect (punctual or progressive), and when present these auxiliaries occur in that order, and typically are based on similar meaning words in the pidgin or superstrate language. Thus anterior tense may be marked by words such as bin in English
-based creoles (from been), or té in French-based creoles (from été), a future or subjunctive tense may be marked by go (from English go) or al (from French aller), and a non-punctual (non-stative) aspect by a word such as stei (from English stay).
The above table demonstrates syntactic similarities of creole languages. Stative verbs are those that cannot form the nonpunctual aspect. According to Bickerton, all observed creole languages strictly follow a structure that has the anterior particle precede the irreal particle, and the irreal particle precede the nonpunctual particle, although in certain languages some compounded forms may be replaced by other constructions.
contributed to the LBH with his Creole Prototype Theory, which argues that creoles exhibit some features that may be used to distinguish them from other languages without referring to the socio-historical dimension. According to , creoles are much less likely than other languages:
These features do not appear in creoles because creoles are relatively young languages, but they may appear later on in their grammars as the languages change. He does not claim that all creoles are ideal examples of the prototype, rather they exhibit varying degrees of conformity with the prototype.
could not be obtained, given the breadth of unknown possible hazards of participation.
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
s cannot be solely attributed to their superstrate and substrate
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
languages. As articulated mostly by Derek Bickerton
Derek Bickerton
Derek Bickerton is a linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Based on his work in creole languages in Guyana and Hawaii, he has proposed that the features of creole languages provide powerful insights into the development of language both by individuals and as a...
, creolization
Creolization
Creolization is a concept that refers to the process in which new African American cultures emerge in the New World. As a result of colonization there was a mixture between people of indigenous, African, and European decent, which became to be understood as Creolization...
occurs when the linguistic exposure of children in a community consists solely of a highly unstructured pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
; these children use their innate language capacity to transform the pidgin, which characteristically has high syntactic variability, into a language with a highly structured grammar. As this capacity is universal, the grammars of these new languages have many similarities.
Syntactic similarities
By comparing Hawaiian PidginHawaiian Pidgin
Hawaii Pidgin English, Hawaii Creole English, HCE, or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based in part on English used by many "local" residents of Hawaii. Although English and Hawaiian are the co-official languages of the state of Hawaii, Pidgin is used by many Hawaii residents in everyday...
and Creole, Bickerton identified twelve features which he believed to be integral to any creole:
- Sentence structure: subject–verb–object word order, with similar mechanisms for using word order to apply focus to one of these constituents.
- Articles: definite articleDefinite ArticleDefinite Article is the title of British comedian Eddie Izzard's 1996 performance released on VHS. It was recorded on different nights at the Shaftesbury Theatre...
applied to specific and identified noun phrase, indefinite article applied to specific and newly-asserted noun phrase, and zero for nonspecific noun phrase. - TMA (tense–modality–aspect) systems
- distinction of realized and unrealized complements
- relativization and subject-copying
- negation
- existential and possessive
- copula
- adjectives as verbs
- questions
- question words
- passive equivalents
Having analyzed these features, he believed that he was able to characterize, at least partly, the properties of innate grammar.
Although this hypothesis has enjoyed much popularity, it has been criticized. Bickerton in his LBH, defined very precisely what he considers to be a creole: a language that has arisen out of a prior pidgin that had not existed for more than a generation and among a population where, at most, 20% were speakers of the dominant language and where the remaining 80% were linguistically diverse. Such a definition excludes many languages that might be called creoles. Moreover, lack of historical data makes it often impossible to evaluate such claims. In addition, many of the creole languages that fit this definition do not display all the twelve features, while, according to , the left-out creoles often display more of them. Another problem, raised by , is that if the same bioprogram was the starting point of all creoles, one must explain the differences between them, and language diversity in general, as the bioprogram is universal.
On the other hand, Bickerton, puts emphasis on children's contribution to the development of a creole and the abrupt character of this process. For example, in , he exhibits ungrammatical utterances made by English-speaking children between the ages of two and four, and argues that they are very similar to perfectly grammatical sentences of English-based creole languages
English-based creole languages
An English-based creole language is a creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language...
:
| Child | Creole | |
|---|---|---|
| Where I can put it? | Where I can put om? | Hawaii |
| Daddy throw the nother rock | Daddy t'row one neda rock'tone | Jamaica Jamaican Creole Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patois or Jamaican, and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-lexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. It is not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of... |
| I go full Angela bucket | I go full Angela bucket | Guyana |
| Lookit a boy play ball | Luku one boy a play ball | Jamaica |
| Nobody don't like me | Nobody no like me | Guyana |
| I no like do that | I no like do that | Hawaii |
| Johnny big more than me | Johnny big more than me | Jamaica |
| Let Daddy get pen write it | Make Daddy get pen write am | Guyana |
| I more better than Johnny | I more better than Johnny | Hawaii |
Normally, the grammar behind such utterances made by children is eventually altered as parents continue to model a grammar different from this innate one. Presumably, if such children were removed from exposure to English parents, their grammars would continue to be that of creole languages.
argue that this emphasis on child-input implies two different linguistic communities but that it is far simpler and more consistent with the data from multilingual communities to assume that the two groups form one speech community, and that both make contributions to the development of the emergent creole. Also, points out that children were scarce on plantations, where creoles appeared, for several reasons, including absence of women as well as high rates of sterility, miscarriage, and infant mortality.
However, according to , the differences between the speech of children and adults in Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country...
are so big that communication is drastically hindered.
Verbal system
The verb conjugationGrammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
is typically close to an ideal tense–modality–aspect pattern. In this system, the absence or presence of auxiliary verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
s indicate tense (concurrent or anterior), modality (realis or irrealis) and aspect (punctual or progressive), and when present these auxiliaries occur in that order, and typically are based on similar meaning words in the pidgin or superstrate language. Thus anterior tense may be marked by words such as bin in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-based creoles (from been), or té in French-based creoles (from été), a future or subjunctive tense may be marked by go (from English go) or al (from French aller), and a non-punctual (non-stative) aspect by a word such as stei (from English stay).
| Verb Form | Nonstative | Stative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian Creole | Haitian Creole | Sranan | Hawaiian Creole | Haitian Creole | Sranan | |
| Base Form (he walked; he loves) | he walk | Li Maché | a waka | he love | li rêmê | a lobi |
| Nonpunctual (he is/was walking) | he stay walk | l’ap maché | a e waka | |||
| Anterior (He had walked; he loved) | he bin walk | li té maché | a ben waka | he bin love | li té rêmê | a ben lobi |
| Anterior+Nonpunctual (he was/had been walking) | he bin stay walk | li t’ap maché | a ben e waka | |||
| Irreal (He will/would walk;he will/would love) | he go walk | l'av(a) maché | a sa waka | he go love | l'av(a) rêmê | a sa lobi |
| Irreal + Nonpunctual (he will/would be walking) | he go stay walk | l’av ap maché | a sa e waka | |||
| Anterior + Irreal (he would have walked/loved) | he bin go walk | li t'av(a) maché | a ben sa waka | he bin go love | li t'av(a) rêmê | a ben sa lobi |
| Anterior + Irreal + Nonpunctual (he would have been walking) | he bin go stay walk | li t’av ap maché | a ben sa e waka | |||
The above table demonstrates syntactic similarities of creole languages. Stative verbs are those that cannot form the nonpunctual aspect. According to Bickerton, all observed creole languages strictly follow a structure that has the anterior particle precede the irreal particle, and the irreal particle precede the nonpunctual particle, although in certain languages some compounded forms may be replaced by other constructions.
Creole Prototype
McWhorterJohn McWhorter
John Hamilton McWhorter V is an American linguist and political commentator. He is the author of a number of books on language and on race relations. His linguistic specialty is creole and the process through which it forms.-Early life:...
contributed to the LBH with his Creole Prototype Theory, which argues that creoles exhibit some features that may be used to distinguish them from other languages without referring to the socio-historical dimension. According to , creoles are much less likely than other languages:
- to use grammatical inflection via affixing,
- to develop productive, nontransparent derivational affixes, or
- to use tone to either mark lexical differences or as grammatical markers.
These features do not appear in creoles because creoles are relatively young languages, but they may appear later on in their grammars as the languages change. He does not claim that all creoles are ideal examples of the prototype, rather they exhibit varying degrees of conformity with the prototype.
Proposed empirical study
Bickerton proposed an empirical test of his theory, which involved putting families speaking mutually unintelligible languages on a previously uninhabited island for three years. Federal funding for the test was obtained, but the experiment was cancelled over concerns that informed consentInformed consent
Informed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the...
could not be obtained, given the breadth of unknown possible hazards of participation.