Re: Easy and Interesting Languages -- Website

Mark P. Line wrote:
> I think the most likely answer is that the Swahili spoken today is a
> koine.
>
(Snip pidgin/creole hypothesis)

 I like the koine hypothesis because it only requires us to believe
> that pre-Swahili evolving into Swahili was in constant contact with
> (probably a wide variety of) other languages, that pre-Swahili evolving
> into Swahili was an economically useful and widespread variety, and that
> the evolution of Swahili involved a process of major simplification of the
> language. From what we know of the history and prehistory of East Africa
> and of the nature of Bantu, I find it pretty easy to believe all those
> things.
>
Although I'm not up to speed on current "Origins of Malay" hypotheses, what
you describe would certainly be a possibility--

--constant contact with wide variety of other languages (in Malay's case,
mostly relatives)
--economically useful and widespread-- certainly by the early Xn era,
possibly even already in pre-Xn times
--major simplification (of the grammar)

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