Re: Are pidgins natlangs? (was Re: Telona Grammar, part 2)

In a message dated 2002.02.12 11.03.45 PM, Philip.Newton@GMX.NET writes:

>On 12 Feb 02, at 8:14, Jim Grossmann wrote:
>
>> One nitpick:   techically, are pidgins natlangs?    I've heard that
>> they're contrived by definition, although they take their lexicons
>> from natlangs, and often serve as the ancestors of natlangs (namely
>> creoles) in the space of a generation.
>
>I suppose I would consider them auxlangs -- initially, they're an
>auxiliary language, aiding comprehension between speakers of different
>languages, and initially they're no-one's first language. And they
>become natlangs when someone speaks them natively (as a creole), I
>guess.
>
    Of course pidgins and creoles are NatLangs. They naturally arise from
cultural contact (or, more likely, imperialistic contact), hence another way
of saying "pidgins and creoles" is to simply say "contact languages" or
"languages of contact."

czHANg23,
Avatar of Sun WuKong, a.k.a. "Monkey," a.k.a. "TricksterGod of the Han
Chinese"

~ om hung hanumatay rudratmakai hung phat ~
    - mantra to Hanuman the Hindu Monkey TricksterGod

        Hail to thee TricksterGods! IO THEE CHAOSGODHEAD!!!
        ~ thee Tru Pries ov Existenz iz Ætern'l Warfær & Creativ Playf'llniz~
                            - § - by hook or by crook - § -