Re: Creole vs. Pidgin

Nik Taylor wrote:
>
>Probably a combination.  There seem to be some universals, like SVO =
word
>order in creoles, but I think that it's not an inherent preference for
>that, but rather pragmatics - SVO naturally marks subject and object
>quite clearly.
I used to have correspondences with a person who spoke a Chavacano=20
dialect called Cavite=F1o. (Chavacano is a Spanish creole spoken in the =
Philippines). He taught me some Cavite=F1o, and the word order is NOT =
SVO.=20
Its consistently VSO. I'll try with some examples:

     ta     come usted ba
     IMPERF eat  2sg   QP
     'Are you eating?'

     si, ta     come yo
     yes IMPERF eat  1sg
     'Yes, I am eating'

     ta     habla elle chavacano contigo
     IMPERF speak 3sg  chavacano with.you
     's/he speaks chavacano with you'

     na      sabe el  mga chiquitos aquel como habla chavacano
     PERFECT know the pl  boy-pl    there how  speak chavacano
     'those boys already know how to speak chavacano,'

     porque na       aprende yo  ellos como habla
     because PERFECT teach   1sg 3pl   how  speak
     'because I taught them how to speak'

-kristian- 8)