This paper presents new Skepi Creole Dutch data from the late-18th century, found in the work of the German scholar Ernst Karl Rodschied. The creole data include pronominal and verbal paradigms, a short 60-word excerpt from a private letter, and around two dozen names for local flora. After briefly introducing Rodschied, we present the data and compare them to the existing Skepi corpus.

This paper presents new Skepi Creole Dutch data from the late-18th century, found in the work of the German scholar Ernst Karl Rodschied. The creole data include pronominal and verbal paradigms, a short 60-word excerpt from a private letter, and around two dozen names for local flora. After briefly introducing Rodschied, we present the data and compare them to the existing Skepi corpus.

Inherent to the debate on creole genesis is the question of grammatical continuity between creoles and their lexifier languages. This issue, in turn, relates to the disputed claim that creoles descend from pidgins: proponents of that claim postulate a negligible degree of grammatical transmission from the lexifier into the creole and no genetic relatedness between them; opponents claim the reverse. To shed light on the issue, this article compares two contact varieties (Guyanais, a French-lexified creole, and Gardiol, a diaspora variety of Occitan) to their respective lexifiers. The comparison shows that although Guyanais and Gardiol can both be called contact varieties, the latter has clearly inherited the grammar of its lexifier, whereas the former gives the appearance of a break in transmission, as predicted by the pidgincreole cycle theory. (c) 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Berbice Dutch was a creole language spoken in the Republic of Guyana in South America, a country first under Dutch, and later under British colonial rule. Owing mainly to Silvia Kouwenberg (A grammar of Berbice Dutch Creole, De Gruyter Mouton, 1994), we were blessed with a detailed synchronic documentation of Berbice Dutch before its demise. However, the formation of the language remains clouded in mystery: its grammar and (basic) lexicon display a seemingly unique mixture of Dutch (Creole) and Eastern Ijo, as a result of which the language is often portrayed as a challenge to existing contact-linguistic theory. In this paper, a scenario is proposed that, rather than challenging the said theory, is fully grounded in it: it will be argued that the language was a case of serial glottogenesis: a first stage of creolisation was later followed by language mixing. The paper furthermore presents hitherto unknown historical data pertaining to the arrival of Ijo speakers in Berbice.

This paper investigates the origins of Guianese French Creole. Whereas the existing literature assumes Guianese was formed in situ , we argue the creole is in fact genetically related to Lesser Antillean French Creole. We support our hypothesis by means of a range of comparative linguistic data. Furthermore, a historical framework is provided that accounts for linguistic transfer from the Lesser Antilles to French Guiana in the second half of the 17th century.

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Abstract We offer a global overview of Spanish-based Creoles and the state of the art of the discipline. First, we present what is generally considered “the group” of Spanish-based Creoles. Two Creoles are then discussed in some detail, Palenquero and Papiamentu, providing sketches of their (a) sociolinguistic history and (b) linguistic structure. Completing this overview, we cover Chabacano (spoken in the Philippines), albeit in briefer fashion due to limitations of space. Attention is then turned to several Latin American areas that once may have been Creole speaking (these include Highland Bolivia, Peru, and western Colombia). We also make reference to Bozal Spanish, that is, the L2 Spanish formerly spoken in the Caribbean and elsewhere by slaves born in Africa.

A long-lasting debate within creole studies concerns the scarcity of Spanish-based creoles and the theoretical implications this may have. However, there is no agreement as to how many genuinely Spanish-based creoles there are in the world, and identifying the size of that group can generate controversies. Papiamentu, for instance, is canonically classified as a Spanish-based creole, even though most scholars at present seem to agree its origins are Creole Portuguese. A Portuguese lineage has on various occasions and by various authors also been claimed for Chabacano (Philippine Creole Spanish) and Palenquero (spoken in Colombia). These creoles, too, were supposedly once Portuguese-based, only to subsequently be 'relexified' towards Spanish. This paper argues that there is little linguistic basis for that claim. Although both creoles do indeed seem to have received some Portuguese (Creole) input, we maintain that this input was limited and substratal in nature, and thus has no bearing on the classification (whether diachronic or synchronic) of the two creoles as truly Spanish-based.

This paper deals with the question of Gbe influence on Guianese, the largest creole language of French Guiana. Recent research (Jennings and Pfander, 2015, 2018) claims that Guianese was formed in a bilingual French-Gbe situation and that most of the grammatical structure of the creole was calqued on Gbe. We argue, firstly, that the Gbe influence is (vastly) overstated. We show, amongst other things, that Guianese is not more Gbe-like than the French creoles of the Lesser Antilles, and that it is in fact noticeably less so than its direct neighbour Saramaccan. Secondly, we scrutinize certain aspects of the historical framework put forth by Jennings and Milder (2018). Finally, we address some theoretical issues such as the in our view dubious claim that Guianese formed in a strictly bilingual context. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In this article we present newly found lexical and grammatical data pertaining to Skepi, the Dutch-lexified creole which is now extinct but was once widespread in the Essequibo area of what is today the Republic of Guyana. The source of this new material are the linguistic notes contained in the diary of Reverend Thomas B. Youd, a missionary in service of the Church Missionary Society, who was active in the area from 1833 to 1842.

This article argues that the three existing varieties of Chavacano are descendents of one and the same proto-variety. While their direct relatedness used to be agreed upon, it has recently been questioned to differing extents by Lipski (e.g. 1992, 2010, 2013) and Fernandez (e.g. 2006, 2011). There is a large gap in Chavacano research insofar as systematic attempts at verifying or falsifying the alleged kinship between the varieties are missing to date. This article makes a first such attempt and argues that the varieties are indeed genetically related.

Palenquero is a Spanish-lexified creole spoken in Columbia. We argue that existing hypotheses regarding its birth are problematic in several regards. This article addresses the inconsistencies in these hypotheses and provides an alternative, more coherent account. More precisely, we take issue with the following three claims: (a) Palenquero is the result of a two-language encounter; (b) it has its roots in a West African Afro-Portuguese protovariety; (c) an ancestral form of the creole emerged in the port city of Cartagena. We then set out to present our own, more economical, formation scenario, according to which Palenquero was formed in the early 1600s in the linguistically heterogenous maroon communities of the Cartagenan hinterlands.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic work-up and treatment strategy of Bell's palsy by: general practitioners (GPs); ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists; and neurologists in the Netherlands.DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey.METHOD: GPs, ENT specialists and neurologists were asked to participate in an online survey on the diagnosis and treatment of Bell's palsy. Results per specialty were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-squared test.RESULTS: A total of 415 clinicians participated, including 149 GPs, 123 ENT specialists, and 143 neurologists. The answers from the three disciplines showed significant differences concerning history taking, physical examination, alarm symptoms, treatment strategy and follow-up. ENT specialists more frequently asked about hearing loss (90%), whereas neurologists enquired about weakness in arms and legs (62%). GPs less often ask about tick bites than clinicians in ENT and neurology, respectively (36% vs. 89% and 71%). Neurologists rarely performed otoscopy (21%), but more frequently tested eye movements (78%) than GPs (33%) and ENT specialists (20%). Compared to GPs and neurologist, ENT specialists more frequently reported the supplementation of Prednisone treatment with antiviral agents (45% vs. 9% and 6 % resp.). Furthermore, the time interval to the follow-up visit varied strongly between clinicians, ranging between a few days to six weeks after the first clinic visit.CONCLUSION: This study shows that the diagnostic work-up and treatment strategy for Bell's palsy in the Netherlands is highly dependent on the clinician's specialty. Despite the fact that equivalent guidelines are in place, GPs, ENT specialists and neurologists gave different answers to questions concerning diagnostics and treatment. This finding suggests that more attention should be paid to the implementation of and adherence to the multidisciplinary guideline for Bell's palsy.

This paper revisits the origins of the Philippine Spanish Creole language Chavacano. Earlier work saw Chavacano as the result of relexification of an originally Portuguese-lexicon creole towards Spanish within an immigrant group known as the Mardikas in the 17th century. Their language would subsequently have spread from their new home town to the other locations where it is currently spoken. More recently, however, it has been claimed that Chavacano emerged independently in different places, in the second half of the 18th century, and that the creators were people of mixed Chinese-Filipino origin. We take issue with both the older and the more recent hypothesis, arguing the varieties are indeed related, and that proto-Chavacano emerged around the beginning of the 17th century in the Manila/Cavite area among Spanish military forces and various non-European groups in their service.

This article looks at the language(s) spoken in the homes of the Sephardic Jews of Curaçao in the period between ca. 1650 and 1750, i.e., the period preceding the diffusion of Papiamentu as the native language of the Curaçaoan society at large, including the Sephardim. While the linguistic profile of the Curaçaoan Sephardim in that period is an important issue in itself, it gains further relevance in the context of the disputed origins of Papiamentu, a creole language with a mixed Spanish-Portuguese lexicon. The Portuguese elements in Papiamentu are often assumed to be a linguistic contribution of the Curaçaoan Sephardim. That assumption, in turn, is based on the widespread consensus that the first generations of Curaçaoan Sephardim spoke mainly Portuguese. This article takes issue with that consensus and argues that their vernacular was in fact chiefly Spanish. This implies that the Portuguese elements in Papiamentu must have a non-Sephardic origin.

In this paper, we discuss the recent discovery of four letters written in 1783, one of which is written fully in Papiamentu, the other three comprising Papiamentu fragments. The data in these constitute one of the earliest written attestations of Papiamentu. We first provide a brief overview of the earliest attestations of Papiamentu and then present theLetters as Lootresearch programme, to which we owe the discovery of the 1783 letters. Following this, the article discusses the contents of the letters and the socio-historical context in which they were written. To close, we discuss the value of this new source for Papiamentu studies.

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