- Description
- 1 online resource (366 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).
- Summary
- Children are extremely gifted in acquiring their native languages, but languages nevertheless change over time. Why does this paradox exist? In this study of creole languages, Enoch Aboh addresses this question, arguing that language acquisition requires contact between different linguistic sub-systems that feed into the hybrid grammars that learners develop. There is no qualitative difference between a child learning their language in a multilingual environment and a child raised in a monolingual environment. In both situations, children learn to master multiple linguistic sub-systems that are in contact and may be combined to produce new variants. These new variants are part of the inputs for subsequent learners. Contributing to the debate on language acquisition and change, Aboh shows that language learning is always imperfect: learners' motivation is not to replicate the target language faithfully but to develop a system close enough to the target that guarantees successful communication and group membership.
- Series Statement
- Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact
- Uniform Title
- Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact.
- Subject
- Note
- Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 Dec 2015).
- OCLC
- CR9781139024167
- Author
Aboh, Enoch Oladé, author.
- Title
The Emergence of Hybrid Grammars : Language Contact and Change / Enoch Oladé Aboh.
- Publisher
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015.
- Type of Content
text
- Type of Medium
computer
- Type of Carrier
online resource
- Series
Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact
Cambridge Approaches to Language Contact.
- Connect to:
- Other Form:
Print version: 9780521769983