'Semicreolization'? – The restructured Portuguese of the Tongas of São Tomé, a consequence of L1 acquisition in a special contact situation

Abstract

This paper discusses aspects of language transmission among the Tongas, the descendants of African contract workers, on the Monte Cafe plantation where restructured Portuguese developed alongside an Umbundu-based koine. It considers the special sociohistorical context of language acquisition & transmission, & the role of Portuguese L2 influence in primary linguistic data (PLD) for L1 acquisition in this speech community. In the Tonga Portuguese of a first generation of speakers born to African parents, these processes are shown to have given rise to broad restructuring relative to (1) agreement rules (number, gender, & subject-verb), (2) verb & tense & aspect marking, (3) the signalling of definite & indefinite reference, & (4) negation. These restructurings constitute a variable set resembling, in form & function, structures found in varieties of Creole Portuguese. However, the consequences in Tonga Portuguese are only slight in comparison, so the language appears to have been partially creolized. The motivation for restructuring is viewed both from DeGraff's perspective of a Universal Grammar approach to acquisition & creolization, stressing the quality of PLD & its role in yielding unmarked structures, & from Siegel's perspective of substrate influence (whereby, in this case, certain structures in the Bantu-based koine appear to have been instrumental in L2 Portuguese input to PLD). Finally, the discussion turns to Holm's notion of "semi-creole" & the validity of classifying Tonga Portuguese in these terms. 3 Tables, 1 Figure, 49 References. Adapted from the source document