Innovative grammatical categories in an Australian creole

What is it about?

This chapter describes the reflexive, reciprocal and adverbial emphatic markers mijelp, gija and miself in Barunga Kriol, the variety of the Australian Kriol spoken in Beswick/Wugularr (Top End, Northern Territory, Australia). These markers are interesting because their distribution has evolved in recent years, resulting in further and neater distinctions. Firstly, a typologically rare distinction between two types of reciprocals has emerged, where transitive verbs and " semi-transitive " verbs receive distinct reciprocal marking. This distinction could result from contact with other Kriol varieties, and represents an interesting pattern of contact-induced change, where no actual form or function is borrowed from the source language. Secondly, the reflexive and emphatic markers, which were originally quasi-identical, have evolved to become two (or more) well-differentiated items. Based on the analysis of these markers, this chapter examines the ways in which a creole can develop new categories, and questions the principles underlying these developments. Contact with neighbouring varieties of Kriol, as well as late substrate reinforcement, appear to have played a role in these innovations. In addition, this case study indicates that Kriol varieties can be influenced not only by their immediate substrates, but also by other Australian languages within a broader contact area, via contact between varieties.

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Why is it important?

This article shows that in the decades following its adoption, Kriol has innovated several grammatical distinctions, some of them typologically unusual - like the emergence of a reflexive marker for semi-transitive predicates, contrasting with the marker used with fully transitive verbs. These innovations may be traced back to Australian influence.