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- Navarro Tomas (1951) aruged that Papiament was not blend of
port/Spanish/African elements but orig. in Portuguese pidgin used in slave trade. Key
importance of Portuguese in slave trade, and even in origin of Afrikaans?
(Hesseling 1923).
- Whinnon (1956) showed that 4 diff. creoles in Philippines didn't have
diverse origins but came from common source in Moluccas which origin ated in
Portuguese pidgin. Similar to Goan Portuguese-Creole in India, Sri Lanka, etc.
- 16th C. Portuguese pidgin replaced Arabic and Malay as trade languages in Far
East, was used from India to Indonesia to Japan. Asian Spanish Crs. were
relexified (Spanish replaced Portuguese). Case can be made that Chinese Pidgin E. was
relexified from pidgin Portuguese Thus almost all Pidgin(s)/Creole(s) can be shown to have some
Portuguese origin, which then goes back to Sabir.
- In any event, it is easier to posit divergence and relexification
of all Pidgin(s)/Creole(s) than to posit convergence toward structural similarity.
Harold Schiffman
Tue Mar 25 08:54:40 EST 1997