The Acquisition of Creole Languages How Children Surpass their Input

How do children acquire a Creole as their first language? This relatively underexplored question is the starting point for this first book of its kind; it also asks how first language acquisition of a Creole differs from that of a non-Creole language. Dany Adone reveals that in the absence of a conventional language model, Creole children acquire language and go beyond the input they receive. This study discusses the role of input, a hotly debated issue in the field of first language acquisition, and provides support for the nativist approach in the debate between nativism and input-based models. The Acquisition of Creole Languages will be essential reading for those in the fields of First Language Acquisition and Creole Studies. Adone takes an interdisciplinary approach, and uses insights from the acquisition of language in the visual modality, making this of great interest to those in the field of Sign Linguistics.

1. Creole languages; 2. Issues in first language acquisition; 3. Complex Creole syntax; 4. Child Creole data; 5. Pronouns and reflexives; 6. Double-object constructions; 7. Passive constructions; 8. Serial verb constructions; 9. Acquisition without a conventional language model; Appendix A. Experimental materials on pronouns and reflexives; Appendix B. Experimental materials on double-object constructions; Appendix C. Experimental materials on passive constructions; Appendix D. Experimental materials on serial verb constructions.

Dany Adone is a Professor of Applied English Linguistics, Director of the Australian Studies programme and Director of the Language Lab at the University of Cologne. She has also served as President of the Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics.