The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies (Blackwell Handbooks in Linguistics)

Featuring an international contributor list, this long-awaited and broad-ranging collection examines the key issues, topics and research in pidgin and creole studies. A comprehensive reference work exploring the treatment of core aspects of pidgins/creoles, focusing on the questions that animate creole studies Brings together newly-commissioned entries by an international contributor team Accessibly structured into four sections covering: the character of pidgins and creoles; the relation of pidgins/creoles to other language phenomena and other languages; issues in pidgin/creole genesis; and the role of pidgins/creoles in society Provides a valuable resource for students, scholars and researchers working across a number linguistic disciplines, including sociolinguistics, historical linguistics, and the anthropology of language "The comparatively recent origins of pidgins and creoles provide them with a special place in linguistic theory. Debates about the origin and character of these languages have informed broader discussions within grammatical theory, historical linguistics, and sociolinguistics. The Handbook of Pidgin and Creole Studies tackles these cross-linguistic questions that animate pidgin and creole studies."--Jacket Their comparatively recent origins and their shared grammatical features provide pidgins and creoles with a special place in linguistic theory. While providing a comprehensive treatment of core aspects of pidgins/creoles, this handbook focuses on the questions that animate creole studies