Unidirectional multilingual convergence: typological and social factors

• Published in: International journal of multilingualism Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 768 - 785
• Main Author: Yakpo, Kofi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 03.07.2023; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: borrowing; Change agents; Convergence; Creoles; Diachronic Linguistics; Dutch language; Ecology; English (Second Language); English language; Foreign Countries; Form Classes (Languages); Germanic languages; Indo European Languages; Indo-Aryan languages; Language acquisition; Language Classification; Language contact; Language typology; Language Usage; linguistic area; Linguistic Borrowing; Loanwords; Multilingualism; Nouns; Prepositions; Realignment; Social factors; Sranan language; Standard Spoken Usage; SVO; Verbs; Word Order; Surinam; Suriname

Suriname represents an interesting case of unidirectional multilingual convergence in a linguistic area. The multilingual ecology of Suriname is hierarchical. The Germanic language Dutch exerts structural and lexical influence 'downwards', but other languages do not do so 'upwards...