List of figures; List of tables; List of abbreviations; The language and its name; Language contact in the early years: 1265 - 1865; Language contact since 1865; Language contact and the Bislama lexicon; Beach-la-Mar to Bislama: Emergence of the grammar; More reent developments: More on substrate; superstrate; and independent development; Lukluk Bak:Recurrent themes; References; Bibliography
NEW SERIES
`an outstanding contribution to our knowledge of the pidgin spoken
in Vanuatu ... the study presents a comparative perspective from
both a present-day and an historical point of view ... There is no
doubt that Crowley has provided a detailed and provocative
sociolinguistic study of a language which, up until now, has
received limited attention.'
Discourse and Society
'Crowley's portrait of Bislama history is an important contribution
to P/C theoretical debate ... this book provides the most cpomplete
synchronic and diachronic description of any P/C to date ... It
will be ignored by creolists at their peril.'
Chris Corne, Journal of Pacific History, No. 2, 1992
'he lived in Vanuatu for a decade or more, speaking Bislama on a
daily basis; and he has published what has become the authoritative
dictionary of that language ... The book is well presented, with
examples clearly set out and with footnotes at the bottom of each
page rather than tucked away at the back ... this is an extremely
valuable addition to the literature on Melanesian Pidgin and on
pidgin/creole studies generally. But it is more than that:
Because
of the attention paid to the effects on the language of interethnic
contact and social and political developments in Vanuatu, it is
also a valuable contribution to the social history of the
Pacific.'
John lynch, University of the South Pacific, Pacific Studies, Vol.
16, No. 4, December 1993
`Crowley's discussion of the origin of Bislama vocabulary is of
particular interest ... Another feature of the book is the detailed
attention to the development of the language - both lexically and
grammatically - over the decades.'
Pacific Studies
`C. has to be commended for having put together, in the five
historical chapters, linguistic and sociohistorical data on Bislama
that tremendously increases our knowledge not only of the pidgin of
Vanuatu, but of the other Melanesian pidgins as well. This is a
remarkable piece of historical linguistics...one is amazed at the
richness of data that the author was able to unearth.'
Language, Vol 71 no 1
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