Norval Smith
University of Amsterdam, Linguistics, Emeritus
- Languages and Linguistics, Celtic Languages, Placenames, Yokuts Languages, Yokuts Ethnohistory and Ethnogeography, Frisian, and 12 moreDependency Phonology, Linguistics, Ancient Indo-European Languages, Indo-European Studies, Indo-European Linguistics, Hittite, Anatolian Studies, Onomastics, Hittitology, Celtic Linguistics, Germanic languages, and Cultural Studiesedit
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This book is about the close historical and linguistic relationship between the languages of Surinam and Benin, a relationship which can be viewed in terms of a Trans Atlantic Sprachbund or linguistic area. It consists of a detailed... more
This book is about the close historical and linguistic relationship between the languages of Surinam and Benin, a relationship which can be viewed in terms of a Trans Atlantic Sprachbund or linguistic area. It consists of a detailed analysis of various possible substrate and adstrate effects in a number of components of the grammar, in the Surinam Creole languages, primarily from the Gbe languages of Benin but also from Kikongo.
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Item does not contain fulltext8 books in series edited by Muysken, Smith starting 1977Publicaties van het Instituut voor Algemene Taalwetenschap, Universiteit van Amsterda
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The nominal copula na appears uniquely in two sets of Atlantic English-lexifier creole languages: a. in what is called the Maroon Spirit Language used among the Eastern Maroons of Jamaica. Now confined to ritual use, it was formerly the... more
The nominal copula na appears uniquely in two sets of Atlantic English-lexifier creole languages: a. in what is called the Maroon Spirit Language used among the Eastern Maroons of Jamaica. Now confined to ritual use, it was formerly the daily language of the Eatern Maroons. b. in Krio, spoken in in Sierra Leone and Fernando Po,, and other places. I will show that the contexts in which it is used are parallel in the two groups, both syntactically and semantico-pragmatically. I hypothesize that there can only be one explanation for this fact. Krio hails ultimately from the language of the Western Maroons of Jamaica who were exiled to Sierra Leone.
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Many languages have been described as mixed languages, which together with pidgins and creoles can be classified as younger languages, because they have developed from preexisting languages. Several kinds of mixed languages are... more
Many languages have been described as mixed languages, which together with pidgins and creoles can be classified as younger languages, because they have developed from preexisting languages. Several kinds of mixed languages are distinguished here on predominantly sociolinguistic (rather than on purely structural) grounds, and features are compared across mixed languages. Some of these languages are used as the major language of their respective speech communities, whereas other languages are used for specific purposes within a speech community, which othewrwise employs non-mixed languages. It is shown that although many mixed languages show a wide range of social or structural similarities, there is no single template which can be employed to describe all stable mixed languages.
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Research Interests: Psychology and Phonology
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An interdisciplinary article (Onomastics/Scottish History). The Scottish parish of Muthill in Perthshire, was of historical importance in the Diocese of Dunblane. In the article I show that most of the work done on dedications to saints... more
An interdisciplinary article (Onomastics/Scottish History). The Scottish parish of Muthill in Perthshire, was of historical importance in the Diocese of Dunblane. In the article I show that most of the work done on dedications to saints in Muthill in the past was incorrect. The article's relevance for Scottish History relates to work done by Thomas O. Clancy. He has hypothesized that the "migration" of church dedications from the West to the East of Scotland reflects the movement of various leaders of Cenel Comgaill, one leading group in the formerly independent kingdom of Dalriada, as a result of secular relationships in the East of Scotland to a power centre of Pictland. Two Pictish kings at the beginning of of the 7th century had a Cenel Comgaill father and a Pictish mother. I demonstrate that three churches in Muthill Parish reflect three of the most important saints from the western homeland of Cenel Comgaill.
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Research Interests: History and Linguistics
The chapter considers the notions substrate, superstrate, adstrate, to then focus on research on the substrate element in creole languages, noting the methodological issues which challenge that research. Examples of evidence for substrate... more
The chapter considers the notions substrate, superstrate, adstrate, to then focus on research on the substrate element in creole languages, noting the methodological issues which challenge that research. Examples of evidence for substrate influence are presented for the Surinam creoles and Berbice Dutch.
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The
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Retroflex harmony will be treated in terms of the single-valued feature hypothesis as defined in v/d Hülst 1988, Ewen and v/d Hülst 1988, and v/d Hülst and Smith 1988. For the application of these ideas to Yurok itself see section 1.
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Author(s): Smith, Norval | Abstract: A manuscript at the National Anthropological Archives containing words in seven different languages—some of which were misidentified in the past as being "Yukian"—is reevaluated in the light... more
Author(s): Smith, Norval | Abstract: A manuscript at the National Anthropological Archives containing words in seven different languages—some of which were misidentified in the past as being "Yukian"—is reevaluated in the light of new information. A number of unattributed Yokuts words are identified, and arguments are presented for attributing these to a little-known Delta Yokuts tribelet dialect, Tamukan. Delta Yokuts was probably spoken by a greater number of tribelets than any other Yokuts language (with the possible exception of Valley Yokuts). It is evident that the known tribelet dialects exhibited a fair amount of lexical variation. Since Delta Yokuts is one of the least attested Yokuts languages, any new information concerning it is welcome.
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In this article I propose a new approach to the place features of consonants. The two major pre-nonlinear proposals, that of Jakobson, Fant and Halle (1952) and Chomsky (1968), involved both major advantages and disadvantages in terms of... more
In this article I propose a new approach to the place features of consonants. The two major pre-nonlinear proposals, that of Jakobson, Fant and Halle (1952) and Chomsky (1968), involved both major advantages and disadvantages in terms of the classificatory role of ...
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Saramaccan is the descendant of a mixed creole language formerly spoken on Portuguese Jewish-owned plantations in Surinam, South America. Its mixed nature reveals itself in roughly equal numbers of monomorphemic English-derived... more
Saramaccan is the descendant of a mixed creole language formerly spoken on Portuguese Jewish-owned plantations in Surinam, South America. Its mixed nature reveals itself in roughly equal numbers of monomorphemic English-derived and Portuguese-derived lexical items. In terms of function words, however, English-derived function words dominate to the proportion of 4:1. This still leaves us with a significant number of Portuguese function words. Here I make a preliminary study of spatial adpositions and question words. This reveals a strong correlation between words referring to “place” and words derived from Portuguese. I take account of the presence of Jewish-owned plantations and large-scale marronnage towards the end of the 17th century, the latter leading to formation of the Saramaccan tribe.
In 1980 Koutsoudas published a paper entitled ‘The Question of Rule Ordering: Some Common Fallacies’. In this paper he attacks various types of criticism of the theory of intrinsic rule ordering, and gives a set of procedures by which he... more
In 1980 Koutsoudas published a paper entitled ‘The Question of Rule Ordering: Some Common Fallacies’. In this paper he attacks various types of criticism of the theory of intrinsic rule ordering, and gives a set of procedures by which he allows his version of that theory (henceforth the KSN theory2) to be falsified. In the present article we utilize the procedures prescribed by Koutsoudas to demonstrate that this theory is not tenable.
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In 1980 Koutsoudas published a paper entitled ‘The Question of Rule Ordering: Some Common Fallacies’. In this paper he attacks various types of criticism of the theory of intrinsic rule ordering, and gives a set of procedures by which he... more
In 1980 Koutsoudas published a paper entitled ‘The Question of Rule Ordering: Some Common Fallacies’. In this paper he attacks various types of criticism of the theory of intrinsic rule ordering, and gives a set of procedures by which he allows his version of that theory (henceforth the KSN theory2) to be falsified. In the present article we utilize the procedures prescribed by Koutsoudas to demonstrate that this theory is not tenable.
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In 1980 Koutsoudas published a paper entitled ‘The Question of Rule Ordering: Some Common Fallacies’. In this paper he attacks various types of criticism of the theory of intrinsic rule ordering, and gives a set of procedures by which he... more
In 1980 Koutsoudas published a paper entitled ‘The Question of Rule Ordering: Some Common Fallacies’. In this paper he attacks various types of criticism of the theory of intrinsic rule ordering, and gives a set of procedures by which he allows his version of that theory (henceforth the KSN theory2) to be falsified. In the present article we utilize the procedures prescribed by Koutsoudas to demonstrate that this theory is not tenable.
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... (2) Lou dibra, d'r guj schaÈfft! ``Don't speak, the man is (there)!'' [a stranger is listening] (3) Alle gimmel doff. ``All three (are) good.'' [=about cattle] (4) Die goja isch... more
... (2) Lou dibra, d'r guj schaÈfft! ``Don't speak, the man is (there)!'' [a stranger is listening] (3) Alle gimmel doff. ``All three (are) good.'' [=about cattle] (4) Die goja isch haggel doff, dia kennt-m'r lekaÈcha. ``The woman is very pretty, one could take her.'' ...
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... and that of Huttar (1985). A number of new etymologies for plant names were found by comparing Van 't Klooster, Lindeman & Jansen-Jacobs (2003) with Daeleman & Pauwels (1983). KiNtandu, the KiKoongo variety... more
... and that of Huttar (1985). A number of new etymologies for plant names were found by comparing Van 't Klooster, Lindeman & Jansen-Jacobs (2003) with Daeleman & Pauwels (1983). KiNtandu, the KiKoongo variety Daeleman ...
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Our basic aim in this thesis is to provide a new hypothesis regarding the genesis of the Creole languages of Surinam - Sranan, Saramaccan, Matawai, Ndjuka (Auka), Paramaccan, Boni (Aluku) and Kwinti. This is an extremely complex... more
Our basic aim in this thesis is to provide a new hypothesis regarding the genesis of the Creole languages of Surinam - Sranan, Saramaccan, Matawai, Ndjuka (Auka), Paramaccan, Boni (Aluku) and Kwinti.
This is an extremely complex question, and we do not pretend to be able to cover it exhaustively. What we will do is attack the available linguistic data from an angle
that has hitherto been neglected - that of historical phonology. We have not chosen to utilize this method as an end in itself, although the application of the techniques of historical phonology to the data of the Surinam Creoles clarifies many questions which have been dealt with unsatisfactorily in the past, such as the question of the establishment of the source language of lexical items in these languages. We employ the techniques of historical phonology rather as a tool for extracting new evidence with a potential bearing on the linguistic interrelationships in the earliest period of the colony of Surinam, and thereby of relevance for the controversial topic of this work - the genesis of the Surinam Creole languages.
This is an extremely complex question, and we do not pretend to be able to cover it exhaustively. What we will do is attack the available linguistic data from an angle
that has hitherto been neglected - that of historical phonology. We have not chosen to utilize this method as an end in itself, although the application of the techniques of historical phonology to the data of the Surinam Creoles clarifies many questions which have been dealt with unsatisfactorily in the past, such as the question of the establishment of the source language of lexical items in these languages. We employ the techniques of historical phonology rather as a tool for extracting new evidence with a potential bearing on the linguistic interrelationships in the earliest period of the colony of Surinam, and thereby of relevance for the controversial topic of this work - the genesis of the Surinam Creole languages.