2313-8912Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics2313-891210.18413/2313-8912-2023-9-2-0-43136APPLIED LINGUISTICS<strong>Relexification and dialect levelling in the genesis of creoles: the case of the Arabic-based creole, Nubi</strong><strong>Relexification and dialect levelling in the genesis of creoles: the case of the Arabic-based creole, Nubi</strong>AhmedAmerAhmedAmeraahmed@du.edu.omLenchukIrynaLenchukIrynailenchuk@du.edu.omDhofar University, Oman20239200

This paper addresses the genesis of Nubi, an Arabic-based creole, spoken in Uganda and Kenya. A novel account is offered using the relexification approach (Lefebvre, 1998, 2009). The study tests the hypothesis that the genesis of Arabic-based creole, Nubi can best be accounted for using the cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling. The two major cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling are shown to have played a major role in the genesis of Nubi. It is demonstrated that the phonological form of Nubi lexical items is derived from Sudanese Arabic, the superstrate language. Following Wellens (2003), a subset of the languages that exercised a substrate influence on the development of Nubi is considered. The cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling are shown to have played a major role in the genesis of Nubi minor category possessive forms and negative markers. The same processes are also shown to have played a major role in the genesis of Nubi major category personal pronouns. The word order of Nubi lexical items shows the following pattern: minor category lexical items (the definite article, the demonstrative determiner, and cardinal numerals) follow the word order of some of the substrate languages (Nuba, Kunuz Nubian, Acholi and Ma&rsquo;di), but major category lexical items (adpositions, attributive adjectives, lexical verbs, and adverbs) follow the word order of the superstrate language. The results of the study lend support to the hypothesis that the genesis of Nubi can best be accounted for using the cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling.

This paper addresses the genesis of Nubi, an Arabic-based creole, spoken in Uganda and Kenya. A novel account is offered using the relexification approach (Lefebvre, 1998, 2009). The study tests the hypothesis that the genesis of Arabic-based creole, Nubi can best be accounted for using the cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling. The two major cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling are shown to have played a major role in the genesis of Nubi. It is demonstrated that the phonological form of Nubi lexical items is derived from Sudanese Arabic, the superstrate language. Following Wellens (2003), a subset of the languages that exercised a substrate influence on the development of Nubi is considered. The cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling are shown to have played a major role in the genesis of Nubi minor category possessive forms and negative markers. The same processes are also shown to have played a major role in the genesis of Nubi major category personal pronouns. The word order of Nubi lexical items shows the following pattern: minor category lexical items (the definite article, the demonstrative determiner, and cardinal numerals) follow the word order of some of the substrate languages (Nuba, Kunuz Nubian, Acholi and Ma&rsquo;di), but major category lexical items (adpositions, attributive adjectives, lexical verbs, and adverbs) follow the word order of the superstrate language. The results of the study lend support to the hypothesis that the genesis of Nubi can best be accounted for using the cognitive processes of relexification and dialect levelling.

RelexificationDialect levellingNubiArabic-based creoleWord orderMajor category lexical itemsMinor category lexical itemsRelexificationDialect levellingNubiArabic-based creoleWord orderMajor category lexical itemsMinor category lexical itemsСписок литературыAbdel-Hafiz, A. S. (1988). A reference grammar of Kunuz Nubian, PhD Thesis, University at Baffalo, Baffalo, NY. (In English)Aboh, E. (2019). The emergence of hybrid grammars: Language contact and change, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. (In English)Aboh, E. and deGraff, M. (2016). A null theory of creole formation based on Universal Grammar, in Roberts,&nbsp;I. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Universal Grammar, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1-67. (In English)Avram, A. (2017). An early 20th-century Arabic vocabulary as evidence of language contacts in the Uele district and the Redjaf-Lado enclave, Proc. of the ATrA closing workshop, &ldquo;Cultural and linguistic transition explored&rdquo;, Trieste, EUT Edizioni Universit&agrave; di Trieste, Italy, 306-322. (In English)Avram, A. (2020). Arabic-based pidgins and creoles, in Lucas,&nbsp;C. and Manfredi,&nbsp;S. (eds.), Arabic and Contact-Induced Change, Language Science Press, Berlin, Germany, 321-347. (In English)Avram, A. A. (2015). An early Nubi vocabulary, Romano-Arabica, 15, 155-192. (In English)Blackings, M. and Fabb, N. (2003). A grammar of Ma&rsquo;di, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin, Germany. (In English)Blackings, M. J. (2009). Acholi English-English Acholi dictionary, Lincom Europa, Munich, Germany. (In English)Chomsky, N. (1981). Lectures on government and binding, Foris Publications, Open Library. (In English)Chomsky, N. (1986). Barriers, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. (In English)Dickens, J. (2011). Khartoum Arabic, in Versteegh,&nbsp;C.&nbsp;H.&nbsp;M, Eid,&nbsp;M., Elgibali,&nbsp;A., Woidich,&nbsp;M. and Zaborsky,&nbsp;A. (eds.), The Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, 559-571. (In English)Hein, B. (1982). The Nubi language of Kibera, an Arabic creole: Grammatical sketch and vocabulary. Volume 3 of language and dialect atlas of Kenya, D.&nbsp;Reimer, the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. (In English)Kaye, A. S. (1976). Chadian and Sudanese Arabic in the light of comparative Arabic dialectology, De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin, Germany. (In English)Kitching, A. L. (1932). An outline grammar of the Acholi language, Sheldon Press, the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA. (In English)Kuz&rsquo;mina, N. E. (2007). Arabskij pazgovornyj yazyk Sudana [Arabic spoken in Sudan], MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia. (In Russian)Lefebvre, C. (1998). Creole genesis and the acquisition of grammar: The case of Haitian Creole, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. (In English)Lefebvre, C. (2009). Issues in the study of pidgin and creole languages, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, Netherlands. (In English)Manfredi, S. (2017a). Arabic as a contact language, in Benmamoun,&nbsp;E. and Bassiouney,&nbsp;R. (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Arabic Linguistics, Routledge Taylor &amp; Francis Group, Abingdon, UK, 407-420. (In English)Manfredi, S. (2017b). Demonstratives and the emergence of a definite article in Juba Arabic and Ki-Nubi, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages, 32&nbsp;(2), 205-232. (In English)McWhorter, J. H. (2005). Defining creole, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. (In English)Muysken, P. (1981). Halfway between Quechua and Spanish: The case of relexification, in Highfield,&nbsp;A. and Valdman,&nbsp;A. (eds.), Historicity and Variation in Creole Studies, Karoma Publishers, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, 52-78. (In English)Nakao, S. (2012). Revising the substratal/adstratal influence on Arabic creoles, in Osamu,&nbsp;H. (ed.), Challenges in Nilotic Linguistics and More, Phonology, Morphology and Syntax (Studies in Nilotic Linguistics), ILCAA, Tokyo, Japan, 127-149. (In English)Nakao, S. (2014). Focus constructions in Juba Arabic, Asian and African Languages and Linguistics, 9, 105-129. (In English)Owens, J. (1985). The origins of East African Nubi, Anthropological Linguistics, 27, 229-271. (In English)Stevenson, R. C. (1938). Grammar of the Nyimang language (Nuba Mountains), VDOC.PUB, Orvilleville, ON, Canada. (In English)Taha, M., Sultan,&nbsp;F.&nbsp;M. and Yasin,&nbsp;S.&nbsp;M. (2016). Wh-movement in Sudanese Arabic: A minimalist approach, Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 24&nbsp;(4), 1611-1626. (In English)Trimingham, J. S. (1946). Sudanese colloquial Arabic, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. (In English)Wellens, I. (2003). An Arabic Creole in Africa: The Nubi language of Uganda, PhD Thesis, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands. (In English)Wellens, I. (2005). The Nubi language of Uganda: An Arabic creole in Africa, Brill, Leiden, Netherlands. (In English)