How do Creole languages arise?

A controversial new paper is rocking the linguistic world. Are Creole languages different from other languages? How do they start? And what does this all mean about the human language ability?

Daniel Midgley speaks with author Damián Blasi on this episode of Talk the Talk.


Listen to this episode

Download this episode

You can listen to all the episodes of Talk the Talk by pasting this URL into your podlistener.

http://danielmidgley.com/talkthetalk/talk_classic.xml

Watch this episode

Creoles 1 (featuring Damián Blasi) | Talk the Talk, episode 302

Promo

Promo with Kylie Sturgess, 2017-09-26: Creoles 1

Kylie and Daniel chat ahead of the show. How long will it take Daniel to inadvertently discombobulate Kylie? Longer than usual; she’s doing well!

Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/14556735


Full interview

Interview with Damián Blasi, 2017-09-19 (complete)

Damián Blasi talks with Daniel about the results of his paper, the reaction to his work, and what he’s doing next.

Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/14813869


Cutting Room Floor

Cutting Room Floor 302, 303

Daniel and Ben have a Kermit-off.

Is Wikipedia bad?

Daniel didn’t get the name of Lexicon Valley.

Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/cutting-room-302-14977827


Patreon supporters

Talk the Talk is brought to you with the support of many fantastic Patreon patrons. Here are some now!

Anthony
Christopher
David W

Beks
Christian
Chris
Damien
Erin
Mathias
Oleksandr

Abraham
Christy
Kat
Matt
Whitney
and the podcast Lingthusiasm.

Thanks, all! We appreciate your appreciation.

We’re Because Language now, and you can become a Patreon supporter!
Depending on your level, you can get bonus episodes, mailouts, shoutouts, come to live episodes, and of course have membership in our Discord community.

Become a Patron!

Show notes

The Closing of a Great American Dialect Project
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-closing-of-a-great-american-dialect-project

Fieldwork Recordings—Dictionary Of American Regional English
https://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/amerlangs/

Dictionary of Regional American English
http://dare.wisc.edu

Arthur the Rat
http://dare.wisc.edu/audio/arthur-the-rat

Browse 100 Sample Entries
https://www.daredictionary.com/page/100sampleentries

Humans learn complex grammatical patterns even in extremely challenging circumstances
https://phys.org/news/2017-09-humans-complex-grammatical-patterns-extremely.html

Grammatical patterns survive extreme social upheaval, study shows
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2017/09/05/Grammatical-patterns-survive-extreme-social-upheaval-study-shows/1281504626189/

Blasi et al.: Grammars are robustly transmitted even during the emergence of creole languages
Read-only link

Language Log: No creoles?
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=34340

New way don dey to prevent HIV
https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/world-41364083

Kim’s Rejoinder to Trump’s Rocket Man: ‘Mentally Deranged U.S. Dotard’
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/21/world/asia/kim-trump-rocketman-dotard.html

Kim Jong-un Called Trump a ‘Dotard.’ What Does That Even Mean?
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/world/asia/trump-north-korea-dotard.html

Kim Jong-Un Calling Trump A ‘Dotard’ Gave The Internet A Language Lesson
https://www.wired.com/story/kim-jong-un-trump-dotard/

Kim Jong Un just called Trump a ‘dotard’ — here’s what that means
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/what-does-dotard-mean-2017-9?r=US&IR=T

Where is ‘Nambia’? President Trump ‘invents’ African country
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41345577

Trump Names Sarah Palin Ambassador to Nambia
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-names-sarah-palin-ambassador-to-nambia

Nambian covfefe
https://www.facebook.com/rtrfmtalkthetalk/posts/1917185944974855

#TakeAKnee: 5 Things To Know About NFL Players Protesting At Football Games
http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/09/23/what-is-take-a-knee-facts-nfl-players-protest-national-anthem/

Stevie Wonder joins #takeaknee protest against Trump’s attack on NFL players
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/24/stevie-wonder-joins-takeaknee-protest-against-trumps-attack-on-nfl-players

John Legend, Diddy, Ed Asner, more react to Donald Trump’s attack on NFL player protests
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/09/23/hollywood-takes-knee-best-reaction-donald-trumps-attack-nfl-player-protests/696666001/

Flipping the North Koreans off
https://iconicphotos.org/2010/10/01/flipping-the-north-koreans-off/

Korean is virtually two languages, and that’s a big problem for North Korean defectors
https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-05-19/korean-today-virtually-two-languages-and-thats-problem-north-korean-defectors

Wikipedia: North–South differences in the Korean language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North–South_differences_in_the_Korean_language


Image credit: https://www.shh.mpg.de/608548/creole-languages


Transcript

We’re working our way back through the archives. If you think we should prioritise a transcript of this episode, let us know!