Hybrid Compound Formation in Classical Papiamentu

Authors

  • Gabriel Antunes de Araujo

    Department of Portuguese, FAH, University of Macau, Macau, China

    Departamento de Letras Clássicas e Vernáculas, FFLCH, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-220, SP, Brazil
  • Guilherme Mendes

    Department of Portuguese, FAH, University of Macau, Macau, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i1.7933
Received: 4 November 2024 | Revised: 27 December 2024 | Accepted: 28 December 2024 | Published Online: 13 January 2025

Abstract

Since its genesis, Papiamentu has been influenced by several lexifiers. This study examines etymological patterns of hybrid formation in Classical Papiamentu (CP), mainly focusing on Iberian and Dutch contributions. Studying morphosyntactic functions in hybrid words can reveal typological relations between Creole languages. Thus, this study aims to expand linguistic knowledge about CP and Creole languages in general. The corpus contains sixty-one hybrid compound words from CP, mostly compound nouns and compound verbs, compiled from the Woordenlijst, the first Papiamentu vocabulary, printed in 1859. The process of classifying hybrid words is described, and examples are provided. Hybrid etymological patterns are quantified in both anterior and posterior positions. The frequency of etymological patterns is displayed in separate tables for nouns and verbs. The data analysis focuses on morphosyntactic relations between internal components based on etymological occurrences. The compounding syntax of CP is the basis for arguing in favor of a more significant Iberian influence over word formation in CP. Data analysis reveals that Iberian syntactic structures are replicated in hybrid formations even when both components are Dutch loans. The overall prevalence of Iberian lexicon occupying the head position in both compound nouns and compound verbs supports this argument. The results also show a preference for syntactic phrases to link components within a compound.

Keywords:

Morphology; Syntax; Hybrid Words; Compounding; Word Formation; Papiamentu; Creole Languages

References

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How to Cite

de Araujo, G. A., & Mendes, G. (2025). Hybrid Compound Formation in Classical Papiamentu. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 7(1), 891–901. https://doi.org/10.30564/fls.v7i1.7933

Issue

Vol. 7 , Iss. 1 (January 2025)

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Article

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Copyright © 2025 Gabriel Antunes de Araujo, Guilherme Mendes

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This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.