Russenorsk Pidgins migrate north in the summer…

Presentation for LING 455 prepared by:

Jane Heinze

Matthew Keeton

Lysne Torgerson

Introduction•Location

•Murmansk Russia to Tromsø Norway

•Speakers•Norwegian and Russian Fishermen and Tradesmen

•When•Mid 18th Century until closing of border following October Revolution of 1917

•Other Names•Moja po tvoja•Kakspreck

Classification•Dialect?

•Norwegian (Kortlandt, 2000)

• Pigeon?•Jargon

Classification•Dialect?

•Norwegian (Kortlandt, 2000)

•Pigeon?•Jargon? •Nautical? (Bakker, 1994)

Classification•Dialect?

•Norwegian (Kortlandt, 2000)

•Pigeon?•Jargon? •Nautical? (Bakker, 1994)•Stable? (Jahr, 2003)

Classification•Dialect?

•Norwegian (Kortlandt, 2000)

•Pigeon?•Jargon? •Nautical? (Bakker, 1994)•Stable? (Jahr, 2003)•Expanded? (Muehlhaeusler, 1997)

Classification•Dialect?

•Norwegian (Kortlandt, 2000)

•PIDGIN?•Jargon? •Nautical? (Bakker, 1994)•Stable? (Jahr, 2003)•Expanded? (Muehlhaeusler, 1997)

•Creole?•Wouldn’t you like to know…

Characteristics - Pidgin•Similarities

•Use of possessive for person, possession and demonstration (mojaR / tvojaR)•(very) limited morphology / inflection

•No case (cf. Keeton, 2005?)•verbal marker (-omS)

•No copula (Russian influence?)•Universal preposition – po•SVO word order (universal grammar or Norwegian influence?)•Circumlocutions

•Differences•Lexicon

•Socioculturally equal parents•Genetically related parents•Diglossia•Limited domain (trade, fishing)

•Frequency of usage•Summer months only

•TMA preverbal marker po- (Russian influence, cf. Jahr, 2003)

Lexicon•Input

% Lexical Input by Parent Language

Lexicon•Input

•Norwegian – 47%

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50

Lexical input

% Lexical Input by Parent Language

Norwegian

Lexicon•Input

•Norwegian – 47%•Russian – 39%

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90

Lexical input

% Lexical Input by Parent Language

Russian

Norwegian

Lexicon•Input

•Norwegian – 47%•Russian – 39%•Other – 14%

•Dutch•English•Swedish•Low German•French•Sami•Finnish

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100

Lexical input

% Lexical Input by Parent Language

Other

Russian

Norwegian

Lexicon•Input

•Norwegian – 47%•Russian – 39%•Other – 14%

•Dutch•English•Swedish•Low German•French•Sami•Finnish

•Limited usage•Seasonal - summer

•Limited domain•Trade, fishing•Never expands•Russian goods = Russian word•Norwegian goods = Norwegian word•Diglossia

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100

Lexical input

% Lexical Input by Parent Language

Other

Russian

Norwegian

Phonology – Variation on a Theme

Norwegian Russian

*Norwegian Russenorsk* *Russian Russenorsk*

Phonology (cont’d)• Consonant Inventory Reduction

• If a phoneme only exists in one parent language, it is usually not present in contact language or it is assimilated

• [h] [g] or [x]• [hav]N [gav]RN (sea)• [har]N,RN(N) [xar]RN(R) (have)

• [x] [k]• [xl’p]R [klæba]RN (bread)• [muxa]R [mokka]RN (flour)

• [] and [t] [s]• [vr’o’]R [vros]RN (you lie)• [prəaj]R [pros’aj]RN (farewell)• [ttr’]R [s’tiri]RN(R) (four)• [nitvo]R [niets’vo]RN (nothing, never mind)

• Simplification of some vowel clusters• [mnogə]R [mangəli]RN (much, a lot, many)

Morphology – Verbs• Verbal marker –om

• Possible Influences•Russian 1pl. and “let’s” constructions•Norwegian/Swedish hortative (strong

encouragement)

• Russian and Norwegian inputs

Morphology – Verbs (cont’d)• BEHOLD THE POWER OF “PO”

• Multifunctional and homophonous for both Russian and Norwegian

• TMA Markers are usually indicative of creoles (the lack thereof is “considered one of the main characteristics for distinguishing a pidgin” (Jahr, 2003)

• According to Jahr (2003), Russenorsk has TMA• Preverbal “po” as future tense marker

• “mojaR po morradagN komN” (I’ll arrive tomorrow)

• … as purposive modality• “davajR poproberomR” (Please, lets try)

• “vœrsogoN liteE klœbaR po presentomE” (Please pass me some bread)

• … as durative (imperfective) aspect• “jesE, po slipomN” (Yes, he is sleeping)

Morphology - Nouns• Nominal marker –a

• (questionable)• Influence

•Russian feminine and unstressed neuter endings?

•Also, possessive adjective moja/tvoja use…only with feminine nouns

• Not always used and used non-systematically

Syntax / Semantics• SVO word order• Negation

• Different from Norwegian (post-verbal) and Russian (pre-verbal)

• Generally second word in sentence• Uses both Norwegian “ikke” and Russian

“njet”

• Circumlocutions• “prinsipal po Kristos reisa” (The Captain died, lit: The

Captain has gone to Christ)• “lille junka på kjerka vaskom” (The little boy was

baptized, lit: Little boy at church wash[ed])• “i kahyt vaskom” (paint, lit: in the cabin wash)

Classification•Still wondering?•Review

•Dialect•Pidgin

•Jargon•Nautical•Stabilized•Expanded

•Creole

•It is still uncertain under which of these categories to classify Russenorsk…

Classification• …But one thing IS for sure…

• It’s a DEAD pidgin…

Bibliography• Broch, Ingvild and Ernst Jahr (1982). Russenorsk: The Russo-Norwegian

Pidgin. New Findings. New York: Modern Language Association of America. • Jahr, Ernst (2003). “Short Note - The Emergence of a TMA Grammatical

Device in a Stable Pidgin: The Russenorsk Preverbal ‘Po’ Construction.” Journal of Pidgins and Creoles. (18:1. 121-130). Amsterdam: John Benjamins B.V.

• Jahr, Ernst and Ingvild Broch (Eds.) (1996). Language Contact in the Arctic: Northern Pidgins and Contact Languages. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

• Kortlandt, Frederick (2000). On Russenorsk. Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts.

• Lunden, Siri Sverdrup (1978). Russenorsk Revisited. Meddelelser. Oslo: University of Oslo.

• Peterson, Ronald E. (1980). “Russenorsk: A Little Known Aspect of Russian-Norwegian Relations.” Studies in Language: International Journal Sponsored by the Foundation ‘Foundations of Language.’ (249-56). New York: Modern Language Association of America.