Acceso usuarios
Sarah G. Thomason
Moitas situacións de contacto en todo o mundo mostran que os falantes poden facer -e ás veces fan- cambios deliberados na lingua que falan. Aínda que os cambios deliberados tenden a afectar ás linguas só en comunidades de fala pequenas, moitas -ou case tódalas- linguas pidgins e crioulas desenvolvéronse, polo menos en principio, no seo de grupos relativamente pequenos de falantes. En varios casos, as probas documentais indican que as actitudes dos falantes afectaron de forma significativa ó proceso de xénese dos pidgins/crioulos, e probablemente tamén influíron en moitos outros casos. Ademais, grande parte dos pidgins e crioulos falados no mundo son utilizados por tan pouca xente que se atopan nunha situación agónica, e as actitudes dos falantes dunha lingua en perigo son o factor máis importante para determinar o éxito dos esforzos encamiñados a manter esa lingua. O futuro do chabacano parece optimista precisamente porque moitos dos seus falantes desexan comprometerse nas actividades de mantemento da lingua
Many contact situations around the world show that speakers can, and sometimes do, make deliberate changes in their languages. Although deliberate changes are likely to affect entire languages only in small speech communities, most -or perhaps all- pidgin and creole languages developed, at least at first, within relatively small groups of speakers. In several cases, documentary evidence indicates that speakers' attitudes significantly affected the process of pidgin / creole genesis, and they may have done so in many more instances as well. Moreover, many or most of the world's living pidgins and creoles are spoken by so few people that the languages are gravely endangered, and the attitudes of an endangered language's speakers are the most important factor in determining the success of efforts to preserve the language. The future of Chabacano seems bright precisely because so many of its speakers are eager to engage in preservation activities
