The subjects on morphology and syntax

Each article in the Africa-Asia phonology has a counterpart in the morphology and syntax, except for the Philippines. In addition there is an article on Butler English morphology and syntax, for which no corresponding account of the phonology exists. It would appear that more research is being done on the morphology and syntax of New Englishes than on the phonology.

Alo and Mesthrie summarize the existing research on Nigerian English, showing how it is fairly typical of African English (or more properly, sub-Saharan English). Faraclas offers a detailed overview of Nigerian Pidgin English, focusing to a large extent on its tense-aspect-modality system.

Huber and Dako examine educated Ghanaian English, which has much in common with other West African varieties, though there are noteworthy differences in the area of the ordering of subordinate clauses of time and related constructions.

In Ghanaian Pidgin English morphology and syntax, Huber argues that in some respects this variety appears to be a simplified version of other pidgins in the West African area, for example Nigerian.

Pidgin. Singler’s Liberian Settler English describes the way in which this variety has retained older features of African American English, and can therefore be used to contribute significantly to the current debate on the origins of African American English. He also details the subsequent influence of local (non-Creole) varieties of English upon Liberian Settler English.

Mbagwana contributes an engaging account of the morphology and syntax of Cameroon English. Whilst a few features (e.g. invariant tags in tag questions) can be considered “garden variety” African English (and New English) structures, a number of the features he describes are not (e.g. an apparent predilection for wh-words to be retained in situ in main and subordinate clauses.) The reasons for this innovativeness in the Cameroon have still to be ascertained. Ayafor describes the morphology and syntax of Kamtok, the pidgin English of Cameroon. Unlike its ESL counterpart in Cameroon, as described by Mbagwana, Kamtok does appear to be similar to other varieties of West African Pidgin English. Schmied describes the syntax of East African English (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). He outlines several general tendencies towards the modification of the grammar of Standard English, often in the direction of simplification.

With respect to the South African varieties, Bowerman outlines the main grammatical features of White South African English, pointing to ongoing debates about the relative significance of retentions from British dialect grammar over language contact with Afrikaans. Mesthrie’s overview of Black South African English shows it to be in most respects similar to the “core” grammar of East and West African Englishes. Mesthrie also contributes on Indian South African English, showing that whilst the variety has much in common with its antecedent in India, it has innovated a great deal in the process of language shift in the South African environment. McCormick describes Cape Flats English, a variety which shows a fair degree of convergence between the grammars of English and Afrikaans.

Wilson and Mesthrie contribute an overview of St. Helena English, especially of its verb phrase component, which shows a convergence between a pidgin-like system and a more superstratal British English system.

Bhatt provides an overview of the grammar of Indian English, from the view-point of modern generative syntax. Hosali gives an overview of Butler English, the minimal pidgin (or fossilized early interlanguage) which originated between domestic servants and their masters in British India. Mahboob covers Pakistani English morphology and syntax, which again has a lot in common with the Northern varieties of Indian English as well as with the New Englishes generally.

Lionel Wee describes the morphology and syntax of Singaporean English, detailing some “positive” innovations, including the addition of new forms of the relative clause and passive. Baskaran describes Malaysian English and focuses on the extent to which substrate languages like Malay and Tamil may have played a role in engendering the typical features of Malayasian English morphology and syntax.