Evolution, and 'functional' + 'social'

[Mikael Parkvall]

Ellen Prince wrote:

>Hint: It's the syntax -- i.e. those pesky things that 'are not
>motivated by communicative needs' -- that are at issue here.

I'm not sure I understood Ellen's objection, but I am of course not
suggesting that syntax per se is communicatively unmotivated. All languages
contain stuff, some of it in syntax, some of it in other areas, which are
difficult to regard as communicatively motivated.

I cannot see how this would illustrate that "the attitude of which De Graff
speaks is alive and well!" -- after all, it is pretty clear from the
article he refers to that the attitude he is talking about is the
once-common view (usually based on sheer racism) that creoles are
linguistic cripples.


Mikael Parkvall