On the chronology of the formation of the Chabacano varieties: A reply to Parkvall & Jacobs

• Main Authors: Mauro Fernández, Eeva Sippola
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação de Crioulos de Base Lexical Portuguesa e Espanhola 2018-12-01
• Series: Journal of Ibero-Romance Creoles
• Subjects: chabacanon; formation period; sound change [ʃ] to [x]; creole lexicon; chabacano personal pronouns
• Online Access: http://www.acblpe.com/revista/volume-8-2018/on-the-chronology-of-the-formation-of-the-chabacano-varieties-a-reply-to-parkvall-and-jacobs

This paper is a reply to Parkvall & Jacobs (2018) who claim that the formation of Chabacano took place already in the late 16th century, right after the arrival of the Spanish to the Philippines, earlier than so far understood (Fernández 2015; Fernández & Sippola 2017). We argue against this view showing that the sources cited in Parkvall & Jacobs (2018) do not support their linguistic argument, that the Amerindian languages show traces of the Spanish prepalatal and thus similar layers of contact as in the Philippines, and that a significant social division between the routes over which the Spanish lexicon (and grammar) entered the Creole varieties and other Philippine languages is unlikely. An analysis of Chabacano personal pronouns and selected lexical items provides additional evidence in support of the view that the crystallization of Chabacano did not occur before the second half of the 17th century.