The grammaticalization and diachronic typology of subjunctive clauses in Creole languages

Stefano MANFREDI – SeDyL (CNRS, INALCO, CNRS)

In this seminar I examine the grammaticalization and diachronic typology of subjunctive clauses in Creole languages, focusing on their interaction with the realis/irrealis modal distinction and broader TAM patterns. Through synchronic comparison and diachronic reconstruction, I will investigate the emergence and functions of subjunctive clauses within Creole systems. The analysis encompasses Creoles with English (Nengee, Saramaccan, Naijá, Pichi, Bislama), Portuguese (Cape Verdean Creole, Casamance Creole, Diu Creole), French (Haitian Creole, Martinican Creole, Seychelles Creole), Arabic lexifiers (Nubi, Juba Arabic), and Bantu (Lingala) lexifiers. These languages feature diverse types of subjunctive clauses shaped by inherited elements from lexifiers, substrate interference, and reanalysis processes triggered by Creolization. Data is primarily sourced from SCrolL—the Database of Subordination in Creole Languages (Manfredi and Quint 2024)—and supplemented with secondary sources on Creole grammars (e.g., Yakpo 2019 for Pichi; McWhorter and Good 2012 for Saramaccan). Synchronically, the seminar examines the morphosyntactic and semantic variability of subjunctive clauses across epistemic, deontic, and performative modalities (Bybee et al. 1994; Bybee and Fleischman 1995; Noonan 2007). Diachronically, it traces different grammaticalization pathways, showing how subjunctive clauses often arise in languages that mark realis/irrealis distinctions (Givón 1994) through functional narrowing and reanalysis (Mauri and Sansò 2006; Frajzyngier 1996). These pathways include the development of subjunctive clause introducers from modal verbs, as in Pichi and Naijá (*make > me(k)); from purposive prepositions, as in Haitian (*pour > pou), Nengee (*for > fo), and Saramaccan (*for > (f)u); and from deontic particles, as in Juba Arabic and Ki-Nubi (*kedé > ke(dé)). By situating Creoles within a broad typology of mood and modality, I show how contact-induced changes interact with cross-linguistically common grammaticalization patterns in shaping the distribution and functions of subjunctive clauses. The findings reveal that most Creoles develop innovative subjunctive markers, often influenced by the realis/irrealis modal contrast, with notable areal patterns of variation across the Africa, the Atlantic, and the Indian oceans.

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