Volume 5 (2014)

Lectal differences in Daman Indo-Portuguese

J. Clancy Clements (Indiana University)

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The differences between basilectal and acrolectal varieties of a creole language are often identified, not only by lexical differences, but also by differences in verbal forms (e.g. [gɪv], [gɪ], [gi:] for ‘give’, or pronominal forms (e.g. [hɪm], [ɪm], [hɪ], [hi:], [æm] for ‘him’, from Guyana Creole English). This is also true for the lectal differences found in Daman Indo-Portuguese (DamanIP): the verb form dis (< Ptg. disse ‘s/he said’) is used in the acrolectal variety instead of faló (< Ptg. falou ‘s/he spoke’) ‘said’; the past-tense verb form ʋey ‘came’ (< Ptg. veio ‘s/he came’) is the acrolectal analog to basilectal djayo ‘came’, and the 3p pronominal form ilz (< Ptg. eles ‘they-M’) the acrolectal analog to basilectal ilot ‘they’. This study examines another trait of acrolectal DamanIP: the avoidance of the 2s familiar pronominal subject pronouns, which has led to the leveling of the familiar-formal distinction in the acrolectal variety of DamanIP.