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The distribution of diagnostic features in English-lexified contact languages 39
3. Tri & Tbg vs. other Atlantic English-lexified pidgins and
creoles
It would be instructive to briefly compare Tri & Tbg and other Atlantic
varieties, in light of some of the figures reported by Baker and Huber (2001).
Consider first the absolute number of attested features (Baker and Huber 2011:
171). With a total of 161, Tri & Tbg ranks lower than Jamican and Krio, but
higher than Bajan, Gullah, St Kittitian, Suriname, West African Pidgin English.
According to Baker and Huber (2001: 171), “a fundamental difference between
the Atlantic and Pacific varieties” is that “the absolute number of features
in the latter is generally lower, with the average in the Atlantic being more than
twice as high than that in the Pacific”. As shown below, this claim is confirmed
by the total number of features attested in Tri & Tbg, which is above the average
for the Atlantic varieties considered by Baker and Huber (2001):
Average in Pacific varieties: 63,3 (Baker and Huber 2001: 171)
Average in Atlantic varieties: 145,4 (Baker and Huber 2001: 171)
Tri & Tbg: 160
The absolute number of world-wide features attested in Tri & Tbg is 50. Table 2
compares the distribution of world-wide features in the Atlantic varieties4 considered
by Baker and Huber (2001) and in Tri & Tbg:
Table 2. The world-wide features in 8 Atlantic varieties
Baker and Huber (2001: 171)
Srn Bjn SKi Jam Gul Kri WAf Tri & Tbg Average
44,5 36 38 52,5 42 63 63 50 48,6
Tri & Tbg thus fall within the range of Atlantic varieties (from 36 to 63). The
deviation from the average (= number of world features − average) is shown in
Table 3:
Table 3. The deviation from the average
Baker and Huber (2001)
Srn Bjn SKi Jam Gul Kri WAf Tri & Tbg
−4,1 −12,6 −10,6 +3,9 −6,6 +14,4 +14,4 +1,4
As can be seen, Tri & Tbg have the lowest deviation from the average. Consider
next the proportion of world-wide features:
4
Abbreviations: Bjn = Bajan; Gul = Gullah; Jam = Jamaican; Kri = Krio; SKi = St Kittitian;
Srn = Suriname; WAf = West African Pidgin English.