A lexifier is the language that provides the basis for the majority of a pidgin or creole language's vocabulary (lexicon).
Structure
Pidgin and
creole language names are often written as the following: Location spoken + Stage of Development + Lexifier language. For example: Malaysian Creole Portuguese, with Portuguese being the lexifier and the
superstrate language at the time of the
Creole language development.
Often the autoglossonym, or the name the speakers give their contact language, is written Broken + Lexifier, e.g. Broken English. This becomes confusing when multiple contact languages have the same lexifier, as different languages could be called the same name by their speakers. Hence, the names are as stated above in the literature to reduce this confusion.
Name
The word lexifier is derived from the modern Latin word
lexicon, meaning a catalogue of the vocabulary or units in a given language.
Examples
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English language is the lexifier of English-based creole languages, such as:
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French language is the lexifier of French-based creole languages, such as:
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Portuguese is the lexifier of Portuguese-based creole languages, such as:
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Cape Verdean Creole
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Korlai Creole Portuguese
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Malaysian Creole Portuguese
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Papiamento
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Guinea-Bissau Creole
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Spanish language is the lexifier of Spanish-based creole languages, such as:
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Dutch language is the lexifier of Dutch-based creole languages, such as:
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Zulu language is the lexifier of Zulu-based creole languages, such as:
