Customer Reviews

Contact Languages: Pidgins and Creoles (Modern Lingusitics)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book would serve as a very good introduction to the study of Pidgin and Creole linguistics, but is by no means an exhaustive resource on the subject. Granted, no book could ever hope to contain even half of the theory and ongoing debate on the subject, but this book often fails readers with overly short explanations and ill-backed suppositions. Lastly (and most importantly for any student considering this book as a supplement to their coursework) the reading is pretty dry. I found it hard to continue reading, and often had to force myself sluggishly through each page. Overall a mediocre guide on a fascinating subject in world linguistics/sociology/history/economics/etc. etc.

(yes creole and pidgin linguistics cover that much ground LOL)

I bought this book for an undergraduate Pidgins and Creoles class I needed to take. It ended up being as challenging as the graduate courses I had been taking.

Even though this book has gone through a few editions and revisions, there are still edits that need to be made. There are numerous problem sets where the data is not correct, or is not complete enough to answer the questions asked in the book.

Sebba vaguely defines terms once and then uses different non-defined terms for the rest of the book, leading readers to guessing whether or not the two terms are actually referring to the same thing. It doesn't help that the definitions he gives for some of his terms are not the definitions the rest of the linguistic world uses for those same terms.

In short, don't buy this book unless you are absolutely required to. And read everything else you can find on pidgins and creoles so that you can halfway understand the points that Sebba is trying to convey.