relexification
Grammar stays, words change
Relexification is the process of replacing the vocabulary of one language with words from another while keeping the original grammar largely intact.
The term appears most often in discussions of creole languages and pidgins, where speakers adopt new words but retain native sentence structures.
Linguists debate how much relexification explains creole formation versus other processes.
Underlying supporting material
- code-switchingAlternating between linguistic varieties
- pidginizationFormation of contact languages
- creolizationPidgin maturing into mother tongue
- bilingualismProficiency in two languages
multilingualism · interlanguage · vernacular · lingua franca · trade language · restructuring · simplification · expansion
Imported vocabulary item
- calqueBorrowed phrase translated literally
- loan translationLiteral rendering of foreign idiom
- word substitutionExchanging terms in text
- anglicismEnglish loanword abroad
neologism · cognate · transliteration · adaptation · importation · glossary · morpheme
substrate
Underlying supporting material
- code-switchingAlternating between linguistic varieties
- pidginizationFormation of contact languages
- creolizationPidgin maturing into mother tongue
bilingualism · multilingualism · interlanguage · vernacular · lingua franca · trade language · restructuring · simplification · expansion · stabilization
loanword
Imported vocabulary item
- calqueBorrowed phrase translated literally
- loan translationLiteral rendering of foreign idiom
- word substitutionExchanging terms in text
anglicism · neologism · cognate · transliteration · adaptation · importation · glossary · morpheme
Haitian Creole
Caribbean nation's primary language
- African languagesSpeech systems of one continent
- Language phenomenaloanwords, borrowings, pidgins, creoles, dialects
- Contact Languagespidgin, creole language, trade language, pidginization, code switching