Publication of the opening lecture by Professor Salikoko S. Mufwene

Salikoko S. Mufwene

Human migration and linguistic evolution. The paths of Creole and French

What if the study of Creole languages could also tell us something about the history of the formation of Romance languages ?

Far from being immutable, languages are constantly being transformed by contact between peoples. Human migration is a major factor in linguistic evolution. The migration of Europeans to the colonies, from the ^15th century onwards, gave rise to new varieties and, in particular, creoles. The history of these languages, which emerged in the course of the modern era, merits closer attention, as their emergence and differentiation processes echo those of Romance languages.

This opening lecture sets out to analyze the evolutionary dynamics of Creole and French, highlighting the social, political and economic issues at stake. Questioning the prejudices of ^{nineteenth-century} philologists and even the received ideas that persist today, it shows that deconstructing colonial representations of the formation of Creole languages is essential if we are to advance our understanding of the development of Romance languages.

Mufwene S.S., Migrations humaines et évolution linguistique. Les parcours des créoles et du français, Paris, Collège de France, coll. " Leçons inaugurales ",^no 331, 2025, 80 p.

ISBN : 9782722608290
Price : 12  €
Publication : 20  February 2025

Salikoko S. Mufwene is a linguist at the University of Chicago, where he holds the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics. His research focuses on linguistic evolution, including the emergence of Creole languages, the indigenization of European colonial languages and language vitality. In 2023-2024, he will hold the Francophone Worlds Annual Chair, created in partnership with the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie.