The interplay of inherent tendencies and language contact on French object clitics: An example of variation in a French Guianese contact setting
type: Dataset
description: Standard and non-standard variations relating to object clitics in the French spoken in French Guiana (in contact with Guianese Creole) may be explained by three combined factors: linguistic and typological tendencies and contact-induced transfer. This paper determines the exact role each of these may play. It shows that the pronominal system is a particularly non-stable domain specific to Romance languages and that clitic variation is due to an inherent tendency within French to the reduction of paradigms. When this tendency encounters the reduced pronominal paradigm of French Guianese Creole, it creates a snowball effect that reinforces the inherent tendency. The present-day language contact situation produces a higher frequency of variation; it increases the productivity of variation and spread of innovative forms.
landing page: The Interplay of Variation and Change in Contact Settings
keyword: book-sections
keyword: changement-induit-par-contact
keyword: clitics
keyword: clitiques
keyword: contact-induced-transfer
keyword: contacts-de-langues
keyword: explication-plurifactorielle
keyword: francais
keyword: french
keyword: frequency
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsbookpart
keyword: inherent-tendencies
keyword: multiple-causation
keyword: ongoing-variation
keyword: shslanguehumanities-and-social-scienceslinguistics
keyword: variation-linguistique
issued: 2026-05-12T20:51:48.833243
modified: 2026-05-12T20:51:48.833248
language: en
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent

The interplay of inherent tendencies and language contact on French object clitics: An example of variation in a French Guianese contact setting
type: Distribution
format: HTML
access URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00800122
issued: 2026-05-12T20:51:48.872825
modified: 2026-05-12T20:51:48.796566