Nativization

It was previously thought by scholars that nativization was simply interlanguage fossilization, a step taken during second-language acquisition by learners who apply rules of their first language to their second. However, recent studies now suggest that nativization is simply another form of language acquisition. Several explanations of creole genesis have relied on prior nativization of a pidgin as a stage in achieving creoleness. This is true for Hall's (1966) notion of the pidgin-creole life cycle as well as Bickerton's language bioprogram theory.

There are few undisputed examples of a creole arising from nativization of a pidgin by children.

The Tok Pisin language reported by Sankoff & Laberge (1972) is one example where such a conclusion could be reached by scientific observation. A counterexample is the case where children of Gastarbeiter parents speaking pidgin German acquired German seamlessly without creolization. Broad treatments of creolization phenomena such as Arends, Muysken & Smith (1995) acknowledge now as a matter of standard that the pidgin-nativization scheme is only one of many explanations with possible theoretical validity. Additionally, the emergence of Nicaraguan sign language without a prior established set of symbols puts forth new questions regarding the process of nativization itself.

Strategies

It has been noted among many scholars that speakers adopt a few well-established strategies during the process of nationalization. These strategies are the generalization of grammatical rules and the transfer of features from other languages to the target language.

Extension of productive processes

One strategy that occurs during nativization is the extension of a source language’s grammatical, phonological, syntactic and semantic features. Unlike erroneous overgeneralizing of grammatical rules, it has been found that such instances of overgeneralization in the process of nativization are an extension of processes that are found in well-established varieties of English.

1. Philippines English: He has many luggages.
2. Ghanaian: I lost all my furnitures and many valuable properties.

In the examples given above, we can observe that the method of pluralizing a noun by affixing -s has been extended to words that do not accept the suffix in American or British English, in other nativized varieties of English.

This generalization of grammatical rules was interpreted to be similar to the overgeneralizing processes in the second-language acquisition, or of native language interference. However, it is argued that these are not erroneous but rather grammatical processes generated in the minds of the speakers.

Transfer of features from other languages

As nativization occurs in situations of language contact, there is often influence between the superstrate language and the substrate languages. There will inevitably be transfers of features from one language to another.

Phonological transfer

In emerging language varieties, speakers are often heavily influenced by the phonological characteristics of their native language. Other elements of speech such as prosody, speed, and stress are also similarly affected.

• Lack of dental fricatives in Singaporean English.

For most speakers of Singaporean English, the /θ/ and /ð/ are lost in the process of nativization, and instead have been replaced with /t, d/ at the start of words and /f, v/ at the end of words. This phenomenon is not unique to this particular variety of English, but can be found in various Southeast Asian, and African varieties as well. One reason for this is the markedness of these sounds; they are rare cross-linguistically. See below for another example of phonological transfer in Chavacano.

• Stress patterns

The lexical stress patterns in Singlish is also significantly different from British varieties. Notably, the stress of a word falls in the front syllable.

The diagram above shows where the stress is places in a lexical word according to the variety. Portions of the word that have been capitalized reflect where the stress is placed. In Singapore English, the word "colleague", for example, typically has stress on the second syllable, rather than the first.

Discourse transfer

With the intermingling of languages, transfer of discourse norms from one language to another also takes place.

Formal writing in British or American varieties of English values directness with a lack of literary flourish. However, English formal writing style in India is indirect and highly ornamental. This is directly influenced by the discourse style of various indigenous Indian languages which values indirectness and stylization in formal registers. An example of such can be seen in this wedding invitation.

You are requested to make it convenient to reach here with family well in time to participate in all the connected ceremonies. In case you would like to invite anyone else from your side, kindly intimate the name and address.

The process of nativization is not only a linguistic process, but also a social one. The transfer of features from other languages into a target language may stem from ‘cultural embedding’. In the case of English nativization, English is often a functional language meant to serve as the language of communication in a multilingual, multi-ethnic community. This transfer of features from other languages to the target language is a variation of the extension strategy, but takes on a sociolinguistics slant. Speakers of this emergent varieties of English often view their unique pronunciations as a marker of cultural identity, rather than something to be correct. These are acceptable ways to speak; in contrast, to imitate British or American English phonologies can come across as snobbish to a speaker’s speech community.