**** monogenetic relexification

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UP: <[LINK]>

Douglas Taylor early responded to Hall's polygenetic theory with a model of monogenetic relexification that posits a single archetypical contact or trade language which became the original pidgin. Later pidgins kept the aboriginal structure and grammar, but replaced the vocabulary, (i.e., relexified it). Taylor's thesis had its roots in work by Keith Whinnom from 1956, which posited the source of pidgins as a Mediterranean trading language. Many of the historical contacts and leaps across time and space required of monogenetic relexification theory have been shown to be tenuous at best, and the model has undergone radical revision in both frame and content.

• - The need for a monogenetic theory <[LINK]>
• - Whinnom's hypothesis <[LINK]>
• - Problems with monogenetic relexification <[LINK]>