**** Substrate
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In a language contact situation, the substrate is a language native to a group that has less power than the superstrate group. Substrate populations are usually ethnically diverse and often have been dislocated from their ancestral homes. Enslaved Africans from the Atlantic coastal regions of that continent between the Senegal River in the North and the Benguela River to the South (a distance equal to that between Juneau, Alaska and Mexico City) provided the primary substrate population for Atlantic Creoles. In Pacific Creoles, Pacific Islanders, Indian indentures and others have formed substrate populations. Currently, substrate populations are thought to be responsible for the more systemic parts of pidgins and creoles--the phonology and syntax are major contributors, as well as morphological patterns and paralanguage (especially tone, prosody, and stress). Substratists are currently in contention with universalists over claiming features of creoles as the input of their theory. Much of the contention can be traced to the course the discipline has taken and unwillingness to grant multiple origins for shared features.