The Role of Relexification in Creole Genesis

This article describes the research program of Lefebvre, Lumsden, and their associates concerning the hypothesis that relexification plays a central role in creole genesis. The methodology of the program is presented along with a brief illustration of the data that has been used to test the hypothesis. A final section discusses the gratuitous attack on this program published in Singler (1996). On inspection, it turns out that some of Singler's objections are so vague as to be incoherent. Others are shown to derive from his unfortunate propensity to attribute "claims" to Lefebvre and Lumsden's research that are not made by the authors themselves and from his insistence that this research in particular should meet methodological standards that are obviously unreasonable. In fact, there is solid support for the hypothesis that relexification plays a central role in the genesis of creole languages.