Post Creolisation Evolution: the case of Santomense

International audienceRougé & Schang (2006) conclude their paper with the following claims :“We cannot thus study the creolisation of Saotomense if one begins with the assumption that the present data is thedirect result of this process, considered as a separation from the lexifier language. Nor can we conclude that theevolution of Saotomense is towards decreolisation. On the contrary, we can witness an autonomous evolution, underseveral influences, including that of Portuguese.”While this conclusion meets other similar analyses on different Creoles (see Good 2009 forinstance), it is only based on the analysis of the liquid consonant and therefore deserves to besupported by other data.In this paper, we provide grammatical and historical data that corroborate this hypothesis on thefollowing matters:− evolution in consonant clusters (xtl,etc.) and vowels (ai,ali > ε) as in: xtlada 'road' (from Ptestrada); kinte 'backyard' (from Pt quintal).In these two examples, it is possible to reconstruct protoforms from which the present segmentsderive: *sitlada ; *kintali. It illustrates an evolution made independently from Portuguese.− double negation: na...fa 'negation' also illustrates an independent evolution.− TMA markers: Saotomense has pre-verbal markers that result from the grammaticalisationof Portuguese verbs or expressions. For instance, kia V 'to almost V' is a reinterpretation ofthe Portuguese queria V .The analyses to be developed in this communication support Rougé & Schang's hypothesis andargue that decreolisation, while also attested in Saotomense, is not the only an ineluctablephenomenon at work in the situation of contact