superstrate, n. Linguistics.
(ˈs(j)uːpəstreɪt)
[f. superstratum n., after substrate n.]
a. = superstratum n. 2 a.
| 1971 Univ. Hawaii Working Papers Linguistics III. v. 41 The terms substrate and superstrate conveniently denote the lower-status aboriginal language in the locale of a pidgin and the entering higher-status language, respectively. 1980 Amer. Speech LV. 6 Jamaican Creole and Gullah..remained constantly under the influence of English as the superstrate. 1986 English World-Wide VII. 172 Many creolists have been forced to rely on a model of the superstrate that is based largely on the much better-documented standard language. 1988 R. Keesing Melanesian Pidgin & Oceanic Substrate i. 5 In light of recent syntactic theory, no analysis of the genesis of a pidgin can uncritically invoke the importance of substrate models... Nor can the common superstrate of English-based pidgins and creoles be ignored. |
b. attrib., esp. as superstrate language.
| 1977 Archivum Linguisticum VIII. 86 In this area German was a superstrate language brought in by settlers from various parts of Germany after 1280. 1980 Amer. Speech LV. 15 It may well be that after the removal of English superstrate influence..creole English was in some respects re-Africanized. 1989 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics XXXIV. 352 Creole languages have been described as consisting of the lexicon of their superstrate languages and the syntax of their substrate languages. |