relexification (n.)

A term used in SOCIOLINGUISTICS to refer to a theory concerning the origins of, and relationships between, PIDGIN (and CREOLE) LANGUAGES. The relexification hypothesis proposes that the range of English, French, Spanish, etc. pidgins is derived from the first widely used pidgin language, Portuguese pidgin, in the fifteenth century in West Africa, by a process whereby the GRAMMAR of this language was retained but new LEXICAL ITEMS were introduced from the other European languages. This view, it is maintained, provides a satisfactory explanation for the grammatical similarities noted between pidgin languages, and for the many lexical similarities which seem to derive from an original West African source or from Portuguese (e.g. savvy? – possibly from sabe ‘know’).