Die lexikalische Interaktion zwischen Niederländisch und Sranantongo in surinamischer Onlinekommunikation

This article examines the interaction between the two main languages of Suriname, Surinamese Dutch (SD) and Sranan Tongo (ST). It focusses on structural effects caused by code switching (CS) and its impact on the lexical changes of the languages involved. Using the Leipzig Glossing Rules, the morphosyntactic structure of a number of sample sentences becomes clear and the interaction between SD and ST becomes visible. Which categories of loan and trigger words can be found in multilingual Surinamese discourses? And how do we define Sranan-based loan words in Surinamese Dutch? These questions will be examined through a body of data that was compiled during field research in Paramaribo. These data include language use on computer-mediated communication (CMC). CMC belongs to daily life for a section of the Surinamese population. This development has made it possible to research Surinamese multilingualism from a different perspective – a perspective that includes the features of oral and written communication (see Dorleijn & Nortier, 2008, p. 127). One of the oral features is the aforementioned phenomenon of code switching. This article contributes to the study of the interaction between creole languages and Germanic languages.