From Lamaholot to Alorese: morphological loss in adult language contact

Abstract

Alorese is a prime example of a morphologically isolating language. This paper

traces the process of morphological simplification it has undergone by addressing

the following questions: (i) What was the morphological profile of its ancestor,

pre-Alorese? (ii) When did Alorese start to lose its morphology? (iii) Which factors caused this loss? By comparing the morphological profile of current Alorese with its sister language, Lewoingu-Lamaholot, I conclude that the morphology of pre-Alorese was at least as complex as current Lewoingu-Lamaholot. Pre-Alorese underwent a process of drastic and swift morphological loss after its speakers migrated to Pantar island around 1300 AD. Pre-Alorese must have had a significant proportion of adult second language speakers who acquired it imperfectly, thus causing its morphology to be lost. Thus, this is a good example of morphological simplification due to imperfect adult learning in a small scale language variety