Abstract

The first part of the present paper deals with the syntax and semantics of the representation of Tense, Mode and Aspe ct (TMA) in Haitian Creole. While the first section offers an overview of the relevant data as presented in different descriptive works on Haitian Creole, the second and third sections develop a semantic and syntactic description of the Haitian Tempus particle following the account of Giorgi & Pianesi (1997). The second part of the paper discusses the origin of the Haitian TMA-System. I first present different accounts who argue that the substratum languages have had a major influence on the origin of creole languages. Then, after summarizing Bickerton's argumentation against the substratum hypothesis, I show that current results of research in second language acquisition refute the substratum theory in a categorical fashion. Following this line of reasoning, I argue that creolization must be treated as an instance of first language acquisition and I discuss the Lexical Learning Hypothesis (LLH) of Bickerton (1986). Finally it will be shown that the syntactic theory of Giorgi & Pianesi (1997) implies proposals concerning first language acquisition that can replace some problematic concepts of the LLH while permitting a straightforward account for the origin of the Haitian TMA-System.