Digital publication of the opening lecture by Pr Salikoko S. Mufwene

Salikoko S. Mufwene

Human migration and linguistic evolution. The paths of Creole and French

Far from being immutable, languages are constantly evolving through contact between peoples. Human migration is a major factor in linguistic evolution. The migration of Europeans to the colonies, from the ^15th century onwards, gave rise to new varieties and, in particular, creoles. The history of these languages, which emerged in the course of the modern era, merits a closer look, as their emergence and differentiation processes echo those of Romance languages.

This opening lecture sets out to analyze the evolutionary dynamics of Creole and French, highlighting the social, political and economic issues at stake. Questioning the prejudices of ^{nineteenth-century}philologists  ^{and even the received ideas that persist today, it shows that deconstructing colonial representations of the formation of Creole languages is essential if we are to advance our understanding of the development of Romance languages.}

Mufwene S.S., Migrations humaines et évolution linguistique. Les parcours des créoles et du français, Paris, Collège de France, coll. " Leçons inaugurales ",^no 331, 2025.

Salikoko S. Mufwene is a linguist at the University of Chicago, where he holds the Edward Carson Waller Distinguished Service Professor of Linguistics Chair. His research focuses on linguistic evolution, including the emergence of Creole languages, the indigenization of European colonial languages and language vitality. In 2023-2024, he is visiting professor at the Francophone Worlds Annual Chair, created in partnership with the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie.