ABSTRACT
My doctoral thesis research on the lexicon of Réunionnais almost thirty years ago led me to address the question of creolization, not only because I intended to describe the lexicon of this language, but also because I wanted to explain its formation. This interest, in turn, prompted me to consider the overall processes involved in its genesis. Although my research had focused only on the IOR varieties,1 I proposed, after consulting all available documentation on the ACR, a genetic hypothesis that nevertheless aimed at some generality (at least for the relevant subject matter). The basic outline of this theory remains valid today, despite numerous attempts to refine, adjust, or modify it in light of subsequent research over the last twenty-five years. Moreover, later research on various ‘cultural systems’ (e.g., magic and oral literature) has convinced me that a rigorous and detailed approach to the histories of the relevant societies is absolutely necessary to a genetic investigation of any form of creolization.
