FROM PIDGIN TO CREOLE TO COLLAPSE: THE EVOLUTIONARY TRAJECTORY OF DAWOODI LANGUAGE

Abstract

This paper explores the historical evolution of Dawoodi as a contact language, tracing its development from pidgin origins to creole stabilization and its current phase of decline. Drawing on comparative linguistic analysis, historical documentation, and field-based data, the study situates Dawoodi within a complex multilingual ecology shaped by sustained contact with Burushaski, Shina, and Wakhi. The findings suggest that Dawoodi once functioned as a fully developed creole, characterized by expanded grammatical structures, stable speaker communities, and distinct ethnolinguistic identity. However, the study reveals that this trajectory has shifted dramatically in recent decades. Instead of continued expansion or stabilization, Dawoodi is undergoing structural simplification, lexical erosion, and functional marginalization. This phenomenon challenges traditional models of creole development, which often assume long-term stability or expansion. The paper introduces the concept of “post-creole collapse” to describe this stage, where a once-stable contact language begins to disintegrate under sociopolitical and economic pressures. By analyzing linguistic features alongside social dynamics, the study demonstrates how language evolution is deeply intertwined with community identity and power relations. The decline of Dawoodi is not merely a linguistic process but a reflection of broader shifts in social structure and cultural valuation. This research contributes to contact linguistics and creole studies by presenting Dawoodi as a rare and significant case that expands theoretical understanding of language life cycles in endangered contexts.