Prosody and intonation research in Creole languages is pivotal for understanding how prosodic system changes under language contact and diversity in prosodic systems. Creole languages exhibit various forms of prosodic hybridity, providing rich ground for these kinds of questions. Despite their histories, Creoles are neither prosodic clones nor weakened versions of their input languages. Instead, they partly reflect crosslinguistic properties, challenging notions of creole exceptionalism, while displaying unique features (Steien & Yakpo 2020; River-Castillo 2009; Remijsen & Van Hueven 2005; Hyman & Schwegler 2008; Good 2004; Gooden 2022).
Prosodic variation manifests across and within Creoles, with differences in prosodic structure, tonal alignment, and pitch accent realization. Field recordings from rural Jamaican Creole (JC) suggest broad uniformity, yet geographical variation exists between Central and Eastern varieties. Trinidadian Creole exhibits ethnolinguistic variation (Gooden and Drayton 2017) and convergence (see eg. Armstrong et al 2022). Focus marking presents notable typological variation, indicating that intonational strategies permit multiple foci where well-documented morphosyntactic strategies fail.
This talks advocates for shifting Creoles from the periphery of linguistics research, underscoring the theoretical importance of understanding prosodic variation in contact situations. Finally, I will argue that such efforts must involve collaboration with scholars from Creole speaking communities, to comprehensively understand Creole prosody and its implications for linguistic theory.