Entre français calédonien et langue kanak : quelle place pour le tayo ? Une approche écolinguistique

Tayo is a contact language spoken in and around Saint-Louis tribe in Southern New Caledonia. It shows at the same time common features with standard French or other regional varieties of French and French Creoles in other parts of the globe and also syntactical and semantic elements close to some Melanesian languages. This article tries to give a clearer definition of its position as a go-between, mediator or facilitator in the contact between groups of very diverse origins. This creole experience could well serve as an example for the management of linguistic and cultural diversity in other contexts.