Pidgin

Pidgin, language based on another language, but with a sharply curtailed vocabulary (often 700 to 2000 words) and grammar; native to none of its speakers; and used as a lingua franca, or a language used as a means of communication between peoples with different native languages. Pidgins develop when people who speak different languages are brought together and forced to develop a means of communication without having sufficient time to learn each other's native languages. A pidgin usually derives its vocabulary from one principal language, but its grammar will either reflect the structures of each speaker's native tongue, or it will evolve a distinct grammar. Among languages that have given rise to pidgins are English, French, Spanish, Italian, Zulu, and Chinook. In a pidgin, words may change meaning—for example, the English word belong becomes blong (“is”) in Chinese Pidgin and bilong (“of”) in Tok Pisin, spoken in Papua New Guinea. Many concepts are expressed by phrases—for example, lait bilong klaut (“lightning,” literally “light of cloud”) in Tok Pisin. Borrowings from other languages may be added—Tok Pisin, for instance, has two forms of the word we: mipela,”I and others but not you” (from mi,”I,” plus plural ending -pela, derived from “fellow”); and yumi,”we, including you.” If a pidgin survives for several generations, it may displace other languages and become the tongue of its region; it is then called a creole, and its vocabulary is gradually reexpanded. Examples include the French-based Haitian Creole; Papiamento, based on Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch, and spoken in the Netherlands Antilles; and the English-based Krio, spoken in Sierra Leone.


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