Pitkern (also Pitcairnese) is a creole language formed on the basis of an 18th century dialect of the English language and the Tahitian language spoken in the Pitcairn Islands. A creole is a language descended from a pidgin that has become the native language of a group of people. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Tahitian, a Tahitic language, is the official language of French Polynesia and is spoken throughout Oceania. ...

History

Following the Mutiny on the Bounty led by Fletcher Christian against William Bligh, the mutineers returned the ship to Tahiti and took with them 19 Tahitian men, women and children. The Bounty was then sailed to, and sunk off, Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific Ocean. The mutineers turning Lt Bligh and some of the officers and crew adrift from HMAV Bounty, 29 April 1789 The Mutiny on the Bounty was a historical event in the late 18th century, most widely known through fiction, of an officer and part of the crew of a British Royal... Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (September 25, 1764 - October 3, 1793) was a Masters Mate on board the Bounty during William Blighs fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants. ... William Bligh in 1814 William Bligh (September 9, 1754 - December 7, 1817) was an officer of the British Royal Navy and colonial administrator. ... Tahiti is the largest island in French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean, at 17°40′ S 149°30′ W. The island had a population of 169,674 inhabitants at the 2002 census. ...

The fledgling community was forced to adapt to the needs of the Bounty crewmen knowing very little Tahitian and the Tahitians very little English. The resulting creole became Pitkern.

It is important, however, to note that the English-speaking crewmen did not all speak the same dialect of English. Geographically, the mutineers were drawn from as far as the West Indies, with one mutineer being described as speaking a forerunner of a Caribbean patois language, and one was also a Scotsman. Additionally, Fletcher Christian at least was a well-educated man, which at the time was a major difference in speech. The creole is clearly influenced by various English dialects and accents, with both Geordie and West Country having obvious links to some phrases and words (such as the use of the term "whettles" for food, i.e. old English 'victuals'). The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... Look up Caribbean in Wiktionary, the free dictionary African diaspora British Afro-Caribbean community Caribbean English Caribbean medical education CONCACAF Council on Hemispheric Affairs History of the Caribbean Indo-Caribbean List of islands in the Caribbean Music of the Caribbean Politics of the Caribbean Tourism in Caribbean West Indies Federation... Patois, although without a formal definition in linguistics, can be used to describe a language considered as nonstandard. ... Geordie refers to a person originating from Tyneside and the former coal mining areas of northern County Durham or the dialect spoken by such people. ... The West Country accent is a generic term applied to any of several English accents used by the indigenous population of the south west of England, popularly known as the West Country. ...

Common phrases

See also

• Norfuk.

Norfuk (increasingly spelled Norfolk) is the language spoken on Norfolk Island by the local residents. ...

External links

• Pitkern Language

References

South Pacific phrasebook (1999). Hawthorn, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications.

• Some Phrases in Norfolk/Pitcairn Language