A pidgin, or contact language, is the name given to any language created, usually spontaneously, out of a mixture of other languages as a means of communication between speakers of different tongues. Pidgins have simple grammars and few synonyms, serving as auxiliary contact languages. They are learned as second languages rather than natively. Synonyms (in ancient Greek syn συν = plus and onoma όνομα = name) are different words with similar or identical meanings. ... An international auxiliary language (sometimes abbreviated as IAL or auxlang) is a language used (or to be used in the future) for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language. ...

Creation of pidgins

The creation of a pidgin usually requires:

• Prolonged, regular contact between the different language communities
• A need to communicate between them
• An absence of (or absence of widespread proficiency in) a widespread, accessible interlanguage

Also, Keith Whinnom (in Hymes 1971) suggests that pidgins need three languages to form, with one (the superstrate) being clearly dominant over the others. An interlanguage is an emerging linguistic system that has been developed by a learner of a second language who has not become fully proficient yet, but is only approximating the target language: preserving some features of their first language in speaking or writing the target language and creating innovations. ...

Pidgins become creole languages when a generation whose parents speak pidgin to each other teach it to their children as their first language. Often creoles can then replace the existing mix of languages to become the native language of the current community (such as Krio in Sierra Leone and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea). However, pidgins do not always become creoles — they can die out or become obsolete. // A creole language, or just creole, is a well-defined and stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many distinctive features that are not inherited from either parent. ... Krio is a language spoken in Sierra Leone, mainly by the Krio people. ... Tok Pisin (tok means word or speech, pisin means pidgin) is the creole spoken in Papua New Guinea (PNG). ...

Certain expressions survive from Chinglish, a pidgin formerly spoken in Southeast Asia. They have made their way into colloquial English. Many expressions are literal translations from Cantonese grammar. These include, in English (Chinese character and Cantonese pinyin) format: An example of written Chinglish on a signpost. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... A colloquialism is an informal expression, that is, an expression not used in formal speech or writing. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is on all of the Yue dialects. ...

• long time no see (好耐冇見 hao3 noi6 mou5 gin3)
• look-see (睇見 tai2 gin3): look and see
• no can do (唔得做 m4 dak1 zou6): cannot do
• no-go (唔去 m4 qu1): do not go.

Spanglish, commonly believed to be a pidgin of Spanish and English is actually not a pidgin. It is an example of code-switching because it occurs only among bilingual speakers and retains grammatical and phonological properties of both languages. So is Goleta English, a combined Spanish and English code-switch as it is spoken by Puerto Ricans, either occasionally when in the island, or daily as immigrants in the United States. Spanglish, a portmanteau of the words Spanish and English, is a name used to refer to a range of language-contact phenomena, primarily in the speech of the Hispanic population of the United States, which is exposed to both Spanish and English. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Code-switching is a term in linguistics referring to alternation between one or more languages, dialects, or language registers in the course of discourse between people who have more than one language in common. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Funagalo is a Southern African pidgin used to communicate among speakers of many different languages, primarily while underground in the country's gold mines.

Caribbean pidgins

Caribbean pidgins are the result of colonialism. As tropical islands were colonised their society was restructured, with a ruling minority of some European nation and a large mass of non-European laborers. The laborers, natives, slaves or cheap immigrant workers, would often come from many different language groups and would need to communicate. This led to the development of pidgins. Three examples of pidgins in this region include Haitian Kreyol, Jamaican Patois, and Papiamento, which is widely spoken in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles. Central America and the Caribbean (detailed pdf map) The Caribbean (Spanish: Caribe; French: Caraïbe; Dutch: Caraïben; Portuguese: Caribe or Caraíbas) is a region of the Americas consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (most of which enclose the sea), and the surrounding coasts. ... See colony and colonisation for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Haitian Creole (Kreyòl ayisyen) is a creole language based on the French language. ... Patois, although without a formal definition in linguistics, can be used to describe a language considered as nonstandard. ... Papiamento or Papiamentu is the primary language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the so-called ABC islands). ...

Pacific pidgins

The Melanesian pidgins may have originated off their home islands, in the 19th century when the islanders were abducted for indentured labour. Hence they were developed by Melanesians for use between each other, not by the colonists on whose language they are based. English provides the basis of most of the vocabulary, but the grammar has many Melanesian features, such as singular, dual and plural pronouns (Bislama also has treble pronouns), and inclusive and exclusive first-person cases. Tok Pisin has words from German, and Bislama from French. All also adopt words from local languages. When words are borrowed, not only the sound and the meaning, but also the emotional content can change. In the most famous example, "bagarap" (not working, out of action) is a polite word. "Wikit" (Solomons Pijin for pagan, from "wicked") has no connotations of evil. In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun is a word that usually takes the place of a noun or noun phrase that was previously mentioned (such as she, it) or that refers to something or someone (I, me, you). Pronouns are often one of the basic parts of speech of the... Bislama is a Melanesian creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. ... Tok Pisin (tok means word or speech, pisin means pidgin) is the creole spoken in Papua New Guinea (PNG). ...

Several expressions commonly used to exemplify Melanesian pidgins have no known basis in actual use. They include "bigfala bokis garem plande tit, iu hitim hemi kraeout" (E: a big box with many teeth, when you hit it, it cries) for a piano, and "miksmasta blong Jisas" (E: Jesus' food mixer) for a helicopter. The actual words in Solomons Pijin are piana and tiopa. One commentator pointed out that many Melanesians would be far more familiar with helicopters than electric food mixers, and would be more likely to call a mixer "helikopta blong misis".

The best-known pidgin used in America is the now creolized Hawaiian Pidgin where locals mixed the traditional dialect of Hawaiian with English, Japanese, Portuguese, and other languages of immigrants of Hawaii and Pacific traders. // A creole language, or just creole, is a well-defined and stable language that originated from a non-trivial combination of two or more languages, typically with many distinctive features that are not inherited from either parent. ... Hawai‘i Pidgin English, Hawai‘i Creole English, HCE, or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based in part on English sometimes used by residents of Hawai‘i (Hawaiian Pidgin English is considered an inaccurate label). ...

One of the most famous pidgins in the world is Pitcairnese, spoken mainly on Pitcairn Island, but also on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory. Pitcairnese (also Pitkern) 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. ...

Evolution

The concept originated in Europe among the merchants and traders in the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages, who used mostly Sabir. Another well-known pidgin is Bislama of Vanuatu, based on English but incorporating Malay, Chinese, and Portuguese words. The monogenetic theory of pidgins, advanced by Hugo Schuchardt, theorizes that a common origin for most pidgins and creoles exists in the form of Sabir. World map showing Europe Political map Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of Earth; the term continent here referring to a cultural and political distinction, rather than a physiographic one, thus leading to various perspectives about Europes precise borders. ... This page is in progress according to the format defined at Wikipedia:WikiProject_Language_Template. ... Bislama is a Melanesian creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Malay language, also known locally as Bahasa Melayu or Bahasa Malaysia, is an Austronesian language spoken by the Malay people who reside in the Malay Peninsula, southern Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, central eastern Sumatra, the Riau islands, and parts of the coast of Borneo. ...

Sabir

Sabir was a common pidgin in the Southwestern ports of the Mediterranean. As Portuguese mariners travelled the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans on exploratory then military/trade naval expeditions, starting in the 17th century, in what is known to Europeans as "the Age of Discovery" they tried to speak Sabir with Portuguese words in it to the natives. When English, French and Dutch mariners followed the same routes, they also adopted this "broken Portuguese" with the lexical influence of their home languages and those of the locals. This would explain similarities in pidgins and creoles as separated as Papiamento, Tok Pisin, Chinese English Pidgin and others. For example, the word for "to know" is similar to sabir (that gave the name to Sabir itself). In Spanish and Portuguese, "saber" means "to know". It came into English as "savvy". The word for "small" is similar to Portuguese pequeno and became pikinini in pidgins. It came into English as pickaninny and it has been proposed as an etymology for pidgin. The Age of Discovery or Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships travelled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ... Relexification is a term from linguistics used in pidgin and creole studies for the mechanism by which one language changes its lexicon to that of another language. ... Pickaninny (also pickaninnie) is a pidgin word form which may be derived from the Portuguese pequenino (little) via Lingua franca. ...

Common traits among pidgins

Since a Pidgin strives to be a simple and effective form of communication, the grammar, phonology, et cetera, are as simple as possible, and usually consist of:

• A Subject-Verb-Object word order in a sentence
• No codas within syllables (Syllables consist of a vowel, with an optional initial consonant)
• Basic vowels, like /a/ /i/ /u/ /e/ /o/
• Separate words that indicate tense, usually before the verb
• Words are repeated twice to represent plurals, superlatives, and other parts of speech that represent the concept being increased

In linguistic typology, subject-verb-object (SVO) is the sequence subject verb object in neutral expressions: Sam ate oranges. ...

Etymology

The origin of the word "Pidgin" is not clear. It is suggested the word is acquired from the Chinese pronunciation of the business, but it may also be "Pigeon English" in reference to carrier pigeon. The Chinese name for Pidgin, 洋涇濱, originated from the name of a river that lay along the boundary of French and British-leased land in Shanghai.

That name is retained in the form Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea and Pijin Blong Solomon (Solomon Islands pidgin). Tok Pisin (tok means word or speech, pisin means pidgin) is the creole spoken in Papua New Guinea (PNG). ...

Pidgin English was the name given to a Chinese-English-Portuguese pidgin used for commerce in Canton during the 18th and 19th centuries. In Canton, this contact language was called Canton English. (Simplified Chinese: 广州; Traditional Chinese: 廣州; pinyin: GuÇŽngzhōu; Wade-Giles: Kuang-chou; Postal System Pinyin: Canton) is the capital of Guangdong Province in southern China. ... (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. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Pidgin English from "God's Chinese Son," written by Jonathan Spence Jonathan D. Spence (August 11, 1936– ) is a British-born historian, specialising in Chinese history. ...

http://www.hkfilm.net/pidgin.txt

See also

• Creole (language)
• Mixed language
• Creolization
• Lingua franca
• Hinglish
• Minglish

A Creole is a language descended from a pidgin that has become the native language of a group of people. ... A mixed language is a language that arises when two languages are in contact and there is a high degree of bilingualism among speakers. ... Creolization is a process through which a simplified contact language becomes a fully developed native language. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... Hinglish, a portmanteau of the words Hindi and English, is the arbitrary usage of Hindi and English, combining both, in one sentence. ...

Various pidgins

• Chinook Jargon is a trade pidgin or creole language used in the Pacific Northwest;
• Russenorsk is a combined Russian and Norwegian pidgin;
• Helsinki slang originated as a pidgin of Finnish, Swedish and Russian in city of Helsinki;
• Fanakalo is a South African mine pidgin;
• Tsotsitaal is another South African pidgin, prevalent in Gauteng;
• International Sign Language is used at international meetings where users of different sign languages meet;
• 'Rinkeby Swedish' is a Swedish pidgin mainly used in the working-class suburbs by non-Nordic immigrants;
• Minglish is a mix of the two official languages of Malta, which are Malti and English.

Chinook Jargon was a trade language (or pidgin) of the Pacific Northwest, which spread quickly up the West Coast from Oregon, through Washington, British Columbia, and as far as Alaska. ... Russenorsk (or Russonorsk) was a pidgin language combining elements of Russian and Norwegian, created by traders and whalers from the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago and the Russian Kola peninsula. ... Helsinki slang or slangi is a local variation of the Finnish language mainly used in the capital Helsinki. ... Founded 1550 Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki Area[1] - Of which land - Rank 185. ... Fanakalo or Fanagalo is one of a number of African pidgin languages that developed during the colonial period to promote ease of communication. ... Tsotsitaal, or (isi)Camtho, is a patois mainly spoken in the townships of the Gauteng province in South Africa, such as Soweto. ... Categories: South Africa stubs | Provinces of South Africa | Gauteng Province ... Gestuno or International Sign Language of the Deaf is a constructed sign language, which the World Congress of the World Federation of the Deaf originally discussed in 1951. ... A sign language (also signed language) is a language which uses manual communication instead of sound to convey meaning - simultaneously combining handshapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to express fluidly a speakers thoughts. ... Rinkebysvenska (Rinkeby Swedish) is a common term for varities of Swedish spoken mainly in suburbs with a high proportion of immigrants and immigrant descendants. ... The working class is a social class often contrasted with middle class and upper class in terms of the nature of work undertaken (manual labor or skilled), the level of remuneration (typically low hourly rates although there are exceptions) and access to resources (limited access to capital, education and land). ... Illustration of the backyards of a surburban neighbourhood Suburbs are inhabited districts located either on the outer rim of a city or outside the official limits of a city (the term varies from country to country), or the outer elements of a conurbation. ... Overview map of the region. ... Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ...

References

• (1971) Hymes, D. H. Pidginization and Creolization of Languages, Cambridge University Press.
• (2002) McWhorter, John. The Power of Babel: The Natural History of Language, Random House Group.
• Sebba, Mark (1997). Contact Languages: Pidgins and Creoles. MacMillan. ISBN 0-333-63024-6.