Pidgins and Creoles

What is it? PidginPidgin – A pidgin is way for people who do not share a common language to communicate. limited vocabulary, reduced grammatical structure, much narrower range of functions. It isn’t anyone’s native language

Pidgin Characteristics A (creative) mixture of the languages in contact –Words often from dominant language –Structural features often from the ‘dominated’ or subordinate language

Pidgin Characteristics (cont’d) Reduced grammatical structure Phonology: -CV syllable preferred Morphology: -Poor affixation -Reduplication is common Syntax: -SVO pattern preferred -Articles usually omitted

Misunderstandings and Stereotypes Stereotypes in the media: e.g. ‘ Me Tarzan, you Jane. ’ A pidgin is a language which has broken down. A pidgin is the result of baby talk, laziness, corruption, primitive thought process, or mental deficiency. Instead, a pidgin is a language with its own structure, grammar and vocabulary.

Why create a pidgin language? Trade, business Colonisation Slavery

Examples of Pidgins Solomon Island Pidgin (South Pacific) – combination of English and South Pacific languages: Minoluk pikipik bulong iu I notseepigbelongyou (“I didn’t see your pig.”)

Possible outcomes of Pidgins Die outDie out (when original reason for communication diminishes or disappears) For example, the pidgin French used in Vietnam all but disappeared when the French left; similarly, the pidgin English which appeared during the Vietnam War virtually disappeared when the Americans left. Develop into a creoleDevelop into a creole

Creole Characteristics - When a second generation starts to speak the pidgin as a native language - Therefore, it has to have a much more complex grammar and a much larger vocabulary than a pidgin

There are so many Creoles today…

ACTUAL CREOLES & PIDGINS PIDGINSExpanded PidginsCreoles Chinook Jargon Chinook Jargon (NW USA)Krio (Sierra Leone) Guyanese Creole (French-based) Sango (W.Central Afr.) Pidgin English (Nigeria) Haitian Creole (French-based) Pidgin Fr. & Eng. Pidgin Fr. & Eng. (Vietnam)Bislama (Vanuatu) Caribbean Creole Caribbean Creole (English-based) Sabir Sabir (Mediterranean) Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea) Philippines Creole (Spanish-based)

Example: Tok Pison English-based creole spoken in Papua New Guinea by about 4 million people, 120,000 of whom speak it as their first language. It is one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country

tok = "word" or "speech" as in "talk", and pisin = "pidgin". started out as a pidgin over time is has evolved and become a creole acquiring more complex grammar in the process. The majority vocabulary comes from English, also includes words from German, Portuguese, Tolai, Malay and other languages. used to some extent in the media and government. It also the language of instruction for the first three years of primary education in some schools.

In literature --Shakespeare in a Creole, Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea) Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. Pren, man bolong Tom, Wantok, harim nau. Mi kam tasol long plantim Kaesar.

Attitudes towards pidgins and creoles “If someone told you the pidginized varieties of a language are ‘corrupt’ and ‘ungrammatical,’ and indicated that their speakers are either ‘lazy’ or ‘inferior’, how might you try to show that person how wrong he or she is? What kinds of evidence would you use? (Is this question too PC? Why “how” wrong?)