1. PRESENTED BY: JUNAYED HOSSAIN
COURSE: Sociolinguistics
Course Code:
Trimester: Fall 2022
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Fr. Leonard Shankar
Rozario , CSC
2. Origin of PIDGIN Language
● Historically, pidgins arose in colonial situations where
the representatives of the particular colonial power,
officials, tradesmen, sailors, etc., came in contact with
natives.
● Pidgins grow out of economic necessity.
● Economic relations of trade or enforced labour make it
essential for the different groups to resort to a common
language.
3. Definition of PIDGIN LANGUAGE
● A pidgin may be defined as a combination of linguistic
features of two or more languages and it is a result of
social and economic dealings between two groups or
more speaking different languages.( Hudson.R.A p.60)
● A pidgin is a contact variety restricted in form and
function and native to no one, which is formed by
members of at least two (and usually more) groups
of different linguistic backgrounds. Structurally
speaking, pidgins are simplified languages
characterized by a minimal lexicon, little or no
morphology or limited syntax
4. Characteristics of pidgin language
● It has No native speakers .
● spoken by millions as means of communication
● A product of multilingual – 3 languages – one is dominant.
● The dominant language superior because of economical or social
factor.
● Two languages involved a power struggle for Dominance.
● The dominant group –more vocabulary (lexifier superstrate) ,while
the less dominant language grammar (substrate).
● Main function is trading
5. Possible outcomes of Pidgins
● Die out (when original reason for
communication diminishes or disappears)
● Exists for several years – rarely more than a
century
● Develop into a creole
6. PIDGIN Language
For example In Vietnam: Pidgin French disappeared /French left; used for trading
disappear when trading between the group members comes to an end
Tok Pisin in PNG
Nigerian Pidgin in Nigeria
Bislama in Vanuatu
Chinese Pidgin English in China
Solomon Island pidgin English in Solomon Island
7. Creole
● A pidgin which has acquired native speakers is called a
CREOLE LANGUAGE, or CREOLE, and the process whereby
a pidgin turns into a Creole is called 'creolisation’.
● When it becomes the native language of a speech
community, it comes to be called a creole.
● A creole is a nativized pidgin, expanded in form and
function to meet the communicative needs of a
community of native speakers.
8. Origin of creole language
It is from Latin creare, meaning "to beget" or "create". The term
was coined in the sixteenth century during the great expansion in
European maritime power and trade and the establishment of
European colonies in the Americas, Africa, and along the coast of
South and Southeast Asia up to the Philippines, China, India, and
in Oceania .
9. Characteristics of creole language
1. Have native speakers
2. develop from pidgins, they are learnt as a first
language by a large number of speakers
3. Are more complex in structure, they also
4. have a wider range of vocabulary to express a wide
range of meanings may take on national and
official functions
10. Creole
Pidgin' and 'Creole' are technical terms used by linguists, and not necessarily
by speakers of the language. For example, speakers of Jamaican Creole call
their language 'Patwa' (from patois) and speakers of Hawai’ Creole English
call theirs 'Pidgin'.
I.e English based Creole Bislama spoken in Vanuatu .
This is my house
Hem ya haos blong mi
Him here house belong me
11. Bajan in Barbados
Creolese in Guyana
Miskito Coast Creole in Nicaragua
• Trinbagonia in Trinidad and Tobago
12. References:
● Knapik, Aleksandra.2009.On the Origin of Pidgin and Creole: An Outline.
Taken
www.journals.univ.danubius.ro.pdf
● Sebba, Mark. 2010. Review of Deconstructing Creole Edited by Umberto
Ansaldo,
Stephen Matthews, and Lisa Lim. John Benjamins Publishing Company
2007 taken from www.hku.hk.pdf
● R . A Hudson, Sociolinguistics pages 59-68
