A topic I have found particularly interesting in linguistic anthropology is the concept of pidgin languages or pidgins. A pidgin language refers to a language created as a means of communication between two groups who speak different languages. Pidgins do not have native speakers and are developed for the sole purpose of communicating for a specific task. For the development of a pidgin, the groups must be in regular contact and have a need to communicate. A significant use of pidgin is the trade of resources and information across separate cultures. Pidgins emerged within trade colonies formed around trade forts. For example, pidgins developed on whaling ships of the South Pacific (Mufwene, 2015). Due to their purpose being mainly trade, pidgins typically had “reduced structures and restricted functions”. The vocabulary of pidgins typically only expanded only to the minimum means necessary to understand trade and whaling activities (Mufwene, 2015). I find this topic interesting because although pidgins are extremely simplified versions of the languages combined, they are developed just well enough to be able to communicate specific information. Another element I find interesting is that pidgin languages can be responsible for the evolution of languages and the creation of new languages. For example, a pidgin can create a creole. Creoles are languages created due to a mixture or combination of different languages. Creoles differ from pidgins in that pidgins are extremely simplified and used for specific purposes, whereas creoles have a much more complex structure and is used by its speakers in everyday life. My question is, what makes a creole any different from any other language spoken around the world, such as English, that has derived from many other languages and has been influenced by communication between other languages?

 

Mufwene, S. (2015). Pidgin and Creole Languages. International Encyclopedia of the Social &
 
Behavioral Sciences, 2, 133-145. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.52014-5

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 29, 2018 at 10:28 AM

    I think that the main difference between a creole or pidgin and any recognized language is just that, recognition. People use Creole for Trading, they don't really speak it around the house or have children growing up using that language. Without a designated speaker base it would be hard for a government to justify considering it a language. I always thought off creoles similarly to how i view how i would talk around my boss, compared to around my friends.

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  2. UnknownApril 30, 2018 at 7:19 PM

    That's a very good question, and I would agree that recognition makes the difference. For example, in my research on the Dutch language, traders from the United East India Company landed in South Africa and began trading there. Initially, they developed a pidgin language in order to communicate, but over time as the traders began to settle, and their population mixed with the native population, a creole language of Dutch and local languages developed. Today, this language has been standardized and is recognized as Afrikaans, still spoken widely throughout southern Africa.

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  3. UnknownMay 4, 2018 at 2:22 PM

    I think a reason could be that a pidgin is used for a specific use by a specific group and so they do not always become a language like English. The specific use of the language would limit some of the vocabulary and unless that is expanded upon, there really is no need for a full language. Pidgins serve their purpose and do not need to be any bigger than they are and those who speak them probably do not see the need to make them a complete language.

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