In Africa they are still widely used in Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The Atlantic varieties developed in West Africa, and were transported to the West Indies and America during the years of the slave trade. Pidgin English’s are mainly to be found in two big families – one in the Atlantic, one in the Pacific. Pidgin grew up along the trade routes of the world, especially in those parts where the British, French and Dutch built up their empires. And the more developed pidgin languages have been used for translations of Shakespeare and the Bible. In many parts of the world pidgin languages are used routinely in such daily matters as news broadcasts, safety instructions, newspapers, and commercial advertising. They are the native languages of no-one, but they are nonetheless the main means of communication for millions of people, and a major focus of interest for those who study the way languages change. They have a limited vocabulary, a reduced grammatical structure, and much narrower range of functions, compared to the language which gave rise to them.
Pidgins have been variously called `makeshift‘, `marginal‘, or `mixed‘ language. Pidgins usually have low prestige in respect to other languages. A pidgin may be built from words, sounds, or body language from multiple other languages and cultures.
A pidgin is not the native language of any speech community, but is instead learned as a second language. Fundamentally, a pidgin is a simplified means of linguistic communication, as is constructed impromptu, or by convention, between groups of people.
It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the country in which they reside (but where there is no common language between the groups). Marina Alkhazova (Pyatigorsk State Linguistic University, Russia)Ī pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. Section | Sektion: Semantik, Diskurs und interkulturelle Kommunikation aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive 18 Juli 2011 TRANS: Internet-Zeitschrift für Kulturwissenschaften
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