Pidgin & Creole – Short Notes
Pidgin:
- Pidgin is a simplified language used between people with no common language.
- Functions as a lingua-franca between speakers of different languages.
- Not anyone’s first language.
- Usually blends vocabulary of one major language with grammar of one or more other languages.
- Reduced vocabulary and simplified grammar.
- Developed through simplification for basic communication.
- Example situation: Trade between groups speaking different native languages.
Creole:
- Creole is a natural language that develops from a pidgin when it becomes the mother tongue of a community.
- Represents the extended and developed form of a pidgin.
- The process is called creolization.
- Has more complex grammar and vocabulary than pidgin.
Key Points:
- Pidginization: Process of creating a pidgin.
- Pidgin languages may disappear if the contact situation ends.
- If the pidgin survives over generations and gains native speakers → becomes a creole.
Difference:
- Pidgin = temporary, simplified, no native speakers.
- Creole = permanent, full language, native speakers.