A pidgin /ˈpɪdʒɪn/, or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication

that develops between two or more groups that do not have a language in common: typically, a
mixture of simplified languages or a simplified primary language with other languages' elements
included. 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). Fundamentally, a pidgin is a simplified means of
linguistic communication, as it is constructed impromptu, or by convention, between individuals
or groups of people. A pidgin is not the native language of any speech community, but is instead
learned as a second language.[4][5] A pidgin may be built from words, sounds, or body language
from multiple other languages and cultures. They allow people who have no common language
to communicate with each other. Pidgins usually have low prestige with respect to other
languages.[6]

Not all simplified or "broken" forms of a language are pidgins. Each pidgin has its own norms of
usage which must be learned for proficiency in the pidgin.[7]

A pidgin differs from a creole, which is the first language of a speech community of native
speakers, and thus has a fully developed vocabulary and grammar. Most linguists believe that a
creole develops through a process of nativization of a pidgin when children of acquired pidgin-
speakers learn it and use it as their native language

Etymology
The origin of the word is uncertain. Pidgin first appeared in print in 1850. The most widely
accepted etymology is from a Chinese pronunciation of the English word business.[8]

Another etymology that has been proposed, likely an example of a just-so story, is English
pigeon, a bird sometimes used for carrying brief written messages, especially in times prior to
modern telecommunications.[9]

Terminology
The word pidgin, formerly also spelled pigion,[8] used to refer originally to Chinese Pidgin
English, but was later generalized to refer to any pidgin.[10] Pidgin may also be used as the
specific name for local pidgins or creoles, in places where they are spoken. For example, the
name of the creole language Tok Pisin derives from the English words talk pidgin. Its speakers
usually refer to it simply as "pidgin" when speaking English.[11][12] Likewise, Hawaiian Creole
English is commonly referred to by its speakers as "Pidgin".

The term jargon has also been used to refer to pidgins, and is found in the names of some
pidgins, such as Chinook Jargon. In this context, linguists today use jargon to denote a
particularly rudimentary type of pidgin;[13] however, this usage is rather rare, and the term jargon
most often refers to the words particular to a given profession.

Pidgins may start out as or become trade languages, such as Tok Pisin. Trade languages can
eventually evolve into fully developed languages in their own right such as Swahili, distinct from
the languages they were originally influenced by. Trade languages and pidgins can also influence
an established language's vernacular, especially amongst people who are directly involved in a
trade where that pidgin is commonly used, which can alternatively result in a regional dialect
being developed.

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Common traits
Pidgins are usually less morphologically complex but more syntactically rigid than other
languages, usually have fewer morphosyntactic irregularities than other languages, and often
consist of:[citation needed]

 Uncomplicated clausal structure (e.g., no embedded clauses, etc.)

 Reduction or elimination of syllable codas
 Reduction of consonant clusters or breaking them with epenthesis
 Basic vowels, such as [a, e, i, o, u]
 No tones, such as those found in West African, Asian and many North American
Indigenous languages
 Use of separate words to indicate tense, usually preceding the verb
 Use of reduplication to represent plurals, superlatives, and other parts of speech that
represent the concept being increased
 A lack of morphophonemic variation

Development
The initial development of a pidgin usually requires:

 prolonged, regular contact between the different language communities

 a need to communicate between them
 an absence of (or absence of widespread proficiency in) a widespread, accessible
interlanguage

Keith Whinnom (in Hymes (1971)) suggests that pidgins need three languages to form, with one
(the superstrate) being clearly dominant over the others.

Linguists sometimes posit that pidgins can become creole languages when a generation of
children learn a pidgin as their first language,[14] a process that regularizes speaker-dependent
variation in grammar. Creoles can then replace the existing mix of languages to become the
native language of a community (such as the Chavacano language in the Philippines, Krio in
Sierra Leone, and Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea). However, not all pidgins become creole
languages; a pidgin may die out before this phase would occur (e.g. the Mediterranean Lingua
Franca).

Other scholars, such as Salikoko Mufwene, argue that pidgins and creoles arise independently
under different circumstances, and that a pidgin need not always precede a creole nor a creole
evolve from a pidgin. Pidgins, according to Mufwene, emerged among trade colonies among
"users who preserved their native vernaculars for their day-to-day interactions". Creoles,
meanwhile, developed in settlement colonies in which speakers of a European language, often
indentured servants whose language would be far from the standard in the first place, interacted
extensively with non-European slaves, absorbing certain words and features from the slaves'
non-European native languages, resulting in a heavily basilectalized version of the original
language. These servants and slaves would come to use the creole as an everyday vernacular,
rather than merely in situations in which contact with a speaker of the superstrate was necessary.
[15]

Pidgins are “on-the-spot” languages that develop when people with no common language come
into contact with each other. Nobody speaks a pidgin as their first language. Usually a pidgin

2
 language is a blend of the
vocabulary of one major language
with the grammar of one or more
other languages. The major
languages are usually the
languages of the former major
colonial powers, such
as English, French,
and Portuguese. For example, the establishment of plantation economies in the Caribbean, with
large groups of slaves from different language backgrounds who came from West Africa, gave
rise to a number of pidgins based on English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese. However,
there are also pidgins spoken in parts of Africa, South America, and southeast Asia that are
based on languages other than those of the colonial powers. A good example of a non-European
pidgin is the Chinook Jargon that was once used by American Indians and European traders in
the Pacific Northwest.

The term pidgin has nothing to do with birds. The word, first attested in print in 1850, is thought
to be the Chinese mispronunciation of the English word business. There are other theories about
the origin of the term.

Status
Because of their limited function, pidgin languages usually do not last very long, rarely more
than several decades. They disappear when the reason for communication diminishes, as
communities either move apart, one community learns the language of the other, or both
communities learn a common language (usually the official language of the country). For
instance, Pidgin Russian spoken in Manchuria disappeared when Russian settlers left China after
World War II. The same is true of Pidgin French which disappeared from Vietnam after the
French left the country. However, this is not always the case. Chinese Pidgin English
(Chinglish), developed in the 17th century in Canton (Guandong), China,and survived for almost
three centuries. Its use spread from master-servant relationships to those between English and
Chinese traders and bureaucrats. It continued in use until about the end of the 19th century, when
the Chinese started to switch to standard English.