Creole and Pidgin Languages

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Creole and Pidgin Languages

• Alyssa Burns

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Creole v. Pidgin

• A pidgin language is no ones native language,
  but is a mix of multiple languages (Schiffman).
• A creole language is created when the pidgin
  language becomes the native language of a certain
  area.
• Not all pidgins become creoles because there is a
  chance that the language will die out before it
  can become the native language.
• Lexicon- the vocabulary of a language or of an
  individual

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Hawaiian Pidgin

• This was formed in order for the immigrants to
  communicate with the Hawaiians. There is still
  some pidgin used a little today. For example
• - akamai smart, intelligent (which is also a
  Hawaiian word)
• - brah brother
• - ono means delicious in Hawaiian, but can
  mean many other things in pidgin

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Nigerian/English Pidgin

• While some may refer to this as a creole
  language, it is not considered one because the
  majority think its not their first language,
  even if many children do learn it early.
• - You are coming, right? - Se you dey come? or
  You de come abi?
• - Man! That test was hard. Nna, that test
  hard no be small.

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West African Pidgin English

• Referred to Guinea Coast Creole English as well
  and was used along the West African coast during
  the period of the Atlantic slave trade.
• This was used so that British slave merchants and
  local African traders could communicate their
  exchanges.
• The majority of the vocabulary came from English
  while most of the sounds, grammer, and syntax
  came from West African Niger-Congo languages.
• - flog beat, punish
• - dek - floor

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Jamaican Creole

• This is an English-lexified creole language
  that originated with West African influence.
• The language came about when slaves from West and
  Central Africa learned the English that their
  owners spoke, and thus the Jamaican Patois was
  born.
• Although, in the Patois there are no past tense
  forms like ed or t, but preverbial particles en
  and a.
• - /mi ?on/ - I ran
• - /mi a ?on/ or /mi de ?on/ - I am running

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Louisiana Creole

• This language contains aspects of French, Native
  American, Spanish, and West African languages.
• Definite articles vary between the le, la, and
  les which occur in French, as well as a and la
  for the singular and yé for the plural.
• - Hello - Bonjou Bonjour
• - How are things? - Konmen lé-z'affè? - Comment
  vont les affaires?

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Haitian Creole

• Haitian Creole and French are considered the
  official languages of Haiti.
• This is based on 18th to 21st century French,
  some African languages, Arabic, Spanish, Taíno,
  and English.
• - The books-Liv yo Les livres
• - The cars Machin yo Les machines
• - The girls put on dresses Fi yo mete rob
  Les filles mettent les robes
• Taíno pre-columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas,
  Greater Antilles, and the Lesser Antilles.

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Significance to Linguistics

• Not many undergraduates will have a course
  devoted solely to pidgins and creoles.(Sebba).
• These can be considered a way of knowing because
  as Sapir believed, language and the thoughts that
  we have are effected by the confines of our
  language.
• The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis- language shapes our
  ideas and people cannot think outside of their
  language.
• These confines create many different world views
  and perceptions. Creole and pidgin languages
  could in part be a solution to this problem
  because it brings two languages together.

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Work Cited

• Schiffman, Harold. "Pidgin and Creole Languages."
  25 Mar. 1997. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
  lthttp//ccat.sas.upenn.edu/haroldfs/messeas/hando
  uts/pjcreol/node1.htmlgt.
• "Eye of Hawaii - Pidgin, The Unofficial Language
  of Hawaii." Eye of Hawaii - Your Complete Guide
  to the Big Island, Kona to Hilo. Web. 06 Apr.
  2011. lthttp//www.eyeofhawaii.com/Pidgin/pidgin.ht
  mgt.
• Sebba, Mark. "The Teaching of Pidgin and Creole
  Studies Subject Centre for Languages,
  Linguistics and Area Studies." Homepage Subject
  Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area
  Studies. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. lthttp//www.llas.ac.uk
  /resources/gpg/2784gt.