Creoles

Pidgins and creoles arise when groups with different linguistic backgrounds are thrown together develop a simplified language so they can communicate with each other. Often these languages graft words and grammar from each native language in the mix, while simplifying phonology and grammatical structure. A pidgin may be a rudimentary "Me Tarzan, you Jane" system, the kind of thing that may be used among traders who only need the bare bones to communicate. However if a community using a pidgin continues to grow, which children learning it as a first language, it inevitably gains rules and structures and becomes a creole. Creoles have arisen throughout the world, often as a result of colonization and slavery. Creoles were ignored by linguists for many decades, but creoles have come to be recognized as rich and valid languages in their own right. Many have developed grammatical structures which were not features of any parent language, indicating the innovativeness of natural human language. Some creoles have even become the official language of nations, such as Tok Pisin in New Guinea. Unlike the other comparison pages on this site, this page does not show languages which have some genetic relationship, for creoles have arisen out of many language combinations. Rather this page is intended to gather together the fruits of this remarkable kind of language origin. I would love to add more creoles to this site, such as Bislama, Krio, Papiamento, and Singlish.

Kréyol: Notes: A French-based creole spoken on the Caribbean island of Martinique. Speaker: Cecile (N)

Tok Pisin: Notes: There are some 800 languages spoken in Papua New Guinea, so this English-based creole has become a significant means of communication between language groups. It is used extensively in the government and urban areas. Although Tok Pisin is a corruption of Talk Pidgin, the language has advanced beyond a pidgin. The simplified phonology can disguise English derivations; the adjective phrase "wanpela gutpela" can be glossed "one-fellow good-fellow". Native English speakers, like my source, have a more Anglicised pronunciation than New Guineans who didn't know English first. Speaker: Luke Sykora (S)