By Tosin Abraham Carons and Amaka M. Onyioha

A pidgin or pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a common language. It is mostly 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, it is a simplified means of linguistic communication as it is constructed impromptu or by convention between individuals or groups of people. Pidgin is not the native language of any speech community, but is instead learned as a second language. It may be built from words, sounds, or body language from multiple or other languages and cultures. Its does not have any rules as longs as both parties are able to understand each other.

The language can be changed and does not follow a specific order. Not all simplified or broken forms of a language are pidgin. Each pidgin has its own norms of usage, which must be learned for proficiency in the pidgin. The word pidgin originally used to describe Chinese Pidgin English, was later generalised to refer to any pidgin. For example, the name of the Creole language ‘Tok Pisin’ derives from the English works ‘Talk Pidgin’. Its speakers usually refer to Hawaiian Creole English as Pidgin. Pidgins may become trade languages, which are often full blown languages in their own right such as Swahili. Trade languages tend to be vehicular languages while pidgins can evolve into the vernacular.

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