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Pidgin Vs. Creole

Site: Plateforme pédagogique de l'Université Sétif2
Course: Introduction to Linguistics
Book: Pidgin Vs. Creole
Printed by: Visiteur anonyme
Date: Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 6:57 PM

Table of contents

1. Differences between pidgin and creole

The main differences between pidgins and creoles include:

  • Pidgins are not spoken as a native language by any country, whereas many countries have creoles that are native languages.

  • Pidgins have very basic grammar, whereas creoles have much more complex and full grammar.

  • Pidgins tend to have limited vocabularies, whereas creoles are much more extended.

  • Pidgins are considered reduced forms of other languages, whereas creoles have developed into fully-fledged languages of their own.

1.1. Features of Pidgine and Creole

Pidgin: 

  • Generally have limited vocabulary

  • Simplified grammar

  • Use many onomatopoeias (words that sound like the thing they are referring to, e.g., 'bang', 'slap', 'woosh', 'sizzle')

  • Consonant clusters often get simplified (e.g., instead of pronouncing all the sounds in the phrase 'best player', the pidgin pronunciation might be 'bes player' where the /t/ is dropped from the '-st' consonant cluster)

  • Not typically a native language of any country, but spoken as a second language

  • Commonly seen as being low prestige language varieties

  • Simplified sentence and phrase structures

  • Linguistic characteristics such as gender and number (singular and plural forms) are often non-existent.

Creole: 

  • Fully developed grammar

  • Extensive vocabulary

  • Full, native languages that have derived from pidgins

  • Most commonly viewed as vernacular languages, although in countries where they are widely used, they are viewed as having higher prestige

  • Most creoles are born of contact between European and native languages, and creoles might include some words and structures from European languages (such as French and Portuguese). That said, not all creoles are based on European languages. For example, Betawi is a Malay-based creole with no European influence.