Introduction to Ling ...

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.