Pidgin English??

Is it true that Pidgin English developed as a mixture of other
different languages combined?


I have heard Pidgin English spoken in Hawai'i and am interested to know

how and when this language was formed.


Also, what other places speak Pidgin English? Are they all different or

can people from other places that speak Pidgin English understand each
other pretty well?

"pris" <woopriscillam> wrote in message
news:1110860102-sch@news.lava.net...
>
> Is it true that Pidgin English developed as a mixture of other
> different languages combined?
>
>
> I have heard Pidgin English spoken in Hawai'i and am interested to know
>
> how and when this language was formed.
>
>
> Also, what other places speak Pidgin English? Are they all different or
>
> can people from other places that speak Pidgin English understand each
> other pretty well?
>
Since pidgin english is a mixture english with one or more local languages
it would probably be hard for speakers of one version to understand another
version.
/Lars J

Of all the languages spoken in New Guinea, pidgin english is the one
that ties them all together. Generally speaking, the answer to your
last question is no, I worked in Port Moresby for a few months and
found it easier to pick up than someone from the mainland who had never
experienced Hawaiian pidgin english.
Ed

Academic types call the Hawaiian form a creole rather than a pidgin.
This is when the mixture of languages takes on a character of it's own,
beyond mechanical borrowing. Some UH department (english?) studies
it, but a quick web search brings up mainly other work...

Lars Johansson wrote:
> "pris" <woopriscillam> wrote in message
> news:1110860102-sch@news.lava.net...
>>
>> Is it true that Pidgin English developed as a mixture of other
>> different languages combined?
>>
>>
>> I have heard Pidgin English spoken in Hawai'i and am interested to
>> know
>>
>> how and when this language was formed.
>>
>>
>> Also, what other places speak Pidgin English? Are they all different
>> or
>>
>> can people from other places that speak Pidgin English understand each
>> other pretty well?
>>
> Since pidgin english is a mixture english with one or more local
> languages
> it would probably be hard for speakers of one version to understand
> another
> version.

there is an overlap - and I'd guess that they further you go away the
smaller the overlap gets. I found that the pidgin(s) spoken here also
in part depend on the ethnicity of the speakers (and I find some easier
to understand than others).

Maren

There may be more elsewhere, but the only pidgin that spans several
countries (that I know of) is the one called Bislama in Vanuatu. It is
also spoken in the Solomon Islands and PNG and started out as a trading
language. Once you have heard "Gud moning" and "Tank yu tu mas" (thank
you very much) you probably won't realise that it is based on English
though. It sounds very different and also includes some French and
words from local languages.

Best wishes

Peter Forster
Friesland, The Netherlands

> but it does not in any way have to do with Hawaii or any aspect of
> Hawaii or our "slanguage."

>> Pidgin is not a slang.


I said slanguage.

In article <1111119000-sch@news.lava.net>, "moanakane"
<Peter.M.Forster@> wrote:

> There may be more elsewhere, but the only pidgin that spans several
> countries (that I know of) is the one called Bislama in Vanuatu. It is
> also spoken in the Solomon Islands and PNG and started out as a trading
> language. Once you have heard "Gud moning" and "Tank yu tu mas" (thank
> you very much) you probably won't realise that it is based on English
> though. It sounds very different and also includes some French and
> words from local languages.
>

I had heard that "pidgin" was a corruption of "business"-it was indeed a
trading language that could be used without being fluent in either of
the
overlapping languages.

--
charles, course, my source could have been James Mitchner

I also heard that 'pidgin' is a corruption of 'business'. Also, there
were two distinct pidgin dialects spoken in Hawaii; 'plantation pidgin'
and 'maritime pidgin'. Maritime pidgin went the way of the tall ships,
and whether today's pidgin is plantation pidgin is doubtful. I've heard
evolution in pidgin in my 20 years in Hawaii. Words come and go.