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Pidgins and Creoles

Pidgins are languages that occur when people from two different languages come into contact and form a simplified hybrid language. If a pidgin language lasts long enough, eventually people are born who use that language as their first language; it then becomes known as a creole. Languages are organized in this category by acrolect (i.e., the contact language with the higher prestige). The acrolect is often European, reflecting the history of colonization, but this is not always the case.

Sites in Pidgins and Creoles

Psycholinguistics: Pidgin and Creole languages
An introduction to pidgins and creoles.
Pidgin and Creole Languages
Notes for a course in pidgin and creole languages. Discusses theories of pidginization, creolization and language contact.
Pidgins, Creoles, and Constructed Languages
Number words in a variety of pidgins, creoles, and constructed languages.
Pidgins and Creoles
Brief introduction with three examples of creoles.
CC: Pidgin Carriers
Introductory article on the topic of pidgin and creole languages.
Archives of CreoLIST
Searchable archive of the most recent postings to the CreoLIST listserv.
Selected Publications and Papers on Creole Languages
"Tense/Aspect in Sranan and the creole prototype," "Creoles and Contact Linguistics," and "Irrealis in Sranan: Mood and modality in a radical creole".
Creolization is a Social, Not a Structural, Process
Paper presented at the International Symposium on "Degrees of Restructuring in Creole Languages."
Review of John Holm on Pidgins and Creoles
A brief review of John Holm's "An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles".
Language Varieties: Definitions
Definitions of "creole", "pidgin", "dialect" and "variety" are given.
Why Do Creoles Have Serial Verb Constructions?
A paper by Eric Schiller.
Germanic Creole Numerals
Tables of the names of numerals in various Germanic-Language-based creoles.
Creole Romance Numerals
Tables of the names of numerals in various Romance-Language-based creoles.
Pidgins and Creoles
Basic facts about pidgins and creoles with examples.
Reference Guide for Pidgin and Creole Languages
Bibliographic guide to contact language reference material available at Stanford University.
The Emergence of Spoken Israeli Hebrew
This paper discusses the parallels to creolization.
Ethnologue: Language Family Index: Languages of Special Interest
A list of contact languages, pidgins and creoles.
Linguist List 7.1721: Creolistics
A discussion of whether Afrikaans and Yiddish are creole or creoloid.
Pidgin
A definition of the term pidgin.
Creole Language
A definition of the term creole.
A Note on the Pronominal System of Arafundi-Enga Pidgin
A short discussion of the social background and pronominal system of a pidginization of two Papuan languages.
Pidgin Genesis in Optimality Theory
A conference paper by Joan Bresnan.
Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages
A journal of all aspects of pidginization and creolization. A few full-text articles are available on-line. There is also an extensive glossary of creolist terminology.

sub categories in Pidgins and Creoles

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole
Spanish Based Spanish Based
Mixed Mixed
Portuguese Based Portuguese Based
Niger-Kordofanian Based Niger-Kordofanian Based
French Based French Based
English Based English Based
Dutch Based Dutch Based
Malay Based Malay Based
Chinook Based Chinook Based

cross references

Science : Social Sciences : Linguistics : Dialectology Science : Social Sciences : Linguistics : Dialectology
Science : Social Sciences : Linguistics : Languages : Constructed : International Auxiliary Science : Social Sciences : Linguistics : Languages : Constructed : International Auxiliary
Science : Social Sciences : Linguistics : Languages : Constructed : Play Science : Social Sciences : Linguistics : Languages : Constructed : Play

this category in other languages

Pidgin und Kreolische German : Pidgin und Kreolische
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