I’ll look at the whole creole vs pidgin debate in more detail below, but for now we can consider this lack of native speakers as the core difference between creole and pidgin. Speakers usually acquire a pidgin as a second language, rather than speaking it natively. A pidgin language incorporates words from both parties, as well as new vocabulary that is unique to the pidgin. Pidgin languages facilitate communication where speakers of mutually unintelligible languages need to overcome the linguistic barriers that divide them. The pidgin definition, according to Merriam-Webster, is: “a simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages.” I’ll include some examples of pidgin, as well as taking a look at how pidgin language evolves. The terms are often – erroneously – used interchangeably, so I thought it was a topic worth exploring. I wrote recently about the origins of creoles and their use around the world, and that got me thinking about pidgin language. In this look at pidgin language, I’ll be answering all of these questions and more. With more than 250 ethnic groups speaking over 500 languages and dialects, English is the country’s official business language, whether you’re actually on business or just on safari.įor citizens without easy access to higher education and white collar jobs, picking up a few words of English and mixing it with elements of their native tongues has been the default way of communicating across tribal cultures.What is pidgin? Is pidgin a language? Is it a dialect? And what is the difference between pidgin and creole?

Pidgin English remains the “great” equalizer - a way of communicating on a base level that cuts through bullshit. Pidgin English is extremely popular in most parts of Africa, particularly West Africa, and has been accepted as the de-facto language of blue collar trade and merchants. There’s a certain intimacy that this form of broken English emits a down-to-earth, survivalist approach to everyday living and hustling in Africa’s most populous nation. Speaking Nigerian Pidgin transforms them from visiting foreigner into one of the hundreds of well-integrated expatriates in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. If they open up with Pidgin English instead, I instantly perk up.