But that’s starting to change, at least a little bit. Pidgins and creoles have long been considered “low prestige” languages. Pidgins and creoles are finally starting to get a little more respect. Uumi olgeta igat ting ting bilong wanem samting I rait na rong na mipela olgeta I mas mekim gutpela pasin long ol narapela long tingting bilong brata susa. Yumi olgeta mama karim umi long stap fri na wankain long wei yumi lukim i gutpela na strepela tru. Oli gat risen mo tingting mo oli mas tritim wanwan long olgeta olsem ol brata mo sista.Īnd here’s the same sentence again, this time in Tok Pisin: They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.Įvri man mo woman i bon fri mo ikwol long respek mo ol raet.
#NIGERIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH TRANSLATOR FREE#
Got that? Here’s what it is in English, in case you don’t have it memorized:Īll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Here’s how it begins, in Nigerian Pidgin:Įveri human being, naim dem born free and dem de equal for dignity and di rights wey we get, as human beings, God come give us beta sense wey we de take tink well, well and beta mind, sake for dis, we must to treat each other like broda and sister. To see how different English-based Creoles can be, let’s take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The BBC reporter thought that since she knew English and Bislama is based on English, learning it would be easy. An English-based creole called Bislama unites them all. The people of Vanatu speak more than 100 languages. However, Pidgins and Creoles based on English often sound quite different from each other, and from English itself.įor example, the BBC recently published an article by a reporter visiting the island nation of Vanatu. So, the languages evolved from the same basic ingredients. Why is that? Well, many of the slaves who were abducted and taken to the New World originally came from West Africa. But if you wrote a sentence down in Naijá and handed to someone who spoke Jamaican Patois, there’s a good chance they’d be able to understand it. West African pidgins and creoles are surprisingly similar to Caribbean creoles, like Jamaican Patois.
Nigerian Pidgin is used to make communication possible between different tribes and ethnic groups. Most Nigerians speak one of 500+ regional languages, and schools tend to teach in English. However, only 5 million of these are native speakers. Nigerian Pidgin ( also known as Naijá ) has 50-75 million speakers and growing. The most widely-spoken creole language in terms of native speakers is Haitian Creole.Īlso called Kreyòl ayisyen or simply Creole, this French-based creole is the official language of Haiti. Pidgins and creoles are found around the world.įor example, English-based creoles are spoken throughout Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific Islands. At that point, it’s considered a creole.Īnd just to make things confusing, since creole languages evolve from pidgins, many languages with “pidgin” in the name have actually evolved into creoles, like Tok Pisin, one of the official languages of New Guinea. Children may begin to grow up speaking it from birth. If a pidgin language becomes widely used, its vocabulary may grow and additional grammar rules may develop. Nobody speaks a pidgin language as a first language. Pidgin languages are generally simplified and flexible, with a limited vocabulary. What’s the difference between pidgin languages and creoles? This can happen because of trade, or as a result of slavery or colonization. Pidgin languages are makeshift languages that arise whenever multi lingual groups have to communicate on a regular basis without a common language. Isn’t Pidgin English just English with a heavy accent? With that in mind, here are 8 things you need to understand about pidgins and creoles. But just as in Game of Thrones, it would be foolish to write off pidgins and creoles because of their parentage. Most them have historically been treated as the bastard children of European languages – denied recognition and looked down upon.
In fact, pidgin languages and creole languages can be found all over the world. But wait, what’s Pidgin? Is that even a language? The BBC just announced that it will now be broadcasting in Pidgin for the West and Central African markets.
0 kommentar(er)
