pidgin
Makeshift shared language
A pidgin is a simplified language that develops when groups with no common tongue need to communicate, typically for trade.
Pidgins have reduced grammar and limited vocabulary drawn from multiple source languages.
Unlike creoles, pidgins are not native languages—no one grows up speaking one as a first language.
They communicated in a pidgin of Portuguese and Malay.
Nativized pidgin tongue
Damaged beyond function
- reducedMade less in amount
- basicFundamental in nature
- simplifiedMade less complex
- rudimentaryIn simplest possible form
elementary · minimal · stripped-down · makeshift · improvised · analytic · functional · utilitarian
One who sells wares
- barterDirect goods-for-goods exchange
- commerceExchange of goods, services
- marketplaceVenue for commerce
- colonialOf occupied territories
port · coastal · plantation · intercultural · exchange · negotiation · bazaar · caravan
Combined but unbonded substances
- blendCombine into mixture
- fusionJoining into unity
- amalgamMixture of disparate parts
- synthesisCombining parts into whole
composite · convergence · intermixture · borrowing · hybridization · cross-linguistic · multilingual · polyglot
creole
Nativized pidgin tongue
- auxiliaryGiving additional support
- jargonSpecialized professional vocabulary
- chinookWarm downslope Rocky wind
patois · substrate · pidginization · creolization · interlanguage
broken
Damaged beyond function
- reducedMade less in amount
- basicFundamental in nature
- simplifiedMade less complex
rudimentary · elementary · minimal · stripped-down · makeshift · improvised · analytic · functional · utilitarian · baby-talk
merchant
One who sells wares
- barterDirect goods-for-goods exchange
- commerceExchange of goods, services
- marketplaceVenue for commerce
colonial · port · coastal · plantation · intercultural · exchange · negotiation · bazaar · caravan · seafaring
mixture
Combined but unbonded substances
synthesis · composite · convergence · intermixture · borrowing · hybridization · cross-linguistic · multilingual · polyglot · blended
- African Englishcolonial influence, colonial language
- languagelanguage, word, words, grammar, spelling
- cultural diversitycultural diversity, ethnic enclave, ethnic neighborhoods, Chinatown, Little Italy
- Cultural Fusionfusion cuisine, fusion jazz, fusion dance, syncretism, hybridity
- mixturesmix, mixture, blend, blending, amalgam
- Hawaiian culturealoha, hula, lei, luau, mahalo
pidginmother tongue
Language acquired from birth
native language · first language · native tongue · vernacular · creole
pidginstandard language
Codified, official linguistic form
official language · national language · lingua franca · High German · standard
- pidgin EnglishSimplified mixed speech for communication