Name : Zandra Yolanda D.

P
Nim : 5.16.06.14.0.027

PIDGIN AND CREOLES

1. Lingua Franca
A lingua franca is a language which is used as a means of communication among people who
have no native language in common. In a publication concerned with the use of vernacular
languages in education published in Paris in 1953, UNESCO defined a lingua franca as a language
which is used habitually by people whose mother tongues are different in order to facilitate
communication between them. Generally, a lingua franca is a third language that is distinct from
a native or mother language. On the other hand, when two people communicate with each other,
they can choose a different language out of their native one as their lingua franca among their
conversations.
According to Samrin (1968, p.661), Lingua Franca may be referred to by different terms, for
example: the trade language, international language, contact language, and an auxiliary language.
Lingua franca usually develop as a consequence of population migration (forced or voluntary) or
for purposes of trade. Mixed languages may also function as lingua franca, example: Michif, a
mixture of French and Cree (Cree grammar, French vocabulary), spoken now only by a few Metis
speakers. Michif was to represent the identity of Metis speakers. Another example: the Indonesian
language as lingua franca or the language of instruction from regional languages.

2. Pidgin
Pidgin are simplified languages that occur from two or more languages (Britannica, 2014).
Crystal (2003: 11) defines a pidgin language as a simplified version of one language that combines
the vocabulary of different languages. The reasons for pidgins to occur are generally for trade
matters when different cultures do not share a common language and when they feel forced to find
a way to communicate.
So pidgins is a combination of two or more languages to form a new language. Pidgins are
developed by people who do not have the same language to communicate in the same geographical
area. Pidgin may be built from words, sounds, or body language.
Characteristic of pidgins:
a. Limited function of use.
b. Adjunct language (no one speaks only a pidgin).
c. Linguistically simplified.
d. Develop their own rules and norms of usage.
For example: when I follow a community where in the community there are various languages
that are used that are clearly different from mine then to communicate we create a new language
where in the making there is a mutual agreement.
3. Creole
A creole is often defined as a pidgin that has become the first language of a new generation
of speakers. As Aitchison (1994, p. 3177) says, “creole arise when pidgins become mother
tongues”. Holmes (1992, p. 95) says that “a creole is a pidgin which has expanded in structure and
vocabulary to express the range of meanings and serve the range of functions required of a first
language”.
Characteristic of creole:
a. Languages developed from pidgins.
b. First language of some members of a speech community.
 c. Used for a wide range of functions.
For example: In Indonesia there is one example of a language where it is the result of creole
named Betawi language where it is the product of combining the combination of Javanese and
Balinese languages.
4. Distribution
Pidgin and creole languages are distributed mainly, though not exclusively, in the equatorial
belt around the world, usually in places with direct or easy access to the ocean. They are mostly
found in the Caribbean and around the north and east coasts of South America, around the coast
of Africa, in particular west coast, and across the Indian and Pacific oceans. They are quite rare in
the more extreme north and south in the world and in interior of the continent. Their distribution
seems to be closely related to long-term trading patterns, including the slave trade. The basic
source of distribution is Hancock (1977).

5. Theories of Origins

a. The Baby-Talk Theory.

There is no evidence either for any ‘foreigner-talk’ or ‘baby-talk’ theory (see
Bloomfield, 1933, pp. 472–3) for the origin of pidgins and creoles, i.e., that they result from
Europeans deliberately simplifying their languages in order to communicate with others.
According to this theory, these simplified forms then serve to provide pidgins with their basic
structures and vocabularies.

b. Theory of Polygenesis.
The theory of polygenesis, is that pidgins and creoles have a variety of origins, any
similarities among them arise from the shared circumstances of their origins. For example,
speakers of English have had to make themselves understood for the purposes of trade and
those trading with them have had to be understood. Consequently, certain simplified forms of
English have developed independently in a number of places, giving rise to varieties of Pidgin
English.

c. Theory of Monogenetic.
Monogenetic theory is the theory that might attributable to a common origin in the
language of sailors in some kind of nautical jargon. A common shipboard lingua franca, or
nautical jargon, developed among the members of the sailing community. In this view, it was
that lingua franca, rather than a pidginized variety. However, the evidence of this theory is
weak

d. Theory of Relexification.
Theory of relexification is attempt to offer such an explanation for the fact that pidgins
and creoles associated with different standard language have certain common structural
features but quite different vocabularies. Relexfication also asks us to believe that, in learning
a language, people somehow can learn the grammar quite independently of vocabulary and
that they do indeed learn the first but completely replace the second during the process of
learning. There is some good evidence that relexification has occurred. If we look at
Saramaccan, it seems to be a pidgin in the process of relexification from Portuguese to English
(hence the disagreement I noted earlier about its classification).