Melanesian Pidgin

Last updated
Melanesian Pidgin
Region Melanesia
English-based pidgin and English Creole
  • Pacific
    • Melanesian Pidgin
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
bis   Bislama
pis   Pijin
tcs   Torres Strait Creole
tpi   Tok Pisin
Glottolog earl1243
IETF cpe-054

Melanesian Pidgin or Neo-Melanesian language comprises four related English-derived languages of Melanesia:

Contents

Torres Strait Creole is the least closely related of the four, and is sometimes treated as a separate from the other three. [2]

These languages are based on a mixture of a substrate of Eastern Oceanic languages, and substrate of German (from the era of German New Guinea) and/or English (due to "blackbirding", where Melanesians were indentured to work on plantations in Queensland, Australia). Worldwide nautical jargon/pidgins have also contributed to the languages. [1] [2] :546

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Singler, John Victor (1992). "Review of Melanesian Pidgin and the Oceanic Substrate" . Language. 68 (1): 176–182. doi:10.2307/416377. ISSN   0097-8507.
  2. 1 2 3 "Melanesian Pidgin English". Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications (14): 546–583. 1975. ISSN   0078-3188.

Further reading

See also