Journal of Multidisciplinary Approaches in Science 7, Issue 1 (2019) 38-44 Journal of Multidisciplinary Approaches in Science (JMAS) Journal homepage: https://jmas.biz/index.php ISSN: 2652-144X The Role of Pidgin in An ESL Context: A Case of Nigeria Open Access 1,* 2 Ameen Akeem , Noor Zainab Bt. Abdul Rasak 1 School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Malaysia 2 Language Academy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Malaysia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Pidgin has become a phenomenon over the years among different categories of users. Article history: It has become a very important medium of communication and it has helped to Received 15 March 2019 Received in revised form 19 June 2019 ameliorate the multilingual and multiethnic linguistic problems across the globe. Not Accepted 9 July 2019 minding its origin as an inferior language, pidgin has grown to become an equally Available online 23 July 2019 invaluable means of communication so much that in some places it has become creolized and decreolized. This paper thus intends to present the features and functions of pidgin which have made it assuming a position that is hitherto taken by other languages in the society. This paper in addition presents the processes involved in creolization and pidginization. Finally, the paper discusses the role of pidgin as a national language in Nigeria. Keywords: Pidgin, Creole, National Language, Copyright © 2019 JMAS - All rights reserved Creolization. 1. Introduction Due to slavery and later free trade, about 11 million Africans were carried to the New World [4]. The results of the massive colonial and imperial intrusion in West Africa did indeed have linguistic consequences. For instance, since communication was a necessity, both between the slavers and their victims and among the enslaved themselves, a make shift type of language emerged in which each side used the grammatical structure of their native language while slavers, in addition, used vocabulary borrowed from the language of their masters: Portuguese, Dutch, English, etc. Consequently, reduced, contact languages came into existence. They are called Pidgins and later Creoles. The purpose therefore here is to examine the concepts of Pidgins and Creoles, origins and functions. 2. Literature Review 2.1 Pidgin Etymologically, the term pidgin has been traced to Portuguese ocupacao, Yayo (South American) pidian, Portuguese pequeno and Hebrew pidjom. Creole, on the hand, has been linked to French Creole which itself derived from Portuguese crioulo and Spanish criollo. ________________________________ *corresponding author E-mail address:[email protected] (Ameen Akeem) 38 Journal of Multidisciplinary Approaches in Science Volume 7, Issue 1 (2019) 38-44 A pidgin is a simplified form of a language. According to [13], pidgin and Creole lace certain linguistic features such as articles, grammatical inflections. [2] defined pidgins as simplified languages that occur from two or more languages. [7] added that a pidgin is nobody’s first language, has no native speakers and used as contact language. A pidgin is a marginal language which arises to fulfill certain restricted communication needs among people who have no common language. A Creole arises when a pidgin becomes the mother tongue of a speech community. These definitions satisfy a wide range of pidgin-creole scholars because they focus on the social and communicative role or these languages rather than the linguistic characteristics [10]. Linguistic features cannot be jettisoned entirely. Hence, according to [10], a small vocabulary drawn almost exclusively from one language in the contact situation, is characteristics of pidgins. So also is a structure which is less complex and less flexible than the structures of the languages in contact (p. 479). It needs to be stated that the vocabulary is not just drawn from any of the languages; it is drawn from the superordinate language, which is the language of the group with the most economic and political power and the language that has social prestige. One thing is further established here: the fact that the main vocabulary of a pidgin is usually that of the upper language points to the power relations that exist in pidginizing situations, and suggests that it is usually the lower or subordinate group which is required to do the major shifting and accommodation in such situation [10]. Morphological simplicity in pidgin and creoles can generally be taken to imply the following: a. A near-total absence of inflectional morphology b. Little or no derivational morphology c. A minimal amount of allomorphic variation d. Presence of reduplication: 2.2 Pidgin Types By definition, a pidgin and creole cannot come into existence in a monolingual context [6]. Hence, one can distinguish different kinds of pidgin based on the structures in which they are used. a. Trade Pidgin: this refers to the type spoken among people in the market’s areas. This seems the crudest of it. It is not refined at all. b. Maritime pidgin: this is the kind of pidgin spoken by sailors. c. Workforce pidgin: this has to do with the kind of pidgin that takes place among people who work in offices together. Here, it is not entirely a means of communication but a means of relaxation or socialization. d. Tourism pidgin: this is the kind of pidgin used by tourists of different linguistic backgrounds. Pidgin is thus characterized by • Linguistic simplification • A limited vocabulary 39 Journal of Multidisciplinary Approaches in Science Volume 7, Issue 1 (2019) 38-44 • Reduction or eliminator of inflection morphology • Avoidance of consonant clusters and marked phonological segments • Limited stylistics range • Language mixture and convergence. 2.3 Spread of English Pidgin Pidgins are found spread across the globe. According to [4], certain areas where Pidgins and Creoles are found are: (1) The territories of the Caribbean: -where English Creole stands in a relationship to standard English as the official language. The countries here are all former plantation types. Examples are Jamaica, St. Lucia, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, the Turks and Carcos Islands, etc. (2) West Africa: – where English is the official language. Examples are Cameroun, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The countries in this category are all former fort situation (3) The Pacific: - where we have such countries as Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Island, etc. The situation here is that of mixture of fort type situation and plantation situation. Table 1 PIDGIN PLACE OF SPEAKING Afro-Seminole Creole Texas and Oklahoma, USA and Mexico Bahamas Creole English Bahamas Belize Creole English: also called Belize Kriol. Bislama Vanuatu Aukaans Suriname Krio spoken in Sierra Lone Sierra Lone Nigeria Pidgin English Nigeria Sea Island Creole English Sea Island Tok Pisin– Papua New Guinea New Guinea Source: [adapted from 13]. 2.4 Development of Pidgin Pidginization occurs very quickly, almost over a night but creolization takes approximately two generations for form [13]. Once a pidgin is formed, it develops and extends; “a marginal pidgin may develop into an extended pidgin or Creole, and may eventually DE-creolize into a continuum of post- Creole dialects” [10]. [11] identified five hypothetical processes in creolization and decreolization: Marginal Pidgin →Period of Nativization→Creolization→Decreolization → Dialect Marginal pidgins are meant for the most rudimentary forms of communication, and largely supplemented by gestures. If eventually, the marginal pidgins do not die out due to under use (as in the case of Korean Bamboo English), they go through a period of nativization. Here, the pidgins become more used among the natives rather than only between the native and non-natives. The next phase reveals increasing and massive influence from the superstrate language. The pidgin will become lexically related to the dominant language, at this stage of development. 40 Journal of Multidisciplinary Approaches in Science Volume 7, Issue 1 (2019) 38-44 In the subsequent phase, speakers gain increased exposure to Standard English as a result of formal education and increased social mobility. Hence, the pidgin begins to decreolize. The result, according to [11], is “a wide range of varieties of English, some nearer to the Creole end of the spectrum, some nearer for the standard end.” A. It is my book. ------Standard B. Is maibuk. ----------decreolised form In the final stage, a decreolization process will go to become somewhat dialect of English through continuous and established uses. A clear example used is the Negro non-standard English in the USA. This process is further represented in the chart below: The Life Cycle Model of Pidgins and Creoles Jargon Stable Pidgin Expanded Pidgin Creole Post-Pidgin Lexifier Continuum (English) Post-Creole Lexifier Continuum (English) Fig. 1: Source: [6]. 2.5 Studies of Pidgin and Creole The questions that promote pidgin and creole studies revolve around the nature and interaction of the forces that have shaped these languages [6]. Although, in recent years, insights from other branches of linguistics as well as careful sociolinguistic studies have moved the field forward. Specifically, it is argued that three events took place and have helped to promote the studies of pidgin/creole: i. The publication of “Languages in contact” by Weinreich in 1953 laid the foundation for the study of the ways in which contact between languages has the power to change them. ii. The publication of “Syntactic structure” by Chomsky in 1957 provided the insight needed to explain how pidgin is acquired. It explains the role of the brain for language as providing the basis for universals. iii. The first international conference on creole studies at Mona, Jamaica in 1959 was the first to assemble those who studied creole languages. It provided avenue for scholars who worked on pidgins and creoles to converge and share ideas. It was after this conference that linguists began to recognize creole languages as objects of intellectual interest.