noun
- simplified languages that develop as a means of communication between speakers of different native languages, typically for trade or basic interaction
Usage: linguistics; plural of pidgin
Examples
- Pidgins often emerge in port cities where traders from different countries meet.
- Many pidgins have limited vocabulary and simplified grammar structures.
- Historical pidgins developed along trade routes in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.
- Some pidgins eventually evolve into creoles when children learn them as native languages.
- Researchers study pidgins to understand how languages form and change.
- The grammar of pidgins is typically much simpler than that of full languages.