Common Traits Among Pidgin Languages
Since a pidgin language is a fundamentally simpler form of communication, the grammar and phonology are usually as simple as possible, and usually consist of:
- Uncomplicated clausal structure (e.g., no embedded clauses, etc.)
- Reduction or elimination of syllable codas
- Reduction of consonant clusters or breaking them with epenthesis
- Basic vowels, such as
- No tones, such as those found in West African and Asian languages
- Use of separate words to indicate tense, usually preceding the verb
- Use of reduplication to represent plurals, superlatives, and other parts of speech that represent the concept being increased
- A lack of morphophonemic variation
Read more about this topic: Pidgin
Famous quotes containing the words common, traits and/or languages:
“There is all the poetry in the world in a name. It is a poem which the mass of men hear and read. What is poetry in the common sense, but a hearing of such jingling names? I want nothing better than a good word. The name of a thing may easily be more than the thing itself to me.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I am always sorry when any language is lost, because languages are the pedigree of nations.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)