"Sometimes, if you don't have a word for something, you can just create an onomatopoeic sound and just express yourself. What is so special about Pidgin? "It's quite fluid, it keeps changing all the time and it's expressive as well," says Bilkisu Labran, head of the new BBC language services for Nigeria. A form of Pidgin has developed into a mother tongue for the Krio community in Sierra Leone, which non-Krios can find difficult to understand. There are differences, because English is mixed with different languages in each country but they are usually mutually intelligible. It is widely spoken in Nigeria, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Most African countries are made up of numerous different ethnic groups who do not necessarily have a lingua franca, so Pidgin has developed. Simply put, Pidgin English is a mixture of English and local languages which enables people who do not share a common language to communicate. What is Pidgin? The Oxford English Dictionary definition of Pidgin is: A language containing lexical and other features from two or more languages, characteristically with simplified grammar and a smaller vocabulary than the languages from which it is derived, used for communication between people not having a common language a lingua franca. The BBC is launching 11 new language services and one of them is English-based Pidgin, which is one of the most widely spoken languages across West Africa, even though it is not officially recognised. Wetin dey ‘appen? Pidgin – a guide to West Africa’s lingua franca November 17, 2016
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |