Make Pidgin English Lingua Franca

Thu Feb 26 19:08:04 UTC 2004

I want to make some comments on this discussion, sorry that I'm a bit
late on it.

First, as Don notes, the article fails to make a distinction between
creole and pidgin language.  I suspect that, in Nigeria, both are
commonly used, but there is a very important difference.  Pidgins are
very non-standardized forms of communication which indeed hold serious
limitations when compared to other human languages.  Creoles, however,
are what happens when children grow up speaking a pidgin, and something
rather amazing happens:  when spoken as a native language, the former
pidgin suddenly develops the systematic syntax and complete grammatical
system that all human languages have.  They tend to have somewhat
limited vocabularies at first, but, like all natural human languages,
they possess the capacity to develop vocabulary, and if they are used
for a variety of purposes, they generally do just that.  The grammar
also tends to be somewhat "simple" by some standards, but if we are to
assume that simplicity (always a relative concept when dealing with
language) equals limitation, then we would have to conclude that some of
the world's biggest native languages (Mandarin Chinese and
Malay/Indonesian come to mind) are "limited" as well.

Now, if indeed, there are children growing up in Nigeria speaking
"pidgin English" as a native language or as one of their natives
languages, then what the article is really talking about is an
English-based creole.  It's not equivilent to non-standard English, it
is, in fact, a separate language which would presumably be
unintelligible to a native English speaker.  Most linguists would
classify it as a separate language:  not as a form of English, but as a
new indigenous language.  For example, many estimates of the number of
native speakers of various languages in the world do not count Haitian
Creole as a form of French, nor do they not count Jamaicans as native
speakers of English, but rather as native speakers of their own
indigenous languages which happen to derive from colonial languages.
 Indeed, the Haitian and Jamaican creoles are structurally far more
similar to each other than they are to the two colonial language which
which they derive.

As such, it is important not to stigmitize languages which the popular
media refers to as "pidgin," as they may in fact be the indigenous
language of an entire society, and the native languages of millions of
people.

Indeed, creole languages are often stigmitized.  I remember reading an
article about minorities on the west coast of Nicaragua that face a
familiar issue:  they live in a country where Spanish is the only
official language, yet they have their own traditional native language:
an English-based creole.  Some schools have experimented with teaching
in English, in order to stem growing language shift to Spanish.
 However, the standard English used in textbooks is, for practical
purposes, a foreign language to these people.  So, on one side, the
creole faces competition from the dominant national language, and on the
other side, being mislabled as a variety of English puts it in danger as
well.  That is a terrible dilemma for a language to find itself in.

On the other hand, there is a growing movement to give certain creole
languages official status.  In Jamaica, for example, the only official
language is English, which most Jamaicans can use to some degree, but as
noted above, most people speak an indigenous creole which is
unintelligible to native speakers of standard English.  Because of this,
there is now a movement to make Jamaican Creole a second official
language.  For those who believe that creole languages are somehow
incapable of being used officially, we've heard the same arguments in
the past about many languages, and the reality has always been that
human languages, when used, turn out to be capable of the task they are
used for.  There are, for example,  newspapers in some societies that
are written in creole languages, and there are books that are translated
from other languages into creoles--"other languages" including the
languages that the creoles were originally derived from.  So, there is
no question that creoles are "good enough" to be used for any purpose.

Having said that, I agree with many of you that a society like Nigeria
should continue to develop and promote its traditional indigenous
languages over English-based pidgins and creoles.  But, you can
understand their situation:  although they contains some of the world's
largest native languages, regions tend to be divided linguistically.
 Some Nigerian indigenous languages have far more native speakers than
do European languages like Danish or Finnish, but choosing one to be the
national lingua franca might create ethnic tensions.  Standard English
is supposed to be the lingua franca, but even by liberal estimates, the
majority cannot actually speak it.  The "pidgin," whether it is actually
a pidgin, or a creole, or both, may well in fact be the most common
lingua franca already, at least, the one language which is understood to
a reasonably wide degree in all of the country's regions.

Still, it remains very frustrating that many African languages, even
those with tens of millions of native speakers, cannot enjoy the same
status that much smaller European languages do.  It's one of the most
damning legacies of colonialism that I can think of.

Nevertheless, I do strongly support countries like Jamaica and Haiti
giving their creole languages official status, and developing them in
the same way that native languages of other societies are developed.
 Seeing that the native languages of those countries are, unlike in a
place like Nigeria, the only existing indigenous languages that those
societies have, it is important to recognize that creole languages are,
essentially, no worse than any other kind of human language or dialect.

Mattthew Ward

Don Osborn wrote:

>I've been putting off responding to this item because I wanted to reflect on
>it before responding.  First the Webbook of African Languages at
>http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html has a profile of Pidgin along
>with Krio (navigate the frames to look under the latter or go directly to
>http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Krio_root.html ).  Ethnologue of course has
>something on it - see http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=PCM
>
>On Nigerian languages, Ethnologue says "The number of languages listed for
>Nigeria is 515. Of those, 505 are living languages, 2 are second languages
>without mother tongue speakers, and 8 are extinct." (
>http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Nigeria )  I have heard (no
>citation) other estimates of Nigerian languages of ~350.  At least part of
>the discrepancy may be accounted for by how one defines language.
>
>Pidgins of course are "contact languages" or "a simplified speech used for
>communication between people with different languages" (the latter being a
>Merriam-Webster def.).
>
>In some measure I guess there may be a creolization of pidgin in parts of
>Nigeria (leading to a more or less stable form) but the initial thought is
>that a pidgin or even a creole has a limited vocabulary and range of
>expression.
>
>All that said, while it certainly makes sense to acknowledge the use of
>pidgins, I wonder how helpful it would be to raise the status of a pidgin in
>the way implied by the article.  In effect where it exists it is there, but
>otherwise it adds another layer of language in an already complex situation.
>For people who may have one maternal language, use another regional one if
>different from the maternal language (e.g., Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo), and learn
>English, now they'd have to learn pidgin also.
>
>Would promotion of pidgin mainly serve to 1) hasten the disappearance of
>minority languages and 2) institutionalize "dumbed down" expression in the
>process?
>
>With regard to Resa's comments, one would be tempted to take the point a
>step further - what about the many indigenous languages, and why raise the
>status of pidgin more than those?
>
>It is funny that I saw this article at about the same time I learned of a
>statement by an African youth conference in Windhoek last year which called
>for establishment of a "new panAfrican language."  What this and the
>promotion of pidgin would seem to have in common - however well intended -
>is to complicate not simplify Africa's multilingual situations.
>
>Don Osborn
>Bisharat.net
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Bizzaro, Resa Crane" <CRANEM at MAIL.ECU.EDU>
>To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
>Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 4:54 PM
>Subject: Re: Make Pidgin English Lingua Franca
>
>
>
>
>>Hi, all.  As a person who speaks standard English and at least two
>>
>>
>regional
>
>
>>dialects from eastern NC, I'm in favor of incorporating dialects into
>>standardized tests.  What would that do to the No Child Left Behind
>>Initiative, which is seriously affecting the schools in my county? :-)
>>
>>Great idea!
>>
>>Resa
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Hishinlai' [mailto:fnkrs at UAF.EDU]
>>Sent: Friday, February 20, 2004 1:00 AM
>>To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
>>Subject: Make Pidgin English Lingua Franca
>>
>>
>>As we've all experienced from some other time, not too long ago, I think
>>
>>
>we
>
>
>>know a "news article" hardly ever covers the facts. For me, given the
>>gravity of this statement "that there are easily 500 mother tongues in the
>>country, which can be classified under dead, dying, moribund or living
>>languages.", it would be interesting to see how he can back-up a "Pidgin
>>English Lingua Franca."
>>
>>Maybe in the U.S., we could adopt non-standard English that is appropriate
>>regionally. Wow! I wonder what the NCLB initiative would think of that if
>>they had to institute those types of tests in the schools? Hishinlai'
>>
>>
>>
>>>===== Original Message From Indigenous Languages and Technology
>>>
>>>
>><ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU> =====
>>
>>
>>>Make Pidgin English Lingua Franca
>>>
>>>>>From Iyefu Adoba in Abuja
>>>http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20040218news31.html
>>>
>>>A Director of research programmes from the National Centre for
>>>Scientific Research in France, Professor Bernard Caron, has made a case
>>>for Pidgin English as a lingua Franca in the country.
>>>
>>>Speaking in Abuja at a lecture titled "Why Study Minority Languages in
>>>Nigeria," Professor Caron, who has been in and out of Nigeria for the
>>>past 17 years, regretted that despite Pidgin being an important Lingua
>>>Franca, it is hardly mentioned in the language policy of the country.
>>>
>>>"Why is the language policy silent on Nigerian Pidgin which is used in
>>>families and is a first language for many children?" queried the
>>>Professor.
>>>
>>>He noted that English is the de facto official language in the
>>>bureaucratic and educational system, while the 3 major languages of
>>>Yoruba, Ibo and Hausa remain the major national potential languages.
>>>
>>>Noting that Pidgin is commonly used in songs, the Professor however
>>>observed that very little literature, if any at all, exists in Pidgin
>>>and asked if there is any future literary for Pidgin which can be
>>>easily read in Nigeria and even outside the country.
>>>
>>>Caron said Nigeria is a well known country of many languages, adding
>>>that there are easily 500 mother tongues in the country, which can be
>>>classified under dead, dying, moribund or living languages.
>>>
>>>The Professor said the study of minority languages helps provide better
>>>knowledge of the culture of the people and helps fight illiteracy.
>>>
>>>
>><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
>>Hishinlai'
>>"Kathy R. Sikorski", Gwich'in Instructor
>>University of Alaska Fairbanks
>>Alaska Native Language Center
>>P. O. Box 757680
>>Fairbanks, AK  99775-7680
>>P (907) 474-7875
>>F (907) 474-7876
>>E fnkrs at uaf.edu
>>ANLC-L at www.uaf.edu/anlc/
>>
>>Laraa t'ahch'yaa kwaa k'it tr'agwah'in. Nigwiinjik kwaa k'it juu
>>
>>
>veet'indhan
>
>
>>veet'indhan ts'a' nak'arahtii kwaa k'it ch'andzaa. or
>>
>>"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt, and
>>Dance like you do when nobody's watching."
>>
>>
>
>
>

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