Languages collide

What happens when two completely different languages meet?

Pidgins

There is yet another way in which two languages can become mixed together. When people from two different languages do not understand each other, that is they are not MUTUALLY INTELLIGIBLE with each other but people want to communicate—they need to create a common code.

What they usually create is a brand-new variety out of the two existing languages. They adopt something from one language and something from

PIDGIN

This is called a Pidgin language:

PIDGIN: a language made up of two or more languages, used as a way of communicating by people whose first languages are different from each other.

Again, these are usually languages created for the purposes of trade.

The requirements of a Pidgin are:

1. The language is specially constructed by its users to suit the needs of its users. So if it is for trading in cattle, there will be few words for discussing anything else, like the weather, or vegetables, or your favorite painter.

2. It should be as simple and easy to learn as possible.

3. The vocabulary is usually based on the vocabulary of the dominant group—wherever people are speaking the pidgin.

4. It is a compromise language between the language of one group and the other in some way, whether its grammar from one vocabulary from the other, or a mix of both of these.

Runglish

One example of this is “Runglish” If we take it as a term for describing a Russian-English pidgin language, it was popularized in 2000, when the language aboard the International Space Station was described as "Runglish". Runglish is in fact also spoken in a number of English-Russian communities, most notably the Russian-speaking Jewish community of Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, New York.

Creoles

Now, when a pidgin becomes so popular that it begins to have native speakers, people begin to teach their children the language, it’s vocabulary expands, and it gradually becomes the dominant language of communication it is called a Creole.

Creole: A language that is a mixture of two or more other languages and is spoken as the FIRST language of a people.

Creoles and u.S. History

Creoles are interesting for the social-historical information they provide about their speakers. The majority of Creoles now in existence, in fact, are usually a mix of ENGLISH and another variety. This is especially true of Creoles in and around the continent of North America. There are a number of Creoles spoken in the U.S. In particular, along the coast of South Carolina (south eastern U.S) is a Creole called Gullah which is spoken primarily by African American descendants of slaves. In Louisiana (southern U.S.), French Creole is a mixture between French and English and spoken by a diverse set of people. Finally, Hawaiian Creole, spoken in Hawaii is a mix of the indigenous Hawaiian language and English.

Language shift

Finally what happens when one language in a mulitilingual speech community begins to dominate and the other, native language begins to disappear?

This is called a language shift.

A language shift can be defined as: The gradual or sudden move from the use of one language to another.

The result of the contact of two languages can be the replacement of one by the other.

This is a major concern for some countries with the spread of English.

When a linguistic community ceases to use their original language, we speak of language death.