Pidgins and Creoles by Nessa Wolfson

I really found this article interesting. I found it interesting that there is no definition of a pidgeon and creole that all the scholars can agree on. For me to understand the meaning of them it was helpful to read that creoles are derived from pidgeons. A pidgin is not a native language and a creole can be. Therefore, you know pidgeons come first. A pidgin is no one's native langauge. It arises in situations of contact between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages and develop into relatively stable linguistic systems with their own syntax, lexicon, and phonology. Anyone who speakes a pidgin language is, by definition, bilingual. A creole language is whena pidgin gains native speakers it become a creole.
An example of when a pidgin and creole language came into being was the European Colonialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. This is when people dominated by other cultures were frequently transported and shipped to other places for cheap or free labor. For example, when slaves were brought to America there were people from many different linguistic backgrounds forced into on place to work together and they clearly needed a common form of communication. Therefore, it could be said that a pidgin was created. However, it is also said that no bilingual situation gives rise to a pidgin.
There are several theories on how pidgins originated.
1. Baby talk or foreigner talk theory - masters accomidating speech to make it intelligible to workers.
2. Independent Parallel Development Theory or the theory of Polygenesis - sonce pidgins arose in seperate situations, each must be considered to have developed indepenedntly.
3. Pidgins arose from the nautical jargon used by sailors during the period of extensive exploration which began in 15th century.
4. Monogenesis - all pidgins began from a language called Sabir.
The article then points out that it is difficult to pinpoint the historical origin of pidgins and creoles that maybe it would be the most beneficial to find a "common" origin. Also, Bickerton argues that the origin of creoles and the way children aquire their first langauge are similar in the way that they make a cognitive map like the one Chompsky proposed. Thus, he argues that syntatic differences can be explained by recognizing that there are universal cognitive strategies at work in the development of creole langauges.
I also think than langauge Esperanto is really interesting. This is the langauge the UN made up. It was created so that no nation has the upper hand by choosing to speak thier language. Leaders can speak Esperanto when meeting to maintain their feeling of power. I really found this interesting, especially since it seems that this idea really isn't working. I see the purpose and I can see it being a good idea. I don't remember which countries actually have learned Esperanto and use it, but it not many. Perhaps to many world leaders would feel weak or defeated or are just too stubborn.