Pidgin is largely considered to be a contact language, and it is not difficult to find definitions which will state that it is a language with no native speakers, as opposed to Creole, which would be a language with native speakers.
Many sources define one in terms of the other, meaning Pidgin would be a simpler form of a language developed for strict communication in a specific context, used by people who do not share a common language, and Creole would be its more complex form, carried on by following generations, hence representing a different stage of a language, one in which it connects with cultural identity. The former one is often categorized as an artificial language, and the latter as a natural language.
What they have in common, then, is their origin. And here, this will be taken into consideration. I'm talking about Pidgin and Creole in the context of slave trade.
However, when researching in literature, I found researchers referring to Creole including Pidgin and the opposite as well, referring to Pidgin which included Creole. Also, considering the existence of Nigerian Pidgin English and Hawaiian Pidgin, even though not in theoretical terms, but as referred to by their speech communities, those definitions show themselves to be insufficient.
To propose a definition of these terms, and languages, I will try to show a bit about how the research for their origins and use by contemporary speech communities points to a much more complex reality, which could be better related to the inherent connection between language, identity and culture.
By doing so, I'm far from saying the former definitions are wrong, or from creating a sufficient theoretical point of view of my own, for I am not a scholar nor a linguist, hence the attempt is modestly into pointing out a little about how these languages were studied from different theoretical frameworks, and raising my own questions about what they mean.
Many sources define one in terms of the other, meaning Pidgin would be a simpler form of a language developed for strict communication in a specific context, used by people who do not share a common language, and Creole would be its more complex form, carried on by following generations, hence representing a different stage of a language, one in which it connects with cultural identity. The former one is often categorized as an artificial language, and the latter as a natural language.
What they have in common, then, is their origin. And here, this will be taken into consideration. I'm talking about Pidgin and Creole in the context of slave trade.
However, when researching in literature, I found researchers referring to Creole including Pidgin and the opposite as well, referring to Pidgin which included Creole. Also, considering the existence of Nigerian Pidgin English and Hawaiian Pidgin, even though not in theoretical terms, but as referred to by their speech communities, those definitions show themselves to be insufficient.
To propose a definition of these terms, and languages, I will try to show a bit about how the research for their origins and use by contemporary speech communities points to a much more complex reality, which could be better related to the inherent connection between language, identity and culture.
By doing so, I'm far from saying the former definitions are wrong, or from creating a sufficient theoretical point of view of my own, for I am not a scholar nor a linguist, hence the attempt is modestly into pointing out a little about how these languages were studied from different theoretical frameworks, and raising my own questions about what they mean.
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