Pacific Pidgins and Creoles

Download or read book Pacific Pidgins and Creoles written by Darrell T. Tryon and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-05-12 with total page 581 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pacific Pidgins and Creoles discusses the complex and fascinating history of English-based pidgins in the Pacific, especially the three closely related Melanesian pidgins: Tok Pisin, Pijin, and Bislama. The book details the central role of the port of Sydney and the linguistic synergies between Australia and the Pacific islands in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the role of Pacific islander plantation labor overseas, and the differentiation which has taken place in the pidgins spoken in the Melanesian island states in the 20th century. It also looks at the future of Pacific pidgins at a time of increasing vernacular language endangerment.