Talk:Pidgin (language)

To Do's for this article

This Pidgin article is developing nicely. Some further references would bring the level closer to what is needed for full approval. Leaning so heavily on just a few sources limits the article's authority. McWhorter's The Power of Babel, while generally a relatively accessible discussion of the nature of language, doesn't have the authority of his journal articles and other academic publications. It is probably best recommended in a list of suggested further sources for lay readers. A few more academic publications (e.g., those of John Holm or Gillian Sankoff) probably merit some reference here.

Richard J. Senghas 01:46, 14 September 2007 (CDT)

Disambig?

We now have Pidgin chat client. Do we need a disambiguation page? Should this article mention the other? Sandy Harris 16:52, 3 March 2010 (UTC)

Yes, it seems that the two terms are quite competitive, judging by a Google search. Pidgin should redirect to a disambiguation page, I suppose. That would mean the articles wouldn't have to refer to each other as anyone searching for 'pidgin' would get the disambig page. John Stephenson 04:04, 4 March 2010 (UTC)

Native speakers?

The current definition starts "A language with no native speakers..". I'm not certain that's always true, but it is certainly one way to make the rather tricky distinction between a pidgin and a creole — once there are native speakers, it is a creole. Does it belong in the definition, though?

Later, "Tok Pisin" (which I'd call "Pidgin" or "Neo-Melanesian Pidgin", as the only person I know who'd spent much time in PNG did) is used as an example of a pidgin. That certainly has native speakers, though, so it does not fit our current definition. Sandy Harris 09:58, 7 March 2010 (UTC)