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Nigerian Pidgin, also known simply as Pidgin or Broken (Broken English) or as Naijá in scholarship, is an English-based creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria. The language is sometimes referred to as Pijin or Vernacular .
There are over 520 native languages spoken in Nigeria. [1] [2] [3] The official language is English, [4] [5] which was the language of Colonial Nigeria.The English-based creole Nigerian Pidgin – first used by the British and African slavers to facilitate the Atlantic slave trade in the late 17th century [6] – is the most common lingua franca, spoken by over 60 million people.
Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from English. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creoles . English-based pidgins that became stable contact languages, and which have some documentation, include the following:
Français Tirailleur, a pidgin language [1] spoken in West Africa by soldiers in the French Colonial Army, approximately 1850–1960. Tây Bồi Pidgin French, pidgin language spoken in former French Colonies in Indochina, primarily Vietnam
A pidgin [1] [2] [3] / ˈ p ɪ dʒ ɪ n /, or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from several languages.
West African Pidgin English arose during the period of the transatlantic slave trade as a language of commerce between British and African slave traders. Portuguese merchants were the first Europeans to trade in West Africa beginning in the 15th century, and West African Pidgin English contains numerous words of Portuguese origin such as sabi ('to know'), a derivation of the Portuguese saber. [3]
Apart from the speakers of standard English, a large portion of the population, roughly a third, speaks Nigerian pidgin, which has a primarily English lexicon. It has become a common lingua franca as a result. Pidgin English is a creolized form of the language. For instance, "How you dey" means "How are you".
BBC News Pidgin is an online news service in West African Pidgin English that was launched by the BBC World Service in 2017. [1] [2] It is based in Lagos, Nigeria.[1]Pidgin, first used by British and African slavers to facilitate the Atlantic slave trade in the late 17th century, has become one of the most widely spoken languages in West Africa, with up to 75 million speakers in Nigeria alone.