An Introduction To Cameroonian Pidgin

Publisher: Bafut, Cameroon
Publication date: 2006
Number of pages: 73Pidgin is believed to have started back in the 15th century with the arrival of the Portuguese on the African coast. By the 17th century many other European and African ethnic groups had begun using it in their contacts and transactions with each other and had contributed to its evelopment. By the 19th century – the period of its greatest expansion – Pidgin was being used in West Cameroon, much of Southern Nigeria, Fernando Po, Sierra Leone, numerous other African coastal areas, and some inland areas. As a trade language –a language of contact – Pidgin has borrowed from a number of different quarters through the centuries. Many to name a few, have drifted into disuse, but some still remain. For example, the following words from Portuguese are still very current in Pidgin: pikin from pequenino, meaning "child" dash from dache, meaning gift or tribute sabi from saber, meaning to know palaba from palaba, meaning conference, "discussion.