Pidgins and Creoles
Singlish Frozen
Play videoA scene from Disney's Frozen, dubbed over in Singlish. Sometimes referred to as the most efficient language, Singlish is a creole language spoken in Singapore that incorporates English as well as various other languages like Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil.
The BBC in pidgin? People like it well-well
The BBC World Service now distributes its news in West African Pidgin English, spoken by some 75 million people. [Published on 12-30-2017]
Creoles
Play videoThis short video gives a great background of how far language can come from something as simple as a few words that are understood between a small group. It shows how creoles get created through pidgins.
Myrtle Woodcock speaks Chinook language 1952
Play videoA recording from 1952 of a woman speaking Chinook language.
creole languages
encyclopedia britannica's definition/history of creole language
Nigerian Opera Sung in Pidgin English
An article describing an opera written and sung by a speaker of Nigerian Pidgin English. [Published on 08-14-2015]
Stereotypes of Variation within a Creole (TCE)
A non-Linguist self reflects on attending her "prestige" secondary school in Trinidad, noting auditory intonational and lexical differences that marks these girls. They also tend to speak closer to the (acrolectal) "Standard," marked as the more educated (prestige) style of discourse. [Published on 07-19-2010]