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Word of the day October 8
The Word of the Day for October 8 is:
pidgin • \PIH-jun\ • (noun) a simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages
A little more information about today’s word:
The history of "pidgin" begins about the early 19th century in the South China city of Guangzhou. Chinese merchants interacting with English speakers on the docks in this port sometimes pronounced the word "business" as "bigeon." By the century’s end, "bigeon" had degenerated into "pigeon" and finally "pidgin," which then appropriately became the descriptor of the unique communication necessitated when people who speak different languages meet. Pidgins generally consist of a small vocabulary (Chinese Pidgin English has only 700 words), but some have grown to become the native language of a group. Examples include Sea Island Creole spoken in South Carolina’s Sea Islands; Haitian Creole; and Louisiana Creole. The alteration of "bigeon" to "pigeon" also gave us "pigeon," meaning "an object of special concern" or "accepted business or interest."
My sentence:
Creole, which is now spoken in parts of southern Louisiana, originated as a pidgin spoken between French-speaking colonists and African slaves.
Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.
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