Pidgin Grammar: An Introduction to the Creole Language of Hawai'i

Abstract

This book is about the grammar of Pidgin. Ho! many people might be thinking: how can you have a grammar of Pidgin when it's not a language? Isn't it just "broken English"? The answer is that Pidgin is a distinct language, and not just a "careless" form of English. True, most of the words in Pidgin come from English. But what makes it a separate language is that many of these words have meanings and functions different from those of English. Also, many of them are pronounced differently, and they are combined in ways not found in English. In other words, Pidgin has its own system of meanings, sounds and word combinations. When people speak a language, they subconsciously know the "rules" for that language—that is, what words mean, how they are pronounced. and how they can be combined. In other words, they know what kinds of things you can say in the language, and what kinds of things you can't say. ... These days, linguists (people who study language) use the term "grammar" or "grammatical rules" to refer to the rules people know subconsciously for speaking their language. In the past, books on "grammar" were designed to teach people to talk in what was considered a "proper" or "correct" way. So, for example, English grammar books had rules such as "Do not end a sentence with a preposition." They would declare that "To whom did you speak?" (which few people would say nowadays) is correct, while "Who did you talk to?" (which most people would say) is incorrect. But nowadays, books about the grammar of a language simply describe the way people really talk, rather than prescribing how they should talk. So this book, 'Pidgin Grammar', is about how people actually speak Pidgin. It is meant to be a resource for anyone who wants to find out about the language and how it works. People who don't know anything about Pidgin will find this book useful, as will people who speak the language but may not have thought about its history or structure. We have tried to make the book as uncomplicated as possible and explain all linguistic terms and concepts as we go along. So the book is written for people without any background in linguistics, and for teachers who might find the explanations helpful for their students or themselves.