Contact Languages of the Pacific

Abstract

With over 1,000 indigenous languages and a recent history of colonial exploitation, the Pacific region has provided a fertile context for the growth of contact languages. This chapter first describes new languages (pidgins and creoles) and then new dialects (koines and indigenized varieties) that have emerged in the Pacific as the result of language contact. Pidgins are new languages that develop out of a need for a medium of communication among people who do not share a common language – for example, between traditional trading partners or among plantation laborers from diverse geographic origins. Although the chapter shows the diverse origins and linguistic features of Pacific contact varieties, some commonality in their development can also be seen in various shared characteristics. These include formal simplicity compared to contributing languages.