1. Involve native speakers creating change in the language they’ve inherited Cultural factors influence speed of change

2. Special case of language change –Adaptation for limited communication among speakers of different languages –Radically simplified language Simplicity does NOT reflect upon the linguistic abilities of speakers

3. Need arises from cultural contact A form of “lingua franca” –Shared or “link” language

4. Formed from a “target” language plus one other –Both with native speakers Limited vocabulary (800-1500 words) Loss of grammatical markers, like inflections Comparison/intensification marked by repetitions Most vocabulary from target language Phonology from other language

5. The grammatical “simplification” evident in English may owe itself to the formation of a localized pidgin a thousand years ago…thousand years ago… Simplifications continue later as well…continue later as well…

6. As uses of a pidgin expand Pidgin then becomes richer –Borrowing (from native and other languages) –Innovation –Sound change