Behold

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin

Comments

[Fallen Knight]

Yeah thats a thing sadly. And from what i know about it its actually an official bbc site...

[Ice Star]

4949607
it's beautiful

[rikusorasephiroth]

I don't get it.

[Ice Star]

4949613
pidgin is art

[NorrisThePony]

i.reddituploads.com/efe329b027e348a0962f92e9ab6c44bf?fit=max&h=1536&w=1536&s=9f04878646525b520d8ab3c3164999b7

[Drachos]

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Some context for people who have no idea whats going on. (Sorry Ice Star)

Cameroonian Pidgin English is the language you read (and maybe heard) just then and surprisingly/sadly its one of the major languages of the nation of Cameroon, with 5% of the population having it as a First Language and 50% of the population speaking it in some form. While not one of the OFFICIAL language of the nation (that being English and French) , the nation has 13 major languages and over 250 minor languages.

The Germans when they took over the colony tried to stamp it out and failed, and thus it remained a way for slaves of various tribes to communicate with each other. And when the nation worked towards independence, they obviously used the language most of the now ex-slaves spoke.

Given this, it has long been chosen as the language of choice by politicians, playgrounds and the media. If half the nation has a vague idea what the hell you are saying, you have done well in a nation with that much language diversity.

Thus despite the fact its a clear colonial hang-on, and despite the fact it sounds racist as all fuck, and despite the fact some people find it funny, and others find it disgusting, its one of two languages that may one day become the official and main language of Cameroon.

NOTE: And if you think that the other language can't get any worse, you would be wrong. The other language is Camfranglais which is what happens when you take Cameroonian Pidgin English and then start adding random bits of French vocabulary and Grammar.

[Fallen Knight]

4949709
Learning something new is always fun!

Seems to me like actual "regular" English would be easier to do but eh, if they learn and do mostly Pidgin English then it would be much easier for them then regular one.

[Ice Star]

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4949715
There's Pidgin in Hawaii too! It's just really funny to read, and I don't think that part really needs explaining as to why.

Just fucking read this.

[Drachos]

4949715
Pidgens (which is a type of language) are a result of three or more ppl who don't speak the same language trying to communicate. As such they tend to be a mishmash of the languages they do know.

One of them will convey to the others that a word means happy and once they all understand that, its easier to just agree that word means happy to all of them then teach them the word for happy in each of the 3 languages.

Meanwhile other words that sound 'closer enough' also make their way in.

So why is it mostly English instead of a mix of native languages.....cause the original English colonists didn't want to learn native. Instead they would just beat slaves that did the wrong thing, shout away the slaves repeatedly and occationally promote slaves they could understand to better positions.

As such English tends to dominate Pidgens globally. French is also very common.

[Trick Question]

https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/world-45743376

"Anoda woman don die afta she go do operation to get big bum-bum"

[Trick Question]

4949735
Dam, you don way beaten me day ting.

[Ice Star]

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<pidgin for you're welcome> C: