• 1) A pidgin is a variety of a language (e.g. English) that developed for some practical purpose, such as trading, among groups of people who had a lot of contact, but who did not know each other' s languages.
  • 2) In some areas, the standard chosen may be a variety that originally had no native speakers in the country.
  • 3) For example, in Papua New Guinea, a lot of official business is conducted in Tok Pisin.
  • 4) This language is now used by over a million people, but it began many years earlier as a kind of 'contact' language called a pidgin.