“PIDGIN ENGLISH”

Shannon News, 20 March 1928, Page 1

“PIDGIN ENGLISH”

A NEW DIGNITY RECOGNITION IN NEW GUINEA After a conference of her adminis-' tration officers and missionaries, New Guinea has announced the adoption of an official language. Since the usual knowledge of pidgin English is limited to such idiom as "all samec” an*d "no tiekee, no washee"" the idea of considering it as one of the polite languages seems a bit fantastic. • The sojourner in the Far East acquires a greater degree of fluency, of course, yet it is jusi as hard for’him to take pidgin seriously or to believe that such a, nonsensical jargon is at present the common tongue iii daily use by hundreds of thousands of people, that it is of such dignity as to boast a dictionary—-to ?ay nbthing of a literature —and that not more than forty years ago it was hailed as the cymiiig lingua franca of the whole world. The glory now conferred on pidgin by New Guinea has been earned over a long period of service—a service indispcnsible to the cosmopolitan Client. / ; . »■ , Piclgin 'English came into being in China in the seventeenth century when pioneer foreigners established themselves in Canton. Although they were there to court trade with the Chinese, the idea of mastering an Oriental tongue appealed to very, few of them. Sp, in time, \ the natives obligingly nc-. cepted the mental responsibilities necessary to relieve the situation and Set about trying to converse in the foreigners ’ language, which was, for| the .most part, English. : The Cantonese did not make this • concession without reservations. Apparbntly they retained the right to discard from English certain disagreeable elements having to do with structure and sound and to substitute for them some highly-de-lightful 'and; fantastic features reflecting their o}vn ingenuity. The result was pidgin. •

Consider the word "pidgin” it self, in comparison' tp _ our English "business,’' its literal . translation. "Business” is a word without charm, being clumsy, difficult to ‘ pronounce, wholly unpleasant. On the other hand,."pidgin” is a .sprightly word and a bit frolicsome. Considered from the, point of view Of 'the relationship ' between thought and sound, it takes the. grim utilitarian qualities, out of that activity we call business and leaves it a happy pastime.. Thus so truly expressing the Celestial’s conception of the ‘‘foreign devil’s”,business, as any one, who ligs experienced ’the : delightfur irresponsibility of the Chinese coolie knows, v. . ■ , . Learned ptynifelogists differ as fo the origin l of the word- "pidgin.” It ha's been credited to Hebrew, to P.ortu; guese and to Sanscrit! However, if you ! will corner an unlettered Chinaman and ask him' to say "business,” he, putting forth his best efforfi and beaming with the assurance that he’ understands you perfectly, Will respond with an unmistakable "pidgin.” The Chinese have a particular dislike for , words ending in certain consonants, and to this inhibition we may attribute such springhtly words as "cat-, chcee,” "piecee,” "losee,” . "muehqe,” "washee,” C‘wifo,” ‘/chilo”’ (Child), "gilo” (girl), etc. These insure a light, capricious style. ’ ..

Pidgin practically dispenses with grammatical inflection, an admirable characteristic'borrowed from the Chinese tongue. A single word serves for all first person pronouns, my meaning, I, we, mine, our, etc/’ 5 ; ‘ Chilo no b’long my” for'U That is not my child,” and “My no lilcee Canton-side” shows the diversity' of uses. Gender is disregarded along with other grammatical encumbrances and in the third person “he” meets all needs. “My missee, -ho no slop,” announces the houseboy when madam is out. A waiter serving breakfast apologised for the broken yolk of an egg with “My velly solly he bust.”

Pidgin is not without its literature. The earliest efforts were signs of Shanghai merchants, inspired by a desire for publicity among the “redhaired people.” Many of these early works afe still preserved, and those of contemporary merchants are quite as worth while. Laborious and unaided study of the dictionary is apparent, resulting in correctly spelled English words put together pidgin fashion. There is a conscious effort toward literary style, although clearness and ccnscisCness may be lacking. This is demonstrated by Suey Sun, who announces “Any Mortal Thing Can Do.” “Skinney Munitions” reads the- sign of his neighbour, a leather dealer, while a lingerie tailor, unaware that he is out of date, advertises “Ladys Garments of Modestee. ” The courteous barber makes known his good qualities by “Barber The Kindness Shop.” "Gentlemen Dress Taylor as Lades Maker — All Can Make It” competes

with "May Ti Pi Dross Taylor—Ladys Have Fits Upstairs." The missionary influence ia apparent in the legend of the thermos bottle vendor: ,f lcy Hot Bottles—Warm As The Love Of God."