Pidgin and creole languages
When studied in and for themselves, pidgins and creoles prove to be fascinating and rewarding languages. An understanding of their origins helps to illuminate the whole of language history, and a knowledge of their structure is valuable in formulating a general theory of language. Furthermore, familiarity with them is essential in the Caribbean, Africa, and the South Pacific, where they often are the only means of effective communication. In this important survey, the author discusses the characteristics, origins, and present distribution of all the major pidgin and creole languages; their structure, both individually and in relation to the languages out of which they have arisen; and their linguistic, social, and political significance.