Mark Wyner Won’t Comply 

So…I was researching the coin shortage in Cameroon. En route I stumbled upon a BBC article written in pidgin. I really had no idea that media outlets were formally publishing in pidgin. Did you? Has anyone seen this before?

For those new to pidgin, it’s a conglomerate version of two languages to help facilitate communication.

The article:
https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/articles/cmmllr4j1qdo

More on pidgin:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pidgin

#Pidgin #Language #Linguistics #Translation

Commerce in Cameroon: Why e hard to find coins inside Cameroon? - BBC News Pidgin

For more than two years now, for Cameroon, 25frs, 50frs, 100frs and 500frs coin don dey rare like gold. How traders and customers dey survive di mata? Wetin go explain di scarcity?

BBC News Pidgin
May 30, 2023 at 7:16pmWeb
Show threadMark Wyner Won’t Comply May 30, 2023
As an aside, some folks think pidgin is a racial thing. It’s not. Its etymology also not related to “pigeon.” Moreover, it’s not only Creole-based communication. It was originally Chinese/English based. I think that’s why I’m confused that BBC has a localized version of this article.
Show threadKris Freedain 🙏 🏋🏻 🍕May 31, 2023
@markwyner fantastic! I've not seen an article translated and published in pidgin. My wife's family is from Hawaii, so I'm aware of pidgin from there. A fascinating and fun dialect to hear for sure. (I can understand some of it as well - at least when I'd heard her cousins years ago)
Show threadOuteastMay 30, 2023
@markwyner I first came across it when prepping a presentation on world Englishes a few years ago. Heard some Pidgin programming on the World Service on the radio, too, though I don't know if that's survived the swingeing cuts of the last few years. It's got a hella lot of speakers so it makes sense.