1. the process by which a language becomes simplified and develops into a pidgin, typically through contact between speakers of different languages with no common tongue
Usage: British spelling; American variant is 'pidginization'; linguistics term; often used in historical and sociolinguistic contexts

Examples

• The pidginisation of English occurred in colonial trading ports where merchants from multiple nations needed to communicate.
• Linguists study pidginisation to understand how languages adapt under pressure.
• The pidginisation process typically involves the loss of grammatical complexity and reduction of vocabulary.
• Historical records show the pidginisation of various European languages in the Pacific islands.
• Pidginisation differs from creolization in that pidgins remain auxiliary languages rather than becoming native languages.