verb
- to reduce (a language) to a simplified form with limited vocabulary and grammar, typically used for basic communication between speakers of different languages
- to express or communicate in pidgin
Usage: chiefly British spelling; American spelling is 'pidginize'; often used in linguistics and language studies
Usage: less common usage
Examples
- The colonial traders pidginised English to facilitate commerce with local populations.
- Linguists study how languages pidginise when speakers from different linguistic backgrounds interact.
- The vocabulary was pidginised to make it accessible to non-native speakers.
- Over time, the complex grammar rules were pidginised into simpler structures.
- Merchants pidginised their speech to communicate more effectively in the marketplace.