verb
- to reduce (a language) to a pidgin; to simplify a language by removing grammatical complexity and reducing vocabulary
Usage: British spelling (American: pidginizes); third person singular present tense; linguistics term
Examples
- The colonial trade routes pidginises the local languages as merchants from different regions interact.
- Rapid language contact sometimes pidginises grammatical structures.
- Linguists study how prolonged contact pidginises vocabulary in multilingual communities.
- The process pidginises both grammar and pronunciation over generations.
- When speakers lack formal education in a language, they may pidginises it through simplification.