Language history from below: Pidgins and Creoles as examples

Abstract

This paper argues for pidgins and creoles as examples of a relatively new perspective to historical sociolinguistics called “language history from below,” which focuses on the language use of ordinary people. While recent research on major European languages adopting this perspective has produced some significant results, a “from below” perspective of pidgins and creoles has not yet been explored. Focusing on Chinese Pidgin English data from various historical sources, this paper shows how its evolution, groups of users, and the linguistic variation of the preposition long exemplify the idea of “language history from below.”