There have been a number of Arabic-based
pidgins throughout history, including a number of new ones emerging today.
The major attested historical Arabic pidgins are:
*
Maridi Arabic, a pidgin of ca. 1000 CE of the Upper Nile
*
Bimbashi Arabic
Bimbashi Arabic ("soldier Arabic", or Mongallese) was a pidgin of Arabic which developed among military troops in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, and was popular from 1870 to 1920. Bimbashi later branched and developed into three languages: Turku in Chad, ...
, a colonial-era pidgin of
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...
*
Turku Arabic, a pidgin of
colonial Chad
Chad was a part of the French colonial empire from 1900 to 1960. Colonial rule under the French began in 1900 when the Military Territory of Chad was established. From 1905, Chad was linked to the federation of French colonial possessions in ...
.
* There are still Arabic pidgins in Chad today, but since they have not been described, it is not known if they descend from Turku.
* Romanian Pidgin Arabic, spoken by Romanian oil-field workers in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
from the 1970s to the 1990s.
In the modern era, pidgin Arabic is most notably used by the large number of migrants to Arab countries. Examples include:
*
Gulf Pidgin Arabic, used by mostly immigrant laborers in the
Arabian Peninsula (and not necessarily a single language variety)
*
Jordanian Bengali Pidgin Arabic, used by
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
immigrants in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
*
Pidgin Madam, used by
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
domestic workers in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
[Fida Bizri, 2005]
Le Pidgin Madam: Un nouveau pidgin arabe
''La Linguistique'' 41, p. 54–66
Due to the nature of pidgins, this list is likely incomplete. New pidgins are likely to continue to develop and emerge due to language contact in the Arab world.
See also
*
Arabic-based creole languages
An Arabic-based creole language, or simply Arabic creole is a creole language which was significantly influenced by the Arabic language.
The main Arabic creoles are:
* Nubi: An Arabic-based creole spoken by descendants of Sudanese soldiers mainl ...
*
Varieties of Arabic
The varieties (or dialects or vernacular languages) of Arabic, a Semitic language within the Afroasiatic family originating in the Arabian Peninsula, are the linguistic systems that Arabic speakers speak natively. There are considerable variati ...
References
Sources
* Manfredi, Stefano and Mauro Tosco (eds.) 2014. Arabic-based Pidgins and Creoles. Special Issue of th
Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 29:2
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