MARITIME PIDGIN

MARITIME PIDGIN, also Nautical Jargon. A trade JARGON widely used by sailors, many of whom were multilingual, on European vessels from the 17c. Some scholars argue that it was passed on to others with whom the sailors came into contact, providing the origin of the European-based PIDGINS and CREOLES. Evidence can be found in the fact that most pidgins and creoles have a nautical element, though that should not be surprising since many of these languages are spoken in maritime areas. Not much support can be found for the so-called nautical jargon theory of the origin of pidgins, but the role of sailors in spreading linguistic features across vast areas accounts for some lexical similarities among such widely separated pidgins as Hawaii Pidgin English, Chinook Jargon, and Eskimo Jargon: for example, kanaka [Hawaiian: person, man] in Chinook Jargon and the English and French-based Pacific pidgins, and kaukau [from Chinese Pidgin English chowchow] in Eskimo Jargon and Hawaii Pidgin English.