Both pidgin and creole languages are products of colonialism, contact languages that developed when groups speaking different languages needed a shared means of communication. Typically, the lexifierthe dominant language that contributes most of the vocabulary and grammarhas been English, though there are instances of pidgins based on French and Basque as well. While pidgins, such as the Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin, are simplified languages with limited vocabulary and basic grammatical structures, creoles are more developed pidgins that have stabilized and are now used as a primary or native language, particularly by children. Creoles, such as the Torres Strait and Roper River Kriol in Australia, are fully-fledged languages with complex structures and rich vocabularies.The Pidgins and Creoles of MelanesiaSouth Sea whalers boiling blubber, watercolor by Sir Oswald Brierly, 1876. Source: Wikimedia CommonsEstimates suggest that between 20 to 30 pidgin and Creole languages are currently spoken across various islands in the Pacific. Melanesia is one of the most linguistically rich and diverse regions in the world, with Papua New Guinea being the most linguistically diverse country globally, featuring at least 840 known languages spoken by its inhabitants.The so-called Early Melanesian Pidgin emerged in the 19th century when Europeans, along with Australians and Americans, began establishing trading stations for whaling, sandalwood, and bche-de-mer (trepang) in Melanesia. Locals, who spoke thousands of sometimes very different languages, communicated with the English-speaking newcomers through a mix of simplified English and gestures. Over the following decades, the Early Melanesian Pidgin spread extensively across the various Melanesian islands, evolving under the influence of the local languages. As a result, three different pidgins are now spoken in Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.Solomon Islands, photograph by Gilly Tanabose. Source: UnsplashTok Pisin (formerly known as Neo-Melanesian) is an English-based pidgin spoken in Papua New Guinea, particularly in the islands mixed urban areas. It is one of Papua New Guineas three official languages, along with English and Hiri Motu. Hiri Motu itself (initially called Police Motu) is a pidginized form of Motu (or True Motu), the Central Papuan Tip language spoken predominantly in the Port Moresby region. Tok Pisin developed during the latter half of the 19th century on the islands sugarcane and copra plantations, where most workers came from Malaysia, Melanesia, and China.The distinction between pidgins and creoles continues to be debated and can change as the status of languages evolves. For instance, Tok Pisin is sometimes classified as a pidgin, an expanded pidgin, or even a creole due to its complexity and extensive use as a vernacular rather than merely as a lingua franca.Vanuatu, photograph by Sebastian Luo. Source: UnsplashBislama, known as bichelamar among the French, is the national language of the Republic of Vanuatu, formerly known as the New Hebrides, a volcanic archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, east of New Guinea and southeast of Solomon Islands. Bislama is an English-based pidgin, with over 95% of its vocabulary derived from English. The rest largely comes from French and the local Austronesian languages of Vanuatu.The origins and development of Bislama are closely linked to the history of Australia, particularly to the shameful phenomenon now referred to as blackbirding. When former blackbirdsSouth Sea Islander men and women who were kidnapped or employed on plantations in Queensland, Samoa, Fiji, and New Caledoniawere finally able to return to their native islands, they brought with them the pidgin they had learned.South Sea Islander women working on a sugarcane plantation near Cairns, Queensland, 1895. Source: National Museum of AustraliaOver the years, Pijin, the English-based pidgin language spoken extensively in the Solomon Islands, has effectively become the unofficial national language of the six major islands and approximately 900 smaller islands that make up the Solomons, or Solomon Aelan, as they are known in Pijin. About 80% of its vocabulary is derived from English, its main lexifier. Pijin is closely related to both Tok Pisin and Bislama in terms of its history and linguistic origins; today, it is spoken as a main language in urban centers and as a secondary language in most rural areas.Aboriginal EnglishAboriginal Australians employed in R.A. Cunninghams touring company in Germany, photograph by Julius Schaar, 1885. Source: National Portrait GalleryMany Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders today speak Standard Australian English (AusE), the language of colonization that was imposed on their ancestors at the expense of their ancestral languages. However, an estimated 80% of Aboriginal Australians regularly speak Aboriginal English (AbE) as a first, and often only, language.Aboriginal English is a diverse collection of dialects that lie between Standard Australian English (AusE) and the various Aboriginal languages and creoles spoken throughout Australia. As Sharon Davis notes in an article for AIATSIS, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, AbE is not a form of AusE, but rather both are varieties of English. Like any language, Aboriginal English features heavy and light varieties, with the latter often being inaccessible to outsiders and those who do not speak AbE.Survey team working for the Northern Territory Public Works Department, photograph by Anton Faymann, 1957-58. Source: Wikimedia CommonsSome linguists believe that in certain communities Aboriginal English did not evolve from a pidgin-based language but instead emerged from an Aboriginalization of English, with Aboriginal speakers adapting English by incorporating specific accents, rhythms, words, and phrases from their ancestral languages. In this context, English was shaped by the local Aboriginal languages, rather than the reverse. Sharon Davis also points out that Aboriginal English is not formally taught in schools or universities because it is a community-developed language that belongs to community.In AbE, constructions such as uninverted questions (Thats your car? instead of Is that your car?) and double negatives are rather common. These should not be considered grammatical errors but different grammatical rules consistent with Aboriginal English. Nowadays, given the racist use of pidgin languages by non-Indigenous Australians in the past, using the term pidgin English in regards to Aboriginal English is often considered offensive.In Australias central desert regions, in present-day Northern Territory, as well as northern Queensland and parts of Western Australia, European encroachment proceeded much slower than in the rest of the country, photograph by Damien Tait. Source: UnsplashIt is worth remembering that the colonization of Australia did not occur uniformly across the continent. The southern regions, specifically present-day Victoria and New South Wales were the first to be settled. By the 1850s, Aboriginal customs and traditional ways of life had already experienced a significant decline.In contrast, in the tropical north and the central desert regionsincluding what is now northern Queensland, the Northern Territory, and part of Western AustraliaEuropean encroachment proceeded at a slower pace, allowing Aboriginal lifestyles and languages to remain largely intact for many years. The evolution of Aboriginal English dialects and the survival or extinction of Indigenous languages reflect the different phases of European colonization and the development of Indigenous-settler relations since the onset of colonialism.Torres Strait CreoleCatching sardines in the Torres Strait in a picture that is part of the Williamson Collection assembled by Archdeacon A.N. Williamson, 1900s-1930s. Source: Wikimedia CommonsTorres Strait Creole, also known as Yumplatok and Ailan Tok, is an English-based creole spoken by Aboriginal communities on various Torres Strait Islands, situated between the northern tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea, as well as in southwestern coastal Papua New Guinea, and Northern Cape York on mainland Australia. In Queensland, particularly in coastal communities such as Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, and Rockhampton, it is the most widely spoken Indigenous language, used as either a first or second language.Torres Strait Creole originated in the 1870s as a pidgin language that served as a bridge between locals and English-speaking newcomerstraders, missionaries, workers, and settlers. It quickly evolved into a full creole.Torres Strait Islanders, who were discouraged and actively prevented from speaking their ancestral languages, began to incorporate words and distinctive structures from their languages, particularly Meriam Mir and Kala Lagaw Ya, along with expressions from Standard Australian English.Double outrigger canoe made of cedar, palm, bamboo, and grass from Saibai Island, in the Torres Strait, 2000. Source: National Museum of AustraliaSome Yumplatok words also derive from Japanese, Malay, and various languages spoken in Papua New Guinea, such as Bine, Kiwai, Motu, and Gizrra. Overall, Torres Strait Creole shows more similarities with Pacific creoles and pidgins, such as Tok Pisin, Bislama, and Pijin, rather than other creole languages spoken on mainland Australia.While the vocabulary mainly comes from English, the sentence structure and verb conjugations are influenced by Torres Strait languages, and its phonology and pronunciation borrow heavily from both groups. Today, Torres Strait Creole continues to be used by thousands of people7,380 persons, according to the 2021 censuseither as a first or second language.Roper River KriolRoper River Mission, renamed Ngukurr in 1988. Source: Wikimedia CommonsUnlike Yumplatok, Kriol (also known as Roper River Kriol) descends from the Port Jackson Pidgin English (PJPE), which developed upon contact between Aboriginal people and British colonizers in the area that is now Sydney, New South Wales, during the early days of colonization. Kriol is still spoken in the Top End and the Kimberley region. PJPE gradually died out in most parts of Australia but persisted in the Northern Territory. Linguists call this variant Northern Territory Pidgin English (NTPE).By the turn of the 20th century, the language had stabilized and creolized, meaning, it developed from a contact language pidgin into a fully functioning creole, with its own unique rules, pronunciation, and grammatical structures, particularly on cattle stations, missions, and reserves. The Roper River Mission (now known by its Aboriginal name Ngukurr) was the first place where it consistently creolized.Missions and reserves in Australia. Source: Australian MuseumIn 1908, around 200 Aboriginal people from different tribes lived among Anglican missionaries in the Roper River region. Their children spoke different languages but were placed into dormitories together, which facilitated the creolization of the contact language they spoke, despite the missionaries efforts to teach children Standard English as their first language.Kriol is now the largest language spoken exclusively in Australia and the second most common language in the Northern Territory. Because it is generally difficult for non-speakers to understand and nearly incomprehensible to those who only speak Standard English, Kriol (and Yumplatok) speakers have often faced discrimination, both physical and psychological. Like Aboriginal English, Kriol is a language deeply rooted in the communities where it is spoken. It is a distinct language from English, fully functional, complex, sophisticated, and expressive enough to be used to translate Shakespeares works and the Bible.Broome Pearling Lugger PidginJapanese pearl divers in Broome, 1914. Source: National Museum of AustraliaBy the turn of the 20th century, Broome (or Rubibi, as called by the Yawuru people) became the center of the pearling industry, catering to the increasing European and American demand for large pearl shell buttons and mother-of-pearl shells used for buckles, cufflinks, musical instruments, and cutlery handles. By 1900, Western Australia experienced a boom in the pearling industry. Infrastructure such as hospitals, roads, stores, and jails were built to support the pearling fleets along the coast, from Shark Bay in the south to King Sound in the north.Broome, a coastal town in the Kimberley region of present-day Western Australia, attracted workers from Japan, China, and Korea, who often integrated with local Aboriginal tribes and Torres Strait Islanders, despite the rising white Australia movement and anti-Asia discrimination. For decades, pearling represented not only a significant source of income but also a point of pride for Aboriginal, Islander, and Asian communities in Australia.Broome, Western Australia, photograph by Paul-Alain Hunt. Source: UnsplashPearlers, both men and women, came from various cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Some were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, while others were Asian or European. In this rich, multicultural, and multilingual environment, the Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin emerged. This language served as a bridge for communication between Aboriginal people, Malays, Japanese, Torres Strait Islanders, Koreans, and Chinese workers on pearling boats around Broome and the north coast of Western Australia.The primary lexifier of the Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin was not English, but Kupang Malay. Its vocabulary and grammar were influenced by Malay, Japanese, Chinese, and local Aboriginal languages, as well as Englishthough some linguists note that the English terms used were more similar to Aboriginal Australian than Standard Australian English. The Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin ceased to be used in the 1960s.South Sea Islander wooden figure, 1914. Source: British MuseumIts history reflects the changing demographics of the pearling workforce. As the workforce became more ethnically uniformparticularly following the 1901 Immigration Restriction Act and after World War I and World War IIthe need for the language diminished, leading to its gradual decline in use.The origins and development of pidgins, from Tok Pisin to Bislama and the Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin, as well as creole languages such as the Torres Strait and Roper River Kriol, are revealing of the colonial history of most countries in the Pacific. From Australia to Papua New Guinea, from Vanuatu to the Solomon Islands, pidgins emerged when the local population came into contact with newcomerstypically Anglophone settlers, traders, and whalerswho required a common language for communication.Over time, some pidgins evolved into more complex forms and eventually became the first languages of some communities. In the Pacific, as in North America, languages continue to reflect historical events and socio-economic developments.