The first volume of Holm's major survey of pidgins and creoles provide an up-to-date and readable introduction to a field of study that has become established only in the past few decades. Written for both students and general readers with a basic knowledge of linguistics, the book's original perspective will also attract specialists in the field seeking a broad overview of the linguistic and sociolinguistic relationships between these languages.

Restructured versions of English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, and other languages arose during European colonial expansion, resulting in...

This second volume of John Holm's Pidgins and Creoles provides an overview of the social-historical development of each of some one hundred known pidgins and creoles. Each variety is grouped according to the language from which it drew its lexicon -- Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, English, African and other languages. John Holm convincingly demonstrates the historical and linguistic reasons for this organization, which also enables the reader to perceive with ease the interrelationship of all varieties within each group. The section devoted to each variety provides a discussion of its...