"Pidgin" English or brokin English (as it is called) originated during the slave trade era as a means of communication between the Europeans and the Africans, according to a novel by Chinua Achebe "the Europeans seemed to speak through their noses" , this made communication with the locals an herculean task, thus the need to integrate the English language with their local diet for better understanding this marked the beginning of the pidgin English. It
was the language used in their business transaction.
After that era, the language stayed on as a means of communication amongst the people because of the many different African languages; In Nigeria, for example there are over five hundred different languages . like most languages, it has really evolved with new words been added at regular intervals.

Wikipedia defines Nigerian (naija) pidgin as an English-based pidgin and creole( dialect formed from two languages which has developed from a pidgin to become a first language. ) language spoken as a
lingua franca across Nigeria. Most people call it brokin English.

By implications the pidgin English we use today in our day to day verbal communication must have been coined out from two or more languages, this statement may be true to some extent.

Consider the following example

"Walk" pidgin form "Waka" (Origin:English)
As i dey " waka" my own, na so i jam Talleasty1 for road....

Also consider

"you sabi do am?" means "do you know how
to do it?" "Sabi" means "to know" or "to know
how to" just as "to know" is "saber" in
Portuguese and Spanish. Also, Pikin or
Pickaninny is from the Spanish and
Portuguese word "pequeño"/"pequeno" to
mean "small". (remember the binis n d Portuguese)

However there are some complicated forms of pidgin whose origin one can never traced, how they became very popular among our traditional pidgin is what i still find difficult to understand.

Below are five most used pidgin words in naija which cannot be said to have originated from any language whatsoever.

1. "Kuku" : how this word found itself in our day to day pidgin English remains a wonder.. Who was the first person that used it, how did the first recipient of the word decipher the meaning, maybe the language was aided with talking fingers then, who knows.
Husband: mama Tina leave my shirt
Mama Tina: I know go leave am, where Tina school fees and money for food, useless man.
Husband: lands her(mama Tina) a very serious slap
Mama Tina: (with tears rushing down her eyes) make u KUKU kill me, kill me o..

2. Mama : hmm, u are probably wondering what mama is doing inside this list, when we all know it means mother, but wait! hunger dey Mama me o, lol. Na so rain Mama [/i]me yesterday from work

3. [i] Knack : this one, lol, d bad guys are already thinking spoil "Hungerbad don knack the babe tire" ewooo dem don knack my Pikin jazz.. Naijaboiy abeg wetin dey Knack for your time.


4. Una(ina) abeg if una reach class make ina keep sit for me. Hmm shooor

5. Yeye :, all this yeye children of nowadays wey no get respect for their elders go come jump enter this thread now come dey bash me

naijaboiy:

Poor network, I posted the thread twice. I hope the mods will delete one

We also use una and back in Cameroon pidgin.