What is a pidgin language?

A pidgin language emerges in situations where speakers of different native languages need to communicate, often in contexts such as trade, work, or colonial environments. This type of language is characterized by its development out of necessity, allowing people who do not share a common language to interact and understand one another.

While it's true that a pidgin usually simplifies the grammar and vocabulary of the involved languages, defining it solely as a combination with simplified grammar overlooks the crucial context of its formation—specifically its creation in multilingual contact scenarios. Thus, a more precise understanding recognizes that the genesis of a pidgin language is fundamentally linked to the interaction between distinct language groups.