Most people know that linguists study languages, but there is a unique area of the field that examines something a bit different: pidgins. These are simplified languages that arise from the mixing of two or more languages, often in contexts like overseas trade or enslavement. Pidgins aren’t fully developed languages; they have small vocabularies and minimal grammar. They mainly allow people to make basic statements, ask questions, and give commands. Chinese Pidgin English, for example, was spoken on the coast of China from the 18th century to the mid-20th century. It possibly gave us the phrase “long time no see” and had a vocabulary of just a few hundred words and minimal grammatical structures.
Some pidgins evolve into more complex languages, as seen with Jamaican patois, Papiamentu, Cape Verdean, and Saramaccan of Suriname. These have extensive vocabularies and grammars that can fill books.
Linguists often study how pidgins develop into full languages. However, language can also deteriorate into simpler forms, a phenomenon that has been brought to mind by President Biden’s recent verbal performances during debates and interviews.
Biden, never known for flawless oratory, has shown a noticeable decline in the coherence and complexity of his speech, a concern for someone in his position. What’s happening, linguistically, could be thought of as a form of unraveling.