2, ‘The development of theory’ (14–67), is very strong on the history of the discipline discussing such giants as Hugo Schuchardt, John Reinecke, Robert A. these misleading terms should, in my opinion, be abandoned’.Ĭh. Let me reiterate what I wrote in a review of the second edition of one of the leading texts ( Pidgin and creole linguistics by Peter Mühlhäusler ): ‘the notions “creoloid” = “semi-creole” = “quasi-creole”. For H, Popular Brazilian Portuguese and Afrikaans are semicreoles. H is right to criticize the term ‘creoloid’ but then continues to use it (10) and also promulgates the notion of semicreolization (ibid.). pidgin is best understood as a ‘reduced’ (not ‘simplified’) language (5). 1, ‘Introduction’ (1–13), presents inter alia the basic terminology e.g. ‘Nubi Creole Arabic’ (ibid.), on the other hand, spoken in Kenya and Uganda, is solely a creole it is almost always designated (Ki-)Nubi and is not to be confused with Nubian, an East Sudanic member of Nilo-Saharan. The so-called ‘Juba Pidgin Arabic’ is also indubitably a creole since more and more children have grown up speaking it as their mother tongue over the past 20 years thus, one can easily justify the name most often referred to in the literature, viz., Juba Arabic (which in no way implies that it is only a pidgin).

Let me comment on the designations of the two Arabic-based contact languages on the world map (xix).

The excellent maps (xviii–xxi) of the world’s pidgin and creole languages are, in fact, reproduced from those earlier volumes. Although the work contains much new material, the author confides that it ‘rests on the foundation of my earlier volumes’ (xii). Holm is well-known for his comprehensive two-volume Pidgins and creoles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988–89) however, that work is far too all-encompassing and detail-oriented to serve as a rudimentary textbook whereas the book undergoing review, consisting of seven well-written and well-organized chapters, was designed with the beginning student in mind. This book by a leading specialist in pidginistics and creolistics is a very readable introduction to the field.

An introduction to pidgins and creoles