Pitkern, also known as Pitcairn-Norfolk or Pitcairnese, is a creole spoken on Pitcairn and Norfolk islands. It is a mixture of English and Tahitian, and has been given many classifications by scholars, including cant, patois, and Atlantic creole. Although spoken on Pacific Ocean islands, it has been described as an Atlantic or semi-Atlantic creole due to the lack of connections with other English-based creoles of the Pacific. There are fewer than 50 speakers on Pitcairn Island, a number which has been steadily decreasing since 1971.

History

Following the Mutiny on the Bounty on 28 April 1789, the British mutineers stopped at Tahiti and took 18 Polynesians captive, mostly women, to remote Pitcairn Island and settled there. A pidgin was formed based on English and Tahitian so that the English mutineers could communicate with the Tahitian women they brought to the previously uninhabited Pitcairn Island. Geographically, the mutineers were drawn from as far as the West Indies, with one mutineer being described as speaking a forerunner of a Caribbean patois. One was a Scot from the Isle of Lewis. At least one, the leader Fletcher Christian, was a well-educated man, which at the time made a major difference in speech. Both Geordie and West Country dialects have obvious links to some Pitkern phrases and words, such as whettles, meaning food, from victuals.

The first children born on Pitcairn Island mainly spoke a mixture of non-standard varieties of English and the contact language.

{| class=wikitable

|+

!Pitkern||English

|-

|Wut a way ye?||How are you?

|-

|||Where are you going?

|-

|||Are you going to cook supper?

|-

|||I don't think so.

|-

|||Would you like some food?

|-

|||It doesn't matter. I don't mind.

|-

|||What are you doing? What are you up to?

|-

|||I'm going to the ship.

|-

|||How often do ships come here?

|-

|||Come on all you kids!

|-

|||I'm going swimming.

|-

|||Let it be!

|-

|Gude!||Good!

|-

|You same as tingi!

|You beggar!

|-

|What-thing that?/Wasing daa?

|What is that?

|-

|Blue as a pai-pai

|Very homesick

|}

Note: Pitkern spelling is not standardised.

Excerpts from a transcription of Pitkern

The sentences below are excerpted from a longer dialogue held in 1951 between a teenage speaker of Pitkern and A.W. Moverley, a foreigner who worked as a schoolteacher on Pitcairn during the mid-20th century.

{|

|+

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|what way

|you

|-

|Translation

|

|"How are

|you (sg.)?"

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|I

|feeling

|sick

|-

|Translation

|

|"I’m

|feeling

|sick."

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|I

|been

|sore

|since

|yesterday

|the

|other one

|the

|other one

|-

|Translation

|

|"I’ve

|been

|ill

| colspan="6" |for the past three days."

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|I

|

|bring

|one

|of

|victuals

|along for

|me

|-

|Translation

|

|"I’ve

| colspan="2" |brought

| colspan="2" |some

|food

| colspan="2" |for myself with me."

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|I

|been

|take

|one

|I

|tater

|[Tahitian: "type of pudding"]

|in

|a

|plantain's

|leaf

|-

|Translation

|

|"I’ve

| colspan="2" |brought

| colspan="2" |myself some

|potato

|pie

|in

|a

|banana

|leaf."

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|you all you

|[Tahitian: "silence"]

|-

|Translation

|

|"You (pl.)

|be quiet!"

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|do not

|[Tahitian: "obstinate"]

|-

|Translation

|

|"Don't

|argue!"

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|you all you

|pile

|of

|people

|can't

|what thing

|you all you

|talking

|about

|-

|Translation

|

|"You (pl.)

| colspan="3" |lot

|don't know

|what

|you're

|talking

|about."

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|you all you

|do not

|talk

|-

|Translation

|

|"You (pl.)

|stop

|talking!"

|}

<br />

{|

|Pitkern transcription

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|-

|English cognates

|

|us

|

|get

|our

|flour

|out

|ship

|-

|Translation

|

| colspan="2" |"We

|get

|our

|bags of flour

|from

|ships."

|}

Poetry in Pitkern

Some poetry exists in Pitkern. The poems of Meralda Warren are of particular note.

See also

  • Australian English
  • Pitcairn Islands
  • Norfuk language

References

  • )