PIDGIN

Pidgins arise through contact between speakers of different languages. In particular, during recent periods of exploration and colonisation, the French, English, Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish came into contact with speakers of many other Indigenous languages. Technically, pidgins are not a first language. They are not full languages and are referred to as a contact language. They are not a creole. Pidgins use simple grammar and words from both languages. They are used in basic communication situations where speakers do not share a common language. People who speak pidgin have their own language/s for use amongst themselves. If interactions remain limited, then the pidgins also remain limited; if interactions increase, then speakers expand the pidgin so it can meet their needs. With the passing of time, as intermarriage occurs between language groups or where speakers of a number of distinct language groups come to live together and children are raised, the pidgin can develop into a full language, called a creole. Note: In the Katherine Region, people sometimes call Kriol Pidgin or Pidgin English. Likewise in North Qld where Torres Strait Creole was and still is sometimes referred to as Brokin or Broken. Linguistically, these terms are inaccurate.

CREOLE A creole is a substantially expanded pidgin that is spoken as a first language. Under some circumstances, a pidgin may facilitate more communication needs of its speakers, so much so, that young children acquire it as their first language. It is in this acquisition process that the former pidgin is expanded dramatically so it is able to meet all the communication requirements of its speakers. In doing so, it becomes a creole. Creoles occur throughout the world.

KRIOL
Kriol is a new Aboriginal language that arose in the early 20th Century in the cattle belt of the Northern Territory and Kimberley. Currently, there are many thousands of speakers of Kriol. Varieties of Kriol are spoken throughout the Katherine region, the Daly River region, parts of the Barkly and much of the Kimberley. Apart from regional varieties, there are also heavy and light creoles within a region. When conversing with English-speaking people, Kriol speakers often use a lot more English vocabulary and language features. This is called light creole. But when conversing amongst other Kriol speakers, the sounds, intonations, vocabulary and language structures of the local Indigenous languages take precedence. This is called heavy creole.

ABORIGINAL ENGLISH
Aboriginal English (AE) is a dialect of English in the same way that American English, Scots English, Standard Australian English (SAE) and many other varieties, are dialects of English. It is the first or home language of many Indigenous people throughout Australia. It is a non-standard dialect of English, not a sub-standard dialect. It is not bad English and is distinctive in its vocabulary, grammar and underlying concepts.

STANDARD AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH

Standard Australian English is now the recognized national dialect of Australia and is the acceptable language of education, training, employment and communication. However, it is important to note that then are many dialects or varieties of English spoken in Australia. Standard Australian English is characterized by the pronunciation, lexis and idiom of many of those born and educated in Australia, often in contrast with other such national dialects, in particular, British English and American English. Whilst there are variations in spoken forms of Australian English, there are generally accepted standards of written English. Standard Australian English (SAE) fifty years ago, was nameless, not admired, and commonly reckoned, even by its own speakers then, to be nothing but an unfortunate distortion of the British mother tongue from which it was derived. Today however, SAE is the foundation language of our education, training and employment systems. It is the common medium for communication and the exchange of ideas across a population of widely varying ethnic and racial backgrounds. It is used in dealing with government agencies, the law and commercial transactions.