The Morphology of Contemporary Ghanaian Pidgin English

Abstract

In most cosmopolitan areas in Ghana there exists a hybrid language called pidgin or broken language. This paper looks at pidgin as an evolving process which finds use in particular contexts. The composition that will be considered include, the lexicon, phonology, and structure, and also compare Ghanaian and Nigerian pidgins, and analyse pidgin as the undocumented lingua franca of the sub region. Data used in the analysis is largely derived from primary sources, and then from some pidgin lyrics of a number of songs. I suggest that Pidgin Ghanaian English should be seen as another language variety which should be of linguistic interest, and needs more enquiries by linguists.   

Keywords: Morphology, Pidgin, English, Ghana