Considering differences on the phonetic, grammatical, and lexical level, we will draw from findings by other linguists who have investigated individual varieties of West African Pidgin English (e.g.

Our paper is intended to be the first descriptive and systematic account of features that distinguish these varieties from one another. Ghanaian Pidgin English, Nigerian Pidgin English, and Cameroon Pidgin English, have been lacking so far, if one disregards the listing of diagnostic features in Huber (1999) and some implicit comparisons in Njeuma (1995). Similar efforts with respect to the national varieties of Pidgin English spoken in West Africa. Simo Bobda, 1995, 2000a, b, 2003 Simo Bobda et al., 1999), but also with the lexicon ( Wolf and Igboanusi, 2003). I don't know why they chose not to, but it was likely just because spelling the words closer to how they're actually pronounced would make it easier for speakers of West African Pidgin to understand.ABSTRACT: In recent years, a number of studies on the national varieties of West African Standard English have taken a comparative perspective, mostly dealing with phonetics (e.g.

They probably could have gotten away with using more standard English spellings for words like 'di', 'dey', 'tok', etc., since there are varieties of English that pronounce those words that way, but still write them in accordance with more typical English orthography. However, it is worth noting that West African Pidgin doesn't really have a standardized orthography, and the BBC themselves came up with the orthography they use in their Pidgin articles. 'Prestigious' doesn't have any special grammar to it, and it isn't comprised of any particularly difficult to pronounce sounds, which is likely why it's unchanged. Then, after that some difficult to pronounce sounds will sometimes be replaced by similar but easier to pronounce sounds, such as the TH to D replacement.

Pidgin languages tend to simplify grammar more than anything else.

African pidgin english