Nigerian Pidgin

pidgin

Nigerian Pidgin is a creole or pidgin, spoken in Nigeria. Wikidata counts 4.7 m first-language speakers (2020). Wikidata describes it as “English-based creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria; originating in the 17th–18th centuries through contact between Britons and Africans during the Atlantic slave trade; the most widely spoken language in Nigeria after English”.

3 · Wider CommunicationLatn47.5 m

Wikidata record Glottolog

At a glance

ISO 639-3: pcm
Glottocode: nige1257
Family: unclassified
EGIDS: 3 Wider Communication
Centre point: 5.30, 6.40
Wikipedia: 24 language editions

4.7 mfirst-language speakers

—second-language speakers

1countries

1scripts

—levels in the tree

3EGIDS level

Facts

Name	Nigerian Pidgin · pidgin
Also called	NPE, Pidgin, Naijá, Pijin, Vernacular
L1 speakers	4,700,000 (2020)
All speakers	47,500,000
Written in	Latin script
Kind	creole or pidgin

Vitality

EGIDS 3 Wider Communication3

Institutional. Used in government, education and media — EGIDS 0 to 4.

Other languages at this level

where it is spoken

Countries

Nigeria415 languages in the index

Also spoken in Nigeria

engEnglishIndo-European · 1.13 bn0 · International hauHausaAfroasiatic · 43.9 m2 · Provincial yorYorubaNiger–Congo · 40 m2 · Provincial iboIgboNiger–Congo · 27 m2 · Provincial kauKanuriNilo-Saharan · 15 m fuvNigerian FulfuldeNiger–Congo · 14.5 m3 · Wider Communication kncCentral KanuriNilo-Saharan · 9.3 m3 · Wider Communication efiEfikNiger–Congo · 2.7 m3 · Wider Communication shuChadian Arabicunclassified · 2.6 m3 · Wider Communication kaiKarekareAfroasiatic · 1.8 m6a · Vigorous