Nigerian Pidgin, also known simply as Pidgin or as Naija in scholarship, is an English-based creole language spoken as a lingua franca or vehicular language across Nigeria.
Facts
ISO 639-3 Code Speaker CountEthnologue combines about 4.7 million first-language speakers with about 116 million second-language speakers, 2020. StatusWikipedia article on Nigerian Pidgin: a currently spoken living language with an active native-speaker population; checked 2026-09-27. Attested From (Year) RegionNigeria; also spoken in parts of West and Central Africa including Benin, Ghana and Cameroon 2 Classification
Language Kind Official Status Nigerian Pidgin
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In Family
Source Wikipedia: Nigerian Pidgin
Written In
Source Wikipedia: Nigerian Pidgin
In the Other Atlases
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. Glottolog: Nigerian Pidgin (Glottolog languoid nige1257)
GlottologEndangerment, AES statusQuote, Endangerment, AES status
AES status: not endangered
2. Wikipedia: Nigerian Pidgin
Wikimedia FoundationLead section
Nigerian Pidgin or NPE, also known simply as Pidgin or as Naijá in scholarship, is an English-based creole language spoken as a lingua franca or vehicular language across Nigeria.
Infobox: iso3
pcm
Infobox, Speakers
4.7 million (L1); 116 million (L2)
Lead section
Variations of what this article refers to as "Nigerian Pidgin" are also spoken across West and Central Africa, in countries such as Benin, Ghana, and Cameroon.
Article text
Nigerian Pidgin has no status as an official language.
Lead
Coming into existence during the 17th and 18th centuries as a result of contact between Britons and Africans involved in the Atlantic slave trade
Phonology
Nigerian Pidgin has been described as a tonal language, having a high tone and a low tone.
Written In: Latin Script, Infobox: script
Latin
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