Pidgins are languages that occur when people from two different languages come into contact and form a simplified hybrid language. If a pidgin language lasts long enough, eventually people are born who use that language as their first language; it then becomes known as a creole. Languages are organized in this category by acrolect (i.e., the contact language with the higher prestige). The acrolect is often European, reflecting the history of colonization, but this is not always the case.
More information