Likewise, Nigerians do same with Ghanaian music and movies. Nigerians find it difficult sometimes comprehending Ghanaian Pidgin but there are similar words that cut across.Īlso, some Ghanaians have watched enough Nollywood movies and the influx of Nigerian Afrobeat music also makes it easier for Ghanaians to understand Nigerian Pidgin. Ghanaian Pidgin is a mixture of English and the local dialects like Akan and Ga. It is an essential language for transacting businesses in the markets and it makes commuting around the country relatively easier as that is the language for bargaining in the markets and with drivers. Nonetheless, anyone who speaks pidgin easily identifies with other speakers and it breaks down protocols. Unlike Nigerian pidgin where one can rarely tell which speaker is educated or not, there is the non-institutionalized or uneducated pidgin usually spoken or associated with illiterates and the institutionalized or educated ones spoken in Senior high schools and Universities.Īlso, women in Ghana rarely speak Pidgin and in conversations where there are both genders, those present resort to speaking Standard English. Standard English otherwise dominates in most formal settings, but the Ghanaian Pidgin English also known as Kru English or Kroo Brofo in Akan has two sub varieties. The positives, however, far outweigh the negatives as Ghanaians’ use of Pidgin English plays a vital role in all communication circles. Most things have side effects and the critics majorly focus on the negative aspects of speaking Pidgin. It began as combination of English vocabulary and the different languages spoken by the ethnic groups the British traded with at the time. It first came about in the 17th and 18th centuries when the Europeans colonized Africa. Pidgin English is not only spoken in Ghana, but in Anglophone West and Central African countries. It is that lingua franca that transcends all backgrounds and unites the people under one umbrella.

However, Pidgin is more than a language spoken by a group of people. There are still some homes in Ghana that forbid the use of Pidgin or Broken English.

Some educationists and parents attribute the deteriorating state of the standard of Ghanaian English to the frequent use of Pidgin English.

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