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Hello! My name is Alexandra and I am a senior at Rutgers University, majoring in Psychology and English.

Pitkern (also Pitcairnese, Pitcairn English, occasionally Pitcairn-Norfolk) is a primary language on Pitcairn Island in the Pacific Ocean. The language is a mixture of both English and Tahitian and shares a diglossic connection to the standard British-English.

Today, this language is severely endangered, having less than 630 speakers worldwide. In 1980 an effort began to standardize the language's spelling and grammar, which was met with wide public support, although it is unknown how far this process has gone on Pitcairn Island itself.

Classification
Pitkern is a pidgin creole language based on an 18th-century dialect of both English and Tahitian. Even though this language is spoken on Pacific Ocean islands, it is described as an Atlantic Creole.

History
Following the 1790 Mutiny on the Bounty, nine British mutineers lead by Fletcher Christian stopped at Tahiti and took nineteen Polynesians, six men and thirteen women, to remote the Pitcairn Island and settled there. By 1808, all of the men had perished except one of the British men named John Adams. Initially, the Tahitians spoke little English, and the Bounty crewmen knew even less Tahitian. Isolated from the rest of the world, they had to communicate with each other, and, over time, they formed a unique new language that blended a simplified English with Tahitian words and speech patterns.

Pitkern was influenced by the diverse English dialects and accents of the crew. Geographically, the mutineers were drawn from as far as the West Indies, with one mutineer being described as speaking a forerunner of a Caribbean patois. One was a Scot from the Isle of Lewis. At least one, the leader Fletcher Christian, was a well-educated man, which at the time made a major difference in speech. Both Geordie and West Country dialects have obvious links to some Pitkern phrases and words, such as whettles, meaning food, from victuals.

Many expressions which are not commonly used in the modern English that is spoken in most areas of the world carry on in Pitkern. These expressions include words from British maritime culture in the age of sailing ships. The influence of Seventh-day Adventist Church missionaries and the King James Version of the Bible are also notable.

Due to their growing population and need for food, the people of Pitcairn resettled on Norfolk Island in 1859, after which only a few returned. Most speakers of Pitkern today are the descendants of those who stayed. Both Pitkern and Norfuk dialects are mutually intelligible.

Official status
Pitkern is the official language of the Pitcairn Islands along with English.

Dialects/varieties
The Pitkern language is a creole language that has not been completely standardized and thus is subject to variations in spelling and speech.

Derived languages
Norfuk derived from this language upon the Pitcairn Islanders emigration and inhabitance of Norfolk Island.

Grammar
There is an emphasis on spatial orientation when referring to oneself with the Pitkern language. Coming from the Tahitian lexicon, places are referred to as being 'up' or 'down' from the speaker. It is clear the Pitkern language lexicon is derived mainly from its British founders, but the Tahitian language has an influence on its phonology. Pitkern also has elements that do not come from either of its parent languages, which are are similar to other creole languages.

Vocabulary
Even though Pitkern is more similar to English than Tahitian, some Polynesian linguistic constructs are still influential to the language. For example, the Polynesian way of repeating a word to imply its magnitude, (i.e. if a wave is notably high, it is referred to as "illy-illy") can be recognized throughout the language. Furthermore, a lot of words for both animals and plants come from a Tahitian in origin, most likely due to the reason that the Polynesian women on the island had names for these things and the British muntineers did not.

Common phrases
Note: Pitkern spelling is not standardised.

Poetry in Pitkern
The language is mostly spoken, but some poetry exists in Pitkern. The poems of Meralda Warren are of particular note.