AbstractThis paper highlights the important role of Pidgin in economic development in West Africa. We use a unificationistmodel of dependence relations to explain the nexus between West African Pidgin (WAP) and the region’s socio-economic development.The study draws on the formidable role that Pidgin plays as the language of communication in the thriving informal cross-bordermarkets along the Nigerian-Cameroonian border. The use of Pidgin is a special case of the general phenomenon of indigenouslanguages that serve as vehicular languages of the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper argues that the existence ofWAP as a language of informal economic activities in this region fosters cooperation and social cohesion that plays a role in theexpansion of informal cross-border trade, which is a primary source of household income for the people. The research reveals asociolinguistic dimension to the expansion of informal economic activities that are a prerequisite to wealth creation and povertyelimination. This finding also suggests that Pidgin can be harnessed for an efficient transition from the informal to the formaleconomy. Therefore, the paper advocates a region-wide language policy that recognizes Pidgin as a factor in the region’s economicgrowth and development.

中文翻译：

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西非洋泾浜作为社会经济发展的工具

摘要本文强调了 Pidgin 在西非经济发展中的重要作用。我们使用依赖关系的统一主义模型来解释西非洋泾浜 (WAP) 与该地区的社会经济发展之间的联系。该研究借鉴了洋泾浜作为交流语言在沿非洲大陆蓬勃发展的非正式跨境市场中所发挥的巨大作用。尼日利亚-喀麦隆边境。Pidgin 的使用是土著语言普遍现象的一个特例，土著语言作为撒哈拉以南非洲非正规经济的交通工具语言。该论文认为，WAP 作为该地区非正规经济活动的一种语言的存在促进了合作和社会凝聚力，这在扩大非正规跨境贸易中发挥了作用，这是人们家庭收入的主要来源。该研究揭示了非正规经济活动扩展的社会语言学维度，这是创造财富和消除贫困的先决条件。这一发现还表明，可以利用 Pidgin 实现从非正式经济到正式经济的有效过渡。因此，本文提倡一种区域范围的语言政策，承认洋泾浜是该地区经济增长和发展的一个因素。