article by the 1870s. A popular false etymology for pidgin is English pigeon, a bird sometimes used for carrying brief written messages, especially in times prior to modern telecommunications. Terminology The word pidgin, formerly also spelled pigion, used to refer originally to Chinese Pidgin English, but was later generalized to refer to any pidgin. Pidgin may also be used as the specific name for local pidgins or creoles, in places where they are spoken. For example, the name of the creole language Tok Pisin derives from the English words talk pidgin. Its speakers usually refer to it simply as "pidgin" when speaking English. Likewise, Hawaiian Creole English is commonly referred to by its speakers as "Pidgin". The term jargon has also been used to refer to pidgins, and is found in the names of some pidgins, such as Chinook Jargon. In this context, linguists today use jargon to denote a particularly rudimentary type of pidgin; however, this usage is rather rare, and the term jargon most often refers to the words particular to a given profession. Pidgins may start out as or become trade languages, such as Tok Pisin. Trade languages can eventually evolve into fully developed languages in their own right such as Swahili, distinct from the languages they were originally influenced by. Trade languages and pidgins can also influence an established language's vernacular, especially amongst people who are directly involved in a trade where that pidgin is commonly used, which can alternatively result in a regional dialect being developed. Common traits Pidgins are usually less morphologically complex but more syntactically rigid than other languages, and usually have fewer morphosyntactic irregularities than other languages. Characteristics shared by most pidgins: Typologically most closely resemble isolating languages Uncomplicated clausal structure (e.g., no embedded clauses, etc.) Reduction or elimination of syllable codas Reduction of consonant clusters or breaking them with epenthesis Elimination of aspiration or sound changes Monophthongization is common, employment of as few basic vowels as possible, such as Lack of morphophonemic variation Lack of tones, such as those found in Niger-Congo, Austroasiatic and Sino-Tibetan language families and in various families of the indigenous languages of the Americas Lack of grammatical tense; use of separate words to indicate tense, usually preceding the verb Lack of conjugation, declension or agreement Lack of grammatical gender or number, commonly supplanted by reduplication to represent plurals and superlatives, and other parts of speech that represent