Editing Pitkern (section)

==History==
Following the [[Mutiny on the Bounty]] on 28 April 1789, the British mutineers stopped at [[Tahiti]] and took 18 Polynesians captive, mostly women, to remote Pitcairn Island and settled there. A pidgin was formed based on English and Tahitian so that the English mutineers could communicate with the Tahitian women they brought to the previously uninhabited Pitcairn Island.<ref name=":0"/> The Pitkern language was influenced by the diverse [[List of dialects of English|English dialects]] and accents of the crew.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mühlhäusler |first=Peter |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501501418/html?lang=en |title=Pitkern-Norf'k |date=2020-10-12 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |isbn=978-1-5015-0141-8 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9781501501418|s2cid=226321171 }}</ref> 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 English|West Country dialects]] have obvious links to some Pitkern phrases and words, such as ''whettles'', meaning food, from ''victuals''.

The first children born on Pitcairn Island mainly spoke a mixture of non-standard varieties of English and the contact language.<ref name=":0" /> In the 1830s, Pitkern's local prestige increased, and the language started to be used in church and school.<ref name=":0" /> In 1856, 194 residents of Pitcairn Island moved to Norfolk Island, where many residents continued to use Pitkern in their households.<ref name=":0" />

After 1914, the Australian government tried to end the use of Pitkern/Norf'k by restricting its use in public spaces.<ref name=":0" />