Pitkern Language

Pitkern is a creole (A creole language is a stable natural language developed from a mixture of different languages) language derived from 18th-century English, with elements of the Tahitian language. It is spoken as a first language by the population of Pitcairn Islands belongs to the Oceania continent. It is closely related to the creole language Norfuk, spoken on Norfolk Island, because Norfolk was repopulated in the mid-19th century by Pitcairners.

Pitcairn is the least populous nation in the world. Today, there are approximately 50 permanent inhabitants, originating from four main families. From the least populous, we can able to identify one women writer Meralda Elva Junior Warren in Pitkern language.

Meralda Elva Junior Warren

Meralda Elva Junior Warren (1959) is an artist and poet of the Pitcairn Islands. She is the descendant of mutineers from the famed Mutiny on the Bounty (1789). She works in both English and Pitkern language. Her book, Mi Base side orn Pitcairn, It is the first book written and published in Pitkern and English.

In 2007, Meralda revived Pitcairn’s tradition of art created on tapa cloth, a woven bark cloth common in Polynesian culture. Her works have been displayed in museums and galleries in Tahiti, Norfolk Island, and New Zealand.

In 2011, she was one of seven artists awarded a Commonwealth Connections International Arts Residency, which provided a grant of £8,000 that allowed her to work with other artists in New Zealand. She is the first recipient from the Pitcairn Islands.

Meralda has also served as the island’s nurse, its only police officer, a ham radio operator, and as a member of the territory’s governing council, among many other roles.

Her works:

# 1986: A Taste of Pitcairn: The First Pitcairn Island Cookbook # 2008: Mi Base side orn Pitcairn (“My Favourite Place on Pitcairn”) # 2010: A Taste of Pitcairn: The First Pitcairn Island Cookbook

For further reading follow the link: http://www.government.pn/shop/books.html