Talk:Mobilian Jargon

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Mobile, AL redirect

On the Mobile, AL article, there is a redirect to this page. Yet the "Mobilian" article has no mention of a language or that a Mobilian would also be someone from Mobile. The latter definitely would belong to the dictionary, along with the other two definitiions given. If Mobilian is a language, whether dead or alive, it'd be great to have an article on it. In that case, would it be an appropriate link from the "Mobile, Alabama" article? Goeverywhere 22:21, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

Is Mobilian now a dead language? -- The Anome

I'm almost certain that it is. I found a short reference on the Web that indicated that elements of it had survived in some of the Indian languages that were spoken in Louisiana. The reference was undated, but it had a 19th-century flavor to it, so I suspect that possibly there were some people still speaking it a little up to maybe a hundred years ago (if that recently). -- SteveSmith

Drechsel dedicates his book to the last speaker of Mobilian, so I would assume it's no longer with us. As Steve above notes though it has been absorbed into other languages as well. Drechsel notes that it happened the other way too- local tribal languages changing the Jargon to be more like them. Interesting reading. -E. abu Filumena 08:31, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

How can it be said to be a "lingua franca" ???

How can a pidgin be said to be a lingua franca, while pidgins by definition are never native languages? They are instead always formed or learned. Therefore it would be erroneous to describe any pidgin as a lingua franca. Rather it was in common use by the various language group populations that used it among themselves.

Since when did the definition of "lingua franca" require it to be a native language? So long as it's used for wider communication by people who speak other languages, it counts. --Ptcamn 02:28, 10 May 2006 (UTC)