Abstract: Foreigners often say that the English language is “easy”. A language like Spanish is challenging in its variety of verb endings and gender for nouns, whereas English is more straightforward. But linguists generally deny claims that certain languages are ‘easier’ than others, since it is assumed that all languages are complex to the same degree. For example, they will point to English's use of the word “do” — Do you know French? This usage is counter-intuitive and difficult for non-native speakers. This book agrees that all languages are complex, but questions whether or not they are all equally complex. The topic of complexity has become an area of great debate in recent years, particularly in creole studies, historical linguistics, and language contact. This book describes when languages came into contact (when French-speakers ruled the English for a few centuries, or the Vikings invaded England), a large number of speakers are forced to learn a new language quickly and thus came up with a simplified version, a pidgin. When this ultimately turns into a “real” language, a creole, the result is still simpler and less complex than a “non-interrupted” language that has been around for a long time. This book makes the case that this kind of simplification happens by degrees, and criticizes linguists who are reluctant to say that, for example, English is simpler than Spanish for socio-historical reasons. It analyzes how various languages that seem simple but are not creoles, actually are simpler than they would be if they had not been broken down by large numbers of adult learners. In addition to English, the book looks at Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Malay, and some Arabic varieties.

Keywords: language complexity, creole, language contact, historical linguistics, pidgin, English, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Persian, Malay