English-based creole languages

An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language. Most English creoles were formed in British colonies, following the great expansion of British naval military power and trade in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

List

• Atlantic
  • Western
    • Jamaican Patois: Not to be confused with Jamaican Standard English, which is a dialect of English. Jamaican Patois (sometimes called Jamaican Creole) is an English-based creole language spoken in Jamaica. It represents a history of contact among many different types of speakers drawn from many ethnic, linguistic, and social backgrounds. Jamaican Patois is the dominant language in Jamaica and is gaining in prestige.^{[citation needed]}
      • Rastafarian Vocabulary (Iyaric)
    • Jamaican Creole was introduced to Central America and other islands with the migration of plantation workers and is related to dialects very similar to each other like Bocas del Toro Creole, Limonese Creole, Colón Creole, San Andrés–Providencia Creole, & Cayman Creole which Ethnologue considers as dialects of Jamaican Patois. [1].
    • Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language
    • Belizean Kriol: Most speakers live in Belize City, but nearly everyone else in Belize is either a first- or second-language speaker of Kriol. It is the lingua franca in much of the country. Also spoken in USA. Reported to be very close to Mískito Coast, and Islander (San Andrés) creoles. Historically an extension of Mískito Coast Creole. Dahufra was a creole used in the 16th to 18th centuries. Jamaican Patois is different in orthography and grammar. Timber; agriculturalists; fishermen; industrial workers; construction industry; commerce; government, teachers [2].
    • Miskito Coastal Creole in Nicaragua
      • Rama Cay Creole.
    • Bay Islands Creole spoken in the Bay Islands Department off the coast of Honduras.
  • Eastern
    • Northern
      • Afro-Seminole Creole
      • Bahamian Creole: is the vernacular language of the Bahamas
      • Turks and Caicos Creole is an English-based creole, widely spoken throughout in the Turks and Caicos Islands, with each island having a different variation.
      • Gullah: Gullah is an English-based creole spoken in the Sea Islands and the adjacent coastal regions of South Carolina, Georgia and northern Florida.
      • Samaná English is spoken by about 8,000 people in the Samaná Peninsula, Dominican Republic, a mostly Spanish-speaking country. The speakers of Samaná English are the descendants descendants of ex-USA slaves who settled there in 1824. It is reported that there was a settlement of African slaves here in the early 1500s. The language is variously described a creole language, a dialect of English, or a linguistic entity fitting neither category. Samaná English is related to that of the Bahamian Creole language.
    • Southern
      • Virgin Islands Creole: Spoken in the Virgin Islands and ex–Netherlands Antilles.[3]
        • Crucian: Spoken on Saint Croix.
        • Saint Martin Creole: Spoken in Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Martin.
      • Leeward Islands Creole: Spoken on the Commonwealth islands between Guadeloupe and the Virgin Islands.[4]
        • Anguillan Creole: Spoken in Anguilla, many similarities to British Virgin Islands and Saint Martin varieties of Virgin Islands Creole.
        • Antiguan Creole: Spoken in Antigua and Barbuda
        • Montserrat Creole: Spoken in Montserrat
        • Saint Kitts Creole: Spoken in Saint Kitts and Nevis.
      • Bajan
      • Vincentian Creole
      • Grenadian Creole
      • Guyanese Creole: Spoken throughout Guyana. The creole varies across the regions within the country.
      • Tobagonian Creole: Spoken in Tobago.
      • Trinidadian Creole: Spoken in Trinidad.
  • Suriname
    • Sranan Tongo: the vernacular language of the majority of Suriname.
    • The Suriname & French Guiana maroons are tribes of escaped African slaves that fled to the interior and live alongside the native Amerindians. Each tribe has their own Creole dialect and they are:
      • Aluku
      • Ndyuka
      • Paramaccan
      • Kwinti
      • Matawai
  • Krio
    • Krio: Is the vernacular language of Sierra Leone. It is mutually intelligible and bears resemblance with Nigerian Pidgin. It is also mutually intelligible with Jamaican Patois.^{[citation needed]}
      • Aku spoken by the Aku people in the Gambia; are the descendants of Sierra Leone Creole people.
    • Nigerian Pidgin: While rudimentally spoken all over Nigeria, English is the accepted language of transaction and communication. The Nigerian Pidgin dates back to the colonial era, where locals were hired to work with the British colonials and ended up developing it to the Creole language it is today.
    • Cameroonian Pidgin English, Kamtok, or Cameroonian Creole: is a linguistic entity of Cameroon. It is also known as Kamtok. Two varieties are Limbe-Krio and Grafi. Cameroonian Pidgin English is an English-based creole language. About 5% of Cameroonians are native speakers of the language.
    • Kreyol: is spoken in Liberia, and has English and French as superstrate languages, with several West African languages as substrate.
    • Fernando Poo Creole: Initially spoken in Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea(modernly known as Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea) by Krio Fernandinos who descended from Sierra Leone Krio people and was used for trade communications.
    • Pichinglis: This dialect was initially spoken by, and introduced to Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea by Igbo and Ibibio immigrants from Nigeria. The language became prominent among other inhabitants, and was used as a trade language. It's likely that Pichinglis and Fernando Poo Creole merged to form the English-based Creole dialects spoken on Bioko Island today.
• Pacific
  • Australian Kriol: Also known as Roper River Creole, has become the major non-English language among Aboriginal Australians with over 10,000 first language speakers.
  • Related English-based creoles Bislama, spoken in Vanuatu; Pijin, in the Solomon Islands; Torres Strait Creole, spoken by Torres Straits Islanders. Tok Pisin, spoken throughout Papua New Guinea, has English as its superstrate language and various Papuan languages providing grammatical and lexical input.
  • Hawaiian Pidgin: Hawaiian Pidgin began as a pidgin used in the early European colonization of the Hawaiian Islands. English served as the superstrate language, with Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, and Hawaiian elements incorporated. Children started using it as a lingua franca, and by the 1920s it had creolized and become a language of Hawaii, as it still is today.
  • Not a creole but a pair of dialects that developed out of a Cant, Pitkern and Norfuk, spoken by the inhabitants of the Pitcairn Islands and Pitcairnese migrants in Norfolk Island, formed from an 18th century dialect of English with 5% of its vocabulary taken from the Tahitian language to form the Mixed language known as Pitkern, or Norfuk in Norfolk Island.
• Saramaccan
  • Saramaccaans, or Saamáka: Although they are also Suriname & French Guiana maroons, their language is so different from the others that they are a language isolate. Their language originated from Sranan Tongo but heavy Portuguese influence resulted into the creation of a new creole.
• South-east Asia
  • Coño English: a mixed language in the Philippines based on American English. It is primarily English as it is spoken in the United States with a few insertions of Spanish, Tagalog, and Hokkien Chinese. Initially classified as codeswitching, Coño English has achieved acceptance among Eurasians and Amerasians in the Philippines as an everyday form of communication.
  • Singlish/Manglish: a creole spoken in Singapore and Malaysia by many Singaporeans and Malaysians. Although most Singaporeans/Malaysians are educated in formal English, Singlish/Manglish is widely used especially in an informal context. It is heavily influenced by Chinese dialects such as Hokkien Chinese as well as Malay and Tamil.
  • Manglish : Is a creole spoken in Malaysia by many Malaysians (above mentioned). This term is also used to describe a creole spoken in the state of Kerala in India, a south-east asian country. It is a mixture of Malayalam and English.
  • Hinglish : It is a creole spoken in the northern part of India. Although most north-indians are educated in formal English or Hindi, Hinglish, which is a mixture of English and Hindi, is widely used especially in an informal context.

See also

• World Englishes