An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the lexifier, meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the creole's lexicon.[1] 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. The main categories of English-based creoles are Atlantic (the Americas and Africa) and Pacific (Asia and Oceania).
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Over 76.5 million people estimated globally speak some form of English-based creole. Sierra Leone, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, and Singapore have the largest concentrations of creole speakers.
It is disputed to what extent the various English-based creoles of the world share a common origin. The monogenesis hypothesis[2][3] posits that a single language, commonly called proto–Pidgin English, spoken along the West African coast in the early sixteenth century, was ancestral to most or all of the Atlantic creoles (the English creoles of both West Africa and the Americas).
Name | Country | Number of speakers[4] | Notes |
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Atlantic | |||
Western Caribbean | |||
Bahamian Creole | Bahamas | 400,000 (2017) | |
Turks and Caicos Creole English | Turks and Caicos | 10,700 (1995) | |
Jamaican Patois | Jamaica | 2,670,000 (2001)~3,035,000 | |
Belizean Creole | Belize | L1 Users: 170,000 (2014) | L2 Users: 300,000 (2014) |
Miskito Coast Creole | Nicaragua | 30,000 (2001) | Dialect: Rama Cay Creole |
Limonese Creole | Costa Rica | 55,500 (1986) | |
Bocas del Toro Creole | Panama | 268,000 (2000) | |
San Andrés–Providencia Creole | Colombia | 33,000 (1995) | |
Eastern Caribbean | |||
Virgin Islands Creole | US Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands Saint-Martin |
52,300 (1980)~76,500 | |
Anguillan Creole | Anguilla | 11,500 (2001) | |
Antiguan Creole | Antigua and Barbuda | 67,000 (2001)~147,520 | |
Saint Kitts Creole | Saint Kitts and Nevis | 39,000 (1998) | |
Montserrat Creole | Montserrat | 3,820 (2011) | |
Vincentian Creole | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 138,000 (1989) | |
Grenadian Creole | Grenada | 89,200 (2001) | |
Tobagonian Creole | Trinidad and Tobago | 300,000 (2011) | |
Trinidadian Creole | Trinidad and Tobago | 1,000,000 (2011) | |
Bajan Creole | Barbados | 256,000 (1999) | |
Guyanese Creole | Guyana | 650,000~682,000 | |
Sranan Tongo | Suriname | L1 users: 67,300 (2013)~410,700 | L2 users: 300,000 |
Saramaccan | Suriname | 14,100 (2013)~17,100 | |
Ndyuka | Suriname | 21,700 (2013)~39,700. | Dialects: Aluku, Paramaccan |
Kwinti | Suriname | 200 (2005) | |
United States | |||
Gullah (Afro-Seminole Creole) | United States | 350 (2010) | Ethnic population: 250,000 |
West Africa | |||
Krio | Sierra Leone | L1 users: 830,000 (2022)[5][6] | L2 users: 7,470,000 (2022)[5][7] |
Kreyol | Liberia | 1,500,000 (L2; 1984) | |
Ghanaian Pidgin | Ghana | 5,000,000 (2011) | L2 users: 2,000 (1990) |
Nigerian Pidgin | Nigeria | 30,000,000 (2005) | |
Cameroonian Pidgin | Cameroon | 2,000,000 (L2; 1989) | |
Equatorial Guinean Pidgin | Equatorial Guinea | 6,000 (2011) | L2 users: 70,000 (2011) |
Pacific | |||
Hawaiian Pidgin | Hawaii | 600,000 (2012) | 100,000 on the US mainland. L2 users: 400,000 |
Ngatikese Creole | Micronesia | 700 | |
Tok Pisin | Papua New Guinea | 122,000 (2004) | L2 users: 9,000,000 (likely as of 2020) |
Pijin | Solomon Islands | 24,400 (1999) | L2 users: 307,000 (1999) |
Bislama | Vanuatu | 10,000 (2011) | L2 users: 200,000 |
Pitcairn-Norfolk | Pitcairn | 430 (2011)~532 | Almost no L2 users. Has been classified as an Atlantic Creole based on internal structure.[8] |
Australian Kriol | Australia | 4,200 (2006) | L2 users: 10,000 (1991) |
Torres Strait Creole | Australia | 6,040 (2006) | |
Bonin English | Japan | Possibly 1,000–2,000 (2004) | |
Singlish | Singapore | 2,000,000–3,000,000 | |
Manglish | Malaysia | 3,000,000-5,000,000 | |
Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus:
Caribbean English-based creole languages | |
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Dialects and accents of Modern English by continent | |||||||||||||||||||
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Europe |
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Americas |
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Oceania |
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Africa |
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Asia |
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Related |
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