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English-based creole languages

AnEnglish-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).

Over 76.5 million people globally are estimated to speak an English-based creole. Sierra Leone, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, Suriname and Singapore have the largest concentrations of creole speakers.

Origin[edit]

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).

List of languages[edit]

Atlantic[edit]

Name	Country	Number of speakers[4]	Notes
Western Caribbean[edit]
Bahamian Creole	Bahamas	330,000 (2018)
Turks and Caicos Creole English	Turks and Caicos	34,000 (2019)
Jamaican Patois	Jamaica	3,000,000 (2001)
Belizean Creole	Belize	170,000 (2014)
Miskito Coast Creole	Nicaragua	18,000 (2009)	Dialect: Rama Cay Creole
Limonese Creole	Costa Rica	55,000 (2013)	Dialect of Jamaican Patois
Bocas del Toro Creole	Panama	270,000 (2000)	Dialect of Jamaican Patois
San Andrés–Providencia Creole	Colombia	12,000 (1981)
Eastern Caribbean[edit]
Virgin Islands Creole	US Virgin Islands  British Virgin Islands  Sint Maarten  Puerto Rico[5][6][7][8][9]  Saint-Martin  Sint Eustatius  Saba	90,000 (2019)
Anguillan Creole	Anguilla	12,000 (2001)	Dialect of Leeward Caribbean English Creole
Antiguan Creole	Antigua and Barbuda	83,000 (2019)	Dialect of Leeward Caribbean English Creole
Saint Kitts Creole	Saint Kitts and Nevis	51,000 (2015)	Dialect of Leeward Caribbean English Creole
Montserrat Creole	Montserrat	5,100 (2020)	Dialect of Leeward Caribbean English Creole
Vincentian Creole	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	110,000 (2016)
Grenadian Creole	Grenada	110,000 (2020)
Tobagonian Creole	Trinidad and Tobago	300,000 (2011)
Trinidadian Creole	Trinidad and Tobago	1,000,000 (2011)
Bajan Creole	Barbados	260,000 (2018)
Guyanese Creole	Guyana	720,000 (2021)
Sranan Tongo	Suriname	670,000 (2016–2018)	Including 150,000 L2 users
Saramaccan	Suriname	35,000 (2018)
Ndyuka	Suriname	68,000 (2018)	Dialects: Aluku, Paramaccan
Kwinti	Suriname	250 (2018)
North America[edit]
Gullah	United States	390 (2015)	Ethnic population: 250,000
Afro-Seminole Creole	United States  Mexico	200 (1990)[10][11][a]	Dialect of the Gullah language
West Africa[edit]
Krio	Sierra Leone	8,200,000 (2019)	Including 7,400,000 L2 speakers
Kreyol	Liberia	5,100,000 (2015)	Including 5,000,000 L2 speakers
Ghanaian Pidgin	Ghana	5,000,000 (2011)
Nigerian Pidgin	Nigeria	120,000,000	Including 120,000,000 L2 users
Cameroonian Pidgin	Cameroon	12,000,000 (2017)
Equatorial Guinean Pidgin	Equatorial Guinea	200,000 (2020)	Including 190,000 L2 users (2020)

Pacific[edit]

Name	Country	Number of speakers[4]	Notes
Hawaiian Pidgin[b]	Hawaii  United States	600,000 (2015)	Including 400,000 L2 users[14][15][16][17]
Ngatikese Creole	Micronesia	700 (1983)
Tok Pisin	Papua New Guinea	4,100,000	Including 4,000,000 L2 users (2001)
Pijin	Solomon Islands	560,000 (2012–2019)	530,000 L2 users (1999)
Bislama	Vanuatu	13,000 (2011)
Pitcairn-Norfolk	Pitcairn  Norfolk Island	1,800	Almost no L2 users. Has been classified as an Atlantic creole based on internal structure.[18]
Australian Kriol	Australia	17,000	Including 10,000 L2 users (1991)
Torres Strait Creole	Australia	6,200 (2016)
Bonin English	Japan	Possibly 1,000–2,000 (2004)[citation needed]	Sometimes considered a mixed language[19]
Singlish	Singapore	2,100,000[citation needed]
Manglish	Malaysia	10,000,000[citation needed]

Marginal[edit]

• Iyaric ("Rastafarian")
• Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language

Other[edit]

Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus:

• Bay Islands English
• Cayman Islands English

See also[edit]

• List of English-based pidgins
• Middle English creole hypothesis
• World Englishes
• Belter Creole

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Holm, John A., ed. (1983). Central American English. Heidelberg: Julius Groos Verlag. ISBN 3-87276-295-8.
• Holm, John A. (1989). "English-based varieties". Pidgins and Creoles. Vol. 2, Reference Survey. Cambridge University Press. pp. 405–551. ISBN 978-0-521-35940-5.
• Holm, John A. (2000). An Introduction to Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-58581-1.
• Schreier, Daniel; Trudgill, Peter; Schneider, Edgar W.; Williams, Jeffrey P., eds. (2010). The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-48741-2.
• Arends, Jacques; Muysken, Pieter; Smith, Norval (1995). Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 90-272-5236-X.

External links[edit]

• Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures