English-based creole languages

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. 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

It is disputed to what extent the various English-based creoles of the world share a common origin. The monogenesis hypothesis 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).

Table of creole languages

Name Country Number of speakers Notes

Atlantic

Western Caribbean

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

Virgin Islands Creole  US Virgin Islands

 British Virgin Islands

 Sint Maarten

 Puerto Rico

 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

Gullah  United States 390 (2015) Ethnic population: 250,000
Afro-Seminole Creole  United States

 Mexico

200 (1990) Dialect of the Gullah language

West Africa

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

Hawaiian Pidgin  Hawaii

 United States

600,000 (2015) Including 400,000 L2 users
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.
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]
Singlish  Singapore 2,100,000[citation needed]
Manglish  Malaysia 10,000,000[citation needed]

Marginal

Other

Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus:

See also


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