English-based creole languages

Template:Short description Template:Redirect-distinguish Template:British African-Caribbean community 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, 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	Template:Country data Bahamas	Template:Nts (2018)
Turks and Caicos Creole English	Template:Country data Turks and Caicos	Template:Nts (2019)
Bay Islands English	Template:Country data Honduras	Template:Nts (2001)
Jamaican Patois	Template:Country data Jamaica	Template:Nts (2001)
Cayman Islands English	Template:Country data Cayman Islands	Template:Nts (2019)
Belizean Creole	Template:Country data Belize	Template:Nts (2014)
Miskito Coast Creole	Template:Country data Nicaragua	Template:Nts (2009)	Dialect: Rama Cay Creole
Limonese Creole	Template:Country data Costa Rica	Template:Nts (2013)	Dialect of Jamaican Patois
Bocas del Toro Creole	Template:Country data Panama	Template:Nts (2000)	Dialect of Jamaican Patois
San Andrés–Providencia Creole	Template:Country data Colombia	Template:Nts (1981)
Eastern Caribbean
Virgin Islands Creole	Template:Country data US Virgin Islands	Template:Nts (2019)
Anguillan Creole	Template:Country data Anguilla	Template:Nts (2001)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Antiguan Creole	Template:Country data Antigua and Barbuda	Template:Nts (2019)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Saint Kitts Creole	Template:Country data Saint Kitts and Nevis	Template:Nts (2015)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Montserrat Creole	Template:Country data Montserrat	Template:Nts (2020)	Dialect of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
Vincentian Creole	Template:Country data Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Template:Nts (2016)
Grenadian Creole	Template:Country data Grenada	Template:Nts (2020)
Tobagonian Creole	Template:Country data Trinidad and Tobago	Template:Nts (2011)
Trinidadian Creole	Template:Country data Trinidad and Tobago	Template:Nts (2011)
Bajan Creole	Template:Country data Barbados	Template:Nts (2018)
Guyanese Creole	Template:Country data Guyana	Template:Nts (2021)
Sranan Tongo	Template:Country data Suriname	Template:Nts (2016–2018)	Including 150,000 L2 users
Saramaccan	Template:Country data Suriname	Template:Nts (2018)
Ndyuka	Template:Country data Suriname	Template:Nts (2018)	Dialects: Aluku, Paramaccan
Kwinti	Template:Country data Suriname	Template:Nts (2018)
Southern-Caribbean
Venezuelan English Creole	Template:Country data Venezuela	unknown, likely endangered (2018)
San Nicolaas English	Template:Country data Aruba	Template:Nts (estimation) (2020)	Spoken in San Nicolaas, Aruba
North America
Gullah	Template:Country data United States	Template:Nts (2023)	Ethnic population: 250,000
Afro-Seminole Creole	Template:Country data United States	Template:Nts (1990)Template:Efn	Dialect of the Gullah language
West Africa
Krio	Template:Country data Sierra Leone	Template:Nts (2019)	Including 7,420,000 L2 speakers
Kreyol	Template:Country data Liberia	Template:Nts (2015)	Including 5,000,000 L2 speakers
Ghanaian Pidgin	Template:Country data Ghana	Template:Nts (2011)
Nigerian Pidgin	Template:Country data Nigeria	Template:Nts	Including 116,000,000 L2 users
Cameroonian Pidgin	Template:Country data Cameroon	Template:Nts (2017)
Equatorial Guinean Pidgin	Template:Country data Equatorial Guinea	Template:Nts (2020)	Including 185,000 L2 users (2020)
Pacific
Hawaiian PidginTemplate:Efn	Template:Country data Hawaii	Template:Nts (2015)	Including 400,000 L2 usersTemplate:Refn
Ngatikese Creole	Template:Country data Micronesia	Template:Nts (1983)
Tok Pisin	Template:Country data Papua New Guinea	Template:Nts	Including 4,000,000 L2 users (2001)
Pijin	Template:Country data Solomon Islands	Template:Nts (2012–2019)	530,000 L2 users (1999)
Bislama	Template:Country data Vanuatu	Template:Nts (2011)
Pitcairn-Norfolk	Template:Country data Pitcairn	Template:Nts	Almost no L2 users. Has been classified as an Atlantic Creole based on internal structure.
Australian Kriol	Template:Country data Australia	Template:Nts	Including 10,000 L2 users (1991)
Torres Strait Creole	Template:Country data Australia	Template:Nts (2016)
Bonin English	Template:Country data Japan	Possibly Template:Nts–2000 (2004)
Singlish	Template:Country data Singapore	Template:Nts
Manglish	Template:Country data Malaysia	Template:Nts

Marginal

• Bonin English, sometimes considered a mixed language
• Iyaric ("Rastafarian")
• Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language

Other

Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus:

• Bay Islands English
• Cayman Islands English

See also

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

External links

• Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures