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