English-based creole languages
An English-based creole language, often called English creole for short, is a creole language that has English as its lexifier. This means that when the language was formed, most of its words came from the vocabulary of English. English formed the basis of most of the creole's lexicon.
Most English creoles were formed in British colonies. This happened during a time when Britain had a very strong navy and a lot of trade, in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. English creoles are usually placed into two main groups. The Atlantic group covers the Americas and Africa. The Pacific group covers Asia and Oceania.
Around 76.5 million people around the world speak an English-based creole. Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Ghana, and Jamaica have the most Creole speakers.
This article is about English-based creoles. It is not the same as the Middle English creole hypothesis.
Origin
Scientists do not agree on how closely the English-based creoles of the world are related. The monogenesis hypothesis suggests that one language, often called proto–Pidgin English, was spoken along the West African coast in the early 1500s. Some believe this language was the ancestor of most or all of the Atlantic creoles. These are the English creoles found in West Africa and the Americas.
Table of creole languages
Marginal
- Bonin English, sometimes considered a mixed language
- Iyaric ("Rastafarian")
- Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language
Other
These are not strictly creoles, but people sometimes call them that:
Keep exploring
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on English-based creole languages, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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