Where is creole spoken

Nigerian Pidgin, despite the name, is in fact a creole language. It is widely used across Nigeria and is thought to have around 30 million first language speakers and 40 million second language speakers. That includes some , people who speak it as a first language and as many as four million who speak it as a second language.

Over three million people speak Jamaican Creole. The language is based on English and Akan, along with other West African linguistic influences.

Evolved from English and the local languages of Papua New Guinea, Tok Pisin has up to a million native speakers now, with around four million second language speakers.

Hawaiian Creole English has a total of a million speakers, including , first language speakers and , people who speak it as a second tongue. Spoken in Suriname, where it is used as a lingua franca, Sranan Tongo has around , total speakers.

Around , people in the Bahamas speak Bahamian Creole natively. There are significant links between this creole and many of those spoken throughout the Caribbean region.

Spoken in Barbados, Bajan is also known as Barbadian Creole. It is used as a main language by some , Barbadians compared to around 1, Barbadians who use English as their main language. Gullah speakers can also be found in north-eastern Florida and the south-east of North Carolina.

This is the collective name for the creole languages spoken in Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis and the British territories of Anguilla and Montserrat. Together they are home to around , speakers of Leeward Caribbean Creole English. Belizean Kriol has around , native speakers and approximately , second language speakers.

It is the lingua franca in Belize, while a number of speakers have also moved to the US. I touched on the topic of French-based creoles ever so briefly recently, when writing about French-speaking countries you can click the link below to jump to that article.

Now, I would like to explore some of the most widely spoken in a little more detail. Haitian Creole is the most widely spoken of any creole language, with between 10 and 12 million speakers. It is one of two official languages in Haiti, where the majority of the population speak it.

Antilliean Creole has around 1. Also called Morisien, Mauritian Creole is spoken natively by over a million people in Mauritius, with a further , second language speakers. Like many creoles, it is largely used as a spoken language rather than a written one. One of the three official languages of the Seychelles, Seychellois Creole has around 73, native speakers. It is an endangered language, with fewer than 10, native speakers. Portuguese navigators took their language around the globe — something I explored in my recent article on Portuguese-speaking countries you can access it via the link below.

They gave birth to a number of creoles, though many are now all but extinct. A number of other Portuguese-based creole languages exist, but speaker numbers are dwindling. Examples of Portuguese creole languages with fewer than 10, speakers include:.

As I mentioned above, creoles exist based on a wide variety of languages. Some examples of these include:. Kituba is spoken extensively in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is home to some 4. With 2. Speakers are based in Indonesia. A Swahili-based creole, Cutchi-Swahili is spoken by approximately 46, people in Kenya and Tanzania.

We can learn a great deal from the creole language examples that exist around the world today. Creolized language examples provide insights into the way that languages develop and evolve. And as creole languages are found across the globe, there are plenty of learning points to study.

There is, in fact, an argument that all languages were creoles at some point. In , for example, Sigmund Feist put forward a very credible creole origin theory for Germanic languages. When the parties on both sides want to achieve that goal, they will do whatever it takes to do so — including the creation of entire new languages through which to communicate.

There are plenty of books out there on creoles if you want to further your knowledge. Or perhaps you could dive straight in and learn to speak a creole language yourself? Post your Comment. Tomedes Translation Services is committed to broadening the horizons of individuals and businesses in the United States and internationally, through the effective use of professional translation services.

Translation Services. Interpretation Services. Content Writing Services. Professional Proofreading. Testing Services. Globalization Consulting Services. Machine Translation Post-editing. Blog for Translators. Tomedes Insights. Translation News. Supported file formats. Our Translators. Translation Conferences. Customer Reviews.

Summary Tool. Futher background information. Derek Walcott was born in in the town of Castries in Saint Lucia. One of 3 Children. Twin Brother - Roderick, Sister - Pamela. His mother ran the town's Methodist school. After studying at St. Mary's College in his native island and at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, Walcott moved in to Trinidad, where he has worked as theatre and art critic.

At the age of 18, he made his debut with 25 Poems , but his breakthrough came with the collection of poems, In a Green Night In , he founded the Trinidad Theatre Workshop which produced many of his early plays. Search Goldsmiths. Main menu. In this section. Official languages of Haiti are French and Kreyol. Further details on Jamaica Proverbs A short duppy story. St Lucia.