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
A lexicon is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Koine Greek language, Greek word (), neuter of () ...
. 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 estimated globally speak some form of 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
Marginal
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Bonin English
Bonin English, or the Bonin Islands language, is an English-based creole of the Ogasawara Islands (informally called Bonin Islands) south of Japan with strong Japanese influence, to the extent that it has been called a mixture of English and Jap ...
, sometimes considered a
mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single language. It differs from a creole language, creole or pidgin, pidgin language in that ...
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Iyaric ("Rastafarian")
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Jamaican Maroon Spirit Possession Language
Jamaican Maroon language, Maroon Spirit language, Kromanti, Jamaican Maroon Creole or Deep patwa is a ritual language and formerly mother tongue of Jamaican Maroons. It is an English-based creole with a strong Akan component, specifically from t ...
Other
Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus:
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Bay Islands English
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Cayman Islands English
Cayman Islands English is an English variety spoken in the Cayman Islands. While not much has been written on Cayman Islands English, according to one text, it "seems to have borrowed creole features similar to Jamaica and Central America withou ...
See also
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List of English-based pidgins
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Middle English creole hypothesis
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World Englishes
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Belter Creole
References
Further reading
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External links
Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures
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