An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a
creole language
A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...
for which
English was the ''
lexifier'', meaning that at the time of its formation the
vocabulary
A vocabulary (also known as a lexicon) is a set of words, typically the set in a language or the set known to an individual. The word ''vocabulary'' originated from the Latin , meaning "a word, name". It forms an essential component of languag ...
of English served as the basis for the majority of the creole's
lexicon
A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) 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 Greek word () ...
. 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
Marginal
*
Bonin English, sometimes considered a
mixed language
A mixed language, also referred to as a hybrid language or fusion language, is a type of contact language that arises among a bilingual group combining aspects of two or more languages but not clearly deriving primarily from any single 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
Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from English language, English. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creole language, creoles.
English-based pidgins that became stable ...
*
Middle English creole hypothesis
*
World Englishes
*
Belter Creole
Notes
References
Further reading
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External links
Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures
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