Creole
language
A creole is a language
descended from a pidgin that
has become the native language of a group of people. Study of Creole languages
around the world (in particular by Derek Bickerton) has shown that they display
remarkable similarities in grammar,
lending support to the theory of a Universal
Grammar. The majority of creole languages are based on English and other Indo-European
languages (their superstrate language), with local or immigrant languages
as substrate languages.
In some cases the group of people who speak
such a language are called Creoles.
Below are described some of the better-known
creoles.
Spanish Creole
For information on Spanish-based
Creole languages see
Spanish
Creole.
Kreyol Lwiziyen
Louisiana
creole, spoken mainly by African Americans Creoles in Louisiana.
Chinook
Jargon
was used as a trade language by
Native
Americans prior to, and shortly after, contact with
Europeans.
It contains elements of
Cree
and many neighboring
Native
American languages. After European contact, it also began incorporating elements
of
French
and
English.
While not strictly speaking a creole (it had no native speakers), it had well-defined
grammar, phonology, and vocabulary, and thus can be placed in the category of
creoles.
Haitian Creole
is a
language
spoken primarily in
Haiti.
French
is its superstrate language, with numerous
African
languages and some local indigenous languages providing substrate input.
Hawai'ian Pidgin
was a jargon used in the
early European
colonization
of the
Hawai'ian Islands.
English served as the superstrate language, with
Chinese,
Japanese,
Spanish,
and Hawai'ian elements incorporated. Although children started using it as a
lingua
franca and continued to do so long enough for Bickerton to observe the progress
of creolization, it never became a true creole, because English became the primary
language of Hawai'i after it become a
U.S.
state.
Kreyol
is spoken in
Liberia,
and has
English
and French as superstrate languages, with several
Bantu
languages as substrate languages.
kiSwahili
Some
people consider
kiSwahili
to be an
Arabic-based
creole spoken in East
Africa.
It is also an official language of
Tanzania.
Tok Pisin
is spoken throughout
Papua
New Guinea. English is the superstrate language, with various Papuan languages
providing grammatical and lexical input.
Papiamentu
Spoken
in
Aruba,
Curaçao,
Bonaire and the
Dutch
West Indies. Portuguese and Spanish are the superstrate.
Kriol
Also
known as Roper River Creole, has become the major non-English language among
Aboriginal
Australians with over 10,000 first language speakers.
