Liberian Kreyol
| Liberian Kolokwa English | |
|---|---|
| Region | Liberia |
Native speakers | None[1] 1.5 million L2 speakers (1984 census) |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lir |
| Glottolog | libe1240 |
Liberian Kreyol (Liberian kolokwa English, Vernacular Liberian English) is an English-based kolokwa spoken in Liberia.[2] Also known as Kolokwa, was spoken by 1,500,000 people as a second language (1984 census) which is about 70% of the population in that time. Today the knowledge of some form of English is even more widespread. It is historically and linguistically related to Merico, a creole spoken in Liberia, but is grammatically distinct from it. There are regional dialects such as the Kru kolokwa English used by the Kru fishermen.[3]
Liberian kolokwa language developed from Liberian Interior kolokwa English, the Liberian version of West African vernacular English, though it has been significantly influenced by Liberian Settler English, itself based on American English, particularly African-American Vernacular English and Southern American English. Its phonology owes much to the indigenous Languages of Liberia. It has been analyzed having a post-creole continuum. As such, rather than being a pidgin wholly distinct from English, it is a range of varieties that extend from the highly pidginized to one that shows many similarities to English as spoken elsewhere in West Africa. This is just an everyday talk in Liberia just for short.
Kreyol originated in Liberia among the Settlers, the free English-speaking African Americans from the Southern United States who emigrated to Liberia between 1819 and 1860. It has since borrowed some words from French and from other West African languages.
Kreyol is spoken mostly as an intertribal lingua franca in the interior of Liberia.[3]
Grammatical features[]
Kreyol uses no for negation, bi (be) as the copula, fɔ for "to" in verbal infinitives.[3]
See also[]
- Krio language, an English-based creole spoken in Sierra Leone
- Nigerian Pidgin
References[]
- ^ Liberian Kolokwa English at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Liberian English: Ethnologue Report by SIL
- ^ a b c Joey Lee Dillard (1975), Perspectives on black English. 391 pages. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 90-279-7811-5, ISBN 978-90-279-7811-0. Online version accessed on 2009-08-10.
- Languages of Liberia
- English-based pidgins and creoles of Africa
- Pidgin and creole language stubs