Grenadian Creole
| Grenadian Creole English | |
|---|---|
| patois | |
| Native to | Grenada |
|
Native speakers
|
89,000 (2001) |
|
English Creole
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | gren1247 |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-as |
| Grenadian Creole French | |
|---|---|
| patwa | |
| Native to | Grenada |
|
Native speakers
|
2,300 (2004) |
|
French Creole
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Grenadian Creole is either of two Creole languages spoken in Grenada, Grenadian Creole English and Grenadian Creole French.
Grenadian Creole English is a Creole language spoken in Grenada. It is a member of the Southern branch of English-based Eastern Atlantic Creoles, along with Antiguan Creole (Antigua and Barbuda), Bajan Creole (Barbados), Guyanese Creole (Guyana), Tobagonian Creole, Trinidadian Creole (Trinidad and Tobago), Vincentian Creole (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), and Virgin Islands Creole (Virgin Islands). It is the native language of nearly all inhabitants of Grenada, or approximately 89,000 native speakers.
The older Grenadian Creole French is a variety of Antillean Creole French. In Grenada, and among Grenadians, it is referred to as Patois or French Patois. This was once the lingua franca in Grenada, and was commonly heard as recently as 1930, when even children in some rural areas could speak it. In the twenty-first century, it can only be heard among elderly speakers in a few small pockets of the country.
Senior citizens still speak Creole French, but they are becoming fewer and fewer because, unlike St. Lucia and Dominica which lie close to the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, Grenada does not have French speaking neighbours to keep that language alive. Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that, a generation or two ago, the use of Grenadian-English was frowned on by teachers and parents, a look at the history gives some understanding as to why conversations today are so liberally sprinkled with a collection of picturesque French Creole words and phrases.
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Wikipedia