Saint-Barthélemy French
| Saint-Barthélemy French | |
|---|---|
| Patois Saint-Barth | |
| Native to | The Caribbean: St. Barts (France) & St. Thomas (US) |
|
Native speakers
|
500–700 (1997) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Saint-Barthélemy French or St. Barts patois (French: patois Saint-Barth) is the dialect of French spoken in the Caribbean, on the French-controlled island of Saint-Barthélemy and by a small emigrant community on Saint Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
The dialect co-exists on St. Barts alongside Antillean Creole and Standard French. Despite this linguistic diversity on so small an island, fluency across the varieties of French is generally uncommon. Presently the language is spoken by 500–700 people (mostly old people).
A small population of St. Barth’s fishermen settled in St. Thomas (over 200 km away) in the 19th century. The enclave of fewer than 1000 people has maintained its language despite great pressure from the surrounding community. However, in recent years, emigration to the United States has increased the rate of attrition to English.
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