Grenadian Creole English
Language · official in 1 country
Grenadian Creole English carries French words from more than a century of French rule, though its base is English. It is the everyday speech and native language of nearly all Grenadians, with about 89,000 native speakers in 2001, and it took over from Grenadian Creole French as the island's lingua franca in the 20th century.
The language on record
- ISO 639-3
- GCL
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- English-based Eastern Atlantic
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Grenadian Creole English is official
Grenada only. The country record lists the creole beside English, although the demographic sources describe English as the official language and the creole as colloquial speech.
Official beside Grenadian Creole English
About Grenadian Creole English
Why a British colony speaks with French words
France held Grenada for over a century before Great Britain took it in the 18th century, and British rule lasted until independence in 1974. The French years left loanwords in the English creole and left Grenadian Creole French, known locally as Patois, which is now heard only in a few small rural pockets.
Which creoles belong to the same branch
It sits in the Southern branch of English-based Eastern Atlantic creoles, with Antiguan, Bajan, Guyanese, Tobagonian, Trinidadian, Vincentian and Virgin Islands Creole. Its grammar draws on Standard English, Grenadian Creole French, Standard French and some African languages, and a few words come from Hindi-Urdu.
Who began recording it
The Grenada Creole Society, founded in 2009, set out to research and document the language. Its first findings appeared in 2012 in the volume Double Voicing and Multiplex Identities, edited by Nicholas Faraclas and others.
Common questions
Questions about Grenadian Creole English
Is Grenadian Creole English the same as Grenadian Patois?
No. Patois is the local name for Grenadian Creole French, an older creole that the English one replaced as the common language in the 20th century.
How many people speak Grenadian Creole English?
About 89,000 as a native language in 2001, which was nearly everyone living in Grenada at the time.