Krio language

Sierra Leonean Creole
Native toSierra Leone
EthnicitySierra Leone Creoles
Gambian Creoles
Krio Fernandinos[1]
Nigerian Creoles[2]
Native speakers
830,000 (2022)[3]
7.5 million L2 speakers in Sierra Leone (2022)[3]
English Creole
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3kri
Glottologkrio1253
Linguasphere52-ABB-bb
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Video of an L2 speaker of the Krio language

The Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is the lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 96 percent of the country's population,[3][4] and it unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other.[5] Krio is the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad,[6] and has also heavily influenced Sierra Leonean English.[7] The language is native to the Sierra Leone Creole people, or Krios, a community of about 104,311[3] descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, Canada, United States and the British Empire, and is spoken as a second language by millions of other Sierra Leoneans belonging to the country's indigenous tribes. Krio, along with English, is the official language of Sierra Leone.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Lynn, Martin. 1984. Commerce, christianity and the origins of the ‘creoles’ of Fernando Po. Journal of African History 25(3). 257–278.
  2. ^ Dixon-Fyle, Mac, "The Saro in the Political Life of Early Port Harcourt, 1913–49", The Journal of African History, Vol. 30, No. 1, p. 126.
  3. ^ a b c d "CIA World Factbook (2022)". www.cia.gov. 22 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Translators without borders: Language data for Sierra Leone". www.translatorswithoutborders.org.
  5. ^ Oyètádé, B. Akíntúndé; Fashole-Luke, Victor (15 February 2008). "Sierra Leone: Krio and the Quest for National Integration". Language and National Identity in Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 122–140. ISBN 978-0-19-928675-1.
  6. ^ Thompson, V. A. D. (2013). The Transformation of Freetown Christianity, 1960–2000. Doctoral Dissertation, University of London.
  7. ^ Saidu Bangura, 2015 A Roadmap to Sierra Leone English: A Sociohistorical and Ecological Perspective, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, PhD thesis, p. 124, 222, 232-242.