Trinidad and Tobago
PrintPrimary tabs
American Sign Language
[ase] Status: 5 (Developing). Classification: Deaf sign language Comments: What is called ASL in Trinidad and Tobago is similar to Signed English in the United States, and is used more in the north. Many hearing and deaf hold ASL in high prestige, but some deaf people are beginning to publicly favor TTSL [lst].
English
[eng] 1,300,000 in Trinidad and Tobago (2011 J. Ferreira). Status: 1 (National). De facto national language, standard English in writing, education; non-standard English in informal domains, among distinct ethnic groups. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
Hindustani, Caribbean
[hns] 15,600 in Trinidad and Tobago (1996). Ethnic population: East Indians are 41% of the population. Status: 7 (Shifting). Alternate Names: Trinidad Bhojpuri Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Eastern zone, Bihari Comments: Hindu, Muslim, Christian.
Spanish
[spa] Southern peninsula, fishing villages. 4,100 in Trinidad and Tobago (2004). Status: 4 (Educational). Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
Tobagonian Creole English
[tgh] Tobago. 300,000 (2011 J. Ferreira). Status: 6a (Vigorous). De facto language of provincial identity in Tobago. Alternate Names: Tobagonian Dialect Dialects: Most similar to Guyanese Creole English [gyn] and Vincentian Creole English [svc].
Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Southern
Trinidad and Tobago Sign Language
Trinidadian Creole English
[trf] Trinidad. 1,000,000 (2011 J. Ferreira). Status: 6a (Vigorous). De facto language of national identity. Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Southern
Trinidadian Creole French
[acf] Trinidad, Northern Range villages, island fishing communities, peninsular coastal settlements west of the capital. 3,800 in Trinidad and Tobago (2004). Status: 5 (Developing). Alternate Names: Lesser Antillean Creole French, Patois, Patwa Classification: Creole, French based