Krio
A language of Sierra Leone
| Population | 473,000 in Sierra Leone (1993). Population total all countries: 493,470. |
| Region | Freetown communities; on the Peninsula; Banana Islands, York Island; Bonthe. Also in Gambia, Guinea, Senegal, United States. |
| Language map |
Sierra Leone, reference number 7 |
| Alternate names | Creole, Patois |
| Dialects | Aku. Krio and Jamaican Creole [jam], and Krio and Sea Islands Creole [gul] may have some interintelligibility. |
| Classification | Creole, English based, Atlantic, Krio |
| Language use | Language of wider communication. Vigorous. More in provincial towns than villages, and for interethnic communication. Possibly half use Krio at work. Formal language for those who do not speak English. L2 users prefer indigenous languages for informal situations. Possibly 4,000,000 are L2 users (1987 F. Jones). All domains, education. All ages. |
| Language development | Literacy rate in L2: Less than 15% in English. Taught as an elective from primary to college level. NT: 1986–1992. |
| Writing system | Latin script. |
| Comments | L1 Krio speakers mainly descendants of repatriated slaves from Jamaica. Linguistic influence from Yoruba [yor] (I. Hancock 1987). Traditional religion, Christian. |
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