Guyanese Creole English

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A language of Guyana

ISO 639-3
gyn
Alternate Names
Creolese, Guyanese Creole
Population

650,000 in Guyana. 250,000 Blacks and 400,000 Hindustanis. Total users in all countries: 700,000.

Location

Widespread. Possibly also in French Guiana.

Language Maps
Language Status

5 (Developing). De facto language of national identity.

Classification
Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Southern
Dialects

Afro-Guyanese Creole, Rupununi, Indo-Guyanese Creole. Most similar to creoles of Saint Vincent and Tobago (Holbrook). Rupununi dialect may be a separate language. Rupununi claim they are not mutually inherently intelligible.

Language Use

The first or second language of most, but it has no official status. Home. Neutral attitudes. Used as L2 by Macushi [mbc], Sarnami Hindustani [hns], Warao [wba].

Language Development
Poetry. Radio programs. TV. Videos. Grammar.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Guyanese Creole English
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

There is a continuum of variation from basilectal Creole to acrolectal English of the educated.

Also spoken in:

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