Crioulo, Upper Guinea

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A language of Guinea-Bissau

ISO 639-3

pov

Alternate Names

Guinea-Bissau Creole, Guinea-Bissau Kriyol, Kriulo, Portuguese Creole

Autonym

Kriyol

Population

839,000 in Guinea-Bissau, all users. L1 users: 239,000 (2016), increasing. L2 users: 600,000. Total users in all countries: 905,800 (as L1: 285,800; as L2: 620,000).

Location

Widespread.

Language Maps

Guinea and Guinea-Bissau

Language Status

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

Classification

Creole, Portuguese based

Dialects

Bissau-Bolama Creole, Bafatá Creole, Cacheu-Ziguinchor Creole. Lexical similarity: with Kabuverdianu [kea].

Language Use

Home, work, church, government. All ages. Also use Portuguese [por]. Used as L2 by Balanta-Kentohe [ble], Bayot [bda], Bidyogo [bjg], Jola-Felupe [eja], Mankanya [knf], Soninke [snk].

Language Development

Taught in primary schools. Literature. Newspapers. Radio. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Bible: 1999.

Language Resources

OLAC resources in and about Crioulo, Upper Guinea

Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Also spoken in:

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Senegal

Language nameCrioulo, Upper Guinea

Population Full

30,000 in Senegal, all users. L1 users: 10,000 (Biagui and Quint 2013). L2 users: 20,000 (Biagui and Quint 2013).

Location

Ziguinchor region: Bignona; Kolda region.

Alternate Names

Casamançais, Créole afro-portugais de Casamance, Créole casamançais, Kriulo, Kriyol, Portuguese Creole

Dialects

Cacheu-Ziguinchor Creole.

Status

3 (Wider communication). Used as an LWC from the Lower Casamance of Senegal to the north of Guinea-Bissau. People who traveled from Guinea-Bissau as a Portuguese-based country to the Casamance of southern Senegal led to the development as an LWC. It is used in churches (interpretation and singing) and in the market, business and radio.

Language Use

Most also use Wolof [wol]. Also use French [fra]. Used as L2 by Bandial [bqj], Bayot [bda], Jola-Fonyi [dyo], Jola-Kasa [csk], Mandinka [mnk], Mankanya [knf].

Other Comments

Non-indigenous. Senegal variety is different from Guinea-Bissau, with some Pidgin French vocabulary. Intelligible of Guinea-Bissau Creole. Christian.

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Ethnologue

Crioulo, Upper Guinea

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A language of Guinea-Bissau

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