Dominica

Summary

Official Name

Commonwealth of Dominica

International Conventions

CDE (1983), CPPDCE (2015), CSICH (2005), ICCPR (1993), ILOCITP (2002), UNCRPD (2012), UNDRIP (2007)

Population

72,000

Principal Languages

English

Literacy Rate

94% (Roser and Ortiz-Ospina 2018)

Language Counts

The number of established languages listed for Dominica is 4. All are living languages. Of these, 1 is indigenous and 3 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 2 are institutional, 1 is vigorous, and 1 is in trouble.

Languages

English eng: Users: 65,000 in Dominica, all users. L1 users: 3,000 in Dominica (Crystal 2003a). L2 users: 62,000 (2020). Status: 1 (National). De facto national language. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
French fra: Widespread. Users: 7,130 in Dominica (Beck et al 2018), L2 users. Status: 4 (Educational). Alternate Names: français Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French
Leeward Caribbean English Creole aig: Saint Andrew parish: Marigot, Wesley, and Woodford Hill in northeast Dominica; Saint John parish: Clifton (a suburb of Portsmouth) northwest. Users: 200 in Dominica (2004). Status: 6a* (Vigorous). Alternate Names: Broken English, Creole, Dialect, Kokoy Creole English, Patwa Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Southern
Lesser Antillean French Creole acf: Widespread. Users: 56,000 in Dominica (2021 Joshua Project). , based on ethnicity. Status: 6b (Threatened). De facto language of national identity. Alternate Names: Dominican Creole French, Kwèyòl, Patois, Patwa Classification: Creole, French based