Page Type: languageGuyanese English Creole | Ethnologue

GYN ISO 639-3

Guyanese English Creole

Gaiyniiz Autonym

A language of Guyana

ISO 639
gyn
Alternate Names
Creolese, Guyanese, Guyanese Creole, Kriiyliiz, Kriiyoliiz
Autonym
Gaiyniiz
Population
643,000 in Guyana (2021 Joshua Project). 324,000 Afro-Guyanese Creole and 319,000 Indo-Guyanese Creole (2021 JoshuaProject). Total users in all countries: 715,200.
Location:
Widespread. Possibly also in French Guiana.
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 Arawak [arw], Sarnami Hindustani [hns], Urdu [urd], Waiwai [waw], Warao [wba].
Language Development
Literature. Radio. TV. Videos. Grammar. Texts.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Guyanese English Creole
Writing
Latin script [Latn].
Other Comments
There is a continuum of variation from basilectal Creole to acrolectal English of the educated.

Also Spoken in

Language Name
Guyanese English Creole
User Population
4,200 in French Guiana (2019). , based on ethnicity.
Language Status
Unestablished
Other Comments
Non-indigenous.
View other languages of French Guiana
Language Name
Guyanese English Creole
User Population
68,000 in Suriname (2018).
Location
Nickerie district: Courantyne river mouth.
Language Status
8a (Moribund)
Other Comments
Non-indigenous. Christian, Hindu, Muslim.
View other languages of Suriname

Map

Location: Widespread. Possibly also in French Guiana.