Belizean Creole

Belizean Creole

Belizean Creole English, known as Kriol by its speakers, is an English-based creole language closely related to Miskito Coastal Creole, San Andrés and Providencia Creole, Limón Coastal Creole, Bocas del Toro Creole, Colón Creole, Rio Abajo Creole, Jamaican Patois, Guyanese Creole and other English creoles of the Caribbean. Kriol has about 400,000 speakers in Belize (where it is the lingua franca and is spoken by 70% of the population) and in the Belizean diaspora, mostly in the United States.

Kriol was historically spoken by the Kriols, a population of mainly African and British ancestry. However, most Belizean Garifunas, Mestizos, Maya, and other ethnic groups speak Kriol as at least a second language, and it is the only true common language among all groups.

Read more about Belizean Creole:  Linguistic Biography, English Taught in Belizean Schools, Phonology, Grammar