Australian Kriol Language

Australian Kriol Language

Kriol is an Australian creole language that developed initially in the region of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales in the early days of White colonisation, and then moved west and north with White and Black stockmen and others. It has died out in most parts of the country, except in the Northern Territory, where the contact between European settlers, Chinese and other Asians and the indigenous people in the northern regions of Australia has maintained a vibrant use of the language. It is presently spoken by about 30,000 people. Despite the language's similarities to English in vocabulary, it has a distinct syntactic structure and grammar, and is, therefore, a language in its own right.