  UnitedNationsResearchInstituteForSocialDevelopment
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Sigma KEE - SouthwesternCaribbeanCreoleEnglishLanguage
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SouthwesternCaribbeanCreoleEnglishLanguage
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The SouthwesternCaribbeanCreoleEnglishLanguage is a WesternAtlanticEnglishBasedCreoleLanguage of Jamaica. SIL code: JAM. ISO 639-2: cpe. Population: 2,544,000 in Jamaica (1995 estimate). Population total all countries 2,699,000 or more. Region: Also spoken in Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, United Kingdom, USA. Dialects: JAMAICAN CREOLE ENGLISH (PATWA, PATOIS, BONGO TALK, QUASHIE TALK). Comments: The extreme varieties and Standard English are inherently unintelligible to each other's speakers (Voegelin and Voegelin, LePage, Adler). It may be partly intelligible to speakers of Cameroons Pidgin and Krio of Sierra Leone, spoken by descendants of Jamaicans repatriated between 1787 and 1860. Inherently intelligible to speakers of creoles in Panama and Costa Rica. Reported to be very close to Creole of Belize, close to Grenada, St. Vincent, different from Tobago, very different from Guyana, Barbados, Leeward and Windward Islands. 25% lexical similarity with Guyanese, 13% with Belizean, 9% with Trinidadian, 8% with Barbadian, 5% with Nicaraguan. Most speakers have some competence in Standard English. Education is in Standard English. Extreme vitality. Creole is the dominant language and gaining in prestige. Continuum of speech from the distinct creole to provincial Standard English of town dwellers. Most speakers believe that they speak Standard English. Linguistic influences from Akan in Ghana and Bantu (I. Hancock 1988). Dictionary. Grammar. Literacy rate in second language: High in English. Also spoken in: Costa Rica. (Language name: SOUTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN CREOLE ENGLISH.) Population: 55,100 in Costa Rica, 2% of the population (1986). Dialects: LIMON CREOLE ENGLISH (LIMONESE CREOLE, MEKITELYU). Comments: Jamaican migrants settled in Limon about the middle of the 19th Century, as they also did in Panama, so those varieties are close. Some say they do not understand Islander Creole of San Andres. Comprehension of Standard English is somewhat limited. All ages. Vigorous among themselves. Creole is not considered proper for literary purposes. They consider Jamaican Creole to be more 'broken' than their own. Also spoken in: Panama. (Language name: SOUTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN CREOLE ENGLISH.) Population: 100,000 to 299,600 in Panama, 14% of the population (1986). Dialects: PANAMANIAN CREOLE ENGLISH (PANAMA ENGLISH CREOLE, GUARI-GUARI). Comments: Ancestors came from Barbados and Jamaica in mid-19th century to work in fruit plantations, and later to build the railway and canal. Influences from both eastern and western Caribbean creole English. Formerly education was in English, but is now in Spanish.(extract from http://www.ethnologue.com/)
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