creole
n. C / Un. a stable language that develops when two or more different languages mix together over time. It starts as a simple way for people to communicate and becomes a full language that children learn as their first tongue.
n. a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; distinguished from a pidgin by being the first language of a speech community. Often used in sociolinguistics to describe hybrid varieties in post-colonial contexts.
Haitian Creole is one of the official languages of Haiti.
Linguists study how a pidgin evolves into a creole when it becomes the primary language of a new generation.
The unique syntax of the local creole reflects a complex history of maritime trade and forced migration, blending European vocabulary with West African grammatical structures.
Variously from French créole, from its source, Spanish criollo, and from its source, Portuguese crioulo, itself probably a diminutive of cria (“person raised in one’s house, servant”), from criar (“to rear, to bring up”), from Latin creō (“I create, make, produce”). Doublet of Criollo, Crioulo, and Krio.
Countable when referring to a specific language variety; uncountable when referring to the general linguistic phenomenon.
The people speak a pidgin as their native language.The people speak a creole as their native language.A pidgin is a simplified contact language with no native speakers; once it is learned as a first language by children, it is termed a creole.