Krio language

Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio is an English-based creole language that is lingua franca and de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by 87% of Sierra Leone's population and unites the different ethnic groups in the country, especially in their trade and social interaction with each other. Krio is the primary language of communication among Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad. The language is native to the Sierra Leone Creole people or Krios, (a community of about 300,000 descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, United States and the British Empire), and is spoken as a second language by millions of other Sierra Leoneans belonging to the country's indigenous tribes. English is Sierra Leone's official language, while Krio, despite its common use throughout the country, has no official status.

Krio
Native to	Sierra Leone
Ethnicity	Sierra Leone Creole, Aku
Native speakers	(500,000 cited 1993)[1] 4 million L2 speakers in Sierra Leone (1987)[1]
Language family	English Creole Atlantic Krio
Dialects	Aku
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kri
Glottolog	krio1253[2]
Linguasphere	52-ABB-bb

Overview

The Krio language is an offshoot of the languages and variations of English brought by the Nova Scotian Settlers from North America, Maroons from Jamaica, and the numerous liberated African slaves who settled in Sierra Leone.

All freed slaves — the Jamaican Maroons, African-Americans, and Liberated Africans — influenced Krio, but the Jamaican Maroons, Igbo, Yoruba, Congo, Popo, and Akan Liberated Africans were the most influential. It seems probable that the basic grammatical structure and vowel system of Krio is an offshoot of Jamaican Maroon Creole[3] spoken by the Maroons, as there are well-documented and important direct historical connections between Jamaica and Sierra Leone. The language was also influenced by African American Vernacular English while the majority of the African words in Krio come from the Akan, Yoruba and Igbo languages.

Krio is distinct from a pidgin as it is a language in its own right, with fixed grammatical structures and rules. Krio also draws from other European languages, like Portuguese and French, e.g. the Krio word gentri/gentree, which means wealth or to acquire wealth, is derived from the Old French word 'gentry', and the Krio word pikin, which means 'child', indirectly comes from the Portuguese word pequeno meaning 'small' and often used to mean children in Portuguese.

In Sierra Leone the Krio Language is spoken by people with different degrees in the fluency, as well as regional changes to the Krio. Many of the speakers of Sierra Leone Krio live in or close to the capital city, Freetown. As of 2007 there were close to 350,000 individuals who spoke Krio as a primary language. Even more individuals were using it as a main language for communication purposes in the country as a whole.[4]

Language origins

One theory suggests the early roots of Krio go back to the Atlantic slave trade era in the 17th and 18th centuries when an English-based "pidgin" language (West African Pidgin English, also called Guinea Coast Creole English) arose to facilitate the coastal trade between Europeans and Africans. This early pidgin later became the lingua franca of regional trade among West Africans themselves and likely spread up the river systems to the African interior. After the founding of Freetown, this preexisting pidgin was incorporated into the speech of the various groups of freed slaves landed in Sierra Leone between 1787 and about 1855. The pidgin gradually evolved to become a stable language, the native language of descendants of the freed slaves (which are now a distinct ethnic and cultural group, the Creoles), and the lingua franca of Sierra Leone.[5]

Language usage

Krio usage in Sierra Leone

Most ethnic and cultural Creoles live in and around Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, and their community accounts for about 3% to 6% of Sierra Leone's total population (Freetown is the province where the returned slaves from London and Nova Scotia settled).[6] However, because of their cultural influence in Sierra Leone — especially during the period of colonial rule — their language is used as the lingua franca among all the ethnic groups in Sierra Leone.

Krio speakers abroad

The Creole people acted as traders and missionaries in other parts of West Africa during the 19th century, and as a result there are also Krio-speaking communities in The Gambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.[7] As a result of Sierra Leone Creole migratory patterns, in the Gambia the Creole or Aku community speak a dialect that is very similar to Krio in Sierra Leone. Fernando Po Creole English is also largely a result of Krio migrants. A small number of liberated Africans returned to the land of their origins, such as the Saros of Nigeria who not only took their Western names with them but also imported Krio words like sabi into Nigerian Pidgin English.

Language revival

During the period of colonial rule, Sierra Leoneans (particularly among the upper class) were discouraged from speaking Krio; but after independence from the United Kingdom in 1961, writers and educators began promoting its use. In the 1960s, Thomas Decker translated some of Shakespeare's plays into Krio, and composed original poetry in the language. In the 1980s the New Testament was translated into Krio. Beginning with the involvement of Lutheran Bible Translators,[8] Krio-language translations of the New Testament and Bible were published in 1986 and 2013.

While English is Sierra Leone's official language, the Ministry of Education began using Krio as the medium of instruction in some primary schools in Freetown in the 1990s. Radio stations now broadcast a wide variety of programs in Krio. Sierra Leonean politicians also routinely give public speeches in the language.

Classification

Krio is an English-based creole from which descend Nigerian Pidgin English and Cameroonian Pidgin English and Pichinglis. It is also similar to English-based creole languages spoken in the Americas, especially the Gullah language, Jamaican Patois (Jamaican Creole), and Bajan Creole but it has its own distinctive character. It also shares some linguistic similarities with non-English creoles, such as the French-based creole languages in the Caribbean.

Grammar

The suffix "-dèm" is used to mark the plural, as well as the genitive plural e.g. "uman" ("woman").

	singular	plural
Oblique	uman	umandèm

Verbs

Verbs do not conjugate according to person or number, but reflect their tense. Tense, aspect and mood are marked by one or more tense or aspect markers. The tense markers are 'bin' for the past tense and 'go' for the future, the absence of either shows the present tense. Aspect is shown by 'dòn' for perfective and 'de' for imperfective. Infinitive is marked by 'fòr' and conditional by a combination of 'bin' and 'go'. Tendency is marked by 'kin' and 'nòbar'. The verbal paradigm is as follows.

infinitive	fòr go
present simple (unmarked)	go
present progressive	de go
perfect	dòn go
perfect progressive	dòn de go
future simple	go go
future progressive	go de go
future perfect	go dòn go
future perfect progressive	go dòn de go
past simple	bin go
past progressive	bin de go
past perfect	bin dòn go
past perfect progressive	bin dòn de go
conditional	bin for go
conditional progressive	bin for de go
conditional perfect	bin for dòn go
conditional perfect progressive	bin for dòn de go
tendency	kin go
negative tendency	nò kin/nòbar go

The hortative is marked by 'lè' e.g. 'lè wi go, lè wi tòk' and the optative by 'mè' e.g. 'mè yu Kingmara kam, mè yu Will bi duo'

Interrogatives

The following interrogatives can be used:

udat	who
wetin	what
ustɛm	when
ussay	where
wetin mek	why
us	which
ɔmɔs"	how much/many

In addition, like many other Creoles, a question can be asked simply by intonation. E.g. Yu de go?: 'Are you going' vs yu de go: 'you are going.' Additionally the question particles 'ènti' and 'nòoso' can be used at the start or end of the phrase respectively.

Pronouns

There is no distinction between masculine and feminine in any person and, unlike Standard English, there is a 2nd person plural form. However, there are the hints of nominative, accusative and genitive cases.

a, mi, mi	I, me, my
yu	you, you, your
i, am, im	he/she/it, him/her/it, his/her/its
wi	we, us, our
unu or una or ina	you, you, your (plural)
dèm	they, them, theirs

Orthography

Krio uses the Latin script but without Qq and Xx and with three additional letters from the African reference alphabet, Ɛɛ (open E), Ŋŋ (eng), and Ɔɔ (open O). Three tones can be distinguished in Krio and are sometimes marked with grave (à), acute (á), and circumflex (â) accents over the vowels for low, high, and falling tones respectively but these accents are not employed in normal usage. An alternative orthography with Latin letters only has been devised by Thomas Decker.

The complete alphabet with digraphs follows with Decker's orthography in parentheses:

Krio letter or digraph	Example word	English meaning
A,a	watar	water
Aw, aw	naw (nau)	now
Ay, ay	na im	that's him
B, b	bòku (bohku)	many, very much (< French beaucoup)
Ch, ch	cham	chew
D, d	diar (dya)	expensive (< dear)
E, e	let (leyt)	late
Ɛ, ɛ	hèp (ep)	help
F, f	fùrs (fohs)	first
G, g	got(goat)	goat
Gb, gb	gbana/tranga	difficult (from Temne)
H, h	argyu/argyumènt (agyu/agyument)	argument
I, i	titi	girl
J, j	jomp	jump
K, k	kòntry (kohntri)	country
Kp, kp	kpatakpata	completely
L, l	liv	live
M, m	muf/muv	move
N, n	nak	knock
Ny, ny	niu	new
Ŋ, ŋ	siŋ (sing)	sing
O, o	work	work
Ɔ, ɔ	bòrn (bohn)	born, give birth, conceive
Ɔy, ɔy	òil (ohyl)	oil
P, p	padi	friend
R, r	ren (reyn)	rain
S, s	saf	soft
Sh, sh	sharp	sharp
T, t	tif	steal (< thief)
U, u	uman	woman
V, v	vot	vote
W, w	waka	walk
Y, y	yala	yellow
Z, z	zero	zero
Zh, zh	plèzhùr (plehzhoh)	pleasure

Language samples

Below is a sample of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Krio:

Krio	High Krio (Salontòk)	English
Atikul Wan Ɛvribɔdi bɔn fri ɛn gɛt in yon rayt, nobɔdi nɔ pas in kɔmpin. Wi ɔl ebul fɔ tink ɛn fɛnɔt wetin rayt ɛn rɔŋ. Ɛn pantap dat wi fɔ sabi aw fɔ liv lɛk wan big famili.	Artikul Wan Òll mòrtalmandèm bòrn fri èn ekwal pan dignity èn raihtdèm. Dhèm gèt ratio èn kònshèns èn pantap dhat dhèm fòr akt with dhèm kòmpin na bròdharhudim spirit.	Article 1 All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Below are some sample sentences in Krio:

Kushɛh. - "Hello."

Kushɛh-o. - "Hello."

Wetin na yu nem? - "What is your name?"

Mi nem Jemz. - "My name is James."

Usai yu kɔmɔt? - "Where do you come from?"

Ar kɔmɔt Estinz. - "I come from Hastings."

Us wok yu de du? - "What work do you do?"

Mi na ticha. - "I am a teacher."

Na us skul yu de tich? - "At what school do you teach?"

Ar de tich na Prins ɔf Welz. - "I teach at Prince of Wales."

Ar gladi fɔ mit yu. - "I am happy to meet you."

Misɛf gladi fɔ mit yu. - "I myself am happy to meet you."

OK, a de go naw. - "OK, I am going now."

Ɔrayt, wi go tok bak. - "Alright, we will talk again."

Krio word	English meaning
Salone	Sierra Leone
Kushɛh	Hello, Hi
Padi	Friend
Titi	Girl
Bɔbɔ	Boy
Pikin	Child
Wɔwɔh	Ugly
Plabah	Conflict
bɔku	Many, Too much
Uman	Woman
Lef	Stop
Wetin	What
Usay	Where
Wetin Mek	Why
Ustɛm	When
Vɛx	Angry
Dia	Expensive
Waka	Walk
Cham	Chew
Motocar	Car
Sabi	Know
Fεt	Fight
Wεf	Wife
Lεf	Stop
Mama	Mother
Papa	Father
Granny	Grandmother
Grandpa	Grandfather
tif	Steal
Jomp	Jump

Films

Krio is used (incorrectly) early in the 2006 film Blood Diamond between Danny Archer (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and a character named Commander Zero.

It can also be heard in the music video for "Diamonds from Sierra Leone", a song by American rapper Kanye West.

In 2007, work was completed on an unsanctioned, dubbed Krio version of Franco Zeffirelli's 1977 film Jesus of Nazareth. The dubs were recorded by a team of over 14 native Krio speakers, over a period of 9 months in the Lungi region of Sierra Leone. The film aired on ABC-TV and a limited run of 300 copies were produced, which were mostly sold in Lungi and Freetown.[9]

The first feature-length documentary entirely spoken in Krio is Boris Gerrets' film Shado’man (2014).[10] It was shot in Freetown at night with a group of homeless disabled people. The film premiered at the IDFA documentary festival[11] in Amsterdam and was seen in festivals around the world including FESPACO, the biannual Pan-African film festival in Ouagadougou.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Fiction

Peter Grant, the protagonist of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series, is the London-born son of an immigrant from Sierra Leone. While speaking English with other characters, he speaks Krio with his mother. Aaronovitch includes some such conversations in his text, leaving the reader to puzzle out what was said.

See also

• Fernando Po Creole English
• List of numbers in various languages
• Ian Hancock

References

1. Krio at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Krio". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. Bhatt, Parth; Ingo Plag. The Structure of Creole Words: Segmental, Syllabic and Morphological Aspects.
4. Velupillai, Viveka (2015). Pidgins, Creoles and Mixed Languages: An Introduction. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 249, 276. ISBN 9789027268846.
5. Fourah Bay College, Freetown: Guide to Krio, (held at SOAS Univ. of London Library, 195?
6. Simon Schama: Rough Crossings, London, 2007
7. A. Wyse: Krios of Sierra Leone, London (1989)
8. Link to dedication report
9. video clip of Krio-dubbed version of Zefirelli's Jesus of Nazareth.
10. "Shado'man - A Boris Gerrets Film". www.shadoman-film.com. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-12-20. Retrieved 2014-12-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. http://www.fespaco.bf/images/pdf/documents_fespaco/SELECTION%20OFFICIELLE%20FESPACO%202015%20HORS%20COMPETITION.pdf
13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-04. Retrieved 2014-12-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. Debruge, Peter (2013-12-09). "Film Review: 'Shado'man'". Variety. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
15. "Shado'man (2013) recensie, Boris Gerrets - Cinemagazine". cinemagazine.nl. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
16. "Pijnlijke prachtige schaduwwereld". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-09-17.
17. "Leven in de schaduw in Sierra Leone". NRC (in Dutch). Retrieved 2018-09-17.

Further reading

• Finney, Malcolm Awadajin (2004). "Substratal Influence on the Morphosyntactic Properties of Krio". Linguistic Discovery. 2 (2). doi:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.266.

External links

• Krio Research Centre at Umeå University, Sweden.
• Krio proverbs
• PanAfrican L10n page on Krio (& Pidgin)
• Basic Krio and Temne Vocabulary
• Yakpo, Kofi (2009) "A Grammar of Pichi", 692 pp. This link opens a pdf of a comprehensive linguistic description of Pichi (Fernando Po Creole English), a language closely related to Krio, by the linguist Kofi Yakpo (University of Nijmegen)
• Krio Language Manual, Peace Corps - Sierra Leone