Creole
Language born mixed
Creole refers to languages that develop when a pidgin—a simplified contact language—becomes the native tongue of a community, acquiring full grammatical complexity.
Haitian Creole and Louisiana Creole are examples.
The term also describes people of mixed European and African or Caribbean descent, particularly in Louisiana and the Caribbean: Creole cuisine, Creole culture.
Usage varies by region—in Louisiana, Creole historically distinguished French-descended settlers and their culture from Cajuns.
Sea Islands creole language
- CajunLouisiana's French descendants
- gumboSpiced Louisiana stew
- jambalayaSpicy Louisiana rice dish
- étoufféeCajun smothered shellfish dish
beignet · roux · praline · voodoo · hoodoo · Mardi Gras · second line · shotgun house
Diverse ancestral origins
- mestizoBiracial Latin American
- mulattoMixed-race person, archaic
- Afro-CaribbeanOf African-descended islanders
- LouisianaGulf Coast pelican state
Haitian · Mauritian · ancestry · colonial · postcolonial · ethnicity · descent · bloodline
Improvised contact language
- lingua francaShared tongue between peoples
- creolizationPidgin maturing into mother tongue
- substrateUnderlying supporting material
- code-switchingAlternating between linguistic varieties
diglossia · patois · vernacular · mother tongue · native speaker · bilingualism · multilingualism · syntax
Gullah
Sea Islands creole language
étouffée · beignet · roux · praline · voodoo · hoodoo · Mardi Gras · second line · shotgun house · plantation
mixed heritage
Diverse ancestral origins
- mestizoBiracial Latin American
- mulattoMixed-race person, archaic
- Afro-CaribbeanOf African-descended islanders
Louisiana · Haitian · Mauritian · ancestry · colonial · postcolonial · ethnicity · descent · bloodline · lineage
pidgin
Improvised contact language
- lingua francaShared tongue between peoples
- creolizationPidgin maturing into mother tongue
- substrateUnderlying supporting material
code-switching · diglossia · patois · vernacular · mother tongue · native speaker · bilingualism · multilingualism · syntax · morphology
- Languages/DialectsMandarin, Cantonese, Levantine, Bavarian, Swiss German
- Nicaraguan peoplesRama
- cuisinesItalian cuisine, French cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Japanese cuisine, Mexican cuisine
- languagesEnglish, Arabic, Chinese, German, French
- CaribbeanJamaica, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Haiti
- FranceParis, Notre-Dame, Lyon, croissant, Toulouse
Creoleheritage language
Language of one's ancestors
indigenous language · ancestral language · classical language · standard language · official language
- Creole seasoningLouisiana-style spice blend
- shrimp creoleShellfish in spiced tomato sauce
- Creole cuisineLouisiana's multicultural food heritage
- creole cooking
- creole cultureFused post-contact cultural system
- Louisiana CreoleFrench-based contact language