Krio
Categories: Pidgin and creole language stubs
Krio is a language spoken in Sierra Leone. It is a creole language derived from English, with substantial influence from other languages spoken nearby, particularly Yoruba. Krio is used as a lingua franca for communication between different groups in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The Krio are also a people in Sierra Leone and the development of the language is a reflection of the people's lives in the country. Ethnic Krio were created as an amalgam of poor white British, freed slaves in Britain (following Abolition), freed US slaves (following the US war for independence), Jamaican slaves and recaptives (from slave ships captured on the highs seas off western Africa by the Royal Navy). This last group, who had been taken from Africa but ended up in Sierra Leone without setting foot elsewhere, particularly enriched the culture and forced the development of a lingua franca for communication among the emerging 'Krio', and with the white, English-speaking, British overclass. As the Colony of Sierra Leone adopted the Protectorate, the Krio language's value as a lingua franca increased.
de:Krio