Turks and Caicos Creole | |
---|---|
Turks and Caicos Patwah | |
Native to | Turks and Caicos Islands |
Native speakers | 49,309 (2023)[1] |
English Creole
| |
Official status | |
Regulated by | not regulated |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | tch |
Glottolog | turk1310 |
Linguasphere | 52-ABB-ao |
Turks and Caicos Creole, or Turks and Caicos Patwah, is an English-based creole spoken in the Turks and Caicos Islands; a West Indian British overseas territory in the Lucayan Archipelago.
The Turks and Caicos Island Creole variety has not been thoroughly studied, but is a dialect of Jamaican Patwah which shares many of the same words such as Aks (Ask), Dis (This), Gyal (Girl), and Mosi (Must be);[2] which is due to the fact that the Turks and Caicos Islands were formally a part of Jamaica for over 114 years (1848 - 1962), and shares a common history and culture with Jamaica.[3][4][5] Turks and Caicos Patwah has also been significantly influenced by Bermudian Creole English, as the islands were initially settled by Bermudian salt-rakers following the Taíno genocide and British colonization, and were a de facto part of Bermuda for over 126 years (1673 - 1799).[6][7] The language is also reportedly mutually intelligible with Bahamian Creole and as of (2023) the number of speakers of Turks and Caicos Patwah is approximately 49,309.[8][9]
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