Krio (language)

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Krio

Spoken in

Sierra LeoneSierra Leone Sierra Leone
speaker 1.265 million native speakers (2015)
Linguistic
classification
Official status
Recognized minority /
regional language in 		Sierra LeoneSierra Leone Sierra Leone ( national language )
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

-

ISO 639 -2

cpe

ISO 639-3

kri

Krio is an English- based Creole language common in Sierra Leone .

Krio is the mother tongue for around 18 percent of the population and is spoken by (as of 2015) around 1.265 million people as the main language, although only around 90,000 people belong to the people of the same name . Krio serves as a lingua franca in politics and commerce and is responsible for the majority of the population lingua franca .

There are also some speakers in Gambia , Guinea and Senegal . It is a tonal language , that is, the relative pitch of the syllables is distinctive , i.e. differentiating meanings. There are three tones : rising, falling, and rising-falling.

Language history

The origins of language development are said to be in the slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, the so-called West African pidgin English developed as a commercial language . The language later developed into the lingua franca between the states of West Africa. With the founding of Freetown between 1787 and 1886, the language mixed with that of numerous returning slaves .

grammar

General

There is no grammatical gender in Krio . Nouns are formed in the genitive by the word ending; -im for singular , -dem for plural .

Verbs

Verbs are not conjugated in Krio , but indicate the tense . The past tense is indicated by -bin- and the future by -go-. The absence of both indicates the present tense . The Perfect is -dòn-, the imperfect formed by -DE-. The infinitive is marked by for-. Here is an example of the conjugation of the word go (German: to go).

infinitive for go
present go
Present (progressive form) de go
Perfect dòn go
Perfect (progressive form) dòn de go
Future tense I. go go
Future tense go de go
Future tense go dòn go
Future tense (progression of the perfect tense) go dòn de go
past am go
Past (progressive form) am de go
Past (perfect) am dòn go
Past (progression of the perfect tense) am dòn de go
conjunctive am go go
Subjunctive (progressive form) am go de go
Subjunctive (perfect) am go dòn go
Subjunctive (progressive form of the perfect tense) am go dòn de go

Interrogative pronouns

The following interrogative pronouns are used:

udat Who?
wetin What?
ustem When?
usay Where?
wetin mek Why?

In addition, questions in Krio can be formed by intonation .

pronoun

There is no distinction between masculine and feminine .

Krio English German
a, mi, mi I, me, my I, me / me, my
yu, yu, yu you, you, your (singular) you, you / you, your
i, am, im he, him, his he, him / him, his
she, her, her you, you / you, you
it, it, its it, him / it, be
wi we, us, our we, us, our
una you, you, your (plural) you, you, yours
dhèm they, them, theirs you, you / you, you

orthography

Krio uses the Latin alphabet , but Qq and Xx are unknown. There are also three letters of the African reference alphabet : Ɛɛ (open E), Ŋŋ and Ɔɔ (open O). Three tones are distinguished and theoretically specially marked (in practice this is usually not used): Gravis , acute and circumflex over the vowels for low, high and falling tones.

Letter / diagraph Example word English language German meaning
A, a wata water water
Aw, aw naw (nau) now now
Ay, ay nayn (nain) that's him that's him
B, b bɔku (bohku) many, very much (see French beaucoup ) many, very many
Ch, ch cham chew chew
D, d dia (dya) expensive expensive
E, e let (leyt) late late
Ɛ, ɛ ɛp (ep) help Help
F, f fɔs (fohs) first first
G, g got (goat) goat goat
Gb, gb gbana / tranga
(from the Temne ) 		difficult difficult
H, h argyu / argyument (agyu / agyument) argument argument
I, i titi girl girl
J, j jomp jump leap
K, k kɔntri (kohnri) country country
Kp, kp kpatakpata completely total
L, l liv live Life
M, m muv / muf move move
N, n nak knock beat
Ny, ny nyu new New
Ŋ, ŋ siŋ (sing) sing to sing
O, o wok work work
Ɔ, ɔ bɔn (bean) born, give birth, conceive born, give birth
Ɔy, ɔy ɔyl (ohyl) oil oil
P, p padi friend friend
R, r ren (reyn) rain rain
S, s saf soft soft
Sh, sh shap sharp sharp
T, t tif steal steal
U, u uman woman woman
V, v vot vote choose
W, w waka walk go
Y, y yala yellow yellow
Z, z ziro zero zero
Zh, zh plɛzhɔ (plehzhoh) pleasure You are welcome

Language examples

Video interview in Krio (the awareness campaign "Yu kin sovayv #Ebola" for Ebola fever epidemic in Sierra Leone in 2014 )
Kushe. - "Hello."
Kushe-o. - "Hello."
Aw Di bodi? - "How are you?" (Literally: "How is your body?")
Wetin na yu nem? - "What is your name?"
Mi nem Jemz. - "My name is James."
Usai yu kɔmɔt? - "Where are you from?"
A kɔmɔt Estinz. - "I'm from Hastings."
Us wok yu de you? - "What are you working?"
Mi na ticha. - "I am a teacher."
Na us skul yu de tich? - "At which school do you teach?"
I de tich na Prins ɔv Welz. - "I teach at the Prince of Wales ."
Mi gladi fɔ with yu. - "It's nice to get to know / meet you."
Misɛf gladi fɔ with yu. - "I am happy with that, too."
OK, a de go naw. - "Ok, I'm going now."
Ɔrayt, wi go tok bak. - "All right, we'll talk to you later."
Krio German
Salons Sierra Leone
Kusheh Hello
Pady friend
Titi girl
Bobo Boy
Pickin child
Wow Ugly
Plabah conflict
bohku Many, too many
Uman woman
Leff stop
Wetin What
Usay Where
Wetin Meck Why
Ustem When
Vex Annoying
slide Expensive
Wakka To run
Cham Chew
Motocar automobile
Sabi Knowledge
fat Fight
Wef woman
mummy mother
father father
Granny grandmother
Grandpa grandfather
tif Steal
Jomp Leap

Cinematic reception

Krio is used in the wrong form in the Hollywood film Blood Diamond from 2006. It also plays a role in the music video Diamonds from Sierra Leone by the American rapper Kanye West . The 1977 film Jesus of Nazareth by Franco Zeffirelli is probably the only one that was also dubbed in Krio (2007).

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census national analytical report. Statistics Sierra Leone, October 2017, p. 89ff.
  2. ^ Fourah Bay College (ed.): Guide to Krio. Freetown 1958.