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French Guianese Creole

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French Guianese Creole (Kriyòl; also called variously Guianan Creole , Guianese Creole in English and Créole guyanais in French) is a French -based creole language spoken in French Guiana , and to a lesser degree, in Suriname and Brazil . It resembles Antillean Creole , but there are some lexical and grammatical differences between them. Antilleans can generally understand French Guianese Creole, though there may be some instances of confusion. The differences consist of more French and Brazilian Portuguese influences (due to the proximity of Brazil and Portuguese presence in the country for several years). There are also words of Amerindian and African origin. There are French Guianese communities in Suriname and Brazil who continue to speak the language.

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8-606: It should not be confused with the Guyanese Creole language , based on English, spoken in nearby Guyana . French Guianese Creole was a language spoken between slaves and settlers . But the conditions of French Guianese Creole's constitution were quite different from the Creole of the West Indies, on the one hand because of the conflicts between French, English, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish, and French dialects such as

16-430: A short period. They can also be used within a very small group, until picked up by a larger community. Ethnic groups are also known to alter or include words from their own backgrounds. A socially stratified creole speech continuum also exists between Guyanese English and Standard / British English. Speech by members of the upper classes is phonetically closest to British and American English, whereas speech by members of

24-514: Is an English-based creole language spoken by the Guyanese people . Linguistically, it is similar to other English dialects of the Caribbean region, based on 19th-century English and has loan words from West African, Indian - South Asian , Arawakan , and older Dutch languages . There are many sub-dialects of Guyanese Creole based on geographical location, urban – rural location, and race of

32-548: Is replaced by 'k' when it stands for [k] (Standard French's comment (how) is written kouman ) and 's', when it stands for [s] . Silent 'h' is never written, unlike in Standard French, where it remains for etymological reasons. The diphthong 'OU' is replaced by 'w' when it stands for [w] . The diphthong 'OI' is replaced by 'we', but by 'o' in the words "mo" and "to". Guyanese Creole language Guyanese Creole ( Creolese by its speakers or simply Guyanese )

40-676: The Caen have greatly influenced French Guianese Creole, which has made it significantly different from the Creoles of Martinique, Haiti, St. Lucia and Guadeloupe. There are, therefore, in French Guianese Creole many words in common with the Creoles of the West Indies. However, a number of words differentiate them significantly. In addition, in French Guiana, the letter 'r' is mostly preserved in onset position, whereas in

48-506: The West Indies the pronunciation of 'r' tends rather to approximate the semi-vowel /w/ . Possessive determiners are placed before the noun: French Guianese Creole is largely written using the French alphabet , with only a few exceptions. 'Q' and 'X' are replaced by 'k' and 'z' respectively. 'C' is not used apart from in the digraph, ch , where it stands for [ʃ] (the word for horse is chouval , similar to French's cheval ). Otherwise, it

56-633: The lower classes most closely resembles other Caribbean English dialects. A phrase such as "I told him" may be pronounced in various parts of the continuum: Definite nouns are pluralized with dem . puliis policeman →   puliis dem police men puliis → {puliis dem } policeman {} police men It is common in Guyanese Creole to repeat adjectives and adverbs for emphasis (the equivalent of adding "very" or "extremely" in standard British and American English). For example, "Dis wata de col col" translates into "This water

64-557: The speakers. For example, along the Rupununi River , where the population is largely Amerindian, a distinct form of Guyanese Creole exists. The Georgetown (capital city) urban area has a distinct accent, while within a forty-five-minute drive away from this area the dialect/accent changes again, especially if following the coast where rural villages are located. As with other Caribbean languages, words and phrases are very elastic, and new ones can be made up, changed or evolve within

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