San Andrés-Providencia Creole

Infobox Language
name=San Andrés and Providencia Creole
states=Colombia (San Andrés and Providencia islands)
speakers=
familycolor=Creole
fam1=Creole language
fam2=English Creole
fam3=Atlantic
fam4=Western
iso2="none"
iso3=icr
notice=nonotice

San Andrés-Providencia Creole is a Creole language spoken in the San Andrés and Providencia State of Colombia by the natives (the Raizal ethnic group), very similar to the Miskito Coastal Creole spoken in Bluefields, the Corn Islands and the Mosquitos Coast of Nicaragua. Its vocabulary is originated in English language, but it has its own phonetic and many expressions from Spanish and African dialects of the "Kwa" languages (Twi, Ewe and Ibi languages) among others. However, it is not just a dialect with a different phonetic and sintaxis, but it has also its own grammar, different from English and Spanish.

Some of its characteristics

# It marks the time. The auxiliar "wen" (~ben~men) marks a past simple.
# The auxiliars "beg" and "mek" before the sentence is a polite way to ask permission or asking something.
# Other auxiliar words before the verb mark probability like "maita", "mos" and "mosi"; future tense like "wi" and "wuda"; obligation like "fi", "hafi" and "shuda"; probability like "kyan" and "kuda" and willing like "niid" and "waan".
# There is not grammar distintion of gender.
# Plural is marked with "dem" after the noun.

The San Andrés-Providencia Creole is an official language in its territory of influence according to the Colombian Constitution of 1991 that guarantees the rights and protections of languages in the country. The population of the Archipelago of San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina uses the three languages (Creole, English and Spanish). English was kept in the Baptist churches for liturgy, but the coming of satellite television and the growing of foreign tourists revived the use that language in the islands. The presence of migrants from the continental Colombia and the travel of young islanders to cities like Barranquilla, Cartagena de Indias and Bogotá for superior studies, contributed to the presence of Spanish. However, the interest to preserve the Native Creole has become a very important element for locals and Colombians in general.

ee also

*Bajan
*Bermudian English
*Jamaican English