An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the lexifier, meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the creole's lexicon. Most English creoles were formed in British colonies, following the great expansion of British naval military power and trade in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. The main categories of English-based creoles are Atlantic (the Americas and Africa) and Pacific (Asia and Oceania). Over 76.5 million people globally are estimated to speak an English-based creole. Sierra Leone, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, and Singapore have the largest concentrations of creole speakers.

Origin

It is disputed to what extent the various English-based creoles of the world share a common origin. The monogenesis hypothesis posits that a single language, commonly called proto–Pidgin English, spoken along the West African coast in the early sixteenth century, was ancestral to most or all of the Atlantic creoles (the English creoles of both West Africa and the Americas).

Table of creole languages

{| class="wikitable sortable" !Name !Country !Number of speakers !Notes !colspan="4"|

Atlantic

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Western Caribbean

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Eastern Caribbean

British Virgin Islands Sint Maarten 🇵🇷 Puerto Rico Saint-Martin Sint Eustatius Saba !colspan="4"|

Southern-Caribbean

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North America

🇲🇽 Mexico !colspan="4"|

West Africa

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Pacific

🇺🇸 United States 🇳🇫 Norfolk Island

Marginal

Other

Not strictly creoles, but sometimes called thus: