User:Luziyca/Sandbox

Estuary Creole
Krio
Region	Rwizikuru
Native speakers	TBD (2011) L2: TBD
Language family	Estmerish-based creole Estmero-Arucian Pidgin Estuary Creole
Writing system	Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	esc

Estuary Creole (Krio) is an Estmerish-based creole language spoken among the Freemen in Rwizikuru.

Brought over from Imagua by Freemen, where their ancestors spoke Estmero-Arucian Pidgin alongside Imaguan Creole, it supplanted an earlier pidgin spoken around the Estmerish trading posts by the nineteenth century, and would by the turn of the twentieth century become prevalent along the coast of Rwizikuru, particularly around the estuary of the Rwizikuru River.

However, its status declined among the general Rwizikuran population, particularly after Rwizikuru gained independence from Estmere in 1946, who favoured weRwizi over Estmerish, leading to the creole's decline among the population. Today, it is still widely used among the Freemen and their communities in the diaspora, but is only used among older Rwizikurans.

Etymology

Estuary Creole derives from the estuary of the Rwizikuru River, where the language was commonly spoken. It was given that name in 1887 by linguist Augustine Walsham, to describe the language spoken "by the natives of Port Fitzhubert and its surrounding environs."

History

Estuary Creole is believed by linguists to have originated from a contact language spoken around Estmerish trade posts in present-day Rwizikuru, with linguist Tinozivaishe Makwarimba from the University of Rwizikuru hypothesising that local veRwizi near Fort Graham wishing to trade with Estmere had to learn the Estmerish language, but due to Estmerish's complicated grammar, the veRwizi near Fort Graham simplified it to a point that they can comprehend it, while still getting the message across to the Estmerish merchants.

As the language spread across Estmere's trade posts, the language was carried with slaves to Estmerish colonies, particularly the Colony of Imagua, where it was adopted as a pidgin language, and then as children grew up learning it, developed into a creole language. However, due to the presence of Imaguan Creole on Imagua, the nascent creole language was in competition with Imaguan Creole. As this language further developed in Imagua, the Estmerish slave trade ceased in 1740, leading to a decline in the use of the original pidgin on the coast of present-day Rwizikuru, until by 1801, Fort Graham was abandoned, with linguists believing that the pidgin ceased to be spoken in Bahia by that point.

In the early 19th century, numerous Freemen migrated to present-day Rwizikuru under the auspices of the Saint Geoffrey's Company, bringing their language with them. Although the language was commonly used among the Freemen, it remained primarily a spoken language, with Freemen preferring to write in standard Estmerish and to teach the standard variety of Estmerish.

After the 1860s, Estuary Creole spread from the Freemen settlements to Port Fitzhubert, partially as many Freemen migrated to the city to work for the colonial government, and partially because native Bahians learnt Estuary Creole. By the 1880s, Estuary Creole had become the dominant language "spoken in the marketplace" of Port Fitzhubert, with linguist Augustine Walsham noting that "Rizis, Freedmen [sic] and Balisa, among many others in the Estuary of the Rizicuru [sic] river, have learnt a rudimentary form of Estmerish to communicate with the Estmerish settlers."

Estuary Creole would spread inland following the fall of Munzwa, and by 1900, linguist Alden Kersey said that the range of Estuary Creole "extended from Port Graham in the west to Saint Geoffrey's in the east," and was widely used by "all blacks" within the range. Kersey also noted that Estuary Creole was also present in the rest of the colony, "but was only used by merchants and officials wishing to communicate with the natives."

Estuary Creole remained a vernacular language until after independence, when the Rwizikuran government instituted policies that encouraged the weRwizi language to be used to the detriment of the Estmerish language. This meant that Estuary Creole became largely confined to older generations, to rural people, and to the Freemen, as younger people in urban areas switched to using weRwizi. By 1979, linguist Alan Terrell said that the Estuary Creole was only spoken "by younger people in the areas traditionally settled by Freemen, and by old people."

In the late 1990s, popular interest in Estuary Creole grew, with Silas Brannon and Fidelity Bradshaw sought to revitalise the culture of the Freemen, including the Estuary Creole. This led to the first publication of a book in Estuary Creole in 2001 by Bradshaw, and since then, usage of the Creole has grown as a sign of Freemen identity.

Phonology

Vowels

Like weRwizi, vowels in Estuary Creole are pronounced like a, e, i, o, u, with vowels maintaining a consistent pronunciation: if a vowel is followed by another vowel, they are to be pronounced separately. However, unlike weRwizi, there are no tones in Estuary Creole.

Consonants

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar	Glottal
				plain	whistled
Plosive	voiceless	p		t			k
	implosive	ɓ		ɗ			ɠ
	prenasalized						ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless			s		ʃ
	breathy			z̤		ʒ̤		ɦ
Nasal	plain	m		n		ɲ	ŋ
Affricate	voiceless	p͡f		t͡s		t͡ʃ
	breathy			d͡z̤	d͡z̤ᵝ	d͡ʒ̤
	prenasalized					ⁿd͡ʒ̤
Trill				r
Approximant			ʋ			j	w

Orthography

Estuary Creole orthography traditionally used the International Phonetic Alphabet, as most users typically wrote in standard Estmerish as opposed to Estuary Creole, due to Standard Estmerish's prestige among its speakers, with few writing in Estuary Creole. While some diaries from as early as 1844 include phrases in Estuary Creole, they were largely written as a form of eye dialect.

However, since the 1990s, an orthography has been developed by Fidelity Bradshaw and used by most people writing in Estuary Creole since then, including linguists. This orthography uses letters present in the basic Latin alphabet, with a total of thirty-one letters, including nine digraphs to represent sounds that otherwise would not be represented.

Letter or digraph	Pronunciation	Example word	Estmerish meaning
A	a	Example	Example
B	ɓ	Example	Example
CH	t͡ʃ	Example	Example
D	ɗ	Example	Example
DZ	d͡z̤	Example	Example
E	e	Example	Example
F	p͡f	Frimin	Freemen
G	ɠ	Example	Example
H	ɦ	Example	Example
I	i	Example	Example
J	d͡ʒ̤	Example	Example
JV	d͡z̤ᵝ	Example	Example
K	k	Example	Example
M	m	Example	Example
N	n	Example	Example
NG	ᵑɡ and ŋ	Example	Example
NJ	ⁿd͡ʒ̤	Example	Example
NY	ɲ	Example	Example
O	o	Example	Example
P	p	Example	Example
R	r	Example	Example
S	s	Example	Example
SH	ʃ	Example	Example
T	t	Example	Example
TS	t͡s	Example	Example
U	u	Example	Example
V	ʋ	Example	Example
W	w	wata	water
Y	y	Example	Example
Z	z̤	Example	Example
ZH	ʒ̤	Example	Example