Pruykene

Pruykene
Region	Clement Territory Edward
Ethnicity	Kanaks
Native speakers	1,534,862 (2005)
Language family	English Creole Pacific Pruykene
Writing system	Latin (Spanish alphabet)
Official status
Official language in	Skaolitunia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Linguasphere	51-AAC-bc

Pruykene is an English-based creole language that developed from a pidgin used initially in the region of in the early days of European colonisation. Later, it moved west and north. The pidgin died out in most parts of the country, except in the Clement Territory and parts of northern Edward, where the contact between European settlers, Chinese and other Asians and the Kanaks in the northern regions has maintained a vibrant use of the language, spoken by about 100,000 people. Despite its similarities to English in vocabulary, it has a distinct syntactic structure and grammar and is a language in its own right. It is distinct from Maori Creole.