The Krio Language - It's Not English

Blood Diamond, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is more than just a great film--it is also a great example of African accents, especially a demonstrated by DiCaprio's character, Danny Archer. Archer was born in Rhodesia--modern day Zimbabwe. His accent, however, is South African, and has been praised for being right on the mark. That accent aside, another one surfaces in the film for a short time, a sort of pidgin English known as Krio. Krio is mainly used in Sierra Leone,and DiCaprio demonstrates it in the clip below:

Notice how the words all seem to be English, but the grammar is less than stellar and the accent itself is almost what one would expect of a Jamaican. The accent, however, is really just an African one--in this case influenced mostly by the Yoruba language. The words, mostly English, although some are from other African languages as well as French, were adopted as a result of African interaction with English-speakers through either slavery abroad, followed by repatriation generations later, or British colonization in West Africa.

Sierra Leone's location in Africa
worldatlas.com

Sierra Leone is one of several small states in West Africa, and much of its population are descendents of slaves who were freed and returned to Africa--their own ancestors having been shipped across the sea generations before. It also is home to several different ethnic groups, whose history of conflict has left a scar on the country's history. The multitude of languages in Sierra Leone is another aspect of its many ethnic groups, and the difference between the languages has called for a common tongue to fill the gap--this is where Krio comes in.



According to visitsierraleone.org, Krio is now the most widely used language in Sierra Leone. As seen in the video, many of these words are variations on English words: a sink is besin, from wash basin; a trash can is doti box, from dirty box; food is it, like eat; and beard is biabia. Other words are less recognizable, if at all.

Translating Krio to English
http://www.hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/krio.html

What is most interesting, however, is that this is not just a dialect of English--it has its own system of grammar and syntax. It is used as a second language for speakers of different local languages. The Peace Corps even issues a language manual for English speaking volunteers to learn Krio, rather than encouraging them to simply get by on English. Indeed, it is an offshoot of English that has developed over centuries, and continues to do so.



The English language has long served as a sort of global lingua franca, as it is arguably the best language to know if you're trying to communicate in societies around the world whose first language you don't speak. The emergence of offshoots such as Krio is hardly surprising, nor is it an anomaly.

Beyond Sierra Leone, English has been molded in India, Louisiana, Hawaii, and elsewhere--all as a result of non-native speakers using the language among themselves. As English continues to find universal relevance with the growing reach of the internet, it will not be surprising to see it be molded and repackaged more and more often, resulting in unique offspring like Krio.