West African Pidgin English

West African Pidgin English
Native toNigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea
Native speakers
75,000,000 (2017)
English Creole
  • Guinea Coast
    • West African Pidgin English
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologwest2851
IETFcpe-011

West African Pidgin English, also known as Guinea Coast Creole English, is a West African pidgin language lexified by English and local African languages. It originated as a language of commerce between British and African slave traders during the period of the transatlantic slave trade. As of 2017, about 75 million people in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea used the language.

Because it is primarily a spoken language, there is no standardized written form, and many local varieties exist. These include Sierra Leone Krio, Nigerian Pidgin, Ghanaian Pidgin English, Cameroonian Pidgin English, Liberian Kolokwa English, the Aku dialect of Krio, and Pichinglis.