Saint Lucian Creole

Saint Lucian Creole
kwéyòl, patwa
Native toSaint Lucia
Native speakers
700,000 (2016)
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
acf  Saint Lucian Creole French
scf  San Miguel Creole French
Glottologsain1246
ELPSan Miguel Creole French
Linguasphere51-AAC-ccg

Saint Lucian Creole (Kwéyòl [kwejɔl]) is a French-based creole language that is widely spoken in Saint Lucia. It is the vernacular language of the country and is spoken alongside the official language of English.

Kwéyòl is a variety of Antillean Creole, and like other varieties spoken in the Caribbean, it combines the syntax of African language origins and a Latin-based vocabulary as shared by the French. Like its similar Dominican counterpart, some words are derived from the English, French and African languages. There has also been a recorded syntactical influence of the Carib language.

It remains in widespread use in Saint Lucia across the island. Though it is not an official language, the government and media houses present information in Kwéyòl alongside English.