Equatorial Guinean Pidgin

FPE

wider communication

Alternate Names: Criollo, Fernandino, Fernando Po Creole English, Fernando Po Krio, Pichi, Pichinglis, Pidgin de Guinea Ecuatorial, Pidginglis

Dialects: None known. Offshoot of Krio , of Sierra Leone; intelligible with Cameroon Pidgin ,, Nigerian Pidgin ,, but it has 20% of its lexical inventory as loanwords from Spanish ,.

Status Notes: Used as LWC across Bioko island, including the capital city of Malabo, in all domains except education and government.

Genealogy:

Creole
English based
Atlantic
Krio

Demographics: 6,000 (2011 S. Smith), increasing. Very few monolinguals. Ethnic population: 6,000. L2 users: 70,000 (2011 S. Smith).

Language Use: All domains except government. All ages. Very positive attitudes, especially among youth. Language of instruction in school is Spanish [spa]. Also use Bube [bvb], English [eng], Fang [fan]. Used as L2 by Bube [bvb], Fa d’Ambu [fab], Fang [fan], Kombe [nui], Kwasio [nmg].

Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Virtually none. Literacy rate in L2: 75% in Spanish. Poetry. Grammar. Bible portions.

Typology: English-based Atlantic creole with Spanish loan words.

Writing System: Latin

Nation of Origin: Equatorial Guinea

Other Comments: Christian.