Introduction

Creolists acknowledge the critical role of Krio in furthering understanding of the emergence and development of Atlantic creoles. This book examines the development and restructuring of Krio linguistic properties from diachronic and synchronic perspectives and explores historical, linguistic, social, and demographic contexts under which Krio emerged, expanded, and evolved. It appraises effects of language contact (historical and contemporary) on its phonological, lexical, lexico-semantic, morphophonological, and morphosyntactic properties. It is a great resource for academic teaching and for scholars, researchers, and practitioners engaged in comparative work of pidgin and creole languages.