Louisiana Creole

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A language of United States

ISO 639-3
lou
Alternate Names
Creole, Kréyol, Louisiana Creole French, Louisiana French Creole, créole louisianais, kréyol la lwizyàn
Autonym
Kouri-Vini
User Population

4,800 (Mayeux 2019). Ethnic population: 4,000,000 (1997 M. Melançon).

Location

California: Sacramento; Louisiana: Iberia, Lafayette, Lafourche, Natchitoches, Pointe-Coupée, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, St. Martin, St. Mary, and St. Tammany parishes; Texas: east.

Language Maps
Language Status

8a (Moribund).

Classification
Creole, French based
Dialects

Bayou Teche Creole (Kourí-viní), Pointe Coupée Creole (Gombó). Different from standard French [fra], Cajun French [frc] (also spoken in Louisiana), Haitian Creole [hat], and other creoles of the Caribbean.

Language Use

Those over 60 prefer Creole, and those under 30 prefer English [eng]. Older adults only. Many shifted to English [eng].

Language Development

Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. Ongoing revitalization through online programs and resources producing a handful of competent L2 speakers (2021 N. Wendte).

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Louisiana Creole
Writing

Latin script [Latn], used since 2016.