VI
U.S. Virgin Islands
Summary
- Official Name
- Sovereignty Status
- Organized unincorporated insular area of the United States
- Population
- 87,100
- General Remarks
- The Virgin Islands consist of the three main islands Saint Croix, the largest, Saint Thomas, and Saint John, as well as numerous adjacent islets
- Principal Languages
- English
- Deaf Population
- 110–200
- Language Counts
- The number of established languages listed for U.S. Virgin Islands is 5. Of these, 4 are living and 1 is extinct. Of the living languages, 1 is indigenous and 3 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 1 is institutional, 2 are developing, and 1 is vigorous. Also listed is 1 unestablished language.
Languages
- American Sign Language ase
- Scattered. Users: 110 in U.S. Virgin Islands (Parks and Williams 2011). Approximately 0.1% of total population. Status: 5 (Developing). Alternate Names: ASL Classification: Sign language, Deaf community sign language
- English eng
- Users: 93,700 in U.S. Virgin Islands, all users. L1 users: 18,500 in U.S. Virgin Islands (2019). L2 users: 75,200 (2019 World Factbook). Status: 1 (National). De facto national language. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
- Negerhollands dcr
- Saint John, Saint Thomas, and Saint Croix islands. Users: No known L1 speakers. The last speaker, Alice Stevens, died in 1987 (Van Rossem and van der Voort 1996). Status: 10 (Extinct). Alternate Names: Creool, Dutch Creole, Negerhollandsch, Negrodutch Autonym: Kreool Classification: Creole, Dutch based
- Spanish spa
- Saint Croix. Users: 16,800 in U.S. Virgin Islands (Instituto Cervantes 2019). Status: 5* (Dispersed). Alternate Names: Español Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Ibero-Romance, West Iberian, Castilian
- Virgin Islands English Creole vic
- Widespread. Users: 67,200 in U.S. Virgin Islands (2019). Total users in all countries: 89,700. Status: 6a* (Vigorous). De facto language of national identity. Classification: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Eastern, Southern
Languages by Status
English
[eng] 1 (National). De facto national language. 93,700 in U.S. Virgin Islands, all users. L1 users: 18,500 in U.S. Virgin Islands (2019). L2 users: 75,200 (2019 World Factbook).
Spanish
[spa] 5* (Dispersed). 16,800 in U.S. Virgin Islands (Instituto Cervantes 2019).
American Sign Language
[ase] 5 (Developing). 110 in U.S. Virgin Islands (Parks and Williams 2011). Approximately 0.1% of total population.
Virgin Islands English Creole
[vic] 6a* (Vigorous). De facto language of national identity. 67,200 in U.S. Virgin Islands (2019). Total users in all countries: 89,700.
Negerhollands
[dcr] 10 (Extinct). No known L1 speakers. The last speaker, Alice Stevens, died in 1987 (Van Rossem and van der Voort 1996).
Maps
Creole Languages of the Eastern Caribbean
Graphs
Language Vitality Profile
Full explanation
Language Status Profile
Full explanation