creole

Creole is a term used to describe a set of languages and cultural practices that developed in multilingual contact zones, particularly in the Caribbean, Atlantic Africa, and parts of the Indian Ocean. The word derives from the Portuguese crioulo, and in colonial contexts came to refer to people born in the colonies, often of mixed descent. In linguistic usage, creole refers to a stable, natural language that arises from the blending of parent languages and becomes the mother tongue of a community.

Creole languages typically emerge from pidgins—simplified contact languages used for specific purposes—when they acquire native speakers across generations. Features often include simplified grammar compared with European languages, regularization, and vocabulary drawn from one or more European or contact languages, with grammatical influence from local substrates.

Significant creoles include Haitian Creole (based on French, spoken in Haiti), Cape Verdean Creole (Portuguese and local substrates), Mauritian Creole (French-based), and Papiamento (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire; influences from Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch). Other well-known creoles include Tok Pisin and Bislama in Papua New Guinea (English-based) and Chavacano in the Philippines (Spanish-based). The Louisiana Creole language is one example from North America.

Creole also describes cultural groups with mixed ancestry or traditions in regions such as the Caribbean and the Americas, with music, religion, and cuisine reflecting diverse heritages. Creole cuisine, for example, blends European, African, Caribbean, and Native American influences in Louisiana, the Caribbean, and Indian Ocean communities.

Because the term spans languages and communities, its use is context-specific and often tied to regional histories of colonization, migration, and social identity.