How many languages in sierra leone

Sierra Leone Krio is the lingua franca and the de facto national language spoken throughout the West African nation of Sierra Leone. Krio is the native language for some , Krios—the descendants of slaves from the West Indies, United States and Britain, who overwhelmingly live in Freetown. Krio is an English-based creole, but is closer to being a fully-fledged language, as it has fixed grammatical structures and rules.

Most of its vocabulary comes from English, but its sound system and grammar are closer to that of nearby African languages, in particular Yoruba.

Krio Phrasebook Other languages found in Sierra Leone include: [2]. Memories Overview Gallery People Find. Sign in Create Account. Family Tree. Data is from the census. Static map highlighting the most common languages spoken as a first or second language in Sierra Leone.

Subscribe to the TWB newsletter. How to contact us. Report misconduct. Subscribe to our newsletter. Annual report. There exist 23 languages that are used in Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone's many different communities have their native languages or variations of languages which they predominantly use for communication. English is the official language in Sierra Leone and was brought to the country by its former colonizers. However, it is mainly used for formal business, governmental, and media purposes. Freetown is the capital city of Sierra Leone and was established as the home of the freed slaves from Nova Scotia, Jamaica, and America and they were all English speakings.

Many more captured slaves in the Atlantic were brought and set free in Sierra Leone, although most did not understand the English. Krio is the de facto national language in the country and a lingua franca spoken widely across the country. It is the Creole language based on English. It is the mother tongue of It is a form of Pidgin English with a blend of African words including Temne, Mende, and various local dialects.

The Krio language is unifying factor and the primary language of communication used by different ethnic groups in the country and abroad. Although Krio is widely used across the country, it has no official status in Sierra Leone.