Sranan
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Fact corner
- Language: Sranan
- Alternate names: Sranan Tongo, Surinaams, Suriname Creole English, Surinamese, Taki-Taki
- SIL-code: Ethnologue:srn
- Language family: Creole, English based, Atlantic, Suriname
- Number of speakers: 126,400
- Script: Latin script
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Introduction
Sranan is a creole language spoken as a lingua franca in Suriname. It is the mother tongue of the Creoles. Sranan was previously called nengre or negerengels (Dutch, "negroenglish").
The Sranan lexicon is a fusion of English, Dutch, Portuguese and Central and West African languages. It began as a Pidgin spoken primarily by African slaves in Suriname who often did not have a common African language. Sranan also became the language of communication between the slaves and the slave-owners, as the slaves were prohibited to speak Dutch. As other ethnic groups were brought to Suriname as contract workers, Sranan became a lingua franca.
