Selase W. Williams was director of African American Studies at the University of Washington, where he taught Krio for a decade. He chaired the Pan African Studies Department at California State University, Northridge, while president of the National Council for Black Studies, and served as dean of Arts and Sciences at CSU Dominguez Hills before becoming provost at Southern Connecticut State and Lesley University. Tom Spencer-Walters is professor emeritus and former chair of Africana Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where he taught writing and African and Caribbean literatures. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the University of Zimbabwe.

• List of IllustrationsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: History Chapter 1History of the Krio People and Their LanguagePart II: Krio LanguageChapter 2Language BasicsChapter 3Greetings and Simple SentencesChapter 4Complex Sentence StructuresChapter 5African Linguistic Foundations in Krio and the DiasporaPart III: Krio Culture and TraditionsChapter 6Elements of Krio CultureChapter 7Krio Traditions Chapter 8Krio Folk Wisdom: Parables and RiddlesChapter 9Krio Stories and Trickster Tales Chapter 10Poetry in Sierra Leone Krio and Jamaican PatoisAfterwordGlossaryKrio Words/Expressions and Their MeaningsSome Krio Names and Their MeaningsAppendixBibliographyAdditional Reading ListAbout the AuthorsIndex

Inspired by a wide range of historical literature of the foundation of colonial Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Krio sheds new light on the diverse demographic ecology in which the language emerged. Underscoring the significance of substrate influence on its grammar, Selase W. Williams and Tom Spencer-Walters’ interpretation of Krio’s genesis is provocative, inviting the informed reader to find solid arguments if they should disagree. Their discussion is comprehensive, lucid, and engaging. This is a must-read for anybody working on the emergence of creoles.

Selase W. Williams was director of African American Studies at the University of Washington, where he taught Krio for a decade. He chaired the Pan African Studies Department at California State University, Northridge, while president of the National Council for Black Studies, and served as dean of Arts and Sciences at CSU Dominguez Hills before becoming provost at Southern Connecticut State and Lesley University. Tom Spencer-Walters is professor emeritus and former chair of Africana Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where he taught writing and African and Caribbean literatures. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the University of Zimbabwe.

• List of IllustrationsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: History Chapter 1History of the Krio People and Their LanguagePart II: Krio LanguageChapter 2Language BasicsChapter 3Greetings and Simple SentencesChapter 4Complex Sentence StructuresChapter 5African Linguistic Foundations in Krio and the DiasporaPart III: Krio Culture and TraditionsChapter 6Elements of Krio CultureChapter 7Krio Traditions Chapter 8Krio Folk Wisdom: Parables and RiddlesChapter 9Krio Stories and Trickster Tales Chapter 10Poetry in Sierra Leone Krio and Jamaican PatoisAfterwordGlossaryKrio Words/Expressions and Their MeaningsSome Krio Names and Their MeaningsAppendixBibliographyAdditional Reading ListAbout the AuthorsIndex

Inspired by a wide range of historical literature of the foundation of colonial Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Krio sheds new light on the diverse demographic ecology in which the language emerged. Underscoring the significance of substrate influence on its grammar, Selase W. Williams and Tom Spencer-Walters’ interpretation of Krio’s genesis is provocative, inviting the informed reader to find solid arguments if they should disagree. Their discussion is comprehensive, lucid, and engaging. This is a must-read for anybody working on the emergence of creoles.

Selase W. Williams was director of African American Studies at the University of Washington, where he taught Krio for a decade. He chaired the Pan African Studies Department at California State University, Northridge, while president of the National Council for Black Studies, and served as dean of Arts and Sciences at CSU Dominguez Hills before becoming provost at Southern Connecticut State and Lesley University. Tom Spencer-Walters is professor emeritus and former chair of Africana Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where he taught writing and African and Caribbean literatures. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa and a Visiting Professor at the University of Zimbabwe.

• List of IllustrationsList of TablesAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: History Chapter 1History of the Krio People and Their LanguagePart II: Krio LanguageChapter 2Language BasicsChapter 3Greetings and Simple SentencesChapter 4Complex Sentence StructuresChapter 5African Linguistic Foundations in Krio and the DiasporaPart III: Krio Culture and TraditionsChapter 6Elements of Krio CultureChapter 7Krio Traditions Chapter 8Krio Folk Wisdom: Parables and RiddlesChapter 9Krio Stories and Trickster Tales Chapter 10Poetry in Sierra Leone Krio and Jamaican PatoisAfterwordGlossaryKrio Words/Expressions and Their MeaningsSome Krio Names and Their MeaningsAppendixBibliographyAdditional Reading ListAbout the AuthorsIndex

Inspired by a wide range of historical literature of the foundation of colonial Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone Krio sheds new light on the diverse demographic ecology in which the language emerged. Underscoring the significance of substrate influence on its grammar, Selase W. Williams and Tom Spencer-Walters’ interpretation of Krio’s genesis is provocative, inviting the informed reader to find solid arguments if they should disagree. Their discussion is comprehensive, lucid, and engaging. This is a must-read for anybody working on the emergence of creoles.