Guiana Creole

Guyanese Creole is a French-based contact language that is spoken in French Guiana and also (to a lesser extent) in Guyana and Suriname .

Guianan Creole, unlike Antillean Creole , is influenced by the Portuguese (due to the proximity of Brazil and the historical presence of the Portuguese on this territory). There are also words originating from African and Native American languages.

The French alphabet is usually used for writing, but with some differences: the letters " q " and " x " are replaced by " k " and " z ", respectively. The letter " c " in cases where it reads as / k / changes to the letter "k"; in cases where it reads / s /, it changes to " s ". Thus, the letter “c” is used only in the digraph ch .

Also missing are some of the sounds typical of standard French. In place of standard French / ʒ / is pronounced / z /; in place of diphthong / wɑ / pronounced / ɔ /; in place of / y / is pronounced / iː / and spelled " i ". In Guianan Creole, there is no nasalization of vowels ; / r / is not pronounced at the end of a word and before other consonants . Thus, the standard French greeting, bonjour , which in French is transcribed as / bɔ̃ʒu: ʁ /, is pronounced in Guianan Creole as / bonzu /.