Did you know Louisiana Creole is severely endangered?

ALSO KNOWN AS		Louisiana Creole French, Kreyòl, Franse, Kourí-viní
CLASSIFICATION		Pidgin or Creole, French lexified
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		lou
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Louisiana Creole” (229-240 ch. 23) . Klinger, Thomas A. and Ingrid Neumann-Holzschuh (2013) , Michaelis, Susanne Maria, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath, and Magnus Huber · Oxford University Press

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
< 7,000
Native speakers worldwide

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

"The language is not being passed on to children."

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

"Louisiana Creole has long occupied the lowest position on the hierarchy of prestige among language varieties in Louisiana: it was traditionally stigmatized in relation to Louisiana Regional French, which in turn was considered to be deficient or corrupted in relation to Standard French, though such attitudes are changing as these varieties take on growing importance as symbols of Louisiana's distinct francophone heritage."

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

English

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"Most [speakers] are elderly, and nearly all are also fluent in English."

PLACES: United States

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Louisiana

Endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
< 50,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Census figures that put the number of Louisiana Creole French at just over 6,000 are severely inaccurate. Many speakers of Creole identify themselves as simply French speakers on the census. There has also been a history of discrimination against speakers of Creole, and many are hesitant to identify themselves as speakers of Creole.

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Speakers under 60 years of age are rare. The community is small and fragmented and children almost never learn Creole.

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

There is a history of discrimination against Creole speakers and many are hesitant to identify themselves as Creole users.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

English
French
Cajun French

Scripts (Writing system)

Latin Script

PLACES: USA, Louisiana

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, St Martin Parish, Lafayette Parish, and St. Landry Parish Louisiana

Louisiana Creole

Language metadata

Language information by source

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

< 7,000

Endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

< 50,000

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