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A Dutch creole is a creole languagethat has been substantially influenced by the Dutch language.
Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime power. Almost all of them have died out:
Some important Dutch creoles are the following:
- Berbice (extinct): in Guyana
- Skepi (almost extinct): in Guyana
- Negerhollands (extinct): in the U.S. Virgin Islands
- Petjo: in Indonesia
- Javindo: in Indonesia
- Ceylon Dutch in Sri Lanka
- Afrikaans in South Africa and Namibia (arguably not a creole)
- Mohawk Dutch(extinct): in the United States
- Jersey Dutch, "Negro Dutch" (extinct): in the United States
- Albany Dutch: in the United States
Dutch has also made a significant contribution to other creoles:
- Papiamento: based mostly on Portuguese and Spanish, spoken in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao.
- Saramaccan: based mostly on English, Portuguese and African languages, spoken in Suriname
- Sranan Tongo: based mostly on English, spoken in Suriname
Despite its name, Pennsylvania Dutch is not descended from Dutch, but is a variety of West Central German.
Afrikaans arguably possesses some features of creole languages, especially in its simplified grammar relative to Dutch. However, since Afrikaans is not descended from a pidgin tongue but rather represents the natural linguistic evolution of the Afrikaner people in South Africa, it is not considered a creole.
