Antillean Creole in the context of "Mount Pelée"

The French West Indies or French Antilles (French: Antilles françaises, [ɑ̃tij fʁɑ̃sɛːz]; Antillean Creole: Antiy fwansé) were the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean:

• The two overseas departments of:
  • Guadeloupe, including the islands of Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Les Saintes, Marie-Galante, and La Désirade.
  • Martinique
• The two overseas collectivities of:
  • Saint Martin, the northern half of the island with the same name, the southern half is Sint Maarten, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
  • Saint Barthélemy

A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fledged language with native speakers, all within a fairly brief period. While the concept is similar to that of a mixed or hybrid language, creoles are often characterized by a tendency to systematize their inherited grammar (e.g., by eliminating irregularities). Like any language, creoles are characterized by a consistent system of grammar, possess large stable vocabularies, and are acquired by children as their native language. These three features distinguish a creole language from a pidgin. Creolistics, or creology, is the study of creole languages and, as such, is a subfield of linguistics. Someone who engages in this study is called a creolist.

The precise number of creole languages is not known, particularly as many are poorly attested or documented. About one hundred creole languages have arisen since 1500. These are predominantly based on European languages such as English and French due to the European Age of Discovery and the Atlantic slave trade that arose at that time. With the improvements in ship-building and navigation, traders had to learn to communicate with people around the world, and the quickest way to do this was to develop a pidgin; in turn, full creole languages developed from these pidgins. In addition to creoles that have European languages as their base, there are, for example, creoles based on Arabic, Chinese, and Malay.

French Guianese Creole (Kriyòl; also called variously Guianan Creole, Guianese Creole in English and Créole guyanais in French) is a French-based creole language spoken in French Guiana, and to a lesser degree, in Suriname and Brazil. It resembles Antillean Creole, but there are some lexical and grammatical differences between them. Antilleans can generally understand French Guianese Creole, though there may be some instances of confusion. The differences consist of more French and Brazilian Portuguese influences (due to the proximity of Brazil and Portuguese presence in the country for several years). There are also words of Amerindian and African origin. There are French Guianese communities in Suriname and Brazil who continue to speak the language.

It should not be confused with the Guyanese Creole language, based on English, spoken in nearby Guyana.

Grande-Terre Island (French: île de Grande-Terre / île de la Grande-Terre [ɡʁɑ̃d tɛʁ]; Antillean Creole: Gwanntè or Granntè) is the name of the eastern-half of Guadeloupe proper, in the Lesser Antilles. It is separated from the other half of Guadeloupe island, Basse-Terre, by a narrow sea channel called Rivière Salée (in English, Salt River). Pointe de la Grande Vigie, in Grande-Terre, is the northernmost point of Guadeloupe island. To the east lies La Désirade, and to the south lies Marie Galante.

Despite its name, Grande-Terre (literally "Large Land" in French) is smaller than Basse-Terre Island. It was called like that, in contrast with the much smaller Petite Terre Islands ("Small Land" Islands), two very small islands located about 10 km south-east of the Grande-Terre (see map to the left).

The Îles des Saintes (pronounced [il de sɛ̃t]; lit. 'Islands of the (Female) Saints'), also known as Les Saintes (Antillean Creole: Lésent, pronounced [lesɛ̃t]), is a group of small islands in the archipelago of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. It is part of the Canton of Trois-Rivières and is divided into two communes: Terre-de-Haut and Terre-de-Bas. It is in the arrondissement of Basse-Terre and also in Guadeloupe's 4th constituency.

15°56′N 61°16′W / 15.933°N 61.267°W / 15.933; -61.267

Marie-Galante (French pronunciation: [maʁi ɡalɑ̃t], Antillean Creole: Mawigalant or Marigalant) is one of the dependencies of Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France. Marie-Galante has a land area of 158.1 km (61.0 square miles). It had 11,528 inhabitants at the start of 2013, but by the start of 2018 the total was officially estimated to be 10,655, with a population density of 62.5/km (162/sq mi).

La Désirade (French pronunciation: [la deziʁad]; Guadeloupean Creole: Dézirad or Déziwad) is an island in the French West Indies, in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean. It forms part of Guadeloupe, an overseas region of France.

Basse-Terre (/bæsˈtɛər/, bas-TAIR; French: [bɑstɛʁ] ; Guadeloupean Creole: Bastè [bastɛ]) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the prefecture (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located on Basse-Terre Island, the western half of Guadeloupe.

Although it is the administrative capital, Basse-Terre is only the second-largest city in Guadeloupe, behind Pointe-à-Pitre. Together with its urban area, it had 44,864 inhabitants in 2012 (11,534 of whom lived in the city of Basse-Terre proper).