| Merico | |
|---|---|
| Americo-Liberian, American, Brokes English, Kwasai English, Waterside English, Water Street English | |
| Region | Liberia |
| Ethnicity | Americo-Liberians |
English Creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
Merico or Americo-Liberian (or the informal colloquial name "American") is an English-based creole language spoken until recently in Liberia by Americo-Liberians, descendants of original settlers, freed slaves, and African Americans who emigrated from the United States between 1821 and the 1870s. It is distinguished from Liberian Kreyol and from Kru, and may be connected to Gullah and Jamaican Creole. [1]
The original settlers numbered 19,000 in 1860. [1] By 1975 the language was partly decreolized, restricted to informal settings. [1]
Plurals are unmarked, as in rak "rock", "rocks", or marked with a -dɛ̃ suffix, as in rak-dɛ̃ "rocks". The verb expressing "to be" is sʌ, as in shi sʌ smo "she is small", but adjectives may be used without it, as in hi big "he is big". Verbs are not inflected for past tense. [1]
Separate particles are used to indicate some verb tenses: [1]
The pronouns include: [1]
In linguistics, a copula is a word or phrase that links the subject of a sentence to a subject complement, such as the word is in the sentence "The sky is blue" or the phrase was not being in the sentence "It was not being co-operative." The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a "link" or "tie" that connects two different things.
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