# Krio phrasebook

Sierra Leone Creole or Krio is the lingua franca and the de facto national language spoken throughout the Sierra Leone. Krio is spoken by roughly 6,250,000 people—nearly all of Sierra Leone's population. While English is Sierra Leone's sole official language, Krio is far, far more widespread. Krio is the native language for some 300,000 Krios—the descendants of enslaved people from the West Indies, United States and Britain, who overwhelmingly live in Freetown. There are also small Krio speaking communities in The Gambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea, but the language is of practical value for travel only in Sierra Leone.
Krio is an English-based creole, but is closer to being a fully-fledged language, as it has fixed grammatical structures and rules. Most of its vocabulary comes from English but Krio is very similar to and mutually intelligible with Jamaican Patois. If you speak English, you should find this language very easy to learn as it basically sounds like a casually pronounced and phonetically and casually spelt version of English. It developed this way, so people from all walks of life from the slaves right through to captains of industry and wealthy land / plantation owners could communicate in some kind of poor version of English.

## Pronunciation guide
### Vowels
#### ɛ eh

    like bed

#### e ay

    like day

#### ɔ oh

    like English cot

#### o oh

    like bone

#### u oo

    like fool

#### i ee

    like machine

### Consonants
#### b

    like boy

#### ch

    like chair

#### d

    like day

#### f

    like fun

#### g

    like girl

#### gb

    like, well, gb

#### j

    like jump

#### k

    like kick

#### l

    like lump

#### m

    like mango

#### n

    like nunchuk

#### ny

    like piñata

#### ŋ ng

    like sing

#### p

    like pellet

#### r

    like ring

#### s

    like sun

#### t

    like telephone

#### v

    like voltage

#### w

    like water

#### y

    like young

#### z

    like zero

#### zh

    like pleasure

### Common diphthongs
#### aw

    like now

#### ay ?

    like bye

#### ɔy oy

    like coy

## Phrase list

Some phrases in this phrasebook still need to be translated. If you know anything about this language, you can help by plunging forward and translating a phrase.

### Basics
#### Hello.

    Kushɛ / Adu. (koo-sheh / "Ah-do")

#### How are you?

    Aw Di bodi? / Aw di go de go? (Aw Di boh-di ? / "Aw di go day go")

#### Fine, thank you.

    Di Bɔdi fayn / nɔ bad. (Di Bɔdi fayn / nor bad)

#### What is your name?

    Wetin yu nem? / Wetin yu nem?(weh-teen you nehm? / weh-teen no you nehm?)

#### My name is ______ .

    Mi nem ______ / Mi nem na ______ . (mee nehm _____. / Mi nehm na ______)

#### Nice to meet you.

    Ah gladi fɔ mit yu. (ah glah-dee foh meet yoo.)

#### Please.

    (Bo) Duya. ((bo) doo-yah)

#### Thank you.

    tɛnki. (tehn-kee)

#### Yes.

    Yes. (Yehs)

#### No.

    Nor . (nor )

#### Excuse me. (getting attention)

    Bo duya. (Bo do-ya)

#### Excuse me. (I need to get past)

    Kɔmɔt na rod. (koh-moht nah rohd)

#### Excuse me. (begging pardon)

    a bayg padin. (ah bayg pahr-din)

#### I'm sorry.

    A bayg (o) (padin). (ah bayg (o) (pahr-din))

#### Goodbye (I'm going)

    A de go. (ah day goh)

#### I can't speak Krio [well].

    Ah nɔ sabi tɔk Krio [fayn fayn ]. (Ah nor sah-bi tohk creo [fine fine ])

#### Do you speak English?

    U sabi tɔk inglish? (you sah-bi tohk ingi-lish ?)

#### Is there someone here who speaks English?

    Pɔsin de ya we sabi tɔk inglish? ( ?)

#### Help!

    ɛp mi! (ehp mee!)

#### Look out!

    Kɔmɔt! (koh-moht !)

#### Good morning. (How is you morning)

    Aw di mohnin (Aw di mo-nin)

#### Good night (I'm going to sleep)

    A de go sleep (Ah di go sleep)

#### I don't understand.

    A no undestan (Ah no under-stan)

#### Where is the toilet?

    ? ( Wusei na di toilet?)

#### Leave me alone

    Lɛf mi saful. (lehf mee sah-full)

### Problems
#### Leave me alone.

    . (Lef meh .)

#### Don't touch me!

    No touch me! ( No-toch- me!)

#### I'll call the police.

    . ( Ah dae can call police pan u.)

#### Stop! Thief!

    ! ! ( !Tiefman! !)

#### I need your help.

    Gimme ɛp (Gi-mi ehp)

#### It's an emergency.

    . (Na urgent tin .)

#### I'm lost.

    . (Ah no sabi ousai ah dae .)

#### I lost my bag.

    . ( Ah don loss me bag.)

#### I lost my wallet.

    . ( Ah don loss me wallet.)

#### I'm sick.

    . ( Ah nae .)

#### I've been injured.

    . (Ah don hot mesef. .)

#### I need a doctor.

    . ( .Ah no dae feel well)

#### Can I use your phone? (Give me your phone - requests are more direct, they are not demanding, it's just how they ask)

    Ah keen use u phone? (gi-mi fon)

### Numbers
#### 1

    ( wan)

#### 2

    (tu )

#### 3

    (tri )

#### 4

    (fo )

#### 5

    (fyv )

#### 6

    (syx )

#### 7

    (sεvun )

#### 8

    (εyt )

#### 9

    (nyn )

#### 10

    (tεn )

#### 11

    (ilεvun)

#### more
### Time
#### Days
##### today

    (Tide )

##### yesterday

    ( Tradae)

##### tomorrow

    ( tumara)

##### Saturday
#### Months
##### December
#### Writing time and date
### Transportation
#### When?

    Wetin? (way-teen)

#### Directions
##### I want to go to _____

    A wan fɔ go _____ (ah wahn foh goh _____)

##### downhill
#### Taxi
##### Take me to _____, please.

    ( Duya, kerr me go ...)

##### How much does it cost to get to _____?

    ( Na omos for go... )

##### Take me there, please.
### Lodging
#### Do you have any rooms available?

    ( yu get room? )

#### Does the room come with...

    ( di room get... )

#### I want to check out.
### Money
#### Money

    kɔpɔ (coh-poh)

#### Where is an automatic teller machine (ATM)?
### Eating
#### The check, please.
### Bars
#### Cheers!
### Shopping
#### How much is this? ɔmɔs fɔ am?

    ( oh-mohs foh ahm)

#### That's too expensive.

    (ihn dear / ihn tumos )

#### expensive

    ( dear )

#### I can't afford it.

    ( ihn dear )

#### I don't want it.

    ( AH nor want am)

#### ...an English-English dictionary.
### Driving
#### I want to rent a car.

    ( r wan mk u len mi motor car)