Krio — a primer.

Krio is the native language of the Sierra Leone Creole people (the Krios), and the lingua franca of Sierra Leone. It draws from English, Yoruba, Portuguese, French, and the West African languages of the freed slaves and liberated Africans who founded Freetown in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Common phrases

• Kushe — informal hello.
• Aw di bodi? — how are you? (lit. how’s the body?)
• Tenki ya — thank you very much.
• Padi — friend.
• Wi na wan — we are one.
• Le we hep we sef — let us help ourselves. (The chapter motto.)
• Bo — friend / brother (informal address).
• Mi nem na ___ — my name is ___.

A note on spelling

Krio has a standardized orthography developed by the Krio Language Academy, though older spellings (used in family letters, hymnals, and street signage in Freetown) persist. On this site we use the standardized spelling — except where a phrase has a traditional KDU-chapter spelling worth keeping.

Want to learn more?

The Akinola Wyse Symposium series often features sessions on Krio language and literature. Members of the chapter teach informal Krio classes from time to time — email board@kduoftexas.org if you’re interested.