Caribbean Hindustani

Caribbean Hindustani
Native to	Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Caribbean
Native speakers	unknown (150,000 in Suriname cited 1986) 16,000 in Trinidad (1996); a few elders in Guyana
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Central Group Eastern Hindi Bhojpuri Caribbean Hindustani
Language codes
ISO 639-3	hns
Glottolog	cari1275

Caribbean Hindustani or Hindustani, Sarnami or a language of Surinameis, is a dialect of Bhojpuri spoken in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean that has East Indian influence. These countries put an adjective before the name of the language, so that the local language variant is known for instance as "Sarnami Hindustani" in Suriname. Most people still call the language "Hindustani".

After Dutch and Sranan Tongo, Sarnami Hindustani is the most widely spoken language of Suriname. The language is spoken by the descendants of emigrants from the current Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, they are in Suriname and the Netherlands known as the Hindoestanen (sing. Hindoestaan). Because the predominance of Bhojpuri speaking emigrants, the Caribbean Hindustani and Sarnami Hindustani are most influenced by Bhojpuri and other Bihari varieties. The Hindostani are one of the largest ethnic groups in Suriname, and Indian culture in general has a major role within the Indo-Surinamese community.

Dialects

The Caribbean Hindustani of neighboring Guyana, known as Aili Gaili, is spoken by a few older members within a community of 300,000 Indo-Guyanese.

The variant spoken in Trinidad and Tobago is known as Trinidad Bhojpuri. In 1996, it was spoken by 15,633 people.