Languages of Guyana

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{{Languages of

| country = Guyana

|image=Downtown Georgetown (23357530030).jpg |caption=Signs in Georgetown with text in English

| official = English

| vernacular = Guyanese Creole, Caribbean English

| indigenous = Akawaio, Arawak, Atorada, Carib, Macushi, Mapidian, Patamona, Pemon, Waiwai, Wapishana, Warao

| minority = Guyanese Hindustani

| foreign = Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch

| sign = Guyanese Sign Language, South Rupununi Sign Language

|keyboard = QWERTY

|keyboard image = 200px

}}

English is the official language of Guyana, which is the only South American country with English as the official language.{{cite book|last=Smock|first=Kirk|title=Guyana: The Bradt Travel Guide|year=2008|publisher=Bradt|isbn=978 1 84162 223 1|pages=[https://archive.org/details/guyanabradttrave0000smoc/page/19 19]|url=https://archive.org/details/guyanabradttrave0000smoc/page/19}}{{cite book|last=Ali|first=Arif|title=Guyana|year=2008|publisher=Hansib|location=London|isbn=978-1-906190-10-1}}

File:UmanaYana-Georgetown.jpg in Georgetown; the name means "Meeting place of the people" in Waiwai.]]

Guyanese Creole (an English-based creole with African, Indian, and Amerindian syntax) is widely spoken in Guyana.

Guyanese Hindustani is retained and spoken by some Indo-Guyanese for cultural and religious reasons. Guyanese Bhojpuri may be used by older generations, folk songs, or in a limited way at home, while standard Hindi is used in religious service, writing, and passively through the consumption of Hindi film exports from India.{{Cite journal|last=Gambhir|first=Surendra K.|date=1983|title=Diglossia in Dying Languages: A Case Study of Guyanese Bhojpuri and Standard Hindi|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30027654|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=25|issue=1|pages=28–38|issn=0003-5483}} Tamil was once spoken by a segment of the Indo-Guyanese community, although its usage has declined over generations, and it remains mostly in religious and cultural contexts.{{Cite journal|last=George|first=Stephanie Lou|title=Invoking the Supernatural and the Supranational: Tappu, Trance, and Tamil Recordings in Indo-Guyanese ‘Madras Religion’ and the Politics of Sonic Presence|trans-title=Invoquer le surnaturel et le supranational : tappu, transe et enregistrements tamouls dans la « religion de Madras » indo-guyanaise, et politique de la présence sonore|journal=Civilisations|volume=69|pages=41–56|year=2020|url=https://journals.openedition.org/civilisations/4822|publisher=Open Edition Journals|access-date=7 March 2021}}

A number of Amerindian languages are also spoken by a minority of the population. These include Cariban languages such as Macushi, Akawaio and Wai-Wai; and Arawakan languages such as Arawak (or Lokono) and Wapishana.