The
post-creole continuum or simply
creole continuum refers to a situation wherein a
creole language consists of a spectrum of
varieties between those most and least similar to the
superstrate language (that is, a closely related language whose speakers assert dominance of some sort). Due to social, political, and economic factors, a creole language can
decreolize towards one of the languages from which it is descended, aligning its
morphology,
phonology, and
syntax to the local standard of the dominant language but to different degrees depending on a speaker's status.