Portuguese Creole
Portuguese Creole is a creole language based on the Portuguese language.
Portugal in the Age of Discovery and colonization created a linguistic contact with native languages of the discovered lands and thus pidgins were formed. Until the 18th century, these Portuguese pidgins were used as Lingua Franca in Asia and Africa. Later, these pidgins were expanded grammatically and lexically, as it became a native language. Today, we call these languages as Portuguese Creoles. The Portuguese Creoles or Portuguese-based Creoles are the ones that have almost all lexical content bases on Portuguese, while grammatically they are very different.
According to the monogenetic theory of pidgins advanced by Hugo Schuchardt, most of the pidgins and creoles of European base in the world derived from a version of Lingua Franca relexified by the Portuguese. This "broken Portuguese" would be used by European sailors whenever they met new peoples.
Items like the preposition na would be marks of this common origin.
The Portuguese-based Creoles are classified by geographical order and by substrate language (the language that contacted with Portuguese):
In Africa, there are the High-Guinean Creoles: Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and Gambia, known as Kriols. The Creoles of Cape Verde are also included in this genre but they are named natively as Kriolus (or Crioulos). There is also the Creoles of Gulf of Guinea : SÃÂão TomÃÂé and PrÃÂÃÂncipe and Equatorial Guinea.
In Asia, we have the Portuguese-Indian Creoles: India and Sri Lanka.Portuguese-Malay Creoles: Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor and Singapore. Portuguese-Chinese Creoles: Macao and Hong-Kong.
Lastly, we have the Portuguese-American Creoles: Antilles and Suriname. Possibly in the past there were Portuguese Creoles in Brazil, but the Portuguese population was so large that they were rapidly extinct. Almost half of Brazilians are of Portuguese origin. Anything in Brazilian Portuguese dialects indicate any similarity with a creolization, they are, in fact, continuous dialects from those of Portugal. Even if in some African influenced Brazilian religions there are songs in an ancient Portuguese creole.
Today, some people believe that in Angola and Mozambique new creoles are being created.
The Creoles of Guinea-Bissau are known as Kriol (or Crioulo da GuinÃÂé); it is originated from the Kriol that was spoken mainly in the Portuguese PraÃÂças (Eng. Plazas) from Senegal to Sierra Leone, in early 16th century. The Creole of Guinea-Bissau is among the first Portuguese Creoles that came to exist. Portuguese merchants and settlers almost immediately started to mix with locals, what became a rule among Portuguese explorers and the main reason for the large number of Portuguese Creoles throughout the world. This mixed race was called LanÃÂçados (Eng. launched) and contributed for the spread of the Portuguese language by a pidgin. It is sometimes considered that there are, at least, three Portuguese Creoles in Guinea-Bissau: Creole of Bissau and Bolama, Creole of Batafa and Creole of Cacheu. The Creoles have as substrate language the language of the local peoples: Mandingas, Manjacos, PepÃÂéis and others, but most of the lexicon (marginally 80%) comes from Portuguese. The Creoles of Guinea-Bissau are, normally treated as one, by the use of the countryÃÂÃÂs capital one - Bissau, because they obviously share most features and it is the most spoken.
external link: Crioulo da GuinÃÂé: DeclaraÃÂçom Universal di Diritu di Omis Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Kriol
Each inhabited island of Cape Verde has its own creole (crioulo). The greatest differences are between the creole of Santiago and Santo AntÃÂão.
LÃÂÃÂngua Angolar (or Lungua N`golÃÂá) is mainly spoken in south of the SÃÂão TomÃÂé Island (main island of SÃÂão TomÃÂé and PrÃÂÃÂncipe) and by some in the coast of the same island by Angolar fishermen. The Creole uses, as substrate, a dialect of Umbundo, a Bantu language from inland Angola, but is extensively influenced by Portuguese, mainly in lexicon level. This is not a major SÃÂão Tomean Creole.
The Creole of the island of Ano Bom (Equatorial Guinea) acknowledged as Falar de Ano Bom (FÃÂá dÃÂÃÂambÃÂô or even Fla dÃÂÃÂAmbu) is analogous to Forro, spoken by 9,000 people in Ano Bom and Fernando PÃÂóo Islands. In fact, FÃÂá d'AmbÃÂô is derived from Forro as it shares the same structure (82% of lexicon). In the 15th century, the island was uninhabited and discovered by Portugal but, by the 18th century, Portugal exchanged it and some other territories in Africa for Uruguay with Spain. Spain wanted to get territory in Africa, and Portugal wanted to enlarge even more the territory that they saw as the ÃÂÃÂNew PortugalÃÂà(Brazil). Nevertheless, the populace of Ano Bom was against the shift and was hostile towards Spaniards. This with the isolation towards mainland Equatorial Guinea and SÃÂão TomÃÂé and PrÃÂÃÂncipe is just 400 km from the island as assured the maintenance of its identity.
FÃÂá dÃÂÃÂambÃÂô has gained some words of Spanish origin (10% of lexicon), but some words are dubious in origin because Spanish and Portuguese are also based on the same language (Spoken Latin or Vulgar Latin).
see also: History of Equatorial Guinea
external link: DeclaraÃÂçÃÂón Universal di DirÃÂêtu di HÃÂómÃÂé Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Forro (co-dialect of FÃÂá d'AmbÃÂô)
SÃÂão TomÃÂé is an island of the Gulf of Guinea revealed in the 15th century by the Portuguese, it was uninhabited, but it gain importance, as a slave distributor, also there was a need for slaves in the island. Since both parties needed to communicate, a pidgin was formed. The substrate languages were from the Bantu and Kwa groups. By the arrival of several settlers from Portugal, there was a need for women and the Portuguese early started to have affairs with African women that became free. This was not only a cultural matter, however the Portuguese kings for the sake of settlement also supported it. But the continuous flux of slave, shaped the Portuguese pidgin to become a stable, systematic and structured native language. Later because of the Dutch and French pressure to gain the island, many Portuguese settlers left. It is not much to remember that children of Portuguese with black women were, eventually, not considered as African or slaves, some were considered as full right Portuguese citizens.
Although the SÃÂão Tomean Creole had (and still has) a restricted contact with Portuguese (seen as a prestigious language), it did conserve a larger number of the substrate languages elements, more that the Creoles of Cape Verde, that preserve fewer traces. Roughly 93% of SÃÂão Tomean Creole lexicon is from Portuguese and 7% of African origin. The SÃÂão tomean Creole is most known as Forro (language of the freed slaves or Crioulo Santomense) forro is a declaration of freedom of a specific slave, not to confuse Crioulo Santomense with Santomense (a variety and dialect of Portuguese in SÃÂão TomÃÂé and PrÃÂÃÂncipe). Although 95% of SÃÂão Tomeans speaks Portuguese; the islands' Lingua Franca is Forro (spoken by 85%), as it is the vehicle of communication that the different languages (Portuguese, Forro, LinguyÃÂê and Angolar) most understand. Even though it hasnÃÂÃÂt the prestige of Portuguese language in the islands, it is evident that the contact with the large number (and continuous) of Portuguese speakers did not destroyed Forro, many relearn Forro when they become adults. The SÃÂão Tomean rich culture also preserve an unique mixture of Portuguese and African cultures.
Examples of Forro
note: There is no writing system for Forro, but some entusiastics have already proposed one. In the article, we will use it as also from the Portuguese form for a better understanding of the origin of the words, Portuguese spelling and also it is a possible writing system (when diverging).
LunguyÃÂê is from Portuguese and means Language of the Island (Port. LÃÂÃÂngua da Ilha), it is sometimes called as Principense. LunguyÃÂê presents many similarities with Forro, the substrate language are the same (Bantu and Kwa). LunguyÃÂê Creole can be seen as a dialect of Forro. This specific Creole is only spoken in Principe Island in SÃÂão TomÃÂé and PrÃÂÃÂncipe.
The interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans let to the creation of a Creole language, the Burgher (or Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole), which was Lingua Franca in the Island for 350 years (From 16th to mid-19th century). The interaction also created a Creole people, the MestiÃÂços or Casados (eng. Married). The Portuguese presence in Sri Lanka was extended to non-urban areas, there is much of Portuguese heritage in Sri Lankan society, culture and administration. Portuguese origin lexicon cam be found in the Sinhala language (at least 1,000 words), but there can be more, no sufficient study has been made.
When the Dutch took over Coastal Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), the Portuguese descendants took refuge in the central hills of Kandyan Kingdom under Singhalese rule.
After a while, the Dutch and Portuguese descendants started intermarriages. Thought Dutch rule banned Portuguese; the Portuguese speaking community was so large and natural that even the Dutch started to speak Portuguese. In the 18th century, the Eurasian community (a mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, Singhalese and Tamil) started to grow and they spoke Portuguese or Dutch.
In todayÃÂÃÂs Sri Lanka, the Creole is limited to the spoken form. Most of the Speakers are the Burghers in the Eastern province (Batticaloa and Trincomalee). But there are also the Kaffirs (people of African origin) in the Northwestern province (Puttalam). The Portuguese, Dutch and British brought the Kaffirs to Sri Lanka, for labour purposes. They have assumed Portuguese culture and religion; there was intermarriage between them and the Portuguese Burgher.
At the 1981 Census, the Burghers (Dutch and Portuguese) were almost 40,000 (0,3% of the Population of Sri Lanka). But, the Portuguese Creole is losing ground as a spoken language. Burgher is now only used at home and several canÃÂÃÂt speak well the Creole, it is nearly extinct.
Many Burghers and Kaffirs emigrated to other countries. There are still 100 families in Batticaloa and Trincomalee and 80 Kaffir families in Puttalam that still speak the Portuguese Creole; they lost contact with Portugal since 1656.
Burgher as syntax and phonology similar to Tamil.
external link: The Portuguese Cultural Imprint on Sri Lanka
The Crioulo de Diu of Diu, Daman and Diu, India is near extinction because of Gujarati, largely spoken, and because schools obliges the study of this language and does not teach Portuguese or its Creole. Only uninstructed elderly speaks it at home. Meanwhile, younger people restarted to use Portuguese words in their vocabulary. The death of Crioulo de Diu is eminent; in the past there was a florescent community of Portuguese-Indians that spoke it.
Daman and Korlai are now the only vivid Portuguese Creoles of India. The Creole of Daman is known as LÃÂÃÂngua da Casa (Eng., Home Language), spoken at home by a population of 2,000 or more Christians. The Creole of Daman is a descendent of the Portuguese-Indian Norteiro Creole of the Coast from Chaul, Bassaim, Bombay, Daman and Diu. Before the Indian annexation of the territory, the Creole of Daman had become more similar to standard Portuguese. The AssociaÃÂçÃÂão Luso Indiana Damaense (Eng. Portuguese-Indian Association of Daman), to which most Catholics of Daman are members, says that there are 10-12 thousand Portuguese speakers (all Christians) in the territory of 110,000 residents. A Sunday mess is spoken in Portuguese. The Portuguese heritage in Daman is more popular and vivid than in Goa what permitted the maintenance of its Creole. Both the substrate (Gujarati) and superstrate (Portuguese) languages are still found in the territory.
In an isolated Indian village known as Korlai in the District of Kplaba (Bombay), the Portuguese-based Creole known as Kristi is the only language of the 1,000 Christians inhabitants. Few is known about Kristi, only that is similar to PapiÃÂá Kristang of Malacca (Malaysia). The village is near the Chaul ruins, a 16th century Portuguese colonial city that was destroyed by the Marathas. The city was abondoned, left in ruins. In the middle of the forest one can see palaces, towers, convents among other ruins. Kristi was recognized because it was very different from the neighbouring languages.
Examples of Kristi
Following the take-over of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511, Portuguese were encouraged to marry local women. A Portuguese-based Creole was shaped and is still spoken today by more than 1,000 Christians. It is known as PapiÃÂá Kristang (Port. Papia CristÃÂã, Eng. Christian Language) in a community known, by themselves, as Gente Kristang (Port. Gente CristÃÂã, Eng. Christian People). CristÃÂão is the Portuguese for Christian. Although written differently, in Portuguese, the sounds for Kristang and CristÃÂão are exactly the same. Kristang reflects how an English speaker would write Portuguese language throw sounds. About 80 % of the older residents of the Portuguese settlement in Malacca regularly speak Kristang. There are also some speakers in todayÃÂÃÂs Singapore and Kuala Lumpur because of emigration. Kristang is very close to Malay in its grammatical construction, but its vocabulary is for 95% derived from Portuguese.
Even though Portugal lost Malacca and almost all contact in 1641, the Gente Kristang maintained its traditions, religion and language almost unharmed, which is a curiosity and unique in the world; the cultural and linguistic link towards todayÃÂÃÂs Portugal (especially, Minho region), is astonishing. Because of some aspects of the language and culture, the Malay Government and people still refer to the Portuguese-Malay as ÃÂëPortugueseÃÂû and they are not treated as locals, even if they are a mixture between Portuguese and Malays for centuries. Needless to say that their language is not taught at school. Portuguese and Brazilian people, traveling in Asia, that descovered Kristang find it remarcable, exciting and unexpected.
Examples of Kristang
external links:
Descendants of fugitive slaves in former Dutch Guyana (todayÃÂÃÂs Suriname) speak Saramacano. Unlike other Creoles of running slaves that are based on a blend of English, Dutch and Portuguese words, Saramacano had no English base or structure. The Creole contains large numbers of Portuguese origin words; its structure is very similar to other Portuguese Creoles, even to Portuguese-Indian ones. Saramacano was firstly classified has English-based, because people that studied the Suriname's Creoles considered they were all based on the same. But in the 19th century, English starts to be a big influence in Saramacano; in the meantime, the structure was maintained has a Portuguese-based Creole. Most Portuguese origin elements are verbs, adverbs, pronouns and every day used objects.
25,000 individuals of the Saramacano tribe and 2,000 of the Matawi tribe speak Saramacano. It is not known, why Saramacano is Portuguese-based. Some say that they already came from Western Africa with a Portuguese pidgin or their lords were Portuguese.
Bengali Creoles
Until 1811, Christians even in Calcutta used Portuguese. A Portuguese Creole was still spoken in early 20th century. The Creoles of Bengal were found in places such as Balasore, Pipli, Chandernagore, Chittagong, Midnapore and Hugli.
Coromandel Creoles
The Creoles of the Coast of Coromandel, India (such as of Meliapor, Madrasta, Tuticorin, Cuddalore, Karikal, Pondicheri, Tranquebar, Manapar, Negapatam) were already extinct in the 19th century, the Portuguese-Indian (known locally as Topasses) shifts to English when the British conquered their lands.
Flores Creole
In early 16th century, Portuguese traders and missionaries established in the Flores island, Indonesia after the dutch attacks in Indonesia, they settled in Larantuca and Sikka. The Portuguese influence in Sikka is still vast in the language, religion and culture.
The Mardijkers of Batavia (TodayÃÂÃÂs Jakarta, Indonesia) are descendant of old slaves from Malacca and India, converted to Protestantism, they spoke a Portuguese Creole, also there was a local Portuguese community. Portuguese was the First language until 1750, in spite of Dutch efforts against it. It was spoken until the 19th century.
Most of the Creoles of the coast of Malabar, India (Cananor, Tellicherry, MahÃÂé, Cochin, Vaipim and Quilom) have become extinct in the 19th century. The Creole of the island of Vaipim (near Cochin) prevailed till these days, spoken by some families of the Christian community. In Cananor and Tellicherry, until the 1980s, some elder still spoke some Creole.
Norteiro
Most of the Norteiro Creoles (language of Christian Indo-Portuguese in Northern India) have died, such as of BaÃÂçain, Salsete, Thana, Chevai, Mahim, Tecelaria, Dadar, Parel, Cavel, Bandora-Badra, Govai, Morol, Andheri, Versova, Malvan, Manori, MazagÃÂão and Chaul. No more than the Creoles of Daman (known as LÃÂÃÂngua da Casa), Korlai (known as Kristi) and Diu are still lively. But the Creole of Diu is in danger of extinction. The two surviving suffered drastic changes; Standard Portuguese re-influenced the Creole of Daman in the mid-20th century. And Kristi became isolated from Portuguese language and culture in 1739.
PapiÃÂá of Tugu
In Tugu, village north of Jakarta, descendants of Portuguese maintained its Creole, known as PapiÃÂá (similar to PapiÃÂá Kristang), as mother-tongue until the1940s, the last speaker died in 1978.
Portugis
In Ambom and Ternate, in Moluccas Islands (Indonesia), Portuguese mixed with locals and created a community of Christians that spoke Portugis. They spoke it until the middle of the 20th century. When the Dutch conquered the islands, many Portuguese were imprisoned and exported as slaves to Batavia (todayÃÂÃÂs Jakarta), the rest of Indonesia and to South Africa. Because the population still continue to spoke Portugis, the Dutch also started to speak it for communication with locals.
PortuguÃÂês de Bidau
In East Timor a variety of Portuguese-based Creole was spoken in Bidau, known as PortuguÃÂês de Bidau. Possibly it became extinct in the 1960s. The Creole was never widespread in the colony. Soldiers and officials from Lifau, and Portuguese settlers and MestiÃÂços of Flores, Indonesia introduced it.
Tetum is sometimes, by some, confused to be a Portuguese Creole is, in fact, only heavily influenced by it. Tetum is a co-official language of East Timor with Portuguese.Introduction
High-Guinean Creoles
Kriol of Casamance
Kriol of Guinea-Bissau
Crioulo (Creoles of Cape Verde)
external link: DeclaraÃÂçon di mundo intÃÂêro di DrÃÂéto di tudo homi co tudo mudjer Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Kriolu of Santiago (Badiu).Creoles of Gulf of Guinea
Angolar
FÃÂá d'AmbÃÂô
Forro
Not everything is from Portuguese,
external link: DeclaraÃÂçÃÂón Universal di DirÃÂêtu di HÃÂómÃÂé Universal Declaration of Human Rights in ForroLunguyÃÂê
Portuguese-Indian Creoles
Burgher
Crioulo de Diu
Crioulo de Vaipim
LÃÂÃÂngua da Casa
Kristi
Song of Korlai:
Portuguese translation:
English translation:
Portuguese-Malay
PapiÃÂá Kristang
Poem of Malacca:
Portuguese translation:
English translation:
(1) Saudade, is the Portuguese sentiment of Miss (Missing in pain and remembering). Feeling miss in translated into Portuguese as Sentir Falta.Portuguese-Chinese Creoles
PatuÃÂá
Portuguese-American Creoles
Papiamento
Saramacano
Extinct Portuguese Creoles
Portuguese-influenced indigenous languages
Portuguese influenced several languages, such as Japanese, Swahili or Malay. Some languages are deeply influenced by the Portuguese language, but are not classified as Creoles.