Papiamento

Papiamento or Papiamentu is the primary language spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the so-called ABC islands). It is also well known by people in Saba, St Eustatius, and the Sint Maarten islands.

Papiamento is a creole language whose lexicon is drawn firstly from Portuguese (about 60%) and some Spanish language and from Dutch (about 25%). The remainder (15%) comes from West African languages, Arawak, and other languages.

History

It is still disputed whether Papiamento originated from Portuguese or from Spanish. Due to the resemblance between the two tongues, it is difficult to tell whether a particular word came from one or from the other. However, historical constraints and its core vocabulary suggest that the first ingredients were Portuguese and languages of West Africa, and that the Dutch and Spanish influence occurred at a later time (17th and 18th century, respectively). The name of the language itself comes from papear ("to chat", "to talk"), a characteristically Portuguese word; compare with Papiá Kristang ("Christian talk"), a Portuguese-based creole of Indonesia, and the Capeverdean Crioulo word papia ("to talk").

Spain claimed dominion over the islands in the 16th century, but made little use of them. In 1640 the Dutch-based West India Company (WIC) took possession of the islands, deporting their small Arawak and Spanish population to the continent, and turned them into the hub of the Dutch slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean. It is still not known how Papiamento fits into this picture.

Local development theory

The traditional theory is that Papiamento developed in the Caribbean, from a Portuguese-African pidgin used for communication between the African slaves and the Portuguese-speaking slave traders. For religious and political reasons, the traders were mostly Jews of Portuguese origin. The Judaeo-Portuguese population of the islands increased substantially after 1654, when the Portuguese recovered the Dutch-held territories in Northeast Brazil — causing most of the Portuguese-speaking Jews in those lands to flee, for fear of being punished as Dutch collaborators.

African origin theory

A more recent theory holds that Papiamento originated almost a century earlier, in the west coast of Africa and in the Cape Verde islands. From the 16th to the late 17th century, most of the slaves taken to the Caribbean came from Portuguese trading posts ("factories") in those regions. Around those ports there developed several Portuguese-African pidgins and creoles, such as Upper Guinea Kriol, Mina, Capeverdean Crioulo, Angolar, and Guene. The latter bears strong resemblances to Papiamento, and there are still small communities of Guene speakers in Aruba. According to this theory, Papiamento was derived from those pre-existing pidgins/creoles, especially Guene, which were brought to the ABC islands by slaves and/or traders from Cape Verde and West Africa.

Some specifically claim that Papiamentu arose from a mixture of the Mina pidgin/creole (a mixture of Cape Verdean pidgin/creole with Twi) and the Angolar creole (derived from languages of Angola and Congo).

Proponents of this theory of Papiamento contend that it can easily be compared and linked with other Portuguese creoles, especially the African ones (namely Forro, Upper Guinea Kriol, and the Capeverdean Crioulos). For instance, Compare mi ("I" in Cape Verdean Creole and Papiamento) or bo (meaning you in both creoles). Mi is from the Portuguese mim (IPA: [mĩ], me) and bo is from Portuguese vós (you). The use of "b" instead of "v" is very common in the African Portuguese Creoles due to their relation with Northern Portugal dialects. Papiamento is, in some degree, intelligible with Cape Verdean creoles and could be explained by the immigration of Portuguese Sephardic Jews from Cape Verde to these Caribbean islands, although this same fact could also be used by dissenters to explain a later Potuguese influence on an already existing Spanish-based creole.

Another comparison is the use of the verb "ta" from vernacular Portuguese "tá" (from "estar", to be) with verbs where Portuguese does and with others where it does not use it: "Mi ta + verb", also the rule in the Cape Verdean Creoles. These issues can also be seen in other Portuguese Creoles.

Present status

Many Papiamento speakers are also able to speak Dutch (the official language of the Dutch Caribbean), English and Spanish. Venezuelan Spanish is a constant influence today, especially in Aruba.

Dialects

Papiamento has three main dialects, one per island: Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire.

Sounds

Most Papiamento vowels are based on Ibero-Romance vowels, but some are also based on Dutch vowels like : ee, ui, ie, oe, ij, ei, oo, and aa.

Papiamento is a tonal language, which is unusual in creoles, and probably influenced by African tones. Tones in creoles can also be found in Saramaccan.

Grammar

Vocabulary

Most of the vocabulary is derived from Portuguese and Spanish, and most of the time the real origin is unknown due to the great similarity between the two Iberian languages and the adaptations required by Papiamentu.Linguistic studies have shown that roughly two thirds of the words in Papiamentu's present vocabulary are of Iberian origin, a quarter are of Dutch origin, and the rest come from other tongues.

Examples of words of Iberian origin, which are impossible to label as either Portuguese or Spanish:
* Por fabor = Please - Portuguese/Spanish por favor
* Señora = Mrs, Madam, - Portuguese Senhora, Spanish Señora
* Kua? = Which? - Portuguese, Qual; Spanish, Cual
* Kuantu? = How much? - Portuguese, Quanto; Spanish, Cuanto

Meanwhile the existence of a final vowel [u] can easily be traced to Portuguese, and a diphthongization in some vowels can easily be traced to Spanish. The \b\ sound and "ñ" character can mislead an untrained observer; also a sound-shift could occur in direction to Spanish, because this language is of a later influence than Portuguese.

Other words can have dual origin, and certainly dual influence. For instance: Subrino (nephew); in Portuguese is Sobrinho while in Spanish is Sobrino. The pronunciation of /u/ in the "su-" is traceable to Portuguese, while /n/ in "-no", can be traceable to Spanish.

Portuguese origin words:
* zapatu = shoes - Portuguese, sapato, Spanish, zapato
* kacho = dog - Portuguese, cachorro (dog), Spanish, perro
* bisiña = neighbour - Portuguese, vizinho, vizinha, Spanish, vecino, vecina

Spanish origin words:
* siudad = city - Spanish, ciudad
* sombre, = hat - Spanish, sombrero
* karson = trousers - Spanish, calzón

Dutch origin words:
* apel = apple - Dutch, appel
* blau = blue - Dutch, blauw
* buki = book - Dutch, boek

Dictionaries

*Mansur, Jossy M., Dictionary English-Papiamento Papiamento-English. (Oranjestad: Edicionnan Clasico Diario) 510 pages, 1991.
* Papiamento – English Dictionary

Writing system

There are two orthographies: a more phonetic one called Papiamentu (in Curaçao and Bonaire), and one resembling Spanish (in Aruba).

Examples

Phrase samples

NOTE: The examples provided are primarily derived from the Phonetic orthography.
* Bon bini! = Welcome!, Portuguese Bem vindo, Spanish, bienvenido)
* Bon dia = Good morning, Portuguese Bom dia; Spanish Buenos dias
* Bon tardi = Good evening, Portuguese Boa tarde, Spanish buenas tardes
* Bon nochi = Good night (Portuguese, Boa noite; Spanish, Buenas noches)
* Kon ta bai? or Kon ta ku bida? = How are you? or How is life?, Portuguese, Como vai?/Como está com a vida?; ta is the vernacular Portuguese of verb to be, 'tá insted of está, Spanish ¿Cómo te va?)
* Mi ta bon, danki = I am fine, thank you, vernacular Portuguese, Eu (mim) (es)tou bom/bem, and Dutch Dank u
* Tur kos ta bon = everything is alright, Portuguese tudo está bem (bom)
* Hopi bon or Tremendo = very good
* Trankilo = calm, Portuguese/Spanish, tranquilo
* Hopi kalor = very hot/warm, Portuguese/Spanish calor/caliente
* Kon yama bo? or Kon bo nomber ta? = What's your name?, Portuguese Como você se chama? / Como te chamas?
* Ami yama Raul or Mi nomber ta Raul = My name is Raul, Portuguese, Me Chamo Raul / Meu nome é Raul; Spanish, Mi nombre es Raul/Me llamo Raul
* Di unda bo ta? = Where are you from?, Portuguese, De onde você vem?
* Mi ta bini di… = I come from…, Portuguese Eu venho de…
* Mi ta biba na… = I live in…, Portuguese Eu vivo na…
* Por fabor = Please, Portuguese/Spanish por favor
* Masha danki = Thank you very much, Dutch, Dank u
* Di nada = it was no trouble at all!(or it was nothing!), Portuguese/Spanish De nada
* Hende Hòmber = Male, Portuguese, Homem; Spanish Hombre
* Hende Muhe = Female, Portuguese Mulher; Spanish Mujer
* Si = Yes, Spanish Sí; Portuguese Sim
* No = No, Spanish No; Portuguese Não
* Ainda no = Not yet, Portuguese Ainda não
* Ayo! = Goodbye!, Portuguese Adeus; Spanish Adiós
* Te otro biaha! = until next time!, Portuguese Até outro dia
* Te awero(oro) = See you later!
* Mi ta sinti bo falta! = I miss you!, Portuguese Eu (mim) sinto vossa falta!, Spanish me haces falta
* Mi ta stimabu = I love you, Portuguese Eu (te) estimo (você) / Eu te amo
* Awor = Now, Portuguese Agora; Spanish Ahora
* Ayera = Yesterday, Spanish Ayer
* Mi tin hamber = I am hungry, from Spanish tengo hambre
* Mi tin sed = I am thirsty, Spanish tengo sed, Portuguese Eu tenho sede
* Laga nos bai sali! = Let's go out!, Spanish ¡Vamos a salir!
* Te mañan!, Te mas awero!(Te' oro), Te despues! =Until tomorrow!, see you later!, Till the next time!, Portuguese Até amanhã, Até logo, Até depois)
* Pabien! = Happy birthday! (also means congratulations!), Portuguese Muitos parabéns!
* Bon Aña!/ = Happy new year!, Portuguese Feliz ano novo or Bom ano; Spanish Feliz año nuevo
* Bon pasku (di nasementu)! Bon pasku (di resurekshon) = Merry Christmas! Happy Easter!, Portuguese, Boa Páscoa
* No lubida! = Don't forget!, Spanish, No olvides
* Korda skirbi mi bek asina ku ta possible! = Write me as soon as possible!
* Meneer = Mister, Portuguese Senhor; Spanish Señor; Dutch Meneer
* Señora = Mrs, Madam, Portuguese Senhora, Spanish Señora
* Jufrouw = Miss, Ms., Dutch, juffrouw
* Mi number di telefon ta… = my phone number is…, Spanish Mi número de teléfono es…
* Yamami = Call me (by telephone); Spanish Llámame.

See also

* Creole language
* Linguistics
* Palenquero
* Afro-Latin American

External links

* Papiamentu: Ethnologue report on Papiamentu.
* Papiamento – English Dictionary
* Newspaper from Aruba
* La Prensa A Leading Curaçao Newspaper in Papiamentu
* Radio Curom Listen to Papiamentu Radio
* Papiamentu - history and grammatical features
* Papiamentu origins
* Bible Excerpt in Papiamentu
* A videoclip of a song in Papiamentu