Portuguese creoles are
creole languageA creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originates from a mixture of various languages. The lexicon of a creole usually consists of words clearly borrowed from the parent languages, except for phonetic and semantic shifts...
s which have been significantly influenced by
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
.
Origins
Portuguese overseas exploration in the 15th and 16th century's led to the establishment of a
Portuguese EmpireThe Portuguese Empire was the first global empire in history, with territories in South America, Africa, India and South East Asia...
with trading posts, forts and colonies in the
AmericasThe Americas, or America, are lands in the Western hemisphere or New World, comprising the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. America may be ambiguous in English, as it is more commonly used to refer to the United States of America...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
and
AfricaAfrica is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With a billion people in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.8% of the...
. Contact between the Portuguese language and native languages gave rise to many Portuguese-based
pidginA pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common, in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different to the language of the country in which they reside...
s, used as
linguas francasA lingua franca is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues.Lingua franca is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic history or...
throughout the Portuguese sphere of influence. In time, many of these pidgins were
nativizedNativization is the process whereby a language gains native speakers. This happens necessarily where a second language used by adult parents becomes the native language of their children...
becoming new stable creole languages.
As is the rule in most creoles, the
lexiconIn linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes....
of these languages can be traced to the parent languages, usually with predominance of Portuguese; while the grammar is mostly original and unique to each creole with little resemblance to the syntax of Portuguese or of other parent languages.
These creoles are (or were) spoken mostly by communities of descendants of Portuguese, natives, and sometimes other peoples from the Portuguese colonial empire.
Until recently creoles were considered "degenerate" languages unworthy of attention. As a consequence, there is little documentation on the details of their formation. Since the 20th century, increased study of creoles by linguists led to several theories being advanced. According to the
monogenetic theory of pidginsAccording to the theory of monogenesis in its most radical form, all pidgins and creole languages of the world can be ultimately traced back to one linguistic variety. This idea was first formulated by Hugo Schuchardt in the late 19th century and popularized in the late 1950s and early 1960s by and...
, most of the pidgins and creoles the world derived from European languages actually descend from a single pidgin, the
Mediterranean Lingua FrancaThe Lingua franca of the Mediterranean or Sabir was a pidgin language used as a lingua franca in the Mediterranean Basin from the 11th to the 19th century and is the original basis for the word lingua franca. The name "lingua franca" in Italian means "language of the Franks"...
, which was
relexifiedRelexification is a term in linguistics used to describe the mechanism of language change by which one language replaces much or all of its lexicon, including basic vocabulary, with that of another language, without drastic change to its grammar. It is principally used to describe pidgins, creoles,...
by the Portuguese explorers and used by them throughout the empire. This theory was advanced to explain supposed similarities between all European-based creoles; such as the preposition
na, meaning "in" and/or "on", which would come from the Portuguese contraction
na meaning "in the" (feminine singular). However, the
language bioprogram theoryThe Language bioprogram theory or Language bioprogram hypothesis is a theory arguing that the structural similarities between different creole languages cannot be solely attributed to their superstrate and substrate languages...
claimed that creole grammars are created by children from pidgins that have no grammatical structure; so the supposed similarities between creoles are a consequence of the unity of human innate linguistic abilities. However, some linguists, have dismissed those similarities as being due to residual influences of the parent languages.
Origin of the name
The Portuguese word for "creole" is
crioulo, which derives from the verb
criar ("to raise", "to bring up") and a
suffixIn grammar, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
-oulo of debated origin. Originally the word (like its
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
equivalent
criolloThe criollos were a social class in the caste system of the overseas colonies established by Spain in the 16th century, especially in Latin America, comprising the locally born people of pure Spanish ancestry....
) was used to distinguish the members of any ethnic group who were born and raised in the colonies, from those who were born in their homeland. So in Africa it was often applied to locally-born people of (wholly or partly) Portuguese descent, as opposed to those born in Portugal; whereas in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
it was also used to distinguish locally born
black peopleThe term black people usually refers to a racial group of humans with skin colors that range from light brown to nearly black. It also has been used to categorize a number of diverse populations into a common group. Some definitions of the term include only people of relatively recent Sub Saharan...
of African descent from those who had been brought from Africa as slaves.
In time, however, this generic sense was lost, and the word crioulo or its derivatives (like "Creole" and its equivalents in other languages) became the name of several specific communities and their languages, such as the Cape Verde Kriolu (and their language) and the Guinea-Bissau Kriol (and their language). In Brazil, on the other hand, crioulo
became a term for "black", now considered highly offensive (like "nigger" in English).
Africa
The oldest Portuguese-based creole are the so-called Crioulos of Upper Guinea, born around the Portuguese settlements along the northwest coast of Africa. Originally spoken on a wider area, they are presently reduced to the following branches:
- Guinea-Bissau Creole (Kriol): lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues.Lingua franca is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic history or...
of Guinea-BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
, also spoken in CasamanceCasamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...
, SenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south, and it also encircles The Gambia on its three sides,...
and in Gambia.
- Cape Verdean Creole (Kriolu, Kriol): a dialect continuum
A dialect continuum is a range of dialects spoken across a large geographical area, differing only slightly between areas that are geographically close, and gradually decreasing in mutual intelligibility as the distances become greater. Dialects separated by great geographical distances may not be...
spoken on the islands of Cape VerdeThe Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago located in the Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa, opposite Mauritania and Senegal....
, with some decreolization.
Another group is spoken in the Gulf of Guinea, in
São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off the...
and
Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a country located in Central Africa. With an area of 28,000 km
2 it is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa. It has a population estimated at half a million...
:
- Angolar (Ngola, N'góla)
Angolar, also Ngola is a minority language of São Tomé and Príncipe, spoken in the southernmost towns of São Tomé island and sparsely along the coast. It is a creole language, based partially on Portuguese with a heavy substrate of a dialect of Umbundu Angolar, also Ngola (Lungua N'golá) is a...
: in coastal areas of São Tomé IslandSão Tomé is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe and is by far that nation's largest town. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas".-History:...
.
- Annobonese (Fá d'Ambô)
The Annobonese language, known to its speakers as Fá d'Ambô or Fa D'ambu, is spoken by 2,500 in the Annobon and Bioko Islands off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, mostly by people of mixed African, Spanish, and Portuguese descent....
: in Annobón IslandAnnobón may refer to:* Annobón Province* Annobonese language* Annobon people...
.
- Forro
Forro is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe.The name means "freed slave" in Portuguese. The language is also called crioulo santomense. It should not be confused with the dialect of Portuguese spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe.- History :São Tomé is an island of the...
: in São Tomé.
- Principense (Lunguyê)
The Principense language, called lunguyê by its speakers, is a Portuguese creole spoken in a community of some four thousand people in São Tomé and Príncipe, specifically on the island of Príncipe , according to a 1989 study...
(almost extinct): in Príncipe IslandPríncipe is the smaller of the two major islands of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa. It has an area of 136 km² and a population of around 5,000 people. It rises in the south to 948 metres at Pico de Príncipe, in a thickly forested area forming part of the Obo National Park...
.
Many other Portuguese creoles probably existed in Africa, especially in the Congo region and former Portuguese
feitoriasFactory was the English term for the trading posts system originally established by Europeans in foreign territories, first within different states of medieval Europe, and later in their colonial possessions...
in the
Gulf of GuineaThe Gulf of Guinea is the part of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf...
.
Portuguese pidgins still exist in
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the...
and
MozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest. It was explored by Vasco da Gama in 1498...
, uncreolized. A Portuguese pidgin, known as
Simple PortugueseSimple Portuguese is a Portuguese pidgin spoken throughout Angola, it is used for communication as a lingua franca between speakers from different ethnic groups....
, is still used as lingua franca between distinct Angolan tribes.
Portuguese Creoles are the mother tongue of
Cape VerdeThe Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago located in the Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa, opposite Mauritania and Senegal....
(it also has a largest number of standard Portuguese speakers) and
Guinea-BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
's population.
Americas
Portuguese has contributed to many languages of the Americas, although its similarity with Spanish makes it difficult to separate the influence of the two languages. Most surviving creoles contain also influences from Dutch, English, French, and various African languages. They are:
- Papiamento
Papiamento is the official and most widely spoken language on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao ....
: spoken in ArubaAruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.An...
, BonaireThe Island Territory of Bonaire is one of five island areas of the Netherlands Antilles, consisting of the main island of Bonaire and, nestled in its western crescent, the uninhabited islet of Klein Bonaire...
and CuracaoCuraçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The island area of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is one of five island areas of the Netherlands...
; Spanish/Portuguese (60%), Dutch (25%), African and Arawak (15%).
- Saramaccan
Saramaccan is a creole language spoken by about 24,000 people near the Saramacca and upper Suriname Rivers in Suriname , and 2,000 in French Guiana...
: spoken in SurinameSuriname , officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America....
; English, Portuguese, African (20%).
Although sometimes classified as a Creole, the
CupópiaCafundó is the conventional name for a language spoken in the village of Cafundó, São Paulo . The language is structurally similar to Portuguese, with a large number of Bantu words in its lexicon.-Speakers:...
language from the Quilombo do Cafundó, at Salto do Pirapora, SP is better classified as a
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
variety since it is structurally similar to Portuguese, in spite of having a large number of
BantuThe Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree. By one estimate, there are 513 languages in the Bantu grouping, 681 languages in Bantoid,...
words in its lexicon.
Portuguese-based creoles existed in Brazil. There is a Portuguese dialect in Helvécia, South of
BahiaBahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast.It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
that presents signs of an earlier decreolization. Ancient Portuguese creoles originating from Africa are still preserved in the ritual songs of the Afro-Brazilian animist religions (
CandombléCandomblé is an African-originated or Afro-Brazilian religion, practiced chiefly in Brazil by the "povo de santo" . The religion was largely originated in the city of Salvador, the capital of Bahia. Although Candomblé is practiced primarily within Brazil, it is also practiced in other countries...
).
It has been conjectured that vernacular of Brazil (not the official and standard
Brazilian PortugueseBrazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by virtually all the almost 200 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay.Roughly speaking, the differences...
) resulted from decreolization of a creole based on Portuguese and native languages; but this is not a widely accepted view. Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese is continuous with European Portuguese, and in fact quite conservative in some aspects.
Academic specialists affirm the Brazilian linguistic phenomena are the "nativização/nativism" of a most radically romanic form. The phenomena in Brazilian Portuguese are Classic Latin and Old Portuguese heritage. Not a creole form, but the radical romanic form. Regardless of borrowings and changes, it must be kept in mind that Brazilian Portuguese is not a
Portuguese creolePortuguese creoles are creole languages which have been significantly influenced by Portuguese.- Origins :Portuguese overseas exploration in the 15th and 16th century's led to the establishment of a Portuguese Empire with trading posts, forts and colonies in the Americas, Asia and Africa...
, since both grammar and vocabulary remain real Portuguese.
There are two French-based Caribbean creole languages spoken in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
, in the state of
AmapáAmapá is one of the states of Brazil, located in the extreme north, bordering French Guiana and Suriname to the north. To the east is the Atlantic Ocean, and to the south and west is the Brazilian state of Pará. Perhaps one of the main features of the state is the River Oiapoque, as it was once...
,
Lanc-PatuáLanc-Patuá is a creole language spoken in the state of Amapá in Brazil, primarily now around the capital, Macapá. It is a French-based creole language, spoken by local Indians and immigrants from French Guiana, the Caribbean and other areas of Brazil, and their descendants...
and Karipuna Creole, which were transplanted to the region in the 20th century. They are poorly known, but the Portuguese influence on them is small (chiefly in the vocabulary).
The position regarding
SaramaccanSaramaccan is a creole language spoken by about 24,000 people near the Saramacca and upper Suriname Rivers in Suriname , and 2,000 in French Guiana...
is not consensual, with some scholars classifying it as an English Creole with Portuguese words, and others classifyng it as a Portuguese Creole with an English relexification.
India
The numerous Portuguese outposts in India and Sri Lanka gave rise to many Portuguese-based creole languages, of which only a few have survived to the present. The largest group were the Norteiro languages, spoken by the
Norteiro peopleNorteiro people are people who live in the former Portuguese exclaves in the western littoral of South Asia; they included islands such as Bom Bahia , the Salsette, Dharavi Island, New Bombay, Chaul-Revdanda, Baçaim, and Daman and Diu as their homes across the Gulf of Cambay.The word Norteiro,...
, the Christian Indo-Portuguese in the North
KonkanThe Konkan , also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali, is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...
. Those communities were centered around Baçaim, modern Vasai, which was then called the “Northern Court of
Portuguese IndiaPortuguese India was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de Almeida, then settled at Kochi...
” (in opposition to the "Southern Court" at
GoaGoa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.Panaji is...
). The creole languages spoken in Baçaim, Salsete,
ThanaThana may refer to the following:*The term is used in South Asian countries and is synonymous with police station or precinct.** Administrative divisions of Bangladesh*Thana, Maharashtra, India.*Thana, Kannur, Kerala, India....
, Chevai,
MahimMahim is a neighbourhood in Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station in Mahim area, on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway railway line. In ancient times, the area was known as Maijim, Mejambu, Mahikawati....
, Tecelaria,
DadarDadar is a place in Mumbai, and has a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway on both the Western Railway line and the Central Railway line...
,
ParelParel is central part of Mumbai. It is also the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway. Most of the mills in Mumbai used to be in this area till some years ago. Now, most of these mills have shut down....
,
CavelCavel is a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. It is located to the north-east of Dhobitalao near the Chira Bazaar area. rom the Koli name Kolwar. The Kolis of this village were converted to Christianity by the Portuguese in the 16th century. Cavel thus became a Christian enclave, and later immigrants...
,
BandoraThe Bandora or Bandore is a large long-necked plucked string-instrument that can be regarded as a bass cittern though it does not have the "re-entrant" tuning typical of the cittern. Probably first built by John Rose in England around 1560, it remained popular for over a century...
(modern
BandraBandra is a suburban neighborhood in Western Mumbai , popularly nick-named "Queen Of The Suburbs". It is home to a railway station on the Western line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway. It is also home for various Bollywood Celebrities who live along the Bandstand Beach and in Palli hill area of...
),
GoraiGorai is a village in the North-western part of Mumbai, India. Gorai is accessed more usually by a ferry crossing the Manori Creek which separates Gorai from the island of Salsette or otherwise by the overland route through Bhayander....
, Morol, Andheri,
VersovaVersova may refer to:* Madh Fort, also known as Versova Fort, in northern Mumbai.* Versova, India - an upmarket neighbourhood of Mumbai* Versova Beach - the beach of Versova, India* Versova, Greece - a town in Greece...
,
MalvanMalvan is a town in Sindhudurg District - southernmost district of Maharashtra. This culturally and historically important town is a Taluka place in Sindhudurg District. Malvan taluka consists of villages like Aangnechi wadi,Achra, Khalchi Devli,Jamdul, Juva, Pankhol and Sarjekot.Malvan is town...
,
ManoriManori is a neighbourhood in northern Mumbai, India. It is known for its beach and the Manori Creek. The closest railway station is Malad. You can take a ferry from Marve and reach Manori...
,
MazagãoMazagão is a municipality located in the south of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Its population is 13,913 and its area is 13,131 km²....
, and
ChaulChaul is a former city of Portuguese India, now in ruins. It is located 60 km south of Bombay, in Raigad District of Maharashtra state in western India....
are now extinct. The only surviving Norteiro creoles are:
- Diu Indo-Portuguese
The Diu Indo-Portuguese language or Diu Portuguese Creole was spoken in Diu, India. It is a creole based on Portuguese and a local language....
(almost extinct): in DiuDaman and Diu is a union territory in India.For over 450 years, these coastal enclaves on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
.
- Daman Indo-Portuguese (Língua da Casa)
The Daman Indo-Portuguese language or Daman Portuguese creole, known to its speakers as Língua da Casa , is a Portuguese-based creole spoken in Daman...
: in DamanDaman and Diu is a union territory in India.For over 450 years, these coastal enclaves on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
.
- Kristi
Kristi is the language of some 1,000 Christians in an isolated area around the village of Korlai in Raigad District of Maharashtra state, India...
: in Korlai, MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located on the western coast of India. Maharashtra is a part of Western India. It is India's third largest state by area and second largest by population....
.
These surviving Norteiro creoles have suffered drastic changes in the last decades. Standard Portuguese re-influenced the creole of Daman in the mid-20th century.
The Creoles of the Coast of Coromandel, such as of Meliapor, Madras, Tuticorin,
CuddaloreCuddalore is a fast growing industrial city and headquarters of Cuddalore district in the Tamil Nadu state of southern India. Located south of Pondicherry on the Bay of Bengal, Cuddalore has a large number of industries which employ a great deal of the city's population...
, Karikal, Pondicheri,
TranquebarTharangambadi is a panchayat town in Nagapattinam district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was a Danish colony in India from 1620-1845...
, Manapar, and Negapatam, were already extinct by the 19th century. Their speakers (mostly the people of mixed Portuguese-Indian ancestry, known locally as
TopassesTopasses were a group of people in maritime Asia in the early modern period, who claimed Portuguese ancestry or had taken up Portuguese culture and language. Topasses were found in the various places of South Asia and Southeast Asia which were frequented by the Portuguese, such as Goa, Malacca and...
) switched to
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
after the British takeover.
Most of the creoles of the coast of Malabar, namey those of Cananor, Tellicherry,
MahéMahé, a small town surrounded on all sides by Kerala this town is officially a part of Puducherry . The official name of Mahe is Mayyazhi in the local Malayalam language. The original name of Mahé, Mayyazhi, means "eyebrow of the sea". The Kannur District surrounds Mahe on three sides...
, Cochin (modern
KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
), and Quilom) had become extinct by the 19th century. In Cananor and Tellicherry, some elderly people still spoke some creole in the 1980s. The only creole that is still spoken (by a few Christian families only) is
- Vaipim Indo-Portuguese: in the Vaipim Island, near Kerala.
Christians, even in Calcutta, used Portuguese until 1811. A Portuguese Creole was still spoken in the early 20th century. Portuguese creoles were spoken in
BengalBengal , is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent...
, such as at
BalasoreBalasore is a strategically located city in the state of Orissa in eastern India. It is the administrative headquarters of Balasore District. It is best known for Chandipur beach. It is also the site of the Indian Ballistic Missile Defense Program's Integrated Test Range, located 70 km....
,
PipliPipli is a small village in Gaighata, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India. The village is near the Ichamati River which acts as a divider border between India and Bangladesh...
, Chandernagore,
ChittagongChittagong is Bangladesh's main seaport and its second-largest city. The capital of the eponymous district and division, it is situated in the southeastern portion of the country, and was built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, which ends nearby, in the Bay of Bengal. The city has a...
,
MidnaporeMidnapore is a town in West Bengal, India. The city is the headquarters of, and gives its name to, the Paschim Medinipur district of the state of West Bengal. The town also gives its name to a subdivision of the district.The town used to be belong to the Midnapore District until the Partition of...
and Hugli.
Sri Lanka
Significant Portuguese-based creole flourished among the so-called
BurgherThe Burghers are a Eurasian ethnic group, historically from Sri Lanka, consisting for the most part of male-line descendants of European colonists from the 16th to 20th centuries and local women, with some minorities of Swedish, Norwegian, French and Irish.Today the mother tongue of the Burghers...
and
KaffirThe Kaffirs are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka who are partially descended from 16th century Portuguese traders and the African slaves who were brought by them.The Kaffirs spoke a distinctive creole based on Portuguese, the Sri Lanka Kaffir language, now extinct...
communities of Sri Lanka:
- Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese
Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese,Ceylonese Portuguese Creole or Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole is a language spoken in Sri Lanka, an independent island nation, located about 30 miles from the south-eastern coast of India...
: around BatticaloaBatticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, 69 miles south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...
and TrincomaleeTrincomalee is a port city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, about 110 miles northeast of Kandy. The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. It is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island...
(Portuguese BurghersThe Portuguese Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent. They are Roman Catholic and spoke the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Portuguese. In modern times, English has become the common language while Sinhalese is taught in school as a...
) and Puttalam- Overview :The history of this dry zone district goes back to the arrival of North Indian Prince Vijaya, 2500 years ago in Tammanna in the coastal belt above Puttalam. This happened when his vessel was washed ashore. Thonigala the homeland of Kuweni is deep in the district...
(Kaffirs). see Burghers.
In the past, Portuguese creoles were also spoken in
MyanmarBurma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia or Indochina. The country is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the...
and
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
Southeast Asia
The earliest Portuguese creole in the region probably arose in the 16th century in
MalaccaMalacca is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The capital is Malacca Town...
,
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
, as well as in the Moluccas. After the takeover of those places by the Dutch in the 17th century, many creole-speaking slaves were taken to other places in Indonesia and
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
, leading to several creoles that survived until recent times:
- Kristang (Cristão)
Papiá Kristang , or just Kristang, is a creole language. It is spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry, chiefly in Malacca and Singapore....
: in MalaccaMalacca is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The capital is Malacca Town...
(MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
) and SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
.
- Mardijker (extinct in 19th century): by the Mardijker people
The Mardijker were a community in Batavia , made up of descendants of freed slaves. They were mostly Christian, of Indian ancestry, and spoke a Portuguese-based creole language...
of Batavia (JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
).
- Papiá Tugu
Papiá was a language spoken in Tugu, village north of Jakarta, by descendants of 17th century Portuguese travelers.It is a creole language similar to the Papiá Kristang of Malacca. The language was spoken until the 1940s, and the last speaker died in 1978...
(extinct in 1978): in Tugu, Indonesia.
- Portugis
Portugis is a language that was spoken by the Christians of mixed Portuguese and Malay ancestry in the islands of Ambon and Ternate in the Moluccas , from the 16th century to the middle of the 20th century....
(extinct around 1950): in the AmbonAmbon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of , and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. The main city and seaport is Ambon , which is also the capital of Maluku province...
, TernateTernate is an island and town in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, located off the west coast of the larger island of Halmahera, the center of the powerful former Sultanate of Ternate. Like its neighbouring island, Tidore, Ternate is a visually dramatic cone-shaped island. The islands are...
islands and MinahasaThe Minahasa are an ethnic group located in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia...
, IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
- Bidau Portuguese
Bidau Creole Portuguese was a Portuguese-based creole language that was spoken in Bidau, an eastern suburb of Dili, East Timor until the 1960s, when the speakers shifted to standard Portuguese....
(extinct in the 1960s): in the Bidau area of DiliDili , spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the capital and largest city of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of Timor island, the easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Dili is the chief port and commercial centre for East Timor, and has approximately 150,000 inhabitants...
, East TimorEast Timor, also known as Timor-Leste is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
.
The Malacca creole also had an influence on the creole of
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
(see below).
The Portuguese were present in the island of
FloresFlores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population is estimated to be around 1.5 million , and the largest town is Maumere....
,
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
since the 16th century, mainly in
LarantukaLarantuka is a subdistrict of East Flores Regency, on the eastern end of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Like much of the region, Larantuka has a strong a colonial Portuguese influence...
and
SikkaSikka is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, on the island Flores. It covers an area of 1.731,9 km² and has a population of around 300.000. The capital is Maumere....
; but the local creole language, if any, has not survived.
Other Portuguese-based creoles were once spoken in
ThailandThe Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...
(In KudeeJeen and Conception) and Bayingy in
MyanmarBurma, officially the Union of Myanmar, is the largest country by geographical area in mainland Southeast Asia or Indochina. The country is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest and the Bay of Bengal to the...
.
Macau
The Portuguese language was present in its colony,
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
, since the mid-16th century. A Portuguese creole, Patua, developed there, first by interaction with the local
Cantonese peopleThe Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei subethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
, and later modified by influx of refugees from the Dutch takeover of Portuguese colonies in Indonesia.
- Macanese (Macaista, Patuá)
Macanese or Macau Creole is a creole language derived mainly from Malay, Sinhalese, Cantonese, and Portuguese, which was originally spoken by the Macanese community of the Portuguese colony of Macau...
: in MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
and, to a lesser extent, in Hong-Kong.
Concise List
| Language |
Alternate names |
Location |
Notes |
| Angolar Angolar, also Ngola is a minority language of São Tomé and Príncipe, spoken in the southernmost towns of São Tomé island and sparsely along the coast. It is a creole language, based partially on Portuguese with a heavy substrate of a dialect of Umbundu Angolar, also Ngola (Lungua N'golá) is a...
|
|
São Tomé IslandSão Tomé Island, at 854 km 2 , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home to about 133,600 or 96% of the nation's population. This island and smaller nearby islets make up São Tomé Province, which is divided into six districts. The main island is located 2 km ...
, São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off the...
|
|
| Annobonese The Annobonese language, known to its speakers as Fá d'Ambô or Fa D'ambu, is spoken by 2,500 in the Annobon and Bioko Islands off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, mostly by people of mixed African, Spanish, and Portuguese descent....
|
Fá d'Ambô |
Annobón Annobón may refer to:* Annobón Province* Annobonese language* Annobon people...
island, Equatorial GuineaEquatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a country located in Central Africa. With an area of 28,000 km 2 it is one of the smallest countries in continental Africa. It has a population estimated at half a million...
|
|
| Cupópia Cafundó is the conventional name for a language spoken in the village of Cafundó, São Paulo . The language is structurally similar to Portuguese, with a large number of Bantu words in its lexicon.-Speakers:...
|
|
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
|
Not a Creole,
but rather Portuguese language with BantuThe Bantu languages constitute a grouping belonging to the Niger-Congo family. This grouping is deep down in the genealogical tree of the Bantoid grouping, which in turn is deep down in the Niger-Congo tree. By one estimate, there are 513 languages in the Bantu grouping, 681 languages in Bantoid,...
words |
| Cape Verdean Creole |
Kriolu, Kriol |
Cape VerdeThe Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago located in the Macaronesia ecoregion of the North Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Africa, opposite Mauritania and Senegal....
|
National language |
| Creole of Vaipim |
|
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
|
|
| Daman Indo-Portuguese The Daman Indo-Portuguese language or Daman Portuguese creole, known to its speakers as Língua da Casa , is a Portuguese-based creole spoken in Daman...
|
Língua da Casa |
Daman Daman and Diu is a union territory in India.For over 450 years, these coastal enclaves on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
, India |
|
| Diu Indo-Portuguese The Diu Indo-Portuguese language or Diu Portuguese Creole was spoken in Diu, India. It is a creole based on Portuguese and a local language....
|
Língua dos velhos |
Diu Daman and Diu is a union territory in India.For over 450 years, these coastal enclaves on the Arabian Sea coast were part of Portuguese India, along with Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli...
, India |
|
| Forro Forro is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe.The name means "freed slave" in Portuguese. The language is also called crioulo santomense. It should not be confused with the dialect of Portuguese spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe.- History :São Tomé is an island of the...
|
|
São ToméSão Tomé is the capital city of São Tomé and Príncipe and is by far that nation's largest town. Its name is Portuguese for "Saint Thomas".-History:...
Island, São Tomé and PríncipeSão Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Africa. It consists of two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe, located about apart and about , respectively, off the...
|
|
| Guinea-Bissau Creole |
Kriol |
Guinea-BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
|
Lingua franca and national language A national language is a language which has some connection—de facto or de jure—with a people and perhaps by extension the territory they occupy. The term is used variously. A national language may for instance represent the national identity of a nation or country...
of Guinea-BissauThe Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in western Africa, and one of the smallest states in continental Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
;
also spoken in CasamanceCasamance is the area of Senegal south of The Gambia including the Casamance River. It consists of Basse Casamance and Haute Casamance...
, SenegalSenegal , officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Senegal is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Mauritania to the north, Mali to the east, and Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south, and it also encircles The Gambia on its three sides,...
|
| Kristang Papiá Kristang , or just Kristang, is a creole language. It is spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry, chiefly in Malacca and Singapore....
|
|
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
|
|
| Kristi Kristi is the language of some 1,000 Christians in an isolated area around the village of Korlai in Raigad District of Maharashtra state, India...
|
|
Korlay, IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
|
|
| Macanese Macanese or Macau Creole is a creole language derived mainly from Malay, Sinhalese, Cantonese, and Portuguese, which was originally spoken by the Macanese community of the Portuguese colony of Macau...
|
Patuá |
MacauThe Macau Special Administrative Region , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong...
and Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
|
Decreolization Decreolization is a hypothetical phenomenon whereby over time a creole language reconverges with one of the standard languages from which it originally derived...
process occurred. |
| Papiamento Papiamento is the official and most widely spoken language on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao ....
|
|
Netherlands AntillesThe Netherlands Antilles , previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles and consists of two groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea: Curaçao and Bonaire, just off the Venezuelan coast, and Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten, located...
and ArubaAruba is a -long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, north of the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón State, Venezuela. Together with Bonaire and Curaçao, it forms a group referred to as the ABC islands of the Leeward Antilles, the southern island chain of the Lesser Antilles.An...
|
Spanish influenced. |
| Pequeno Português Simple Portuguese is a Portuguese pidgin spoken throughout Angola, it is used for communication as a lingua franca between speakers from different ethnic groups....
|
|
AngolaAngola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province of Cabinda has a border with the Republic of the...
|
Not a Creole, but rather a Pidgin A pidgin language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common, in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different to the language of the country in which they reside...
|
| Principense The Principense language, called lunguyê by its speakers, is a Portuguese creole spoken in a community of some four thousand people in São Tomé and Príncipe, specifically on the island of Príncipe , according to a 1989 study...
|
Lunguyê |
Príncipe Island, São Tomé and Príncipe |
Almost extinct. |
| Saramaccan |
|
Surinam |
English Creole An English-based creole language is a creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language...
with strong influences of Portuguese lexicon. |
| Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese,Ceylonese Portuguese Creole or Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole is a language spoken in Sri Lanka, an independent island nation, located about 30 miles from the south-eastern coast of India...
|
Sri Lankan Creole Portuguese, Battilocan Portuguese |
Coastal cities of Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
|
Portuguese based creole with influences from Spanish, English, Dutch, Tamil and Sinhalese |
See also
- Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originates from a mixture of various languages. The lexicon of a creole usually consists of words clearly borrowed from the parent languages, except for phonetic and semantic shifts...
- Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
- Portuñol
Portuñol or Portunhol is a portmanteau of the words Português/Portugués and Español/Espanhol . It refers to various types of language contact between Spanish and Portuguese which have occurred in regions where the two languages coexist, like the border regions between Brazil, whose official...
- Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of natural language. Linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields. An important topical division is between the study of language structure and the study of meaning...
External links