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Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (ABC islands).
The language, spelled Papiamento in Aruba and Papiamentu in Bonaire and Curaçao, is largely based on Portuguese as spoken in the 15th and 16th centuries, and has been influenced considerably by Dutch language and Venezuelan Spanish. Due to lexical similarities between Portuguese and Spanish, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of some words. Though there are different theories about its origins, most linguists now believe that Papiamento emerged from the Portuguese-based creole languages of the West African coasts, as it has many similarities with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole. In modern times, Papiamento is spoken in all aspects of society and by inhabitants of all backgrounds on the ABC islands.
The name of the language itself originates from , from Portuguese and Cape Verdean and Bissau Guinean Creole ("to chat, say, speak, talk"), added by the noun-forming suffix .
Spain claimed dominion over the islands in the 15th century but made little use of them. Portuguese merchants had been trading extensively in the West Indies and with the Iberian Union between Portugal and Spain during 1580–1640 period, their trade extended to the Spanish West Indies. In 1634, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) took possession of the islands, deporting most of the small remaining Arawak and Spanish population to the continent (mostly to the Venezuelan west coast and the Venezuelan plains, as well as all the way east to the Venezuela Orinoco basin and Trinidad), and turned them into the hub of the Dutch slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean.
The first evidence of widespread use of Papiamento in Aruba and Curaçao can be seen in official documents in the early 18th century. In the 19th century, most materials in the islands were written in Papiamento including Roman Catholic school books and hymnals. In 1837, the Catecismo Corticu pa uso di catolicanan di Curaçao (Brief Catechism for use by Catholics) was printed, the first printed book in Papiamento. In 2009 the Catecismo Corticu was added to the UNESCO Memory of the World register. The first Papiamento newspaper was published in 1871 and was called Civilisadó (The Civilizer).
Another theory is that Papiamento first evolved from the use in the region since 1499 of 'lenguas' and the first repopulation of the ABC Islands by the Spanish by the Cédula real decreed in November 1525 in which Juan Martinez de Ampués, factor of Hispaniola, had been granted the right to repopulate the depopulated Islas inútiles of Oroba, Islas de los Gigantes, and Buon Aire.
The evolution of Papiamento continued under the Dutch colonisation under the influence of 16th-century Dutch, Portuguese (Brazilian) and Native American languages (Arawak and Taíno), with the second repopulation of the ABC islands with immigrants who arrived from the ex-Dutch Brazilian colonies.
The Judaeo-Portuguese population of the ABC islands increased substantially after 1654, when the Portuguese recovered the Dutch Brazil Colonial Brazil, causing most Portuguese-speaking Jews and their Portuguese-speaking Dutch allies and Dutch-speaking Portuguese Brazilian allies in those lands to flee from religious persecution. The precise role of Sephardic Jews in the early development is unclear, but Jews certainly played a prominent role in the later development of Papiamento. Many early residents of Curaçao were Sephardic Jews from Portugal, Spain, Cape Verde or Portuguese Brazil. Also, after the Eighty Years' War, a group of Sephardic Jews immigrated from Amsterdam. Therefore, it can be assumed that Judaeo-Portuguese was brought to the island of Curaçao, where it gradually spread to other parts of the community. The Jewish community became the prime merchants and traders in the area and so business and everyday trading was conducted in Papiamento. While various nations owned the island, and official languages changed with ownership, Papiamento became the constant language of the residents.
When the Netherlands opened economic ties with Spanish colonies in what are now Venezuela and Colombia in the 18th century,
students on Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire were taught predominantly in Spanish, and Spanish began to influence the creole language. Since there was a continuous Latinisation process (Hoetink, 1987), even the elite Dutch-Protestant settlers eventually communicated better in Spanish than in Dutch, as a wealth of local Spanish-language publications in the 19th century testify.
The similarity between Papiamento and the other Afro-Portuguese creoles can be seen in the same pronouns used, mi, bo, el, nos, bos(o), being Portuguese-based. Afro-Portuguese creoles often have a shift from "v" to "b" and from "o" to "u": bientu (), instead of viento. In creole and also in Spanish, and are pronounced the same. In creole, it is also written as a . Just as in Portuguese, an unaccented final is pronounced as .
Guene was the name given to four languages spoken by Africans on Western Curaçaoan plantations of Kenepa, Sabaneta, Lagun and Porto Marí.Paul Brenneker – Curacaoensia (Augustinus 1961) The name derives from "Guinea" or "Geni", but that does not give much clear indication of African origin, because this name referred to different areas in West Africa in the 17th and 18th centuries. There were possibly hundreds of Guene work songs used to make work lighter, organize work rhythms, guide task execution through instructions, and comment on work situations. Guene influence still exists in current Papiamentu in several domains. Difficulties in understanding its relevance today lies in how to distinguish between Guene and non-Guene contributions from African languages, what role the language(s) had in shaping non-linguistic cultural materials (such as hierarchical relationships, solidarity networks, relations to the ancestors, knowledge of soil types) and how this has been re-encoded into what we know today as Papiamentu.
In Bart Jacob's study The Upper Guinea Origins of Papiamento he defends the hypothesis that Papiamento is a Relexification offshoot of an early Upper Guinea Portuguese Creole variety that was transferred from Senegambia to Curaçao in the second half of the 17th century, when the Dutch controlled the island of Gorée, a slave trading stronghold off the coast of Senegal. The Creole was used for communication among slaves and between slaves and slave holders.
On Curaçao, this variety underwent internal changes as well as contact-induced changes at all levels of the grammar, but particularly in the lexicon, due to contact with Spanish and, to a lesser extent, Dutch. Despite the changes, the morphosyntactic framework of Papiamento is still remarkably close to that of the Upper Guinea Creoles of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. Parallels have also been identified between the development of Papiamento and Catholicism.
Venezuelan Spanish and American English are constant influences today. Code-switching and lexical borrowing from Spanish, Dutch and English among native speakers is common. This is considered as a threat to the development of the language because of the loss of the authentic and Creole "feel" of Papiamento.
Many immigrants from Latin America and the Caribbean choose to learn Papiamento because it is more practical in daily life on the islands. For Spanish-speakers, it is easier to learn than Dutch, because Papiamento uses many Spanish and Portuguese words.
The first opera in Papiamento, adapted by from his novel Katibu di Shon, was performed at the Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam on 1 July 2013, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the ending of slavery in the Dutch Caribbean.
| Piter May the ora ky boso a biny.
My a topa tio la, ku Sara meme.
Nan taba biny Punta.
My Dusie, bo pay a manda bo ruman Aronchy, ku Tony & Merca koge na kamina dy Piter May. Es nigrita Antunyca & nan a ybel tras dy forty, & nan a manda sutel guatapana. Mas my no saby pa ky razon. Sy bo saby, manda gabla, ku my Dios pagabo. Bida, manda gabla ku my, kico Bechy a biny busca na Punta & borbe bay asina presto. | Mi tabata na Pietermaai te ora ku boso a bini.
Mi a topa tio aya, ku Sara meimei.
Nan tabata bini na Punda.
Mi dushi, bo pai a manda bo ruman Aronchy, ku Tony i Merka kohe na kaminda di Pietermaai. E negrita Antunika... nan a hib'é tras di fòrti, i nan a manda sut'é na e watapana. Pero mi no sabi pa ki rason. Si bo sabi, manda palabra, ku mi Dios ta bai pagabo. Mi Bida, manda palabra ku mi, kiko Becky a bini buska na Punda, i bolbe bai asina lihé. | I was in Pietermaai until the time you came.
I met uncle there, and Sara halfway.
They were coming to Punda.
My sweetheart, your father sent your brother Aronchy, and Tony and Merka went on their way to Pietermaai. That negress Antunika... they brought her behind the fort, sent to be whipped at the divi-divi tree. But I don't know for what reason. If you know, send me a message, and my God will reward you. My Life, send me a word what Becky came looking for in Punda, and then return as quickly. |
| Mi papa, bieda die mi Courasson, bieni prees toe seeka bo joego doesje.
Mi mama ta warda boo, mie jora toer dieja pa mie papa.
Coemda Mie groot mama pa mie, ie mie tante nan toer.
Papa doesje, treese oen boenieta sonbreer pa boo Jantje. Adjoos mie papa, bieda die mi Courasson. Djoos naa boo saloer, pa mie i pa mie mama. Mie groot mama ta manda koemenda boo moetje moetje. Mie ta bo joego Doeje toe na mortoo. Dit heeft uw Jantje geschreeven, nogmals adjoos, vart wel. | Mi papa, bida di mi kurason, bini lihé serka bo yu dushi.
Mi mama ta warda bo, mi ta yora tur dia pa mi papa.
Kumindá mi wela pa mi, i mi tantanan tur.
Papa dushi, trese un bunita sombré pa bo Jantje.
Ayó mi papa, bida di mi kurason.
Dios duna bo salú, pa mi i pa mi mama.
Mi wela ta manda kumindá bo muchu muchu.
Mi ta bo yu dushi te na morto. | My father, life of my heart, come quickly close to your sweet son.
My mother awaits you, I cry all day for my father.
Greet my grandmother for me, and all my aunts.
Dear father, bring a nice hat for your Jantje. Goodbye my father, life of my heart. May God give you health, from me and from my mother. Send my grandmother many many greetings. I am your sweet son until death. This is written by your Jantje, once again adios, goodbye. |
| Noos ta firma por la berdad, y para serbir na teenpoe qui lo llega die moosteer.
Qui des die teempoe koe Señor B.G. Quant ta poner, na serbisje die tera... Ta maltrata noos comandeur Pieter Specht pa toer soorto die koos. Y seemper el dho Quant ta precura die entreponeel deen toer gobierno die comandeur. Por ees motibo, noos ta esprimenta koe eel ta causa die toer disunion. | Nos ta firma pa e berdad y pa sirbi den e tempo aki lo yega di mester.
Cu di e tempo e cu señor B.G. Quant ta pone, na servicio di e tera... Ta maltrata nos commandeur Pieter Specht pa tur sorto di cos. Y semper el señor Quandt ta percura di entremete den tur gobierno di commandeur. Pa e motibo, nos ta experencia cu el ta causa di tur desunion. | We sign for the truth and to serve the coming time if necessary.
About our time with B.G. Quant we declare, we were employed in land cultivation... He always mistreated our commander Pieter Specht for all sort of things. And always mister Quant interfered with all instructions of the commander. For that reason, we declare that he caused all the discord. |
Since the 1970s, two different orthographies have been developed and adopted. In 1976, Curaçao and Bonaire officially adopted the Römer-Maduro-Jonis version, a phonetic spelling. In 1977, Aruba approved a more etymology-based spelling, presented by the Comision di Ortografia (Orthography Commission), presided by Jossy Mansur.
There are two main dialects of Papiamento, the dialect of Aruba (Papiamento) and the dialect of Curaçao and Bonaire (Papiamentu), with lexical and intonational differences. There are also minor differences between Curaçao and Bonaire.
The most apparent difference between the two dialects is given away in the name difference. Whereas Bonaire and Curaçao opted for a phonology-based spelling, Aruba uses an etymology-based spelling. Many words in Aruba end with "o" while the same word ends with "u" in Bonaire and Curaçao. And even in Curaçao, the use of the u-ending is still more pronounced among the Sephardic Jewish population. Similarly, the use of "k" in Bonaire and Curaçao replaces "c" in Aruba.
For example:
In the past, certain rural areas of Aruba and Curaçao featured the guttural R (a feature common in French) or omitted the letter S at the end of words (a feature common in Caribbean Spanish). However it is likely many of these rural features have either disappeared over time or are used by few speakers today.
| walk |
| effect |
| ballet |
| apple |
| small |
| work |
| impolite |
| farm |
| bridge |
Papiamento has , two vowels in a single syllable that form one sound. Papiamento diphthongs are based on Ibero-Romance and Dutch diphthongs. It has the following diphthongs:
| dance |
| fauna |
| that |
| price |
| far |
| join |
| tortoise |
| down |
| thumb |
There are general rules for the stress and accent but also a great many exceptions. When a word deviates from the rules, the stressed vowel is indicated by an acute accent ( ´ ), but it is often omitted in casual writing.
Linguistic studies have shown that roughly 80% of the words in Papiamento's present vocabulary are of Iberian origin, 20% are of Dutch origin, and some of Native American or African origin. A study by Van Buurt and Joubert inventoried the words of Taíno and Caquetío Arawak origin, mostly words for plants and animals. Arawak is an extinct language that was spoken by Indigenous people throughout the Caribbean. The Arawak words were re-introduced in Papiamento by borrowing from the Spanish dialect of Venezuela Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010). "Diccionario de Americanismos". Lima Some research indicates that some Papiamento vocabulary may derive from English and Caribbean English Creoles, such as
/ref>
Many words are of Iberian origin, and it is impossible to label them as either Portuguese or Spanish:
While the presence of word-final can easily be traced to Portuguese, the diphthongisation of some vowels is characteristic of Spanish. The use of , rather than , descends from its pronunciation in the dialects of northern Portugal as well as of Spanish. Also, a sound shift may have occurred in the direction of Spanish, whose influence on Papiamento came later than that of Portuguese: subrino ("nephew"): sobrinho in Portuguese, sobrino in Spanish. The pronunciation of o as is certainly Portuguese, but the use of n instead of nh () in the ending -no is from Spanish.
Few Portuguese words come directly from Portuguese, but most come via the Portuguese-based creole; in the examples below, the Cape Verdean Creole equivalents are borboléta, katchor, prétu and fórsa.
Portuguese-origin words:
Spanish-origin words:
Dutch-origin words:
English-origin words:
African-origin words:
Native American-origin words:
The 2013 films Abo So (Aruba) and Sensei Redenshon (Curaçao) were the first in Papiamento; the comedy Bon Bini Holland (Curaçao and Netherlands) also contains some Papiamento.
| italic=no | italic=no | italic=no |
|
| Bienvenido |
| Buen día - Buenos días |
| Gracias |
| ¿Cómo estás? - ¿Cómo vás? |
| Muy bien - Muy bueno |
| Estoy bien |
| Yo |
| Yo soy |
| Pasa un buen día |
| Hasta luego |
| Comida |
| Pan |
| Aún no |
| Me gusta Curazao |
|
|
