Papiamentu

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Papiamentu or Papiamento is a Creole language with around 263,000 speakers who live in the Caribbean on the ABC islands ( Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao ). The vast majority of the population speaks English in Sint Eustatius , Sint Maarten and Saba .

Language designation

Papiamentu is one of the Creole languages .

Papiamentu's vocabulary is largely composed of Spanish , Portuguese and Dutch words. Both the spelling Papiamentu and the originally Portuguese ending -o , which is pronounced the same way, are legitimate and correct. The name of the Creole language of the “ABC Islands” Aruba , Bonaire and Curaçao goes back to the Spanish-Portuguese verb “papear” and meant something like chatter. The Creole language of Suriname, Sranan , was also often called that: taki-taki . This shows their low esteem. The two languages ​​are so little alike that you don't understand each other. About 80 percent of the language's vocabulary comes from Portuguese or Spanish and the rest from Dutch, English and African languages.

Origin of the Papiamentu

Papiamentu originated on Curaçao during the second half of the 17th century . It was not until 1700 that the language was transferred to the islands of Bonaire and Aruba . The actual development of Papiamentu only begins with the settlement of Curaçao by the Dutch and the establishment of the largest market for slaves abducted from Africa in the Caribbean region. The reason for its development is considered to be the restrictive language policy of the Dutch colonial administration, which slowed the spread of their own Dutch language in the colonies. The slaves were not allowed to learn Dutch and the plantation owners lived relatively isolated from the slave laborers. The need for a common language was great because they came from different areas in West Africa.

The first to mention Papiamentu was the Bohemian Jesuit Michael Schabel, who had to wait for his ship for three days (August 3-6, 1698) on the way from Venezuela to Amsterdam on Curaçao and later (1705) the first Jesuit Became a pastor on the island. Schabel stated that the black population spoke "a kind of corrupted Spanish". The Jesuits commissioned their missionaries to learn the local language. For Schabel it was still Spanish (the language of the responsible bishop in Venezuela) and Dutch, the language of the island administration. Before the emerging Papiamento would be perceived as language, it should take another 30 years. This happened through a successor of Schabel, see below in the paragraph Papiamentu in Religion and Culture .

The Papiamentu is the result of contact between the following different population groups:

Later Papiamentu increasingly became the lingua franca between Protestants and Jews from Europe and largely replaced Dutch as the language of public life. The author Frank Martinus Arion , who advocates Papiamentu, assumes that the language originated from the primary dialect "Guene", a Portuguese pidgin, which was used by the African slaves. The Jewish-Portuguese population of the Dutch colonies played a significant role in the development of the language . She had originally fled from Pernambuco , Brazil .

In the 19th century , the Papiamentu experienced a Hispanization of the vocabulary, as the Spanish became more and more important due to the Catholic mission, numerous Latin American emigrants and especially due to the proximity to the Spanish-speaking mainland. The Portuguese influence, on the other hand, is declining more and more.

To this day, there are various theories to explain the unusually strong Ibero-Roman character of Papiamentu. Possible sources of the (Afro) Portuguese element of this Creole language are:

  • The African slaves who ruled an Afro-Portuguese pidgin or creole,
  • Dutch and Sephardic Jews who came to Curaçao after the end of Dutch Brazil (1654).
  • Sephardi from Spain and Portugal, whose language was Ladino .

It was found that during the time of the formation of the Papiamentu, the Spanish elements were mainly contributed by the Sephardic Jews. This population group was expelled from Spain and Portugal by the Catholic kings from 1492 and settled on the ABC islands, among other places. There was certainly a contribution from the Venezuelan priests. The Castilian influence is still partly there, mainly through the media. But since there is no significant legal immigration of Spanish speakers, the Papiamentu has remarkably retained its independent character.

Language genesis

There is hardly any other language that researchers disagree with as much as to how it came about as with Papiamentu. There are three main theories of how language came about:

  1. Monogenetic hypothesis:
    This theory believes that all Creole languages, including Papiamentu, emerged from an "Afro-Portuguese Protocreole" (APPK). In the coastal regions of West Africa, this APPK developed due to the decades of trade contacts between the Portuguese and the Africans. Later the Portuguese features were partly replaced by French, Spanish, English and Dutch elements and words. This is how the different Creole languages ​​of the Caribbean emerged. In addition to Papiamentu, this also includes Jamaican English, Haiti French and Spanish Creole in Cuba, Venezuela and Colombia.
  2. Polygenetic hypothesis:
    This theory assumes that each Creole language emerged from a European language exclusively and independently of others. Papiamentu was developed from Spanish / Portuguese and other Iberian languages.
  3. The third hypothesis
    claims that Papiamentu originated on a Spanish basis with a Portuguese substrate. Both Papiamentu and the Creole languages Palenquero- Spanish ( Colombia ) and Bozal-Spanish ( Cuba , Puerto Rico ) arose from this Protocreol in the 16th and 17th centuries.

At the moment, however, a fourth hypothesis is gaining popularity, according to which Papiamentu is a relexified offshoot of an early variety of the Creole language of Upper Guinea , as it is spoken on the Cape Verde Islands and in Guinea-Bissau and Casamance (cf. Jacobs 2009).

Lexik des Papiamentu

As disagreed as the researchers about the origin of the Papiamentu, they are sure that two thirds of the vocabulary is of Ibero-Romanic origin, i.e. from Portuguese or Spanish. Papiamentu consists of 28 percent Dutch and six percent of words of other origins such as English and French. The high proportion of Dutch words shows the mixed character of Papiamentu. Occasionally one comes across African word material and words from indigenous languages ​​in Papiamentu. The words of African origin are mostly related to nutrition, fauna or directly related to African culture. Of course there is the vocabulary regarding differences between the islands: If the influence of Dutch on Curaçao is strongest, it is that of Spanish on Aruba . In the case of words with Ibero-Romance origins, it is usually difficult to determine from which variety they were borrowed, since the languages ​​of the Iberian Peninsula were even closer to each other in the 17th century , when the Papiamentu was formed, than is the case today. Of the Ibero-Romance words, around 60 percent are either Spanish or Portuguese, 25 percent are clearly Spanish, and four percent are clearly Portuguese. A small proportion comes from Galician or could come from all three languages.

German Portuguese Papiamentu Guinea-Bissau Creole Cape Verdean Creole * ** Spanish Dutch
welcome Bem-vindo Bon biní Bô bim three Bem-vindo *** Bienvenido welkom
Good day Good day Bon dia Bon dia Bon dia Buenos dias Goedendag
thank you Obrigado Thank you Obrigadu Obrigadu Gracias thank you
How are you? Como vais? Kon ta bai? Kumá ku bo na bai? Módi ki bu sa ta bai? ¿Cómo estás? Hoe gaat het met jou?
very good Muito bom Mashá bon Mutu bon Mutu bon Muy bien Zeer goed
I'm fine Eu estou bom / bem Mi ta bon N 'sta bon N sta dretu Yo estoy bien Het gaat goed met me
yes I am Sim, eu estou Si, mi ta N ', mi i N, mi e Sí, yo estoy Yes, ik ben
have a nice day Passover to bom dia Pasa un bon dia Pasa un bon dia Pasa un bon dia Pasa un buen dia Een prettige dag verder
see you later Vejo-te depois, até logo Te aweró N 'ta odjá-u dipus N ta odjâ-u dipôs, Te lógu Te veo después Dead ziens
eat Comida Kuminda Bianda Kumida Comida Voedsel
loaf Pão Pan Pon Pon Pan Brood
juice Suco, sumo Djus Sumu Sumu Zumo / Jugo Sap
i love curacao Eu gosto de Curaçao Mi stima Kòrsou N 'gosta di Curacao N gosta di Curacao Yo amo Curazao Ik hou van Curacao

* Variant of Santiago Creole
** Spelling of this example: ALUPEC
*** Portuguese expression used in Creole.

grammar

The grammar of the Papiamentu has all the characteristics typical of Creole languages: simplicity, consistency and only rarely irregularities:

  • Subject and predicate always remain the same: Mi ta lesa - I read; Mi ta lesa? - I read?; Awe mi ta lesa - Today I read.
  • Verbs are never conjugated, but accompanied by a time and aspect particle: Mi ta lesa - I am reading; Bo ta lesa - you read; Nos ta lesa - We read, etc.
  • There is no distinction between gender: feminine = masculine = neutral.
  • Plural formation by adding the pronoun of the 3rd person Plural (nan): kos - kosnan; yu - yunan (except for numerals: 4 kos, 2 yu)

Papiamentu is a tonal language, pitch and accentuation are meaningful:

  • Brua (tone: low-high) = confuse
  • Brua (sound: high-low) = black magic
  • Bruá (tone: low-high) = confused, crazy (past participle)

Differences Between Papiamentu and Other Creole Languages

Most noticeably, the Creole language of the ABC islands differs from the others in that it has an exceptionally high level of prestige and the wide acceptance of Papiamentu in all contexts and social classes. Its prestige increased all the more as over time all strata of the population used Papiamentu as a colloquial language. For this reason, among other things, the language has an unusually long and intense literary tradition . Economic factors must also be taken into account: The ABC Islands have a standard of living that is unique in the region. This is also thanks to its location off the coast of the oil producer Venezuela, whose products were partially refined in Aruba. This is still happening on Curaçao today. The largest natural inner harbor basin in the western hemisphere is also a very positive factor for Curaçao. In recent years the growing tourism has become very important for the islands. The level of education has continuously improved and the illiteracy rate is low compared to other Caribbean islands. However, the islands still struggle with unemployment and drug-related crime .

Another factor that contributes to economic stability is the relationship with the mother country. As an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands , the ABC Islands had an easier standing than other Caribbean states, such as B. Haiti , who opted for independence.

The growing interest of international linguists in this language is also having a positive effect on the development of Papiamentu, all of whom speak of a “remarkable variety worth promoting”. The Papiamentu is therefore in a phase of expansion.

Speech situation

Papiamentu in religion and culture

Papiamentu was and is the language of the Catholic Church. The Calvinist leadership of the Dutch West India Company needed Catholic clergy to baptize their slaves and teach them Christian obedience without having to sit in church with them. In addition, most of the slaves were to be sold on to the Catholic Latin American mainland, and these slaves therefore had to be Catholic. So the slaves were all baptized Catholics. For some time since Schabel the Catholic missionaries were Jesuits who attached great importance to the national language. The first missionary to speak Papiamentu was the Jesuit Cornelis Cloots, b. January 1, 1695 in Amsterdam, who was a pastor on Curaçao from 1728 until his death in 1734.

In addition to catechisms, the missionaries also translated Bible chapters and religious school textbooks in order to ensure the rapid spread of the faith and an education corresponding to church morals (which was hardly possible among the slaves among the believers). 88% of the population of the ABC islands became Catholic in this way, but Papiamentu is also the main religious language used by the other faith communities today. It was especially Catholic writings, such as translations of parts of the Bible and other religious books, that paved the way for the first step towards literature on Papiamentu. The first work that appeared in Papiamentu was a catechism from 1825. Papiamentu has also been used in the cultural field since the 1940s. Be it dances, music or theater, literature or the media - Papiamentu dominates. All literary works are written on papiamentu. Due to the larger market, novels are mostly sold in Dutch. Particularly noteworthy is the author Pierre Lauffer with his poetry work Patria (1944) and the first literary magazine Simadan from the 1950s. During this time the activity of the theater intensified and literary groups emerged on the islands. Since the 1980s, attempts have been made through official programs to promote literary creation and, in particular, to encourage publications of literature for children.

Papiamentu in the medial area

Although Dutch is the official language of the ABC islands, there are more than ten papers on Papiamentu on the three islands, along with three Dutch-language newspapers. There are also around 20 radio stations, only one of which broadcasts entirely in Dutch. The respective TV stations, of which there is one per island, broadcast mainly on Papiamentu. Dutch is broadcast primarily as a "minority program". Papiamentu is the language of the popular assemblies. Dutch, which is still the official language until now, is hardly or not at all used “voluntarily” on the ABC islands, except when dealing with European Dutch. This applies in particular to Bonaire, where the proportion of the Dutch-speaking population is 16.1%, particularly as a result of the immigration of pensioners.

Compared to other Creole languages, Papiamentu is better and more frequently present on the Internet despite its much lower number of speakers, which is probably due not least to the much higher standard of living. There are both tourist-oriented websites which only marginally touch on the languages, but almost always indicate that Papiamentu is spoken on the ABC islands. The origins and often important words and phrases of Papiamentu are also given. However, on some websites the language is only referred to as dialect. In addition to the tourist websites, there are also newspapers and other official websites on the net. Because every island, every newspaper and numerous tourist centers have their own pages on the Internet, an attempt is made to bring Papiamentu closer to people. All in all, you get the impression that you are dealing with a language that is more widely used than that which is actually the case.

Although Papiamentu is the mother tongue of around 90% of the population on the ABC islands (60.2% on Bonaire, see above), Dutch remains the only official language. Papiamentu is allowed as an official language in the island parliaments. The language has been used in the printed media since the second half of the 19th century. Now all media mainly use Papiamentu. Dutch remains important in administration and in the school system. The ABC islands have not yet been able to agree on a uniform orthography. Many degree programs are offered in English at the University of Curaçao . Problems also arise from the fact that the use of the language is not uniform even on Curaçao. In contrast to other Creole languages, Papiamentu is not in a phase of decreolization due to its stable language structure. This means that neither Dutch nor Spanish are possible goals for language development. Although Dutch has long been the language of prestige, Spanish is not only closer geographically, but also in terms of vocabulary. Many residents of the ABC Islands have already worked in Spanish-speaking countries, and communication runs without any problems worth mentioning. Papiamentu has an exemplary acceptance among the Creole languages ​​of the Caribbean, which goes through all social classes.

Papiamento in the school system

The political and administrative situation on the ABC islands is very complex. The central government agency of the Netherlands Antilles was responsible for the school system . Aruba received a special status in 1986 (Status aparte). Curaçao and Sint Maarten followed in 2010. Their status is comparable to that of the federal states in Germany and Austria, also in terms of cultural autonomy. Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire (also known as the BES Islands) were incorporated as 'special parishes' into the 'mother country' under the name of the Caribbean Netherlands . The municipal councils, known as “island councils”, also have administrative responsibility. Therefore, there are often inconsistencies between these places. Only since the 19th century have there been any educational opportunities for children in the Netherlands Antilles. The Roman Catholic Mission took on the upbringing of children from lower social classes. In these so-called “folk schools”, the priests taught mainly on Papiamentu. However, in 1936 Papiamentu was again banned as the language of instruction because the Dutch again developed more political and economic interest in the islands. The main reason for this was the settlement of the Shell concern in the 1920s and the immigration of Dutch workers as a result. The use of Dutch as the language of instruction posed a serious sociological and social problem: 95% of the pupils are of non-Dutch origin and even today most of them do not speak a word of Dutch before they start school. The first year of school was mainly devoted to learning Dutch. It was expressly forbidden, under penalty of punishment, to speak Papiamentu during class because it was seen as an obstacle to learning Dutch. Speaking of "papiaments" was tolerated in the playground. Studies have found that - if the education is in Dutch - the pupils develop their productive abilities much later and that problems can also arise with the linguistic and cultural orientation of the children. Especially children who only speak Papiamentu at home and come from a low social class were doomed to failure in this school system. If, on the other hand, the lessons are in Papiamentu, which is the mother tongue of the majority of the students, many psychological conflicts can be avoided.

In 1979 the law for the introduction of papiamentu in primary schools was passed. It wasn't until seven years later, in 1986, that the language was actually taught. At that time it was decided that Papiamentu should be taught daily in school, but the main lessons were still in Dutch. There are only two schools that teach exclusively on Papiamentu. In 1990 there was another discussion about the introduction of Papiamentu as the language of instruction in primary schools. Dutch should only be taught as a foreign language. Except in kindergarten, elementary school and pedagogical academies, papiamentu is not used in teaching. In middle and high schools, instruction is in Dutch. The reason for this is that a large number of students study in the Netherlands or in neighboring South America . Other reasons for continuing education in Dutch would be that Papiamentu is a minority language and, according to many linguists, is not yet sufficiently trained to justify its introduction as the language of instruction. In addition, the project fails due to the costs of the conversion, a lack of teaching material and the lack of well-trained teaching staff.

Problems of standardization

One of the main problems with the standardization of Papiamentu relates to Aruba's detachment from the Federation of the Netherlands Antilles in 1986. There is no cultural homogeneity on the ABC islands. There were always fewer slaves on Aruba than on Curaçao . As a result, there is a larger proportion of the white population. In addition, Aruba has always maintained more intensive contact with its Spanish-speaking neighboring countries and thus feels closer to their culture. Because Curaçao had a supremacy in the association of the Netherlands Antilles, the inhabitants of Aruba always felt a double dependency: on the one hand on the Netherlands and on the other hand on Curaçao. These factors particularly influenced the orthographic norm of the Papiamentu. The Papiamento in Aruba is still characterized by a more Spanish-based spelling. One writes there: falsifica (forgery), falsificacion (forgery), conexion (connection), scur (dark). In Curaçao, however, the spelling is: falsifiká, falsifikashon, konekshon, sukú. Recently, the University of the Netherlands Antilles in Curaçao has offered a BA and an MA degree for teachers of Papiamentu. This will change the situation in which many teachers do not speak Papiamentu as their mother tongue because they come from other countries (for example Suriname ) and have very poor command of Papiamentu. This is one of the reasons why Papiamentu has been experiencing a state-sponsored, targeted expansion, normalization and standardization process, particularly since the 1980s.

Future prospects

Papiamentu is currently in a phase of expansion. A language that is still developing is always exposed to particular dangers. Apart from the two different spellings of the already small language, there is a particular risk of a “Dutch-intellectual” Papiamentu. This threat comes from speakers who have studied in the motherland and have learned Dutch. They unconsciously incorporate Dutch syntax , grammar and vocabulary into their mother tongue. Even those linguists who deal with Papiamentu often unconsciously incorporate such expressions into their work, since these scholars are mostly Dutch or Hispanic. So-called “barbarisms” can often be found in the newspapers of the ABC islands, such as half-formations or confusions that can be traced back to Nederlandisms, Anglicisms and Hispanisms. Due to the increasing scientific interest and the support of national and international Creolists, there are good chances of successfully completing the standardization of Papiamentu and finally making it the national language of the ABC islands . In 2004, the first major conference on Creole languages ​​took place in Curaçao (Curaçao Creole Conference).

literature

  • Iris Bachmann: The development of the Creole language. A discourse analytical study using the example of Papiamentu . Narr-Verlag, Tübingen 2005.
  • Eva Eckkrammer: Papiamentu: a Creole language that can also be written . In: Moderne Sprachen 37, 3, 1993, pp. 133–159.
  • Eva Eckkrammer: How to Pave the Way for the Emancipation of a Creole Language. Papiamentu, or What Can a Literature Do for its Language . In: Hoogbergen, Wim (ed.). Born Out of Resistance. On Caribbean Cultural Creativity . Utrecht: Isor-Publications, 1994, pp. 359-365.
  • Eva Eckkrammer: On language policy and "technical language management" of a small language: Papiamentu on the way to a full language . In: Budin, Gerhard (ed.). Multilingualism in Specialist Communication. Proceedings of the 10th European LSP Symposium Vienna , 29 Aug.-1 Sept., 1995. Vol.II. Vienna: Termnet, 1996, pp. 1179–1198.
  • Eva Eckkrammer: 'Na kaminda pa haña un identidat kompletu': Perspectives and possibilities for the influence of Creole literature on the cultural self-image of a minority . In: Kattenbusch, Dieter (ed.). Cultural contact and language conflict in Romania . Vienna: Braumüller (= Ethnos 50), 1997, pp. 95–111.
  • Eva Eckkrammer: The Standardization of Papiamentu: New Trends, Problems and Perspectives . In: Dazzi Gross, Anna-Alice / Lorenza Mondada (eds.). Les langues minoritaires en context. Minority Languages ​​in Context. Vol. I. Les langues minoritaires entre diversité et standardization. Minority languages ​​between diversity and standardization . Neuchâtel: Institut de linguistique de l´Université de Neuchâtel (= Bulletin suisse de linguistique appliquée 69/1), 1999, 59–74.
  • Eva Eckkrammer: Papiamentu, Cultural Resistance, and Socio-Cultural Challenges: The ABC Islands in a Nutshell . In: Journal of Caribbean Literatures 5/1, 2007, 73-93.
  • Bart Jacobs. 2009. The Upper Guinea origins of Papiamentu. Linguistic and historical evidence . Diachronica 26: 3, pp. 319-379.
  • Sidney Joubert & Matthias Perl: "The Portuguese Language on Curação and Its Role in the Formation of Papiamentu". In: Journal of Caribbean Literatures , 5/1, 2007, 43-60.
  • Johannes Kramer: The Iberoromanic Creole Language Papiamento: a Romance illustration , Hamburg: Buske 2004 (= Romance Studies in Past and Present, Supplement; 11), ISBN 3-87548-380-4
  • Philippe Maurer: Les modifications temporelles et modales du verbe dans le papiamento de Curacao (Antilles Neerlandaises). Avec une anthologie et un vocabulaire papiamento-francais . Buske Verlag, Hamburg 1988 (= Kreol. Library Volume 9)
  • Johannes Kramer: Small etymological dictionary Papiamento-German German Papiamento Hamburg: Buske 2013 ISBN 978-3-87548-665-0

Web links

Wikipedia on Papiamentu

Papiamentu Sorosoro Fiche :

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ethnologue.com: " Papiamentu " (English), last accessed on June 13, 2014
  2. ↑ Christine WM Schunck Intolerante Tolerantie - De geschiedenis van de kathieke missionering op Curaçao 1499-1776 , doctoral thesis 2019 Nijmegen, ISBN 978 90 5625 504 6 , p. 224
  3. ↑ See: Papiamentus Swadesh-100 word list (PDF; 76 kB)
  4. ↑ Christine Schunck Intolerante Tolerantie , p. 115
  5. ^ Caribisch Nederland; Gesproken talen en voertaal, persoonskenmerken , Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, 16-11-2019