Saotomic language
| Saotomic | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Spoken in |
Sao Tome and Principe | |
| speaker | 69,900 (1999) | |
| Linguistic classification |
Creole
|
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639 -2 |
cpp |
|
| ISO 639-3 |
cri |
|
The Saotomese language (own name Forro ) is a Portuguese-based Creole language that is spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe .
The name Forro 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.
Classification and related languages
Saotomic is a Creole language, the superstrate of which is the Portuguese language. The substrate languages are various Bantu and Kwa languages .
Saotomian is very similar to Principal , Angolar and Annobonesian .
Vocabulary and usage
Although the São Tomé Creole had and has limited contact with Portuguese, which was considered a prestige language, it retained a small number of substratum language elements, more so than the Cape Verde Creole languages , which retained fewer West African traces. In the meantime, around 93% of Saotomic's vocabulary is from Portuguese and only 7% is of West African origin.
Although 95% of São Tomées now speak Portuguese (the native West African languages are largely extinct on the island), the national language is Saotomese, spoken by 85% of the residents.
An attempt to use Forro in poetry was made by Francisco Stockler ( Fâchiku Stockler ) in the 19th century .
Language example
Universal Declaration of Human Rights , Article 1:
- Forro: Tudu nguê di mundu ca nancê livli e igual ni dignidade e ni dirêtu. Punda nen ca pensá e nen tê cunxensa, selá nen fé tudu cuá cu tençón de lumón.
- Portuguese: Todos os seres humanos nascem livres e iguais em dignidade e em direitos. Dotados de razão e de consciência, devem agir us para com os outros em espírito de fraternidade.
- German: All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should meet one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Web links
- Something like that. Ethnologue report.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ethnologue
- ↑ Jerónimo Xavier de Sousa Pontes: Sum Fâchiku Stockler no Contexto da Poesia São-Tomense do Século XIX - (PDF) Centro de estudos africanos, University of Porto 2008.
- ↑ Declaraçón Universal di di Dirêtu Home. (No longer available online.) Gabinete de Documentação e Direito Comparado (GDDC), archived from the original on December 10, 2004 ; Retrieved February 18, 2017 (Portuguese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
