Portuguese Creole

: This article is primarily about the languages. See also a summary in the context of the other creole people.

Portuguese-Asian Creoles

In Asia, there are three groups of Portuguese-Creoles: The "Portuguese-Indian Creoles" that are spoken in India and Sri Lanka. The "Portuguese-Malay Creoles" spoken in Malaysia, Singapore and formerly in Indonesia and East Timor. And, the "Portuguese-Chinese Creole", known as Macaista, spoken in Macao and formely in Hong-Kong.

Related Topics:
India - Sri Lanka - Malaysia - Singapore - Indonesia - East Timor - Macao - Hong-Kong

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Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole

The interaction of the Portuguese and the Sri Lankans led to the creation of a Creole language, the Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole, which was a Lingua Franca in the island for 350 years (From 16th to mid-19th century). The interaction also created a Creole people, the "Mestiços" or "Casados" (Married). The Portuguese presence in Sri Lanka was extended to non-urban areas, there is a wide Portuguese heritage in Sri Lankan society, culture and administration. Words of Portuguese origin can be found in the Sinhala language (at least 1,000 words), there may be more but insufficient study has been carried out.

Related Topics:
Sri Lankans - Sinhala language

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When the Dutch took over Coastal Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon), the descendants of the Portuguese took refuge in the central hills of Kandyan Kingdom under Sinhalese rule.

Related Topics:
Dutch - Ceylon

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After a while, the Dutch and Portuguese descendants started to intermarry. Though under Dutch rule Portuguese was banned; the Portuguese speaking community was so widespread that even the Dutch started to speak Portuguese. In the 18th century, the Eurasian community (a mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, Sinhalese and Tamil), known as the Burgher, started to grow and they spoke Portuguese or Dutch.

Related Topics:
18th century - Tamil - Dutch

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Later, the Burgher community developed into two different communities: the Dutch Burghers and the Portuguese Burghers. The Portuguese Burghers were more mixed, were Catholic and spoke Portuguese Creole. Despite the socio-economic disadvantage, the Burghers maintained their Portuguese cultural identity. In Batticaloa, the Catholic Burgher Union reinforced this. The Portuguese Creole continued to be used amongst the Dutch Burghers families as the informal language until the end of the 19th century.

Related Topics:
Batticaloa - 19th century

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In today's Sri Lanka, the Creole is limited to the spoken form. Most of the speakers are the Burghers in the Eastern province (Batticaloa and Trincomalee). But there are also the Kaffirs (people of African origin) in the Northwestern province (Puttalam). The Portuguese, Dutch and British brought the Kaffirs to Sri Lanka, for labour purposes. They have assumed Portuguese culture and religion; later, there was intermarriage between them and the Portuguese Burghers.

Related Topics:
Batticaloa - Trincomalee - Puttalam - British

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At the 1981 Census, the Burghers (Dutch and Portuguese) were almost 40,000 (0,3% of the population of Sri Lanka). But, the Portuguese Creole is becoming an endangered language as the Sri Lanka Portuguese Creole is now only used at home and many are unable to speak the Creole very well.

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Many Burghers and Kaffirs emigrated to other countries. There are still 100 families in Batticaloa and Trincomalee and 80 Kaffir families in Puttalam that still speak the Portuguese Creole; they have been out of contact with Portugal since 1656.

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Burgher has a syntax and phonology similar to Tamil.

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Diu Indo-Portuguese

The Diu Indo-Portuguese, Daman and Diu, India is rapidly disappearing because Gujarati is more widely spoken and is the main language of education there. Only the less educated elder members of the community speak it at home. In the past there was a vibrant community of Portuguese-Indians who spoke it.

Related Topics:
Daman and Diu - India - Gujarati

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Língua da Casa

Daman and Korlai are now the only living Portuguese Creoles of India. The Creole of Daman is known as "Língua da Casa" (Eng. Home Language), spoken at home by a community of 2,000 or more Christians. The Creole of Daman is a descendant of the Portuguese-Indian Norteiro Creole of the Coast from Chaul, Baçaim, Bombay, Daman and Diu. Before the Indian annexation of the territory, the Creole of Daman had become more similar to standard Portuguese. The Associação Luso Indiana Damaense (Eng. Portuguese-Indian Association of Daman), to which most Damanian Catholics are members, says that there are 10-12,000 Portuguese speakers (all Christians) in the territory of 110,000 residents. Sunday mass is celebrated in Portuguese. The Portuguese heritage in Daman is more common and living than in Goa and this helped to maintain the Creole. Both the substrate (Gujarati) and superstrate (Portuguese) languages are still found in the territory.

Related Topics:
India - Chaul - Baçaim - Bombay - Daman and Diu - Gujarati

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Kristi

In an isolated Indian village known as Korlai in the Raigarh District, the Portuguese-based Creole known as "Kristi" is the only language of the 1,000 Christian inhabitants. Little is known about Kristi, only that is similar to Papiá Kristang of Malacca. The village is near the ruins of Chaul, a 16th century Portuguese colonial city that was destroyed by the Marathas. The city was abandoned and left in ruins. In the middle of the forest one can see palaces, towers, convents among other ruins. Kristi was recognized because it was very different from the neighbouring languages.

Related Topics:
Korlai - Raigarh - Malacca - Chaul

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Examples of Kristi

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:Thanks a lot: Muit'obrigad! From Port. Muito Obrigado

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:Me: io; From Port. eu

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:You (singular): vo; From Port. Você

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:You (plural): uzo; Port. Vocês, vós

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:First, Second: Primer, Sigun; From Port. Primeiro, Segundo

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:Everyone eat and drink a lot: tud gent cumen beben tem fart; From Port. toda a gente come e bebe com fartura

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Song of Korlai:

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:Maldita Maria Madulena,

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:Maldita firmosa,

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:Ai, contra ma ja foi a Madulena,

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:Vastida de mata!

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Portuguese translation:

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:Maldita Maria Madalena,

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:Maldita Formosa,

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:Ai, contra minha vontade foi a Madalena,

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:Vestida de matar!

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English translation:

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:Cursed Maria Madalena,

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:Cursed Beautiful one,

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:Oh, against my will it was Madalena,

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:Dressed to Kill!

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Kristang

Following the take-over of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511, the Portuguese were encouraged to marry local women. A Portuguese-based Creole was shaped and is still spoken today by more than 1,000 Christians. It is known as "Papiá Kristang" or "Cristão". Cristão is the Portuguese for Christian. Although written differently, in Portuguese, the sounds for Kristang and Cristão are exactly the same in some Portuguese dialects. Kristang reflects how an English speaker would write Portuguese language throw sounds. About 80% of the older residents of the Portuguese settlement in Malacca regularly speak Kristang. There are also some speakers in today's Singapore and Kuala Lumpur due to emigration. Kristang is very close to Malay in its grammatical construction, but its vocabulary is 95% derived from Portuguese.

Related Topics:
Malacca - Malaysia - 1511 - Singapore - Kuala Lumpur

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Even though Portugal lost Malacca and almost all contact in 1641, the Gente Kristang maintained its traditions, religion and language almost unharmed, which is a curiosity and unique in the world; the cultural and linguistic link with today's Portugal (especially, Minho region), is astonishing. Because of some aspects of their language and culture, some Malaysians still refer to the Portuguese-Malay Eurasian community as 'Portuguese'. However, their language is not taught in schools, although in there are still some church services in Portuguese. The existence of Kristang comes as a surprise to Portuguese and Brazilian people when travelling in Malaysia.

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Macanese

Known by the Macanese people as "Macaista Chapado", but also known as "Patuá" is an almost extinct Creole language (spoken by just a few Macanese families), which came to exist in Macao in 1557. It was brought there by the Portuguese from Malacca.

Related Topics:
Macanese - Patuá - 1557

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Most of the Macanese lexicon is from Malay and from the papiás of Malacca and Indonesia, but also from the Indian and Singhalese languages. This makes it the dialect of Papia Kristang. The structure of the language is from Portuguese-Malay, but also in a manner Portuguese-Indian with Chinese syntax. There is also a strong influence of the dialects of southern Portugal.

Related Topics:
Malay - Indian - Singhalese - Chinese syntax - Portugal

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