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 Papiamentu
derived about two-thirds of its words from Iberian languages
(Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician), a quarter from Dutch,
and the rest from other languages including English, French,
and various African languages. This creole language is being
spoken north of Venezuela on Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire--islands
of the leeward Netherlands Antilles. Papiamentu stabilized
as a creole on Curaçao around 1700. By the end of
the century it spread from there to Bonaire and then to
Aruba. Estimates from 1995 approximate the number of speakers
around 200,000.
The
name Papiamentu comes from the word papia
which means speak.
Papia is the Papiamentu verb for 'to speak' and -mentu is
the suffix that forms a noun, meaning approximately 'the
act of doing something'. Papiamentu translated would then
be something like 'Speaking' or 'the way of speaking'.
Papiamento
is another way to spell Papiamentu. Sometimes the noun forming
morpheme -mentu is spelled -mento like it is done in Spanish
and Portuguese.
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The phonemes (sounds) of Papiamentu include nearly all the American
Spanish consonants and vowels, as well as a number of Dutch vowels.
Not found in either of these languages is Papiamentu's use of
high (´) and low (`) tones to distinguish between certain
pairs of words (eg. sálà "living room",
sàlá "to salt"; biàhá "to
travel", biáhà "voyage").
The common
view on the origin of Papiamentu is that it is an Afro-Portuguese
creole (the Proto-Afro-Portuguese creole theory). However, due
to the considerable Spanish influence on Papiamentu, a group of
authors considers Papiamentu a Spanish-based creole (the Spanish
hypothesis).
The Proto-Afro-Portuguese
creole theory is the most widely accepted hypothesis about the
genesis of Papiamentu. After the Dutch conquest of Curaçao
in 1634, Curaçao served as a slave depot that provided
Spanish colonies with slaves. The importation of slaves started
after the conquest of the Portuguese strongholds in Angola in
1641 by the Dutch, bringing slaves from mainly Guinea and Angola
to Curaçao. The basic claim of this theory is that slaves
learned the Afro-Portuguese during the long periods of time
that they were kept in Afro-Portuguese speaking slave depots
before they were shipped overseas. Initially, this theory assumed
that all Atlantic Creole languages, including Papiamentu, derive
from one language, namely the Afro-Portuguese pidgin-creole
that originated as a result of the first encounter between Portuguese
settlers and native inhabitants on the west coast of Africa.
Currently, several variations of the Afro-Portuguese creole
theory exist. One of the main discussions is about whether or
not the initial Afro-Portuguese had already developed into a
creole, or if it was still a pidgin when it was transmitted
to the Caribbean. In Curaçao, Papiamentu underwent Dutch
influence, mainly contributing to the vocabulary. Through Dutch,
also English and French elements entered Papiamentu. Later on,
the influence of the Spanish speaking environment caused a hispanization
of Papiamentu.
The Spanish
hypothesis comes in two parts. The first Spanish hypothesis suggests
that Papiamentu is basically a branch of Spanish that was generated
through corruptions. The connection to Africa is not made, however,
a Dutch influence is acknowledged in the form of new words introduced
to the vocabulary. This is the first known description of Papiamentu
and was presented in the 19th century in Italy. The second Spanish
hypothesis suggests an African connection, but its defenders argue
that Papiamentu does not originate from a kind of Portuguese brought
through slaves from West Africa. In their opinion, Papiamentu
is a direct descendant of the Spanish that was used in the area
during the Spanish rule, and the small Portuguese, English, and
Dutch influence came later.
Sources
: www.papiamentu.com | babel.uoregon.edu/romance/rl407/creole/papiamento.html
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________ www.interknowledge.com/bonaire/bonpap01.htm
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