Cape Verdean Crioulo languages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cape Verdean Crioulo Kriolu, Criol
Spoken in:	Cape Verde, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, USA, Brazil
Total speakers:	926,000
Language family:	Portuguese Creole Cape Verdean Crioulo
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	none
ISO 639-2:	`cpp`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`kea`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

The Cape Verdean Crioulo is a dialect continuum spoken on the islands of Cape Verde, whose extremes lie at the islands of Santiago and that of Santo Antão. They are creole languages based on Portuguese and influenced by West African languages.

Even though over 90% of their words are derived from Portuguese, the Crioulos are not mutually intelligible with Portuguese. The pervasive shortening of words and, especially, the very different grammar (strongly influenced by West African languages) make it extremely difficult for a Portuguese speaker even to establish a basic conversation.

1 Internal classification
2 Origins
3 Status
4 Language description
5 Cape Verdean Crioulos differences
6 Bibliography
7 External links

[edit] Internal classification

Cape Verdean Crioulos are usually classified into two branches:

South or Sotavento (Kriolu): Santiago (Bádiu), Maio, Fogo, and Brava.
North or Barlavento (Criol): São Vicente, São Nicolau, Sal, Boa Vista, and Santo Antão.

A characteristic feature of the Barlavento creoles is their use of the palato alveolar fricative sound.

One can distinguish in the Crioulo of Santiago two dialects, urban and rural, the former having been re-influenced by Portuguese in recent times.

The differences between the Crioulos of Santiago and Santo Antão are as great as the differences between Portuguese and Spanish, which justifies calling the Crioulo varieties "languages" rather than "dialects".

[edit] Origins

The roots of crioulo are Old Portuguese and West African languages.

[edit] Status

As Portuguese is used in every day life (mainly in school and in relation with foreign countries) Portuguese and the Cape Verdean Creoles live in a state of diglossia. Due to this overall presence of Portuguese, a decreolization process occurs for all the different capeverdean crioulo varieties or languages.

French is taught as the most popular learning language in school. Cape Verde is also one of the three lusophone members of the Francophonie.

The dominant variety is Bádiu, the Crioulo of Santiago — which is the main island of Cape Verde, and the location of the country's capital Praia. Bádiu is due to become the country's official language with Portug uese. However, the proposed writing system (ALUPEC), which is based on Santiago writing traditions, has not been well received in the other islands, which have their own 100 year old writing histories and fear losing their own cultural identity. There are also many advocates of using just Portuguese in the classroom.

The Crioulo of São Vicente is also important since it is spoken in Cape Verde's cultural capital, Mindelo. Some Crioulo advocates, like Manuel Veiga, propose the development of two uniformized official languages: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the Crioulo of São Vicente, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on that of Santiago.

Eugénio Tavares

The major Crioulos have significant literature:

Santiago: António de Paula Brito, Carlos Barbosa, Tomé Varela da Silva, Daniel Spínola
São Vicente: Sergio Frusoni, Ovídio Martins.
Brava: the poems (mornas) of Eugénio Tavares; Deirdre Meintel
São Nicolau: Eduardo Augusto Cardoso, Baltasar Lopes da Silva
Santo Antão: the short stories of Romano Luís de Madeira Melo (Negrume/Lzimparin, 1973)
Fogo: the Cape Verdean tales collected by Elsie Clews Parsons [1] (Folklore from the Cape Verde Islands, 1923).
Various Barlavento Crioulos: Maria Dulce de Oliveira Almada
Various Sotavento Crioulos: Manuel Veiga, Marlyse Baptista, Nicolas Quint
Various Crioulos: Armando Napoleão Rodrigues Fernandes

There exists no complete translation of the Bible. However, Sérgio Frusoni produced a New Testament in the São Vicente Crioulo, Vangêle contód d'nôs móda, translated from Bartolomeo Rossetti's version in Rome dialect (Er Vangelo Seconno Noantri).

[edit] Language description

[edit] Grammar

There exist numerous parallels between the Cape Verdean creoles and the West African languages (i.e.: lack of distinction of voice, verbal adjectives, adjectives following the noun, the use of intonation to differentiate between interrogative and declarative sentences, frequent repetition of words, presence of African morphological structures, etc.). The language of Santiago is also very close to the creole of Guinea-Bissau (Upper Guinea Creole) from mainland Africa, with some intelligibility.

[edit] Vocabulary

Considering Santiago Crioulo (the only that has been sufficiently studied): more than 90% of the vocabulary is derived from Portuguese, the remaining is derived from West African languages.

[edit] Writing system

There is a new orthographic convention, named ALUPEC which stands for "Alfabeto Unificado para a Escrita do Caboverdiano" (Portuguese), "Alfabetu Unifikadu pa Skrita di Kabuverdianu" (Kriolu) which is written in Latin Alphabet. It has 23 letters and four digraphs: A B S D E F G H I J DJ L LH M N NH N O P K R T U V X TX Z. ALUPEC is based on efficiency and tries to simply the orthographic system.

[edit] Cape Verdean Crioulos differences

Santiago Crioulo	São Vicente Crioulo	São Nicolau Crioulo	Santo Antão Crioulo	Fogo Crioulo	Portuguese	English
Es fla-m’. [ezflɐ̃]	Es dzê-m’. [eʒdzem]	Es faló-m’. [ezfɐlɔm]	Es dzê-m’. [eʒdzem]	.	Disseram-me	They told me.
Bu ka ê bunitu. [bukɐebunitu]	Bô n’ ê b’nit’. [bonebnit]	Bo ka ê b’nit’. [bokɐebnit]	Bô n’ê b’nit’. [bonebnit]	.	Você não é bonito	You are not beautiful.
Nau, ka [nɐw] [kɐ]	Não, nê, ka [nɐ̃w] [ne] [kɐ]	Ka [kɐ]	Ên’, nõ, n’ [en] [nõ] [n]	.	Não	No, don't
M’ ka sâbi. [ŋˌkɐˈsɐbi]	M’ ka sabê. [mˌkɐsaˈbe]	M’ ka sabê. [mˌkɐsaˈbe]	Mi n’ séb’. [ˌminˈsɛb]	.	Não sei	I don't know.
Modi ki bu txôma? [mɔdikibuʧomɐ]	Manê qu’ê bo nom’? [modekebonom]	Qu’modê qu’ê bo nom’? [kmodekebonom]	Modê qu’ê bo nom’? [modekebonom]	Cumodê qu’ê bu nomi? [kumodekebunomi]	Qual é seu nome?	What is your name?
Bu pôdi djudâ-m’? [bupodiʤudɐ̃]	Bo podê ij’dá-m’? [bopodeiʒdam]	Bo podê j’dó-m’? [bopodeʒdɔm]	Bo podê j’dé-m’? [bopodeʒdɛm]	Bu podê djudâ-m’? [bupodeʤudɐ̃]	Você pode ajudar-me?	Can you help me?
Djôbi li! [ˈʤobiˌli]	Oiá li! [oˈjaˌli]	Odjâ li! [oˈʤɐˌli]	Oá li! [oˈaˌli]	Djobê li! [ʤoˈbeˌli]	Olha aqui!	Look at here!
M’ sa ta kánta. [ŋˌsɐtaˈkãtɐ]	M’ ti ta kantá. [mˌtitɐkɐ̃ˈta]	M’ ta ta kantâ. [mˌtɐtɐkɐ̃ˈtɐ]	M’ t’ ta kantá. [mˌttɐkɐ̃ˈta]	M’ sta kantâ. [ŋˌstakɑ̃ˈtɐ]	Estou cantando	I am singing.
El kánta. [elˈkãtɐ]	El kantá. [elkɐ̃ˈta]	El kantâ. [elkɐ̃ˈtɐ]	El kantá. [elkɐ̃ˈta]	El kantâ. [elkɑ̃ˈtɐ]	Ele/ela cantou	He/she sang.
Mudjêr [muʤeɾ]	Am’djêr [amʤeɾ]	M’djêr [mʤeɾ]	Miêr. [mjeɾ]	.	Mulher	Woman
Pamodi? [pɐˈmɔdi]	’Mód’ quê? [mɔdˈke]	Pamode?	Pequê? [peˈke]	Pamodê? [pɑmɔˈde]	Porquê?	Why?
Skrebi [ˈskɾebi]	Skrevê [ʃkɾˈve]	.	Skrebê [ʃkɾˈbe]	.	Escrever	To write
Góssi [ˈɡɔsi]	Grinhassim [ɡɾiɲɐˈsĩ]	.	Grinhassim [ɡɾiɲɐˈsĩ]	Gossim [ɡoˈsĩ]	Agora	Now
Porku [poɾku]	Tchuk [ʧuk]	.	Tchuk [ʧuk]	.	Porco	Pig
Conxi [ˈkõʃi]	Conxê [kõˈʃe]	.	Consê [kõˈse]	.	Conhecer	To know
Dêxa [ˈdeʃɐ]	D’xá [ʧa]	.	D’xá [ʧa]	Dixâ [diˈʃɐ]	Deixar	To leave
Dixâ-m’ em pás! [diˌʃɐ̃ẽˈpas]	D’xá-m’ s’segód’! [ˌʧamsseˈgɔd]	.	D’xé-m’ s’segód’! [ˌʧɛmsseˈgɔd]	.	Deixe-me em paz! / Deixe-me sossegado!	Leave me alone!
Dóxi [dɔʃi]	Doç’ [dos]	.	Doç [dos]	.	Doce	Sweet
Bôta [ˈbotɐ]	B’tá [pta]	.	.	Botâ [boˈtɐ]	Botar	To throw, to put
Xuju [ʃuʒu]	Suj’ [suʒ]	.	Suj’ [suʒ]	.	Sujo	Dirty
Ôbi [ˈobi]	Uví [uˈvi]	.	Uví [uˈvi]	Ubí [uˈbi]	Ouvir	To listen
Flâ [flɐ]	Dzê [dze]	Flâ [flɐ]	Dzê [dze]	Frâ [fɾɐ]	Falar / Dizer	To say
Pâpia [ˈpɐpjɐ]	Falá [fɐˈla]	Papiâ [pɐˈpjɐ]	Falá [fɐˈla]	Papiâ [pɐˈpjɐ]	Falar	To speak
Kulpa [kulpɐ]	Kulpa [kulpɐ]	.	Kulpa [kulpɐ]	Kurpa [kuɾpɐ]	Culpa	Fault
Nhôs amigu [ɲozɐmigu]	B’zôt’ amig’ [bzotɐmiɡ]	.	B’zôt’ emig’ [bzotemiɡ]	.	Seu amigo	Your (plural) friend
Bira [ˈbiɾɐ]	Vrá [vɾa]	.	.	Birâ [biˈɾɐ]	Virar	To turn, to become
Sukuru [sukuru]	Scur’ [ʃkur]	.	Scur’ [ʃkur]	.	Escuro	Dark
Alê-m’-li! [ɐˌlẽˈli]	Olí-m’-li! [oˌlimˈli]	Alí-m’-li! [ɐˌlimˈli]	.	.	Estou aqui!	Here I am!
Karu [kaɾu]	Kórr’ [kɔʀ]	.	.	Karru [karu]	Carro	Car

[edit] Bibliography

For details see the following books:

Os dialectos românicos ou neo-latinos na África, Ásia e América (F. Adolpho Coelho – 1880; capítulo 1: "Crioulo da Ilha de Santiago")
O crioulo de Cabo Verde. Breves estudos sobre o crioulo das ilhas de Cabo Verde (Joaquim Vieira Botelho da Costa & Custódio José Duarte - 1886)
A Parábola do Filho Pródigo no crioulo de Santiago, do Fogo, da Brava, de Santo Antão, de S. Nicolau e da Boavista: O crioulo de Cabo Verde (Joaquim Vieira Botelho da Costa & Custódio José Duarte - 1886)
Dialectos crioulos-portugueses. Apontamentos para a gramática do crioulo que se fala na ilha de Santiago de Cabo Verde (A. de Paula Brito - 1887)
Os Lusíadas (estâncias 8 e 9 do Canto V) in the creole of Santo Antão, A. da Costa Teixeira - 1898
Folk-Lore from the Cape Verde Islands (Parsons, Elsie Clews - 1923: Capeverdian Stories; book 1: English, book 2: Creole of Fogo)
Mornas - Cantigas Crioulas, Eugénio Tavares - 1932
O dialecto crioulo de Cabo Verde (Silva, Baltasar Lopes da - 1957)
Cabo Verde. Contribuição para o estudo do dialecto falado no seu arquipélago (Dulce Almada Duarte - 1961)
Renascença de uma civilização no Atlântico médio (Luís Romano de Madeira Melo, 1967: Collection of poems and stories in Portuguese and in the Creole of Santo Antão)
O dialecto crioulo-Léxico do dialecto crioulo do Arquipélago de Cabo Verde (Fernandes, Armando Napoleão Rodrigues - 1969)
100 Poemas - Gritarei, Berrarei, Matarei - Não ou para pasárgada Ovídio Martins, 1973 - Poems in Portuguese and in the Creole of São Vicente
Negrume/Lzimparin (Luís Romano de Madeira Melo - 1973: Stories in the Creole of Santo Antão with Portuguese translation)
"Textos crioulos cabo-verdianos" in the creole of São Vicente (Sérgio Frusoni - 1975) in Miscelânea luso-africana coord. Marius F. Valkhoff
The Creole dialect of the island of Brava (Meintel, Deirdre - 1975) in Miscelânea luso-africana coord. Marius F. Valkhoff
Vangêle contód d'nôs móda (Sérgio Frusoni: Fogo - 1979; Novo Testamento – Creole of São Vicente)
A linguistic approach to the Capeverdean language (Macedo, Donaldo Pereira - 1979)
O crioulo de Cabo Verde - surto e expansão (Carreira, António - 1982)
Left-dislocation and topicalization in Capeverdean creole (Braga, Maria Luiza: Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania - 1982; Examples in the Creole of São Vicente)
Variation and change in the verbal system of Capeverdean crioulo (Silva, Izione Santos -1985: Análise da fonologia cabo-verdiana)
Bilinguismo ou Diglossia (Duarte, Dulce Almada - 1998)
O crioulo da ilha de S. Nicolau de Cabo Verde (Eduardo Augusto Cardoso - 1989)
Kabuverdianu: Elementaria seiner TMA-Morphosyntax im lusokreolischen Vergleich (Thiele, Petra. Kabuverdianu: 1991)
A Poética de Sérgio Frusoni - uma leitura antropológica (Mesquitela Lima: Lisboa - 1992: Poems in the Creole of São Vicente)
"O princípio da parcimónia em crioulo de Cabo Verde" (Pereira, Dulce - 1992: in Actas do II. Colóquio sobre Crioulos de base lexical portuguesa, pp. 141-151)
O crioulo de Cabo Verde: Introdução à gramática (Manuel Veiga - 1995; crioulo de Santiago e de São Vicente)
Le créole du Cap-Vert. Etude grammaticale descriptive et contrastive (Manuel Veiga - 2000; exemplos em crioulo de São Vicente e de Santiago)
Le Cap-Verdien: Origines et devenir d'une langue métisse (Nicolas Quint - 2000)
Grammaire de la langue cap-verdienne: Étude descriptive et compréhensive du créole afro-portugais des Iles du Cap-Vert (Nicolas Quint, 2000)
Dictionnaire Cap-Verdien/français (Nicolas Quint, 2000: Crioulo de Santiago)
Dicionário do Crioulo da Ilha de Santiago - Alemão (ed. por Jürgen Lang: Tübingen 2002)
The syntax of Cape Verdean Creole. The Sotavento Varieties (Baptista, Marlyse - 2002)
Dicionário Prático Português Cabo-verdiano - Crioulo de Santiago (M. Mendes, N. Quint, F. Ragageles, A. Semedo: 2002)
O Cabo-verdiano em 45 Lições (Manuel Veiga, 2002: Crioulo de Santiago e de São Vicente)
Parlons capverdien : Langue et culture (Nicolas Quint, Aires Semedo, 2003: Creole of Santiago and one chapter about the creole of São Vicente)

[edit] External links

Note: Ethnologue considers it one language, and names it Kabuberdianu, although the name is not used by Capeverdean crioulos speakers and others to refer to the language.