Daman Indo-Portuguese language

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The Daman Indo-Portuguese language or Daman Portuguese creole, called by its speakers Língua da Casa (Portuguese for "Home language") is spoken in Daman. It is a creole language based on Portuguese and local Indian languages. It is of the few Portuguese creoles still spoken in South Asia.

[edit] Origins

The Daman creole is a descendant of the Norteiro creole, spoken originally by the Norteiros on the Coast from Chaul, Baçaim, Bombay, Daman and Diu.

Since the Norteiros are ethnic Konkani people, the substrate of the Daman creole is likely to be Konkani. Gujarati has also been suggested as a possible substrate, but this is doubtful, since the Gujarati people moved into the region only after the Portuguese arrived.

The superstrate language is Portuguese. Before the Indian annexation of the territory, the Daman creole had become more similar to standard Portuguese.

[edit] Number of speakers

The Portuguese heritage in Daman is more common and lively than in Goa and this helped to keep the language alive. Even so, the language is rapidly disappearing because Gujarati is becoming more widely spoken and has become the main language of education. Only the older members of the community speak it at home now. In the past there was a vibrant community of Damanese who spoke it.

The language is spoken by an estimated number of 2,000, all Christian Damanese. However, the Damanese Portuguese-Indian Association says that there are 10–12,000 Portuguese speakers (all Christians) in the territory of 110,000 residents. Sunday Mass is celebrated in Portuguese.

Besides the lingua da casa, Gujarati and Portuguese are also found in the territory.