Spanish-based Creole languages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A number of Creole languages are based on the Spanish language.
Contents |
[edit] Spanish Creole languages
List of Spanish-based Creole languages:
[edit] Chavacano
Chavacano (also Chabacano) is the name of several Spanish-based Creoles spoken in the Philippines. The name of the language stems from the Spanish word Chabacano which means "vulgar", in opposition to standard Spanish, in the same sense of "vulgar Latin", in opposition to "Classical Latin". Varieties of Chavacano are spoken in Cavite, Ternate (both in Luzon); Zamboanga (in Mindanao) and other places. According to a 1990 census, there are 292,630 speakers. It is the major language of Zamboanga City. Chavacano is also spoken in parts of Ternate, Cavite and Sabah, Malaysia nearest to the Philippines, and even in Brunei, because of recent migrations.
The vocabulary comes from the Spanish language, while the grammar is mostly based on indigenous structures. It is used in primary education, television and radio. It is still intelligible to Spanish speakers. However, English words are infiltrating the language.
For more information see the article Chavacano, or link to Chavacano: Ethnologue report on Chavacano.
[edit] Palenquero
Palenquero (also Palenque) is a Spanish-based Creole spoken in Colombia.
The ethnic group which speaks this Creole consists only of 2,500 people, as of 1989.
It is spoken in Colombia, in the village of San Basilio de Palenque which is south and east of Cartagena, and in some neighborhoods of Barranquilla.
The village was formed by escaped slaves (Maroons) and Native Americans. Since many slaves had not been subjected to a lot of contact with white people, the palenqueros spoke Creole languages from Spanish language and their African ones.
Spanish speakers are unable to understand Palenquero. There are some influences from Kongo in Democratic Republic of Congo. A 10% of the population of age under 25 years speaks Palenquero, as of 1998. Most common to the elderly.
For more information see Palenquero: Ethnologue report on Palenquero.
[edit] Yanito
Yanito is spoken in Gibraltar. It is mostly derived from Spanish and English.
[edit] Spanish-influenced Creole languages
[edit] Annobonese
The Annobonese language is spoken by 9,000 people on the islands of Ano Bom and Fernando Póo, in Equatorial Guinea. It is locally called Falar de Ano Bom (Fá d'Ambô or even Fla d'Ambu). It is a Portuguese-based creole, similar to Forro, with some borrowings from Spanish. In fact, Fá d'Ambô is derived from Forro as it shares the same structure (82% of lexicon). In the 15th century, the island was uninhabited and discovered by Portugal but, by the 18th century, Portugal exchanged it and some other territories in Africa for Uruguay with Spain. Spain wanted to get territory in Africa, and Portugal wanted to enlarge even more the territory that they saw as the “New Portugal” (Brazil). Nevertheless, the populace of Ano Bom was against the shift and was hostile toward the Spaniards. This hostility, combined with the isolation of mainland Equatorial Guinea and the proximity of São Tomé and Príncipe — just 400 km from the island — has assured the maintenance of its identity.
Fá d'Ambô has gained some words of Spanish origin (10% of lexicon), but some words are dubious in origin because Spanish and Portuguese are closely related languages.
See also: History of Equatorial Guinea
[edit] Papiamento
Papiamento or Papiamentu is a creole language spoken by 359,000 people.
Primarily spoken in Netherlands Antilles by 179,000 people (as of 1998) and Aruba by 100,000 people (as of 2004).
This Creole is reportedly becoming more similar to Spanish as the time passes due to extensive contact with the Hispanophone countries (particularly Venezuela), but it was originally Portuguese-based.
Because of the similarities between these Iberian languages, it is difficult to ascertain whether a certain feature is derived from Portuguese, Spanish or Ladino, after the adaptation to Papiamento rules.
For more information see Papiamentu: Ethnologue report on Papiamentu.
For a discussion about the origins of this language see [1].
[edit] Ladino
Ladino is not a creole but an independent evolution of the Medieval Castilian language historically spoken by Sephardic Jews after their expulsion from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1498) in Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. The Castilian base was influenced by the other Iberian Romance languages spoken by the Sephardi (Leonese, Portuguese) and some innovations in Spanish brought by later emigres. As centuries passed, the languages used in their countries of residence influenced in diverse grade (Hebrew, French, Greek, Turkish, Arabic and the South Slavic languages).
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
- RAE: Real Academia Española.
