São Vicente Creole

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São Vicente Creole is the name given to the variant of Cape Verdean Creole spoken mainly in the São Vicente Island of Cape Verde. It belongs to the Barlavento Creoles branch. This form of the Cape Verdean Creole has about 80,000 to 100,000 speakers[citation needed] primarily in the São Vicente island, but also in a large segment of the Cape Verdean diaspora population. It is the second most widely spoken Cape Verdean dialect. It has produced literature from a lot of writers and musicians including Sergio Frusoni and many more.

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[edit] Characteristics

Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles the São Vicente Creole has also the following ones:

  • The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tí tâ before the verbs: tí + tâ + V.
  • The sounds /s/ and /z/ are palatalized to [ʃ] and [ʒ] when they are at the end of syllables. Ex.: fésta “party” pronounced [ˈfɛʃtɐ] instead of [ˈfɛstɐ], gósga “tickles” pronounced [ˈɡɔʒɡɐ] instead of [ˈɡɔzɡɐ], más “more” pronounced [maʃ] instead of [mas].
  • The stressed final sound /ɐ/ is pronounced /a/. Ex.: já /ʒa/ instead of djâ /ʤɐ/ “already”, lá /la/ instead of lâ /lɐ/ “there”, and all the verbs that end by ~â, calcá /kɐlˈka/ instead of calcâ /kɐlˈkɐ/ “to press”, pintchá /pĩˈʧa/ instead of pintchâ /pĩˈʧɐ/ “to push”, etc.
  • The sound /ʤ/ (that originates from Portuguese /ʎ/, written “lh”) is represented by the sound /j/: bói’ /bɔj/ instead of bódj’ /bɔʤ/ “dance (noun)”, ôi’ /oj/ instead of ôdj’ /oʤ/ “eye”, spêi’ /ʃpej/ instead of spêdj’ /speʤ/ “mirror”. When it is after the sound /i/, the sound /ʤ/ remains: fídj’ /fiʤ/ “son”, mídj’ /miʤ/ “corn”. When it is immediately after a consonant, the sound /ʤ/ remains: m’djôr /mʤoɾ/ “better”, c’djêr /kʤeɾ/ “spoon”.
  • The sound /ʤ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written “j” in the beginning of words) is totally represented by /ʒ/. Ex. já /ʒa/ instead of djâ /ʤɐ/ “already”, jantá /ʒɐ̃ˈta/ instead of djantâ /ʤɐ̃ˈtɐ/ “to dine”, Jõ’ /ʒõ/ instead of Djõ’ /ʤõ/ “John”.
  • Existence of a certain kind of vocabulary (also existing in Santo Antão) that does not exist in the other islands. Ex.: dançá instead of badjâ “to dance”, dzê instead of flâ “to say”, falá instead of papiâ “to speak”, guitá instead of djobê “to peek”, ruf’ná instead of fuliâ “to throw”, stód’ instead of stâ “to be”, tchocá instead of furtâ “to steal”, tchúc’ instead of pôrc’ “pig”, etc.

[edit] Vocabulary

Main article: Cape Verdean Creole#Vocabulary

[edit] Grammar

Main article: Cape Verdean Creole#Grammar

[edit] Phonology

Main article: Cape Verdean Creole#Phonology

[edit] Alphabet

Main article: Cape Verdean Creole#Writing_system

[edit] Examples of São Vicente Creole

Kriol de Soncente English
aont yesterday
aoj, hoj' today
manhã tomorrow
plurim market
Soncente São Vicente
Mindel Mindelo
Morada Mindelo's historic centre
praça square
praia beach
rua street
'm / mi I / me
bo you
bossê you (polite)
el he/she
nô / nôs we / us
bzôt / bossês you (plural)
ês they
bá, bai to go
krê to want
sabê to know
andá to walk
spiá to look, to search
El ka sabê He/she doesn't know
Um oiá-'l aont na Praça Nova I saw him yesterday at Praça Nova ( Mindelo's main square)
arroz rice
monte mountain

[edit] External links

The Cape Verdean Creole
Sotavento Creoles
Brava | Fogo | Maio | Santiago
Barlavento Creoles
Boa Vista | Sal | Santo Antão | São Nicolau | São Vicente
Languages