Saramaccan language

Spoken in

• Creole languages English based Saramaccaans

Saramaccaans ( proper name: . Saamáka; engl Saramaccan ) is a creole language spoken in Suriname the Saramaccaner.

History

The Saramaccaans originated from the pidgin or creole language of the early black slaves who fled in a first wave in the jungle. The first slaves are likely to have escaped immediately after the first layout of plantations in 1651. A considerable part of these refugees in the first wave of slaves was born in Africa. The crucial phase in the formation of the Saramaccaans was thus from 1651st Immediately after the expulsion of the Dutch from Brazil in 1654 probably some Jews emigrated with their slaves from the now less liberal Jews again Brazil in the more liberal of Suriname. Since this happened in the earliest phase of the formation of the Creole languages ​​of Suriname, as is the basic element of Portuguese explain. Already in 1778 appeared an excellent dictionary Saramakkans - German, which had the German Moravian Christian Ludwig Schumann ( 1749-1794 ) written. How many Moravian creole he saw as a stand-alone, full-fledged languages.

The first major, permanent settlement by Europeans took place under Lord Francis Willoughby of Parham 1651, brought from Barbados coming a greater number of African slaves in the new settlement area on Suriname (river). Among the settlers there were already Jewish planters. The first peace treaty between the Dutch and the Saramaccanern was closed in 1762, the freedom and the right to trade conceded: the fugitive slaves, but they undertook to accept new refugees more on.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary was originally based on a well- Portuguese interspersed with many African elements pidgin or creole, but it was heavily influenced by English. About 20 % of the vocabulary come from African languages ​​.

Examples from the Gundwortschatz it may have originally Portuguese base: mujee ( mulher ) "woman"; womi ( homem ) " man "; there ( is ) to "give"; bunu ( bono ) "good"; kaba ( acabar ) " end "; ku (com) "with"; tan ( tão ) " so much "; kuma ( como ) " like"; faka ( faca ) "knife"; aki ( aquí ) "here"; ma ( mas ) "but"; kendi ( quente ) "hot"; liba ( arriba ) "up"; lio ( rio ) "river ", etc.

Anyone familiar with the Brazilian pronunciation of the Portuguese, will recognize the great similarities. Also noteworthy is njanjan "eat" for.

According to system

The Saramaccaans is a tonal language and knows the two sounds "high" and "low".

The vocal line includes beside each iau an open and a closed e and o sound so that you get to a series of seven vowels: i é è ò ó and a Saramaccaans knows no r- sound. The distinction voiced - voiceless is done consistently at all shutter sounds. In addition, the Saramaccaans still knows the two typical West African phonemes kp and gb

There are pränasalierte sounds and nasal vowels, which are characterized in Scripture usually by an n or m on the end of a syllable. The syllable structure is strict ( consonant ) - Vocal - ( vocal ). With o incipient polysyllabic words regularly receive a w - proposal.

Examples

The Saramaccaans very different from the languages ​​from which it originated:

De te waka aan de sinkii möön. " They walked until they were tired."

U ta mindi kanda fu dee dee soni ta pasa ku u "We make songs about things that happen to us. "

A suku di soni te wojo fairies ko bee. "He has sought in vain for it. "

Wed puu tu dusu kölu bai ën. " I paid two thousand Guilder it."

Similar languages

• Sranan Tongo
• Aukaans