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Sranan Tongo
Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-Dutch-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the population). It is also spoken in the Netherlands, and across the Surinamese diaspora. It is considered both an unofficial national language and a lingua franca.
Sranan Tongo developed among Afro-Surinamese, enslaved Africans from Central and West Africa, especially along the Caribbean coastline, after contact with English planters and indentured workers from 1651–67. Its use expanded to the Dutch colonists, who took over the territory in 1667, and decided to maintain the local language as a lingua franca. Because the number of English colonists was massively reduced following the arrival of the Dutch, the later Dutch and African additions and influences to the language have made it distinct from other Afro-Caribbean creoles based on English. There are also influences from Spanish and Portuguese present in the language.
Sranan Tongo likely developed from an English-based pidgin, when English colonists in what was then part of the English colony of Guiana brought enslaved Africans for the plantations. The enslaved Africans, who were often from various tribes, did not have an African language in common and developed a pidgin to communicate. After the Dutch takeover in 1667, following the Treaty of Breda (1667) (in exchange for ceding the North American eastern seaboard colony of New Netherland to the English), a substantial overlay of words was adopted from the Dutch language, making it a secondary lexifier. There were also additions from Spanish and Portuguese—some of these dating from earlier Portuguese occupation of the colony, which preceded the arrival of the British.
The first enslaved Africans probably spoke Gbe or KiKongo languages as their native tongues, and were bilingual for some time. In the early 18th century (1720), large numbers of Akan people (65%) from the region then called the Gold Coast were also transported to plantations in Suriname. The addition of the Akan language into early Sranan Tongo, which had already undergone a process of creolisation at that time, further altered the language, causing relexification and giving the creole its own distinct form of Africanisms. As other ethnic groups, such as East Indians, Chinese and Javanese, were brought to Suriname as indentured workers, Sranan Tongo became a lingua franca.
Indigenous peoples in Suriname also intermarried with enslaved Africans, adding a significant amount of their cultural influence to Sranan and Afro-Surinamese culture.
Despite having a significant number of English-language words in its lexicon, the lack of contact with English speakers from the 17th century means Sranan Tongo is rarely mutually intelligible with modern English and is distinct from most other English-based creoles. Some of the African language influences of Sranan Tongo are Gbe (Fon, Ewe, Aja, Gun, Gen (Mina), Xwelak), KiKongo, and Akan (Twi and Fante). The African influence on Sranan can be found in its grammar, morphology and phonology. Next to its idioms and idiophones in addition to its culinary, botanical, zoological, anatomical, artifactual, musical and Winti lexicon. The influence of the Cariban language, Carib and Arawak can be found in Sranan's botanical, zoological, musical, culinary and Winti lexicon.
Remnants of Sranan's Portuguese-based period can still be traced in its lexical items of Portuguese origin and the Ancestral tradition of Odos. Odos Afro-Surinamese people proverbs, folklore and stories, passed down generationally during slavery through oral tradition in Sranan. These stories are still a part of Afro-Surinamese culture and identity, with many that can be traced back to specific regions in Central and West Africa where they originated.
Until the middle of the 20th century, most written texts in Sranan, seen at the time as a low-prestige language, used a spelling that was not standardised but based on Dutch orthography. In view of the considerable differences between the phonologies of Sranan and Dutch, this was not a satisfactory situation.
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Sranan Tongo
Sranan Tongo (Sranantongo, "Surinamese tongue", Sranan, Surinamese Creole) is an English-Dutch-based creole language from Suriname, in South America, where it is the first or second language for 519,600 Surinamese people (approximately 80% of the population). It is also spoken in the Netherlands, and across the Surinamese diaspora. It is considered both an unofficial national language and a lingua franca.
Sranan Tongo developed among Afro-Surinamese, enslaved Africans from Central and West Africa, especially along the Caribbean coastline, after contact with English planters and indentured workers from 1651–67. Its use expanded to the Dutch colonists, who took over the territory in 1667, and decided to maintain the local language as a lingua franca. Because the number of English colonists was massively reduced following the arrival of the Dutch, the later Dutch and African additions and influences to the language have made it distinct from other Afro-Caribbean creoles based on English. There are also influences from Spanish and Portuguese present in the language.
Sranan Tongo likely developed from an English-based pidgin, when English colonists in what was then part of the English colony of Guiana brought enslaved Africans for the plantations. The enslaved Africans, who were often from various tribes, did not have an African language in common and developed a pidgin to communicate. After the Dutch takeover in 1667, following the Treaty of Breda (1667) (in exchange for ceding the North American eastern seaboard colony of New Netherland to the English), a substantial overlay of words was adopted from the Dutch language, making it a secondary lexifier. There were also additions from Spanish and Portuguese—some of these dating from earlier Portuguese occupation of the colony, which preceded the arrival of the British.
The first enslaved Africans probably spoke Gbe or KiKongo languages as their native tongues, and were bilingual for some time. In the early 18th century (1720), large numbers of Akan people (65%) from the region then called the Gold Coast were also transported to plantations in Suriname. The addition of the Akan language into early Sranan Tongo, which had already undergone a process of creolisation at that time, further altered the language, causing relexification and giving the creole its own distinct form of Africanisms. As other ethnic groups, such as East Indians, Chinese and Javanese, were brought to Suriname as indentured workers, Sranan Tongo became a lingua franca.
Indigenous peoples in Suriname also intermarried with enslaved Africans, adding a significant amount of their cultural influence to Sranan and Afro-Surinamese culture.
Despite having a significant number of English-language words in its lexicon, the lack of contact with English speakers from the 17th century means Sranan Tongo is rarely mutually intelligible with modern English and is distinct from most other English-based creoles. Some of the African language influences of Sranan Tongo are Gbe (Fon, Ewe, Aja, Gun, Gen (Mina), Xwelak), KiKongo, and Akan (Twi and Fante). The African influence on Sranan can be found in its grammar, morphology and phonology. Next to its idioms and idiophones in addition to its culinary, botanical, zoological, anatomical, artifactual, musical and Winti lexicon. The influence of the Cariban language, Carib and Arawak can be found in Sranan's botanical, zoological, musical, culinary and Winti lexicon.
Remnants of Sranan's Portuguese-based period can still be traced in its lexical items of Portuguese origin and the Ancestral tradition of Odos. Odos Afro-Surinamese people proverbs, folklore and stories, passed down generationally during slavery through oral tradition in Sranan. These stories are still a part of Afro-Surinamese culture and identity, with many that can be traced back to specific regions in Central and West Africa where they originated.
Until the middle of the 20th century, most written texts in Sranan, seen at the time as a low-prestige language, used a spelling that was not standardised but based on Dutch orthography. In view of the considerable differences between the phonologies of Sranan and Dutch, this was not a satisfactory situation.