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Saramaccan
Saamáka
Spoken in: Surinam
Total speakers: 26,000[1]
Language family: Creole language
 English Creole
  Saramaccan
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: crp
ISO 639-3: srm
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable Language that originates seemingly as a nativized Pidgin. An English-based creole language, or English creole for short is a Creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language. ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's

Saramaccan (autonym: Saamáka) is a creole language spoken by about 24,000 people near the Saramacca and upper Suriname Rivers in Suriname (formerly also known as Dutch Guyana), and 2,000 in French Guiana. A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable Language that originates seemingly as a nativized Pidgin. Saramacca River is a River in Suriname (estuary located at around) The Suriname River is 480 km long and flows through the country of Suriname. Suriname ( Dutch: Suriname; Sranan Tongo: Sranan) officially the Republic of Suriname (traditionally spelled Surinam by French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France The speakers are mostly descendants of fugitive slaves; they form a group called Saramacca, also spelled Saramaka. Saramaka, sometimes spelled Saramacca is the name of a group of Maroons (escaped African slaves who established small communities along the Suriname

Saramaccan is remarkable to linguists because of its unusual divergence from its source languages.

Contents

Origins

The Saramaccan lexicon is largely drawn from Portuguese, English, Dutch, and Sub-Saharan African languages, especially Kongo, Akan and Gbe. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname There are an estimated 2000 Languages spoken in Africa. About a hundred of these are widely used for inter-ethnic communication Kikongo or Kongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic See also Akan languages Akan is a language group spoken by related peoples in mainly Ghana and eastern Côte d'Ivoire. The Gbe languages (ɡ͡bè form a cluster of about twenty related Languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The African component accounts for about 5% of the total.

Saramaccan phonology has traits similar to languages of West Africa, and it even has developed tones, which are common in Africa. Phonology ( Greek φωνή (phōnē voice sound + λόγος (lógos word speech subject of discussion is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning Tone is the use of pitch in Language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is to distinguish or inflect words

Over half of Saramaccan's words are from English. It is generally agreed that Saramaccan's Portuguese influence is because the language's creators lived on plantations with Portuguese masters, and possibly slaves speaking a Portuguese creole that the masters had brought with them while migrating to Surinam from Brazil. Saramaccan's creators started with an early form of Sranan Tongo and transformed it into a new creole via this Portuguese influx, plus heavy influence from the grammars of Kongo and Gbe. Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken Kikongo or Kongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic The Gbe languages (ɡ͡bè form a cluster of about twenty related Languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria.

An earlier idea that Saramaccan was an offshoot of a Portuguese pidgin spoken by slaves who had learned it on the West African coast is no longer subscribed to by working creolists. See monogenetic theory of pidgins for more information. See also Creole language According to the theory of monogenesis in its most radical form all Pidgins and Creole languages of the world can be ultimately

Certain common words in Sranan Tongo, the most common creole spoken in Suriname, also derive from Portuguese words. Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue" Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole) is a Creole language spoken

Dialects

Saramaccan is divided into three main dialects. The Upper Suriname River dialect and the Lower Suriname River dialect are both spoken by members of the Saramaccan tribe, while the Matawari tribe have their own dialect. Saramaka, sometimes spelled Saramacca is the name of a group of Maroons (escaped African slaves who established small communities along the Suriname [2]

Phonology

Vowels

Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Each oral vowel also has a corresponding nasal vowel. A front vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward A back vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as A close vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in many spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as A close-mid vowel is a type of Vowel sound used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds The open-mid vowels make a class of Vowel sounds used in some spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned An open vowel is a Vowel sound of a type used in most spoken Languages The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as A nasal vowel is a Vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through Nose as well as the Mouth. There are also three vowel lengths: e. In Linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a Vowel sound g. is /bɛ/ "red" vs. /bɛ́ɛ/ "belly" vs. /bɛɛ́ɛ/ "bread". [3]

Consonants

Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Palatal Velar
plain Labial
Nasal m n ɲ
Plosive plain p b t d c ɟ k g k͡p g͡b
prenasalized mb nd ɲɟ ŋɡ
Fricative f v s z ç
Approximant l j w

/c ɟ ɲ ɲɟ/ are more specifically dorso-postalveolar, but the palatal fricative /ç/ is dorso-palatal. Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips ( bilabial articulation or with the lower lip and the upper teeth ( labiodental articulation In Linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a Consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth such as /t/ /d/ /n/ and Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior Alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth Labial-velar consonants are doubly articulated at the velum and the Lips They are sometimes called " Labiovelar consonants quot a term which can also A nasal consonant (also called nasal stop or nasal continuant) is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth allowing air to escape freely through the A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract. Prenasalized stops or consonants are phonetic sequences of nasal plus plosive that behave phonologically like single consonants Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together Approximants are speech sounds ( Phonemes) that could be regarded as intermediate between Vowels and typical Consonants In the articulation of approximants Dorsal consonants are articulated with the mid body of the Tongue (the dorsum Postalveolar consonants are Consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the back of the Alveolar ridge, placing them a bit further back in the Dorsal consonants are articulated with the mid body of the Tongue (the dorsum Palatal consonants are Consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the Hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth [3]

Tone

The language has two surface tones, high and low. Tone is the use of pitch in Language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is to distinguish or inflect words Stress in European words is replaced by high tone in Saramaccan. In Linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain Syllables in a word [3]

Lexicon

50% of the vocabulary of Saramaccan is derived from English, while 35% is derived from Portuguese. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. It is one of the few known creoles to derive a large percentage of its lexicon from more than one source — most creoles have one main lexifier language — and it is said to be both an English-based creole and a Portuguese-based creole. A lexifier is the Language that a particular Pidgin or Creole language derives the majority of its Vocabulary from An English-based creole language, or English creole for short is a Creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language. This article is about Portuguese-based Creole languages See Creole peoples for the Portuguese Creole ethnicity [4]

About 5% of Saramaccan's vocabulary is of African origin, the most of any creole in the Americas. There are an estimated 2000 Languages spoken in Africa. About a hundred of these are widely used for inter-ethnic communication The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America Source languages for these words include Kikongo, Gbe languages, and Twi. Kikongo or Kongo is the Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic The Gbe languages (ɡ͡bè form a cluster of about twenty related Languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. Twi (tɕʷi in Twi ˈtwiː /ˈtʃiː/ or /ˈtʃwiː/ in English specifically Ashanti Twi is a language spoken in Ghana by about 15 million people [4]

Examples

To English speakers not familiar with it, the English basis of this language is almost unrecognizable. These are some examples of Saramaccan sentences (taken from the SIL dictionary):

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

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

A suku di soni te wojo fëën ko bëë.
"He searched for it in vain. "

Mi puu tu dusu kölu bai ën.
"I paid two thousand guilders to buy it. "

Examples of words originally from Portuguese or a Portuguese creole are: mujee (mulher) "woman"; womi (homem) "man"; da (dar) "to give"; bunu (bom) "good"; kaba (acabar) "to end"; ku (com) "with"; kuma (como) "as"; faka (faca) "knife"; aki (aqui) "here"; ma (mas) "but"; kendi (quente) "hot"; liba (arriba) "above"; lio (rio) "river".

Notes

  1. ^ Ethnologue
  2. ^ Bakker, Smith and Veenstra (1994): p. 165
  3. ^ a b c Bakker, Smith and Veenstra (1994): p. 170
  4. ^ a b Bakker, Smith and Veenstra (1994): pp. 168–169.

References

External links

John Hamilton McWhorter V (1965-) is an American linguist and political commentator
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