Kristang language
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Papiá Kristang ("Christian language"), or just Kristang, is a creole language. It is spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry, chiefly in Malacca (Malaysia) and Singapore.

The language is also called Cristão or Cristan ("Christian"), Português de Malaca ("Malacca Portuguese"), or simply Papiá.

Distribution

The language still has about 5,000 speakers in Malacca and another 400 in Singapore. About 80% of the older Kristang in Malacca regularly speak it. There are also a few speakers in Kuala Lumpur due to migration.

Kristang is also spoken by some immigrants and their descendants in the United Kingdom, where some settled after independence, and also in Australia, in particular the city of Perth, which is a popular destination for retirees from this community.

In Pulau Tikus there were more speakers in 1997 than in 1987.

History of the language

The Kristang language originated after the conquest of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511 by the Portuguese. The community of speakers descends mainly from marriages between Portuguese settlers and local Malay women, as well as a certain number of migrants from Goa, themselves of mixed Indian and Portuguese ancestry.

Kristang had a substantial influence on Macanese, the creole language spoken in Macau, due to substantial migration from Malacca after its takeover by the Dutch.

Even after Portugal lost Malacca and almost all contact in 1641, the Kristang community largely preserved its language. The language is not taught at school, although there are still some Church services in Portuguese.

Language features

Its vocabulary is mostly from Portuguese. Examples are sekolah ("school") from escola, and meja ("table") from mesa.

Its grammatical structure is similar to that of the Malay language.

Because of its largely Portuguese vocabulary, and perhaps also as a result of migrations and cultural exchange along trade routes, Kristang has much in common with other Portuguese-based creoles, as well as with the extinct creoles of Indonesia and East Timor.

Grammar

To indicate verb tenses the following adpositions are used: ja (i.e. from the Portuguese já, meaning "already") for past tenses, ta (from the Portuguese está, which means "is") for present continuous tenses and logu for the future tense. These simplified forms correspond with their equivalents in Malay sudah, sedang, and akan, respectively.

Vocabulary

A peculiarity of the language is the pronoun yo (meaning "I") which is used in northern Portuguese dialects (pronounced as yeu) as well as Spanish and Italian/Sicilian.

The Kristang lexicon borrowed heavily from Portuguese, but often with drastic truncation; for example, Portuguese padrinho and madrinha ("godfather" and "godmother") became inyu and inya in Kristang.

Metathesis was common: for example, Portuguese gordo "fat" gave Kristang godro. The Portuguese diphthong oi (or ancient ou) was reduced to o, e.g. dois/dous "two" → dos, à noite/à noute "tonight" → anoti.

The Portuguese sound nh [ɲ] often became [n], e.g. pequenino "little" → kenino.

Many Portuguese words that began with ch, pronounced [ʃ] ("sh") in modern Portuguese, have the pronunciation [tʃ] ("ch" as in "cheese") in Kristang. So, for example, Portuguese chegar "to arrive" and chuva "rain" produced Kristang chegak and chu (pronounced with [tʃ]). This could have been due to Malay influence, or it could be that Kristang preserved the original pronunciation [tʃ] of Old Portuguese.

Writing system

Since Kristang was never taught officially in schools, it was largely an oral language. The first proposals for a standard orthography began in the 1950s, with the publication of Manuel Teixeira's A Grammar of Kristang.

The vowel e is usually pronounced [i] when followed by a syllable with /i/; so, for example, penitensia ("penitence") is pronounced as [pini'teɲsia].

In the 1990s, Joan Marbeck's book "Ungua Andanza" was published, with the orthography written in a Luso-Malay context.

Examples

Common phrases

Thank You: Mutu Merseh (Port. Muitas mercês)

How Are You?, Teng Bong? (From Port. Estás bom?)

Good Morning, Bong Pamiang (From Port. Boa Manhã)

Good Afternoon: Bong Midia (From Port. Bom Meio-dia)

Good Evening: Bong Atadi (From Port. Boa Tarde)

Good Night: Bong Anuti (From Port. Boa Noite)

Me: yo (From Port. eu)

You (singular): bos (From Port. vós)

You (plural): bolotudu (From Port. vós todos')

Mother: mai (From Port. mãe)

Father: pai (From Port. pai)

Wife: muleh (From Port. mulher)

Husband: maridu (From Port. marido)

Old Woman: bela (From Port. velha)

Old Man: belu (From Port. velho)

Little one: Quenino or Kenino (From Port. Pequenino)

Fat: godru (From Port. gordo)

Beautiful: Bonitu (From Port. bonito)

Party: festa (From Port. festa)

one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten: ungua, dos, tres, kuatu, singku, sez, seti, oitu, novi, des (From Port. um, dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, dez)

Poem of Malacca

Keng teng fortuna ficah na Malaka,

Nang kereh partih bai otru tera.

Pra ki tudu jenti teng amizadi,

Kontu partih logo ficah saudadi.

Ó Malaka, tera di San Francisku,

Nten otru tera ki yo kereh.

Ó Malaka undi teng sempri fresku,

Yo kereh ficah atih moreh.

Portuguese translation:

Quem tem fortuna fica em Malaca,

Não quer partir para outra terra.

Por aqui toda a gente tem amizade,

Quando partir logo fica a saudade.

Ó Malaca, terra de São Francisco,

Não há outra terra que eu quero.

Ó Malaca, onde tem sempre ar fresco,

Eu quero ficar até morrer.

English translation:

Who is lucky stays in Malacca,

Doesn't want to go to another land.

In here everyone has friendship,

When one leaves soon has saudade.

Oh Malacca, land of Saint Francis,

There is no other land that I want.

Oh Malacca, where there's always fresh air,

I want to stay here until I die.

References

See also

• Eurasians in Singapore

External links

• Cristão: Ethnologue report on Kristang.
• Papia, Relijang e Tradisang, The Portuguese Eurasians in Malaysia
• Malacca Portuguese Eurasian Association
• Malacca Portuguese Settlement
• Singapore Eurasian Association Kristang Page
• Joan Marbeck's homepage
• Jingkli Nona - a Kristang viewpoint
• The Theseira family
• The Shepherdson family
• The Peranakan Association Singapore
• The Eurasian Company of the Singapore Volunteer Corps
• Pasar Malam Besar festival in Holland
• Malaysian Eurasian food
• All Portuguese Language Meetup Groups
• The Singapore Portuguese Language Meetup Group
• Portuguese people speaking society
• Endangered Languages
• Speak Portuguese