Forro Creole or Sãotomense ( cri, forro, santomense) is a
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
creole language
A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...
spoken in
São Tomé and Príncipe. It is also called by its native speakers as ''sãotomense'' creole or ''santomense'' creole.
It should not be confused with
São Tomean Portuguese
São Toméan Portuguese ( pt, português santomense or ) is a dialect of Portuguese spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe.
It contains many archaic features in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, similar to Angolan Portuguese. It was ...
, the non-creolised form of Portuguese spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe, also spoken by the majority of São Toméans.
History
São Tomé is an island of the Gulf of Guinea, discovered by the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
in the 15th century. It was uninhabited at the time, but Portuguese settlers used the island as a center of the
slave trade, and there was a need for slaves on the island. It has been theorised that since both parties needed to communicate, a
pidgin was formed. The
substrate languages
In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for "layer") or strate is a language that influences or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum or substrate is a language that has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum or sup ...
were from the
Bantu and
Kwa groups. It is believed that this pidgin then became fixed (
creolized) as it became the
mother language of children born from Portuguese men and African women slaves. Mixed marriages were then encouraged by the
Portuguese Crown
This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution.
Through the nea ...
, for the sake of settlement.
Later, because of
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
and
French pressure to gain the island, many Portuguese settlers left. Children of Portuguese and black women were, eventually, not considered African or slaves; some were considered full right
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
citizens. Those mixed-race people that did not have the status of Portuguese citizens, those with darker skin, often gained a "forro" designation, because their Portuguese fathers did not want to enslave their children. The São Tomean Creole is mostly known as "Forro", the language of the freed slaves or Crioulo Santomense, not to be confused with
São Tomean Portuguese
São Toméan Portuguese ( pt, português santomense or ) is a dialect of Portuguese spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe.
It contains many archaic features in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and syntax, similar to Angolan Portuguese. It was ...
(a variety and dialect of Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe). Portuguese is the main language for children until their early 20s, when they relearn Forro Creole. The rich São Tomean culture also preserves a unique mixture of Portuguese and African cultures.
Classification and related languages
Forro is a
creole language
A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...
with a majority of its lexicon coming from
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
, the
superstrate language. The
substrate languages were from the
Bantu and
Kwa groups. It is similar to two other creoles spoken in the country (
Principense Creole and
Angolar Creole
Angolar Creole ( aoa, n'golá) is a minority Portuguese-based creole language of São Tomé and Príncipe, spoken in the southernmost towns of São Tomé Island and sparsely along the coast, especially by Angolar people. It is also called ' ...
) as well as to the creole found in the island of Annobón, Equatorial Guinea (
Annobonese Creole
Annobonese Creole is a Portuguese creole known to its speakers as or ( pt, Fala de Ano-Bom). It is spoken on the Annobón and Bioko Islands off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, mostly by people of mixed African, Portuguese and Spanish desc ...
).
Geographic distribution
Forro Creole is spoken mainly in
São Tomé Island
São Tomé Island, at , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home in May 2018 to about 193,380 or 96% of the nation's population. The island is divided into six districts. It is located 2 km (1¼ miles) north of the equ ...
(most of it); there are some speakers in
Principe Island.
Due to their great similarity and historical derivation, Principe Island's
Principense Creole and
Equatorial Guinea's
Annobonese Creole
Annobonese Creole is a Portuguese creole known to its speakers as or ( pt, Fala de Ano-Bom). It is spoken on the Annobón and Bioko Islands off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, mostly by people of mixed African, Portuguese and Spanish desc ...
may be regarded as dialects of Forro Creole. Forro's lexical similarity is 77% with Principense Creole, 62% with Fa d’Ambu Creole and 70% with Angolar Creole.
Vocabulary
Although the São Tomean Creole had (and still has) a restricted contact with Portuguese (seen as a prestigious language), it did preserve a larger number of the substrate languages' elements, more than the creoles of Cape Verde. Roughly 93% of São Tomean Creole lexicon is from Portuguese and 7% of African origin. Most Forro Creole speakers also speak non-creolised Portuguese.
Although 95% of São Tomeans speak
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and it is the country's national language, Forro Creole is traditionally said to be spoken by 85% of the inhabitants of
São Tomé Island
São Tomé Island, at , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home in May 2018 to about 193,380 or 96% of the nation's population. The island is divided into six districts. It is located 2 km (1¼ miles) north of the equ ...
, or 81.7% of the country's population.
However, official census figures state that only 36.2% of the population can speak Forro Creole, and the creole is now considered threatened.
Writing system
Forro was and is largely an oral language; there is no standard
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...
.
Examples
:Hello: ''Seja lovadu!'' (proposed: ''sejalovadu''); From
Port.
:Good Morning: ''Bom dja ô'' (proposed: ''Bondja o''); From Port.
:Good Afternoon: ''Bos tadji ô'' (proposed: ''Boxtadji o''); From Port. or
:Good Evening: ''Boj notxi ô'' (proposed: ''Bojnotxi o''); From Port. or
:What's your name: ''Que nomi bo e?'' (proposed: ''Ke nomi bo e?''); possibly from Port. or
:My name's Pedro: ''Nomi mu sa Pedro''; possibly from Port. .
Not everything is from Portuguese:
:I live in Neves (São Tomean city): ''Nga-ta Tlaxa.'' (''-ta'' is from and ''tlaxa'' is from )
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
Declaraçón Universal di Dirêtu di HóméUniversal Declaration of Human Rights in Forro
APiCS Online - Survey chapter: Santome
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forro Creole
Languages of São Tomé and Príncipe
Portuguese-based pidgins and creoles
Portuguese diaspora in São Tomé and Príncipe
Portuguese language in Africa