Saramaccan () 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. Wh ...

spoken by about 58,000 ethnic African people near the Saramacca and the upper

Suriname River The Suriname River ( Dutch: ''Surinamerivier'') is 480 km long and flows through the country Suriname. Its sources are located in the Guiana Highlands on the border between the Wilhelmina Mountains and the Eilerts de Haan Mountains (where i ...

, as well as in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's ...

, capital of

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

(formerly also known as

Dutch Guiana Dutch Guiana may refer to: * Dutch colonisation of the Guianas, the coastal region between the Orinoco and Amazon rivers in South America * Surinam (Dutch colony), commonly called "Dutch Guiana" after the loss of other large colonies in the area ...

). The language also has 25,000 speakers in

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

and 8,000 in the Netherlands. It has three main dialects. The speakers are mostly descendants of fugitive slaves who were native to

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

and

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, E ...

; they form a group called Saamacca, also spelled

Saramaka The Saramaka, Saamaka or Saramacca are one of six Maroon peoples (formerly called "Bush Negroes") in the Republic of Suriname and one of the Maroon peoples in French Guiana. In 2007, the Saramaka won a ruling by the Inter-American Court for H ...

. Linguists consider Saramaccan notable because its vocabulary is based on two European source languages,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

(30%) and

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 ** Port ...

(20%), and various West and Central African languages (50%), but it diverges considerably from all of them. The African component accounts for about 50% once ritual use is taken into account, the highest percentage in the Americas. It is derived from

Niger–Congo languages Niger–Congo is a hypothetical language family spoken over the majority of sub-Saharan Africa. It unites the Mande languages, the Atlantic–Congo languages, Atlantic-Congo languages (which share a characteristic noun class system), and possibly ...

of West Africa, especially Fon and other

Gbe languages The Gbe languages (pronounced ) form a cluster of about twenty related languages stretching across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria. The total number of speakers of Gbe languages is between four and eight million. The most widel ...

, as well as

Akan Akan may refer to: People and languages *Akan people, an ethnic group in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire *Akan language Akan () is a Central Tano languages, Central Tano language and the principal native language of the Akan people of Ghana, spoken ...

and Central African languages such as

Kikongo Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from t ...

Origins

The language is derived from Plantation Creole which is nowadays known as

Sranan Tongo Sranan Tongo (also Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue," Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a ''lingua franca'' by approximately 550,000 people in Suriname. Developed originally amo ...

, but the branches diverged around 1690 and evolved separately. The Saramaccan lexicon is largely drawn from English, Portuguese, and, to a lesser extent,

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 ...

, among European languages, and Niger-Congo languages of West Africa, especially Fon and other

, and Central African languages, such as

KiKongo Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Angola. It is a tonal language. It was spoken by many of those who were taken from t ...

. The African component accounts for about 50% of the total. Saramaccan

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

has traits similar to languages of West Africa. It has developed the use of tones, which are common in Africa, rather than stress, which is typical of European languages. Over a fourth of words are from English. It is generally agreed that the Portuguese influence originated from enslaved peoples who lived on plantations with Portuguese masters and possibly with other slaves who spoke a Portuguese creole. The masters might have brought the latter in migrating to Suriname from

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Saramaccan originators began with an early form of

, an English-based creole, and transformed it into a new creole via the Portuguese influx, combined with influence from the grammars of Fongbe and other

Dialects

Saramaccan is divided into two main dialects. The Upper Suriname River dialect and the Lower Suriname River dialect are both spoken by members of the Saramaccan tribe. And by the Surinamese people who are living in the 12 English-speaking Caribbean nations of which 7 have a foreign relationship with the Republic of Suriname:

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wa ...

, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana,

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea ...

and

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

. And the other five that don't have a foreign relationship with the Republic of Suriname as yet:

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda (, ) is a sovereign country in the West Indies. It lies at the juncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles, at 17°N latitude. The country consists of two ...

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (), officially the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, is an island country and microstate consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain ...

and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...

Matawai

The

Matawai Matawai can refer to: * Matawai people, an ethnic group of Suriname *Matawai language Saramaccan () is a creole language spoken by about 58,000 ethnic African people near the Saramacca and the upper Suriname River, as well as in Paramaribo, cap ...

tribe has its own language which is related to the Saramaka language. The language is derived from Plantation Creole which is nowadays known as

, however the branches diverged around 1700, and evolved separately. Matawai is spoken in the villages in

Kwakoegron Kwakoegron (land of Kwakoe) is a town and resort in Suriname. It is located inland, due south of Paramaribo. According to the 2012 census it has a population of 263, and is mainly inhabited by Maroon (people), Maroons, of the Matawai people. The r ...

and

Boven Saramacca Boven Saramacca is a resort in Suriname, located in the Sipaliwini District. Its population at the 2012 census was 1,427. The dominant geographical feature of this resort is the Saramacca River. The resort is mainly inhabited by Maroons of the M ...

, however code switching with Sranan Tongo, other Maroon languages, and

is common. The language is considered endangered.

Phonology

Vowels

Each oral vowel also has a corresponding

nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the soft palate (or velum) so that the air flow escapes through the nose and the mouth simultaneously, as in the French vowel or Amoy []. By contrast, oral vowels are produced with ...

. There are also three vowel lengths: "red", "belly," "bread."

Consonants

are more specifically [ dorso-

postalveolar Postalveolar or post-alveolar consonants are consonants articulated with the tongue near or touching the ''back'' of the alveolar ridge. Articulation is farther back in the mouth than the alveolar consonants, which are at the ridge itself, but no ...

, but the palatal fricative is

dorso- palatal The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...

Tone

The language has two surface tones: high and low. Stress in European words is replaced by high tone in Saramaccan.

Orthography

Vowels

* a - Stress (linguistics)">Stress in European words is replaced by high tone in Saramaccan.

Orthography

Vowels

* a - [a* e - [e">">Stress (linguistics)">Stress in European words is replaced by high tone in Saramaccan.

Orthography

Vowels

* a - [a* e - [e* ë - [ɛ] * i - [i] * o - [o] * ö - [ɔ] * u - [u] Long vowels are doubled or tripled.

Consonants

* b - [b] * d - [d] * dj - [ɟ] * g - [g] * gb - [ɡ͡b] * h - [h] * j - [j] * k - [k] * kp - ͡p* l - * m - * mb - b* n - * nd - d* nj - �* p - * s - * t - * tj - � * v - * w -

Lexicon

Saramaccan's vocabulary is 30% derived from

, 20% from

. 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 A lexifier is the language that provides the basis for the majority of a pidgin or creole language's vocabulary ( lexicon). Often this language is also the dominant, or superstrate language, though this is not always the case, as can be seen in th ...

language). Also, it is said to be both an

English-based creole An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the ''lexifier'', meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the cre ...

and a

Portuguese-based creole Portuguese creoles are creole languages which have Portuguese as their substantial lexifier. The most widely-spoken creoles influenced by Portuguese are Cape Verdean Creole, Guinea-Bissau Creole and Papiamento. Origins Portuguese overseas ...

. About 50% of the vocabulary of Saramaccan is of African origin, the largest percentage of any creole in the Americas. Source languages for these words include

, and Twi.

Examples

To English-speakers who are not familiar with it, Saramaccan's English basis is almost unrecognizable. Here are some examples of Saramaccan sentences that are 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'' () "woman", ''womi'' () "man", ''da'' () "to give", ''bunu'' () "good", ''kaba'' () "to end", ''ku'' () "with", ''kuma'' (, cf. vernacular Brazilian for , "come again?") "as, like", ''faka'' () "knife", ''aki'' () "here", ''ma'' () "but", ''kendi'' () "hot", ''liba'' () "above", and ''lio'' () "river".

Literature

Saramaccan has a rich history of published works, including the following dictionaries: Christian Schumann's 1778, ''Saramaccanisch Deutsches Worter-Buch,'' Johannes Riemer's 1779 ''Wörterbuch zur Erlernung der Saramakka-Neger-Sprache,'' a copied and edited version of Schumann, Jan Voorhoeve and Antoon Donicie's 1963 wordlist, ''De Saramakaanse Woordenschat'', Antoon de Groot's, ''Woordregister Nederlands- Saramakaans met context en idioom'' (1977) and his ''Woordregister Saramakaans-Nederlands'' (1981), and Glock (ed) ''Holansi-Saamaka wöutubuku'' (Nederlands-Saramaccaans woordenboek) The ''Instituut voor Taalwetenschap'' has published tens of literacy books and collections of folktales written by Saramaccans and a complete translation of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. Two books written by Richard Price have now been published in Saamakatongo: ''Fesiten'' and ''Boo go a Kontukonde''.

Alison Hinds Alison Amanda Hinds (born 1 June 1970) is a British-born Bajan soca artist based in Barbados. She is one of the most popular soca singers in the world. Biography Alison Hinds was born in London on 1 June 1970 and grew up in Plaistow.Batey, A ...

based her up tempo soca song Faluma on the language. The Saramaccan orthography created by the

Summer Institute of Linguistics SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to e ...

is not in universal use. Linguist Vinije Haabo is developing a Saramaccan dictionary based on an improved orthography, which he intends to publish online.

References

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Saramaccan Vocabulary List
(from the World Loanword Database)
Survey article
(from the Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures)
SIL Saramaccan-English dictionaryCollected Saramaccan textsLoan words in SaramaccanVariety of published resources in and about Saramaccan language and culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saramaccan Language English-based pidgins and creoles Languages of Suriname Languages of French Guiana Tonal languages Portuguese-based pidgins and creoles Saramaka Languages of the African diaspora Portuguese language in the Americas