São Nicolau Creole is the variant of
Cape Verdean Creole spoken mainly in the
São Nicolau Island
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...
of
Cape Verde
, national_anthem = ()
, official_languages = Portuguese
, national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole
, capital = Praia
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, demonym ...
. It belongs to the
Barlavento Creoles
Cape Verdean Creole is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken on the islands of Cape Verde. It is also called or by its native speakers. It is the native creole language of virtually all Cape Verdeans and is used as a second language by th ...
branch. Literature is rarely recorded but the form of the Capeverdean Creole has been recorded in music.
Characteristics
Besides the main characteristics of
Barlavento Creoles
Cape Verdean Creole is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken on the islands of Cape Verde. It is also called or by its native speakers. It is the native creole language of virtually all Cape Verdeans and is used as a second language by th ...
the São Nicolau Creole has also the following ones:
* The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting ''tâ tâ'' before the verbs: ''tâ'' + ''tâ'' + V.
* In the verbs that end by ''~a'', that sound is represented by when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.: ''panhó-m’'' instead of ''panhâ-m’'' “to catch me”, ''levó-m’'' instead of ''levâ-m’'' “to take me”, ''coçó-m’'' instead of ''coçâ-m’'' “to scratch me”.
* The sounds and are pronounced by some speakers as and when they are before palatal vowels. Ex.: ''f’djêra'' instead of ''f’guêra'' “fig tree”, ''patchê'' instead of ''paquê'' “because”, ''Pr’djíça'' instead of ''Pr’guiíça'' “
Preguiça” (place name), ''tchím'' instead of ''quêm'' “who”.
* The sound (that originates from old Portuguese, written ''j'' in the beginning of words) is partially represented by . Ex. ''jantâ'' instead of ''djantâ'' “to dine”, ''jôg’'' instead of ''djôgu'' “game”, but in words like ''djâ'' “already”, ''Djõ'' “John” the sound remains.
* The unstressed final vowel does not disappear when it follows the sounds or . Ex.: ''tabácu'' instead of ''tabóc’'' “tobacco”, ''frángu'' instead of ''fróng’'' “chicken”.
Vocabulary
Grammar
Phonology
Alphabet
References
Further reading
* ''A Parábola do Filho Pródigo'' no crioulo de Santiago, do Fogo, da Brava, de Santo Antão, de S. Nicolau e da Boa Vista: O crioulo de Cabo Verde (Botelho da Costa, Joaquim Vieira & Custódio José Duarte, 1886)
* ''O crioulo da ilha de S. Nicolau de Cabo Verde'' (Cardoso, Eduardo Augusto, 1989)
External links
Typical figures of São Nicolau- texts in Portuguese with the terms of glossary in São Nicolau Creole
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sao Nicolau Creole
São Nicolau, Cape Verde