The creole language of Papiamento is spoken on all the of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao). Creole languages are the result of the mixing of languages to create one hybrid language, a development that occurred frequently with the slave trade as cultural entanglement formed a linguistic entanglement simultaneously.  Papiamento, as a creole language, is the result of a process of linguistic hybridization between European, indigenous, and African languages. This linguistic mixture has a unique place in creole languages by having a distribution of vocabulary from multiple European languages, spoken also by the upper classes. Hybridization as a cultural concept can be found in the identity section of the website or by clicking here.

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Papiamento itself, “papia- mento signifies talk, conversation and is derived from palabramentum, pa- labra being the Spanish for word” (Gatschet, A.S., 1885, p.304). The language has been characterized as having a Portuguese-Spanish base sprinkled with words and phrases that find their roots in Dutch, one of the official languages of Aruba, the native language of the Caquetio Indians, and even some remnants of West African languages. While many scholars would say the language is rather portugues based, we include that of Spanish due to its very large distribution of words from Spanish. The distribution of influence is quite unique in that Portuguese is often found in grammar, Spanish and Dutch in vocabulary, and the native language in places and plants (B. Jacobs, Interview, Jan 10, 2018).  These reflects the hybridization of the language and the transcultural entanglements (colonial powers, West African, and indigenous influences) in the case of Aruba Papiamento.

 

However, these borrowed words and phrases are uniquely integrated into the language with different conjugations and different ways of pronunciation. While texts have been discovered even as early as the 18th century, there is still a present debate as to its birthplace and the exact linguistic foundation (Jacobs, B. & Van der Wahl, M. J., 2015). While the origin of the language is still in contention, Dr. Jacobs does share his theory of the language originating on the Cape Verde Islands. His reasons, given in the following video, outlines the unique structure of the language as having base in Spanish and Portuguese rather than the usual development of a creole language as having a base in the colonial language, such as Haitian creole. The similarity to the language of the Cape Verde islands also leads him to this conclusion.

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For an overall understanding of the development of the language, it is necessary to provide examples with the roots of the word in the language that the word is borrowed from then the word as it is in Papiamento in text and in audio to be able to compare and contrast how the development of the language has proceeded from the roots to the current state of Papiamento. A longer text with a translation will show sentence structure as well as the complex result of a history of interactions (for further information about historical context click here), beginning from the diaspora that brought many to the island, colonial rule, migration and proximity to South America.

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