Papiamento

/pah'pyah men"taw/; Eng. /pah'pyeuh men"toh/, n.

a creolized language based on Spanish and spoken on Curaçao.

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▪ language

also spelled  Papiamentu,  

      creole language based on Spanish, spoken on the islands of Curaçao, Aruba, and Bonaire, in the Caribbean Sea. Papiamento is apparently based on a Spanish pidgin or creole language, with early influences from Portuguese and, more recently, strong Dutch influences (Dutch is the official language of Curaçao). Twenty-five percent of the vocabulary of Papiamento is of Dutch origin; the remainder is primarily from Spanish or Portuguese. Although Papiamento has no official status, it is widely used on Curaçao and is more often recognized as a “real” language than formerly. As is usual with pidgins and creoles, Papiamento's grammar and syntax have become changed and simplified from those of Spanish, the parent language. An example of a sentence in Papiamento is: E máma ta'a mand' e jú bái bende piská, Spanish La mamá mandaba al hijo que vaya a vender pescado, “The mother sent the boy to go and sell fish.”

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