Dutch-based creoles, pidgins, and contact vernaculars (map also includes Afrikaans, a daughter language of Dutch)

A Dutch creole is a creole language whose main lexifier is the Dutch language, a West Germanic language of the Low Countries. These creoles usually developed from Dutch-based pidgins or through language mixing where Dutch served as a major influence.

Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime trade network and naval power. Almost all of them are now extinct, while two known varieties are classified as "critically endangered" and nearing extinction. The extinction has generally been attributed to a wilful cultural and generational language shift towards standard Dutch or the majority language of the area with each successive generation.

Afrikaans is considered to be a daughter language of Dutch[1][2] and it, by contrast, is vibrant and has completely displaced Dutch in southern Africa, primarily South Africa and Namibia. Though not a majority-held position, it is considered by some linguists to be a creole because of its simplified grammar relative to Dutch.[3][4]

List

The following is a list of described Dutch creoles with their locale and status:

Creole Location Status
Berbice[5] Guyana extinct[6]
Skepi Guyana extinct[7]
Negerhollands[8] U.S. Virgin Islands extinct[8]
Petjo Indonesia, Netherlands (immigrant population) extinct or critically endangered
Javindo[9] Indonesia critically endangered[10]
Mohawk Dutch United States extinct
Jersey Dutch (Bergen Dutch) United States extinct

Dutch has also made a significant contribution to other creoles:

Despite its name, Pennsylvania Dutch is not descended from Dutch, but is a variety of West Central German.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Pithouse, K.; Mitchell, C; Moletsane, R. Making Connections: Self-Study & Social Action. p. 91.
  2. ^ Heese, J. A. (1971). Die herkoms van die Afrikaner, 1657–1867 [The origin of the Afrikaner] (in Afrikaans). Cape Town: A. A. Balkema. OCLC 1821706. OL 5361614M.
  3. ^ Deumert, Ana (2017-07-12). "Creole as necessity? Creole as choice?". Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas. Creole Language Library. 53. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company: 101–122. doi:10.1075/cll.53.05due. ISBN 978-90-272-5277-7. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  4. ^ Smith, J.J (1952). "Theories About the Origin of Afrikaans" (PDF). Hofmeyer Foundation Lectures, University of the Witwatersrand. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
  5. ^ Kouwenberg, Silvia (1994). A Grammar of Berbice Dutch Creole. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-013736-1.
  6. ^ "Berbice Dutch officially extinct". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. February 25, 2010. Archived from the original on August 7, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  7. ^ Buckley, James; Stremme, Robert (2003). Scholastic Book of Lists. Scholastic Reference.
  8. ^ a b van Rossem, C.; van der Voort, H. (1996). Die Creol Taal: 250 Years of Negerhollands Texts. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press – via Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren.
  9. ^ Willems, Wim (1994). Sporen van een Indisch verleden (1600–1942). Leiden: COMT. pp. 140–143. ISBN 90-71042-44-8.
  10. ^ UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
  11. ^ Buffington, Alfred F.; Preston A. Barba (1965) [1954]. A Pennsylvania German Grammar (Revised ed.). Allentown, PA, USA: Schlecter's. pp. 137–145.
Category