Macanese Portuguese

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Macau Portuguese
)
For the Portuguese-based creole, see Macanese Patois.
Macanese Portuguese
português macaense
Bilingual sign in Macau
Native speakers
6,200 in Macau (2014)[1]
Indo-European
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
GlottologNone
IETFpt-MO

Macanese Portuguese (

Portuguese creole
that developed in Macau during the Portuguese rule.

History

Macao Pidgin Portuguese
Native speakers
None
Portuguese–based pidgin
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologmaca1264

Macau had its first contact with the Portuguese language in 1557 when the territory was established as a trade center of Portugal to other parts of Asia. The language largely entered Macau in the 19th century when China ceded Macau to Portugal and Macau was declared a formal Portuguese province. At that time, it was made an official language along with Cantonese. Despite being a Portuguese colony for over four centuries, the Portuguese language was never widely spoken in Macau and remained limited to administration and higher education and was spoken primarily by the Portuguese colonists, Macanese people of mixed ancestry (many of whom instead once spoke Macanese Patois), and elites and middle-class people of pure Chinese blood. A Portuguese pidgin was used more widely. Currently, there is only one school in Macau where Portuguese is the medium of instruction, the Macau Portuguese School, and Portuguese is also mainly taught in government schools.

Macau was transferred sovereignty from Portugal to People's Republic of China in 1999, but Portuguese remained an official language. Although Portuguese use was in decline in Asia in the early 21st century after Macau was ceded to China in 1999, there has been an increase in the teaching of Portuguese, mostly due to East Timor's (closest Portuguese-speaking country to Macau) boost in the number of speakers in the last five years, but also the Chinese authorities' protection of Portuguese as an official language in Macau, owing to the growing trade links between China and

lusophone nations such as Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, and East Timor, with 5,000 students learning the language.[3]

Features

Phonology

The Macanese dialect was traditionally an Old Portuguese variety. However, nowadays, it closely follows the standard European dialect in pronunciation and vocabulary. The only Portuguese-medium school teaches the standard European dialect, as with most of the

African Portuguese
and most Brazilian speakers, and [ʒ] is devoiced to [ʃ], a trait almost unique to Macau. These phonological differences do not apply to Chinese who have higher education in Portuguese.

Lexicon

Vocabulary is the same as in Portugal, but there are some differences due to Cantonese influence. Macau Portuguese also

Japanese Christian refugees. These include tim sam, dim sum; goh lor goh low and ; shu tiu, si tiu
. It reached to countries and regions where Portuguese is spoken, especially Portugal where it was brought by Portuguese returnees and some Chinese and Macanese (who are loyal to them) who brought Chinese and Macanese culture. Vocabulary even went to Brazil through leaving Portuguese settlers with some Macanese and Chinese settlers.

See also

References

  1. ^ Portuguese (China-Macau) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Resultados globais dos Intercensos 2016" (in Portuguese). Macau: Direcção dos Serviços de Estatística e Censos. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  3. New York Times
    , October 21, 2004

External links

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