Ndyuka language
Ndyuka | |
---|---|
Aukan | |
Paramaccan | |
Native speakers | 67,000 (2017–2019)[1] |
| |
Dialects | |
Afaka syllabary, Latin script | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | djk |
Glottolog | ndyu1242 |
Linguasphere | 52-ABB-ay (varieties: |
Ndyuka
Phonology
Ndyuka is based on
There are also influences from other languages. According to Creolization and Contact (2002), 46% of the words were from English, 16% from Dutch, 35% from Portuguese, and 3% from African languages.[3][a]
Orthography
Modern
Latin alphabet
- A - [a]
- B - [b]
- D - [d]
- E - [e]
- F - [f]
- G - [g]
- H - [h]
- I - [i]
- K - [k]
- L - [l]
- M - [m]
- N - [n]
- O - [o]
- P - [p]
- S - [s]
- T - [t]
- U - [u]
- W - [w]
- Y - [j]
- Z - [z]
Other letters
- dy - [d͡ʒ]
- ny - [ɲ]
- sy - [ʃ]
- ty - [t͡ʃ]
Long vowels are written with double vowels (e.g. aa [aː], ee [eː])
An acute accent is sometimes used for a high tone. (e.g. á)[4]
Dialects
The Ndyuka language has three dialects: proper Ndyuka (or Okanisi),
Kwinti is distinct enough linguistically to be considered a separate language, but it is sometimes included as well under the name Ndyuka.
Ndyuka was also a basis of the Ndyuka-Tiriyó Pidgin.
Example
Here is an example of Ndyuka text, and its translation into English (showing the similitarities as well as the lexical evolution), adapted from Languages of the Guianas (SIL Publications):
En so den be abaa na a líba, dísi wi kai Kawína Líba. Di den abaa de, den abaa teke gwe na opu fu Kawína. En so den be waka langa langa gwe te na Mama Ndyuka ede, pe wi kai Mama Ndyuka.
And so they crossed the river, which we call "Kawina [Commewijne] River". Having crossed it, they went way upstream along the Commewijne. Thus they travelled a long, long way, clear to the upper Tapanahony, the place we call "Mama Ndyuka".
The language bears some similarity to Twi and other Akan languages spoken by the Akan people of Ghana.[citation needed]
Encoding
The IETF language tags have registered:[6]
djk
as "Eastern Maroon Creole", "Businenge Tongo", "Nenge"djk-aluku
for theAluku languagedjk-ndyuka
for the Ndyuka languagedjk-pamaka
for theParamaccan language
kww
for the Kwinti language
See also
- Maroon (people)
- Afaka script
Notes
- ^ The usage of exact percentages which add up to 100%, give a false sense of accuracy, because English and Dutch are related Germanic languages making it impossible to determine the source. To make matters worse, complex words in all three European languages are corrupted Latin.
References
- ^ Ndyuka at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020)
- ^ Borges, Roger (2014). The Life of Languagedynamics of language contact in Suriname (PDF) (Thesis). Utrecht: Radboud University Nijmegen. p. 188.
- ^ ""Zonder het Nederlands waren we pas echt geïsoleerd"". Taalschrift (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Ndyuka language and alphabets". Omniglot. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Bettina Migge (September 2003). "Grammaire du nengee: Introduction aux langues aluku, ndyuka et pamaka". Research Gate (in French). Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "IETF Language Subtag Registry". IANA. 2021-08-06. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
Further reading
- Huttar, George L.; Huttar, Mary L. (1994). Ndyuka. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-05992-3.