| Also Known As: Surinamese,Sranan Tongo,Surinaams,Taki-taki,Suriname Creole English,Sranan
Description:
Sranan (also Sranan Tongo "Surinamean tongue", Surinaams, Surinamese, Suriname Creole, Taki Taki) is a creole language spoken as a lingua franca by approximately 400,000 people in Suriname. It is the mother tongue of the Creoles. Sranan was previously called nengre or negerengels (Dutch, "negroenglish").
Since this language is shared between the Dutch-, Javanese-, Hindustani-, and Chinese-speaking communities, most Surinamese speak it as a lingua franca.
The Sranan Tongo words for 'to know' and 'small children' are sabi and pikin which is due to the Portuguese having been the first explorers of the West African coast, where they developed a pidgin language from which a few words became common coin in interactions with Africans by explorers who came afterward, including the English. However, research has established that Sranan is fundamentally an English-based language, with an overlay of words from Dutch, due to the Dutch takeover of Surinam in 1667.
Sranan Tongo's lexicon is thus a fusion of English, Dutch, Portuguese and Central and West African languages. It began as a pidgin spoken primarily by African slaves in Suriname who often did not have a common African language. Sranan..... full article at Wikipedia |
