Papiamento

Papiamento (pronˌpɑːpiəˈmɛntoʊ) or Papiamentu (ˌpɑːpiəˈmɛntuː; Papiaments) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Aruba and Curaçao. Papiamento is also a recognised language in the Dutch public bodies of Sint-Eustatius and Saba. The language, spelled Papiamento in Aruba and Papiamentu in Bonaire and Curaçao, is largely based on colonial-era Portuguese and Spanish (including Judaeo-Portuguese), and has been influenced considerably by Dutch and Venezuelan Spanish. Due to lexical similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of some words. Though there are different theories about its origins, most linguists now believe that Papiamento emerged from the Spanish and Portuguese creole languages that developed in the West African coasts, as it has many similarities with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole. There are various theories about the origin and development of the Papiamento language, and precise history has not been established. Its parent language is surely Iberian, but scholars disputed whether Papiamento was derived from Portuguese and its derived Portuguese-based creole languages or from Spanish. Historical constraints, core vocabulary, and grammatical features that Papiamento shares with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole are far less than those shared with Spanish, even though the Spanish and Dutch influences occurred later, from the 17th century onwards. Jacoba Bouschoute conducted a study on the various Dutch influences in Papiamento. An example of a such word is verfdó, which is a combination of a Dutch root verf (meaning "paint") and the Spanish suffix -dor (used for a person who performs an action, like "painter") The transformation from verver to verfdó involved shortening the -r to -dó due to a linguisitic process called apocopation.