Korlai Indo-Portuguese is the language of some 1,000 Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s in an isolated area around the village of Korlai in Raigad District

Raigad district

Raigad District , also known as Raigarh District, is a district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Konkan region. The district was renamed after Raigad, the fort which was the former capital of the Maratha leader Shivaji, and is located in the interior regions of the district,...

 of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 state, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. More commonly, the language is known as Korlai Creole Portuguese, Korlai Portuguese, or No Ling ("our language" in the language itself).

It is a creole language

Creole language

A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...

 based on Portuguese

Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...

.

Distribution and number of speakers

What is known about the history and the grammar of No Ling can be found in the 1996 book The Genesis of a Language: Formation and Development of Korlai Portuguese written by J. Clancy Clements. The village lies on the mouth of Kundalika River, across from the ruins of a large Portuguese fort, which is located in Revdanda

Revdanda

Revdanda is a village near Alibag, India. It is 17 km away from Alibag and 125 km away from Mumbai.-Directions:Till a few years ago the coastal road that goes south from Alibag used to terminate at Revdanda where it encountered the Kundalika creek. A bridge now spans the creek and the...

. No Ling has certain similarities with Papiá Kristang

Kristang language

Papiá Kristang , or just Kristang, is a creole language. It is spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and Asian ancestry, chiefly in Malacca and Singapore....

, spoken in the Malaysian town of Malacca

Malacca

Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

. Until the 20th century, Korlai, its Christian inhabitants, and its language were relatively isolated from the Marathi-speaking Hindus and Muslims surrounding them. Since 1986, there is a bridge across the Kundalika River

Kundalika River

The Kundalika is a small river flowing from the Hills of Sahyadri to the Arabian Sea. This river originates at a small town called Bhira in the Indian State of Maharashtra, 150 km south east of Bombay...

, because of which industry has now moved into the area.

While many natives often wrongly feel that the Korlai inhabitants are "East Indians", it is not at all true. The Korlai offspring is in reality, a progeny of the Portuguese soldiers who married the natives, as well as a small sprinkling of Goan women who married the Portuguese. Their customs and traditions, indicate the same, although the attire (which they would have adopted later) is more indicative of the larger fact of mingling easily with the local population. So, basically Korlai Korlai Christians are NOT and should not be confused with East Indians of Mumbai / Bassein (Vasai).

Examples of No Ling

Thanks a lot: Muit'obrigad! From Port. Muito Obrigado

I: yo; From Port. eu

You (singular): wo; From Port. vós

You (formal): usé; From Port. você

He and She: el; From Port. ele (he) and ela (she)

We: no; From Port. nós

You (plural): udzó; From Port. vós outros

They: eló; from Port. eles outros

Numerals: ũ, doy, tre, kwat, sink, sey, set, oyt, nob, dey; From Port. um, dois, três, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, dez

First, Second: Primer, Sigun; From Port. Primeiro, Segundo

How are you?: Use, kile te?

All are eating and drinking their fill: tud gent cumen beben tem fart; From Port. toda a gente come e bebe com fartura

Song of Korlai:

Maldita Maria Madulena,

Maldita firmosa,

Ai, contra ma ja foi a Madulena,

Vastida de mata!

Portuguese translation:

Maldita Maria Madalena,

Maldita Formosa,

Ai, contra minha vontade foi a Madalena,

Vestida de mata!

English translation:

Cursed Maria Madalena,

Cursed Beautiful one,

Oh, against my will it was Madalena,

Dressed in leaves and branches!