Ndyuka
Encyclopedia
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...
of Suriname
Suriname
Suriname , officially the Republic of Suriname , is a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Suriname was a former colony of the British and of the Dutch, and was previously known as...
, spoken by the Ndyuka people
Ndyuka people
The Ndyuka people, also known as Aukan people or Okanisi, are a Maroon ethnic group who live in the Eastern part of Suriname and speak the Ndyuka language...
. Most of the 25 to 30 thousand speakers live in the interior of the country, which is a part of the country covered with tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
s. Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
lists two related languages under the name Ndyuka.
Ndyuka is based on English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
vocabulary, with influence from African languages
African languages
There are over 2100 and by some counts over 3000 languages spoken natively in Africa in several major language families:*Afro-Asiatic spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahel...
in its grammar and sounds. For example, the difference between na "is" and ná "isn't" is tone
Tone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
; words can start with consonants such as mb and ng, and some speakers use the consonants kp
Voiceless labial-velar plosive
The voiceless labial–velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is a and pronounced simultaneously. To make this sound, say Coe, but close your lips as if you were saying Poe; release your lips at the same times as or a fraction of a second after you pronounce...
and gb
Voiced labial-velar plosive
The voiced labial–velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. It is a and pronounced simultaneously. To make this sound, say go, but close your lips as if you were saying Bo; release your lips at the same times as or a fraction of a second after you pronounce the...
. (For other Ndyuka speakers, these are pronounced kw and gw. For example, the word "to leave" is gwé or gbé, from English "go away".) There are also influences from 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...
and other languages.
Modern orthography differs from an older Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
-based orthography in substituting u for oe and y for j. The digraphs
Digraph (orthography)
A digraph or digram is a pair of characters used to write one phoneme or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond to the normal values of the two characters combined...
ty and dy are pronounced more or less like English ch and j. Tone is infrequently written, though it is required for words such as ná "isn't". The syllabic Afaka script
Afaka script
The Afaka script is a syllabary of 56 letters devised in 1910 for the Ndyuka language, an English-based creole of Surinam. The script is named after its inventor, Afáka Atumisi...
was devised for Ndyuka in 1908.
The Ndyuka language has three dialects, Ndyuka proper or Okanisi, Aluku
Aluku
The Aluku or Boni is the name of a Maroon ethnic group living mainly on the riverbank in Maripasoula, southwest French Guiana, and the eponymous term for their language, which has more than 5,000 speakers. They are mostly descended from former slaves from Suriname Paramaribo, who escaped and...
, and Paramaccan
Paramaccan
The Paramaccan are an ethnic group living in the forested interior of Suriname, mainly in the Marowijne District, and the eponymous term for their language, which has less than 1,000 speakers. The language is English-based with influences from Portuguese and other languages. It is similar to the...
, which are ethnically distinct. Kwinti
Kwinti
The Kwinti are an ethnic group living in the forested interior of Suriname on the bank of the Coppename River, and the eponymous term for their language, which has less than 1,000 speakers. The language is English-based with Portuguese and other influences. It is similar to the languages spoken by...
is distinct enough linguistically to be considered a separate language, though it too is sometimes included under the name Ndyuka.
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):The language bears some similarity to Twi
Twi
Asante, or Ashanti, is one of three literary dialects of the Akan language of southern Ghana, and the prestige dialect of that language. It is spoken in and around Kumasi, the capital of the former Ashanti Empire and current subnational Asante Kingdom within Ghana.Along with the Akuapem dialect,...
and, other Akan languages
Akan languages
The Central Tano or Akan languages are languages of the Kwa language family spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast by the Akan people*Akan language *Bia**North Bia***Anyin***Baoulé***Chakosi ***Sefwi **South Bia***Nzema...
, spoken by the Akan people
Akan people
The Akan people are an ethnic group found predominately in Ghana and The Ivory Coast. Akans are the majority in both of these countries and overall have a population of over 20 million people.The Akan speak Kwa languages-Origin and ethnogenesis:...
of Ghana.