Negerhollands
Encyclopedia
Negerhollands is a Dutch-based creole language
that was once spoken in the Danish West Indies
, now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands. Dutch
is its superstrate language with Danish
, English
, French
, Spanish
, and African
elements incorporated. Notwithstanding its name, Negerhollands draws primarily from the Zeelandic
rather than the Hollandic
dialect.
, Saint Croix
, and especially Saint Thomas
. According to one of the most prevalent theories about its origin, slaves took the embryonic creole language to the island of Saint Thomas when they accompanied the Dutch planters who fled the island of Saint Eustatius after it had been raided by the English in 1666. A census on Saint Thomas from 1688 indeed shows that of the 317 European households on Saint Thomas, 66 were Dutch, 32 were English, and 20 were Danish. This also helps explain the considerably influence English and Danish had on the development of Negerhollands. On Saint John a similar observation can be made, with a 1721 census establishing that 25 of the 39 planters there were Dutchmen, and only 9 were Danes. Another theory is that the language was taken to the Caribbean by slaves from the Dutch slave forts in West Africa (e.g. the Dutch Gold Coast
or Senegambia
).
From 1732 onwards, Moravian missionaries began visiting the Virgin Islands, who introduced an acrolectal version of the language, called Hoch Kreol. From 1765 till 1834, many texts were produced in this language, which gives Negerhollands an almost unparalleled amount of source texts among creole languages. In 1770, Moravian missionaries printed a primer and a small Lutheran catechism, followed in 1781 by a translation of the New Testament into Hoch Kreol.
The language began to decline in the early 19th century as English became the dominant language of the islands. The service in the Lutheran church was held in Hoch Kreol for the native congregation until the 1830s. As younger generations learned English as a native language, use of Hoch Kreol, whose use became limited to church services, was slowly abandoned. Probably the last native speaker, Mrs. Alice Stevenson, died in 1987.
There was a continued use of Negerhollands by the Moravian Orphanage at Nyherrenhut near Tutu well into the Twentieth Century. As older former orphans were volunteers the old Creole dialect persisted around the orphanage with the encouragement of the elders of the denomination. There was a TV special on WBNB in the 1970s which had some former orphans who were by that time quite old.
Dutch-based creole languages
A Dutch creole is a creole language that has been substantially influenced by the Dutch language.Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime power...
that was once spoken in the Danish West Indies
Danish West Indies
The Danish West Indies or "Danish Antilles", were a colony of Denmark-Norway and later Denmark in the Caribbean. They were sold to the United States in 1916 in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies and became the United States Virgin Islands in 1917...
, now known as the U.S. Virgin Islands. 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...
is its superstrate language with Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
, 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...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, and African
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...
elements incorporated. Notwithstanding its name, Negerhollands draws primarily from the Zeelandic
Zeelandic
Zeelandic is a regional language spoken in the Dutch province of Zeeland and on the South Holland island of Goeree-Overflakkee...
rather than the Hollandic
Hollandic
Hollandic or Hollandish is, together with Brabantian, the most frequently used dialect of the Dutch language. Other important Low Franconian language varieties spoken in the same area are Zeelandic, East Flemish, West Flemish and Limburgish....
dialect.
History
Negerhollands emerged around 1700 on the Virgin Islands Saint JohnSaint John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint John is an island in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. St...
, Saint Croix
Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...
, and especially Saint Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
. According to one of the most prevalent theories about its origin, slaves took the embryonic creole language to the island of Saint Thomas when they accompanied the Dutch planters who fled the island of Saint Eustatius after it had been raided by the English in 1666. A census on Saint Thomas from 1688 indeed shows that of the 317 European households on Saint Thomas, 66 were Dutch, 32 were English, and 20 were Danish. This also helps explain the considerably influence English and Danish had on the development of Negerhollands. On Saint John a similar observation can be made, with a 1721 census establishing that 25 of the 39 planters there were Dutchmen, and only 9 were Danes. Another theory is that the language was taken to the Caribbean by slaves from the Dutch slave forts in West Africa (e.g. the Dutch Gold Coast
Dutch Gold Coast
The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea was a portion of coastal West Africa that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1598...
or Senegambia
Senegambia (Dutch West India Company)
Senegambia was the collective noun for the fortifications and trading posts owned by the Dutch West India Company in the area that nowadays is called Senegal. The main purpose of these trading posts was to obtain slaves in order to ship them to America . The government of the territory was based...
).
From 1732 onwards, Moravian missionaries began visiting the Virgin Islands, who introduced an acrolectal version of the language, called Hoch Kreol. From 1765 till 1834, many texts were produced in this language, which gives Negerhollands an almost unparalleled amount of source texts among creole languages. In 1770, Moravian missionaries printed a primer and a small Lutheran catechism, followed in 1781 by a translation of the New Testament into Hoch Kreol.
The language began to decline in the early 19th century as English became the dominant language of the islands. The service in the Lutheran church was held in Hoch Kreol for the native congregation until the 1830s. As younger generations learned English as a native language, use of Hoch Kreol, whose use became limited to church services, was slowly abandoned. Probably the last native speaker, Mrs. Alice Stevenson, died in 1987.
There was a continued use of Negerhollands by the Moravian Orphanage at Nyherrenhut near Tutu well into the Twentieth Century. As older former orphans were volunteers the old Creole dialect persisted around the orphanage with the encouragement of the elders of the denomination. There was a TV special on WBNB in the 1970s which had some former orphans who were by that time quite old.