Korlai Portuguese is an Indo-Portuguese creole based on the

Portuguese language Portuguese ( or ) is a Western Romance language of the Indo-European language family originating from the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the official language of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tom� ...

, spoken by approximately 1,000 inhabitants of the Korlai village at the Korlai fort, a former possession of the Portuguese in Goa and Bombay. Their speech is referred to as Korlai creole, Korlai Portuguese, Kristi or ''Nɔw-ling'' by the speakers themselves, which translates to "our language" in the creole. The speakers are a part of a very close-knit community, and refer to themselves as the ''Kristi'' community bound by their affiliation to the

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct Religion, religious body within Christianity that comprises all Church (congregation), church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadersh ...

, of

Roman Catholicism in India The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope. There are over 23 million Catholics in India, Korlai is situated in the Raigad district (

Colaba district Raigad district (), previously Colaba district, is a district in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The headquarters of the district is Alibag. Other major cities in the district are Panvel, Karjat, Navi Mumbai, Khopoli, Shrivardhan a ...

) of the

Konkan division Konkan division is one of the six administrative divisions of Maharashtra state in India. It comprises the central portions of the Konkani region, excluding Goa and Damaon, which were absorbed into Maharashtra owing to the States Reorganisat ...

named after the Colaba fort, 150 kilometers south of

Mumbai (Bombay) Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12.5 ...

, in

Maharashtra, India Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to the so ...

. The speakers are of a homogenous Roman Catholic pocket in an area otherwise dominated by Konkani Muslim and Hindu Marathi-Konkani speaking inhabitants.

Development of Korlai Creole Portuguese

The development of the language can be traced back to the 1500s with the conception of the new element of society, the native Indian Catholics and Eurasian offspring. The existing caste system within India had a great influence on the creation of KCP (Korlai Creole Portuguese). The Eurasian offspring and the Indian-Eurasian offspring were isolated from the pure-blood Portuguese and other castes. This isolation led them to intermarry and children began learning the pidgin their parents spoke. The Korlai creole emerged among the slaves and their offspring who converted to Christianity and became a part of the Portuguese community while still adhering to existing caste distinctions. The social isolation this community faced contributed to the maintenance and growth of Korlai creole. In today's context, the Kristi community is geographically separated from the rest as the community lives in the 'varcha bhag' pper Korlai The community also differs from the rest of the area occupationally. Korlai Creole Portuguese speakers are agriculturists whereas the other dominant occupation is of fishers from the

Koli Koli may refer to: People * Koli people, Indian caste group * Koli Christians, a Christian subgroup * Muslim Kolis, Muslim community * Koli (surname), Indian surname * Koli Sewabu (born 1975), Fijian rugby union footballer Places * Koli, Fin ...

, Mali, Agari and a few Maratha communities. Apart from the geographical and occupational differences, the Kristi community differentiates itself linguistically, by the use of 'nɔ ling', an important marker of their identity. However, with the changing times and better connectivity between Korlai and the rest of the world, the language evolving. The newer generation prefers the use of Marathi as it is dominant language of the state and the insistence of the Church in order to create unison. This is causing a huge influence of Marathi on the language and its development.

Socio-historical Background

Chaul was an important trade city near Korlai and was first visited by the Portuguese in 1505. This area was previously under the Muslim rule from 1318. The Portuguese and the Muslim ruler maintained a friendly relation, however, the relation soon experienced tension and a war broke out. During this time 600 ''casados'', i.e. Portuguese men married the native women who were living outside the Chaul fort along with a large number of Hindu and Muslim shopkeepers. In 1594, the Portuguese took over the fort along with Korlai in the valley of the ''marro'' (hill). By 1630, a small Christian community grew when the church, ''Nossa Senhora do Mar'' 'Our Lady of the Sea' was built on the hill. The slaves and the offspring of the ''casados'' ortuguese menand ''soldadas'' oldierswere mainly Christian converts. The Portuguese abandoned Chaul and the hill to move to Goa in 1740. After the departure of the Portuguese, many Christians moved to other Portuguese territories while the Christians of the lower-castes moved closer to the church as the

Marathas The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...

took control of the region.

Features of Korlai Creole Portuguese

Korlai Portuguese vowels are similar to the Middle Portuguese, which was spoken by Portuguese soldiers that came to the region. The sole difference being the point of articulation of the central vowel. Both Marathi and Korlai Creole Portuguese had a decline in nasal vowels and this process of denasalisation is connected for both languages. In the younger generation, Korlai Creole Portuguese also shows an increase in the borrowing of Marathi

lexical Lexical may refer to: Linguistics * Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language * Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification * Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge * Lexical ...

items. Clements indicated that the language had

SVO word order SVO may refer to: * Association football clubs in Germany: ** SVO Germaringen ** SV Oberachern * Silver vanadium oxide battery (SVO battery) * San Jose Chamber of Commerce, a chamber of commerce in San Jose, California, United States, known as th ...

but recent data shows the language now utilizes a

SOV word order SOV may refer to: * SOV, a former ticker symbol for Sovereign Bank * SOV, a legal cryptocurrency created by the Sovereign Currency Act of 2018 of the Republic of the Marshall Islands * SOV, the National Rail station code for Southend Victoria rail ...

, which could be attributed to increased influence of Marathi.

Examples of Nɔ ''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 até fartar'' Song of Korlai: Portuguese translation: English translation:

References

{{Portuguese Creoles Languages of India Portuguese-based pidgins and creoles Luso-Indian Portuguese language in Asia