Forro Creole () or Sãotomense () is a Portuguese-based

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

spoken in

São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...

. It should not be confused with São Tomean Portuguese, the non-creolised form of Portuguese spoken in São Tomé and Príncipe by the majority of São Toméans.

History

São Tomé is an island of the Gulf of Guinea, discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century. It was uninhabited at the time, but Portuguese settlers used the island as a center of the

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

trade, and there was a need for slaves on the island. It has been theorised that since both parties needed to communicate, a

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified form of contact language that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn f ...

was formed. The

substrate languages In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for 'layer') or strate is a historical layer of language that influences or is influenced by another language through contact. The notion of "strata" was first developed by the Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia A ...

were from the Bantu and Kwa groups. It is believed that this pidgin then became fixed ( creolized) as it became the

mother language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

of children born from Portuguese men and African women slaves. Mixed marriages were then encouraged by the

Portuguese Crown This is a list of Portuguese monarchs who ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Portugal, in 1139, to the deposition of the Portuguese monarchy and creation of the Portuguese Republic with the 5 October 1910 revolution. Through the n ...

, for the sake of settlement. Later, because of Dutch and French pressure to gain the island, many Portuguese settlers left. Children of Portuguese and black women were, eventually, not considered African or slaves; some were considered full right Portuguese citizens. Those mixed-race people that did not have the status of Portuguese citizens, those with darker skin, often gained a "forro" designation, because their Portuguese fathers did not want to enslave their children. The São Tomean Creole is mostly known as "Forro", the language of the freed slaves or Crioulo Santomense, not to be confused with São Tomean Portuguese (a variety and dialect of Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe). Portuguese is the main language for children until their early 20s, when they relearn Forro Creole. The rich São Tomean culture also preserves a unique mixture of Portuguese and African cultures. European Portuguese is mostly spoken in formal situations, in the media, business, education, judicial system and legislature, while Forro and Sao Tomean Portuguese are preferred for informal situations as a

vernacular language Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken form of language, particularly when perceived as having lower social status or less prestige than standard language, which is more codified, institutionally promoted, literary, or formal. More n ...

in day-to-day life and daily activities, and

code switching In linguistics, code-switching or language alternation occurs when a speaker alternates between two or more languages, or language varieties, in the context of a single conversation or situation. These alternations are generally intended to i ...

even occurs between Forro, standard European Portuguese, and São Tomean Portuguese in informal speech.

Classification and related languages

Forro is a

with a majority of its lexicon coming from Portuguese, the

superstrate In linguistics, a stratum (Latin for 'layer') or strate is a historical layer of language that influences or is influenced by another language through contact. The notion of "strata" was first developed by the Italian linguist Graziadio Isaia A ...

language. The

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...

languages were from the Bantu and Kwa groups. It is similar to two other creoles spoken in the country ( Principense Creole and

Angolar Creole Angolar Creole () is a Portuguese-based creole language of São Tomé and Príncipe, spoken in the southernmost towns of São Tomé Island and sparsely along the coast, especially by Angolar people. It is also called ''n'golá'' by its native ...

) as well as to the creole found in the island of Annobón, Equatorial Guinea (

Annobonese Creole Annobonese Creole is a Portuguese creole known to its speakers as or (, "Annobón speech"). It is spoken on the Annobón and Bioko Islands off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, mostly by people of mixed African, Portuguese and Spanish de ...

Geographic distribution

Forro Creole is spoken mainly in

São Tomé Island São Tomé Island, at , is the largest island of São Tomé and Príncipe and is home in May 2018 to about 193,380 or 96% of the nation's population. The island is divided into six districts of São Tomé and Príncipe, districts. It is located ...

(most of it); there are some speakers in Principe Island. Due to their great similarity and historical derivation, Principe Island's Principense Creole and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country on the west coast of Central Africa. It has an area of . Formerly the colony of Spanish Guinea, its post-independence name refers to its location both near the Equ ...

may be regarded as dialects of Forro Creole. Forro's lexical similarity is 77% with Principense Creole, 62% with Fa d’Ambu Creole and 70% with Angolar Creole.

Vocabulary

Although the São Tomean Creole had (and still has) a restricted contact with Portuguese (seen as a prestigious language), it did preserve a larger number of the substrate languages' elements, more than the creoles of Cape Verde. Roughly 93% of São Tomean Creole lexicon is from Portuguese and 7% of African origin. Most Forro Creole speakers also speak non-creolised Portuguese. Although 95% of São Tomeans speak Portuguese and it is the country's national language, Forro Creole is traditionally said to be spoken by 85% of the inhabitants of

, or 81.7% of the country's population. However, official census figures state that only 36.2% of the population can speak Forro Creole, and the creole is now considered threatened.

Writing system

Forro was and is largely an oral language; there is no standard

orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

Examples

:Hello: ''Seja lovadu!'' (proposed: ''sejalovadu''); From Port. :Good Morning: ''Bom dja ô'' (proposed: ''Bondja o''); From Port. :Good Afternoon: ''Bos tadji ô'' (proposed: ''Boxtadji o''); From Port. or :Good Evening: ''Boj notxi ô'' (proposed: ''Bojnotxi o''); From Port. or :What's your name: ''Que nomi bo e?'' (proposed: ''Ke nomi bo e?''); possibly from Port. or :My name's Pedro: ''Nomi mu sa Pedro''; possibly from Port. . Not everything is from Portuguese: :I live in Neves (São Tomean city): ''Nga-ta Tlaxa.'' (''-ta'' is from and ''tlaxa'' is from )

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Declaraçón Universal di Dirêtu di Hómé
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Forro
APiCS Online - Survey chapter: Santome
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forro Creole Languages of São Tomé and Príncipe Portuguese-based pidgins and creoles Portuguese diaspora in São Tomé and Príncipe Portuguese language in Africa