| Kannur Indo-Portuguese | |
|---|---|
| Native to | India |
| Region | Kannur |
Native speakers | 20 or more dispersed around India and the world) (2010)[1] |
Portuguese Creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
Kannur Indo-Portuguese is anIndo-Portuguese creole spoken on theMalabar coast of India. It formed from contact between thePortuguese andMalayalam languages in Indo-Portuguese households in the city ofKannur. In 2010 it was estimated to have five native speakers remaining.[1] But there are around twenty or more who are dispersed in India and other parts of the world. The latest reference points out 8 known speakers in 2012, who were already in their sixties.[2]
The Portuguese rule in Southern India was brief. The first major settlement in Kannur wasestablished in 1505, near a fort, as elsewhere in India. The direct Portuguese political andcultural influence ended in 1663 when the Dutch took the fort.[2] Finally,this location fell under British hands in 1792, which kept the power until the second halfof the 20th century.The creole-speaking community in Kannur has always been relatively small. According toBaldaeus (1703),[3] by the time of the Dutch conquest, the fort could accommodate about250 men and in the village there were about 70 Christian families, either Eurasian ornative. Moreover, in the 16th century, Malayalam was (and still is) the dominant languagein the region. Thus, the creole speakers are at least bilingual.[4]
Kannur and Sri Lanka creole share a similar historical background but differ in the substratelanguage, the community size, and the territorial size.
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