The creole has particular importance forcreolistics studies since it is the oldest living creole.[5] It is the most widely spoken Portuguese-based creole language.
The full formal name of this creole is Cape Verdean Creole (crioulo cabo-verdiano in Portuguese,kriolu kabuverdianu / kriol’ kab’verdian’ in Cape Verdean Creole), but in everyday usage the creole is simply called ‘Creole’ (crioulo in Portuguese,kriolu / kriol’ in Cape Verdean Creole) by its speakers. The names Cape Verdean (cabo-verdiano in Portuguese,kabuverdianu / kab’verdian’ in Cape Verdean Creole) and Cape Verdean language (língua cabo-verdiana in Portuguese,língua kabuverdianu / língua kab’verdian’ in Cape Verdean Creole) have been proposed for whenever the creole will be standardized.[citation needed]
Mornas – cantigas crioulas by Eugénio Tavares, one of the first books with creole texts.
The history of Cape Verdean Creole is hard to trace due to a lack of written documentation and to ostracism during the Portuguese administration of Cape Verde.
There are presently three theories about the formation of Cape Verdean Creole.[6] Themonogenetic theory claims that the creole was formed by the Portuguese by simplifying the Portuguese language in order to make it accessible to enslaved African people. That is the point of view of authors like Prudent, Waldman, Chaudenson and Lopes da Silva. Authors like Adam and Quint argue that Cape Verdean Creole was formed by enslaved African people using the grammar of Western African languages and replacing the African lexicon with the Portuguese one. Linguists likeChomsky andBickerton argue that Cape Verdean Creole was formed spontaneously, not by enslaved people from continental Africa, but by the population born in the islands, usinguniversal grammar.
According to A. Carreira,[7] Cape Verdean Creole was formed from a Portuguesepidgin, on the island of Santiago, starting from the 15th century. That pidgin was then transported to the west coast of Africa by thelançados. From there, that pidgin diverged into two proto-creoles, one that was the base of Cape Verdean Creole, and another that was the base of theGuinea-Bissau Creole.
Cross-referencing information regarding the settlement of each island with the linguistic comparisons, it is possible to form some conjectures. The spreading of Cape Verdean Creole within the islands was done in three phases:[8]
In a first phase, the island of Santiago was occupied (2nd half of the 15th century), followed by Fogo (end of the 16th century).
In a second phase, the island of São Nicolau was occupied (mostly in the 2nd half of the 17th century), followed by Santo Antão (mostly in the 2nd half of the 17th century).
In a third phase, the remaining islands were occupied by settlers from the first islands: Brava was occupied by people from Fogo (mostly in the beginning of the 18th century), Boa Vista by people from São Nicolau and Santiago (mostly in the 1st half of the 18th century), Maio by people from Santiago and Boa Vista (mostly in the 2nd half of the 18th century), São Vicente by people from Santo Antão and São Nicolau (mostly in the 19th century), Sal by people from São Nicolau and Boa Vista (mostly in the 19th century).
In spite of Creole being thefirst language of nearly all the population in Cape Verde,Portuguese is still theofficial language. As Portuguese is used in everyday life (at school, in administration, in official acts, in relations with foreign countries, etc.), Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole live in a state ofdiglossia,[9] and code switching occurs between the creole and standard Portuguese in informal speech. Due to this overall presence of Portuguese, adecreolization process occurs for all the different Cape Verdean Creole variants.
Check in this fictional text:
Santiago variant:
Quêl mudjêr cú quêm m' encôntra ónti stába priocupáda púrqui êl sqêci dí sês minínus nâ scóla, í cándu êl bâi procurâ-'s êl câ olhâ-'s. Alguêm lembrâ-'l quí sês minínus sâ tâ pricisába dí material pâ úm pesquisa, entõ êl bâi encontrâ-'s nâ biblioteca tâ procúra úqui ês cría. Pâ gradêci â túdu quêm djudâ-'l, êl cumêça tâ fála, tâ flâ cômu êl stába contênti di fúndu di curaçãu.
São Vicente variant:
Quêl m'djêr c' quêm m' encontrá ônt' táva priocupáda púrq' êl sq'cê d' sês m'nín's nâ scóla, í cónd' êl bái procurá-'s êl câ olhá-'s. Alguêm lembrá-'l qu' sês m'nín's táva tâ pr'cisá d' material pâ úm pesquisa, entõ êl bâi encontrá-'s nâ biblioteca tâ procurá úq' ês cría. Pâ gradecê â túd' quêm j'dá-'l, êl c'meçá tâ fála, tâ dzê côm' êl táva contênt' d' fúnd' d' curaçãu.
Translation to Portuguese:
Aquela mulher com quem eu encontrei-me ontem estava preocupada porque ela esqueceu-se das suas crianças na escola, e quando ela foi procurá-las ela não as viu. Alguém lembrou-lhe que as suas crianças estavam a precisar de material para uma pesquisa, então ela foi encontrá-las na biblioteca a procurar o que elas queriam. Para agradecer a todos os que ajudaram-na, ela começou a falar, dizendo como ela estava contente do fundo do coração.
Translation to English:
That woman with whom I met yesterday was worried because she forgot her children at school, and when she went to seek them she didn't see them. Someone reminded her that her children were needing some material for a research, and so she found them at the library searching what they needed. To thank to everyone who helped her, she started speaking, telling how she was glad from the bottom of her heart.
In this text, several cases of decreolization / Portuguese intromission can be noted:
cú quêm /c' quêm – Portuguese order of wordscom quem;
encôntra /encontrá – Portuguese lexicon, in Creole it would be more commonlyátcha /otchá;
priocupáda – Portuguese lexicon, in Creole it would be more commonlyfadigáda;
púrqui /púrq' – Portuguese lexicon, in Creole it would be more commonlypamódi /pamód';
sês minínus /sês m'nín's – Portuguese influence (plural marker on both words);
procurâ-'s /procurá-'s – Portuguese lexicon, in Creole it would be more commonlyspiâ-'s /spiá-'s;
olhâ-'s /olhá-'s – Portuguese phonetics (intromission of the phoneme/ʎ/);
quí /qu’ – Portuguese lexicon, the integrant conjunction in Creole is’mâ;
sâ tâ pricisába /táva ta pr'cisá – Portuguese lexicon, in Creole it would be more commonlysâ tâ mestêba /táva tâ mestê;
material,pesquisa,biblioteca – words pretty uncommon in a basilect; if they are Portuguese words used when speaking Creole they should be pronounced in Portuguese and written in italic or between quotation marks;
úqui /úq' – intromission of Portugueseo que;
gradêci â /gradecê â – wrong preposition, the Portuguese preposition "a" does not exist in Creole;
fála – this form (from contemporary Portuguesefalar) is only used in São Vicente and Santo Antão, in the other islands the word ispapiâ (from old Portuguesepapear);
cômu /côm' – intromission of Portuguesecomo;
curaçãu – Portuguese phonetics (reduction of the phoneme/o/ to/u/ and Portuguese pronunciation/ɐ̃w/ instead of Creole/õ/);
As a consequence there is a continuum betweenbasilectal andacrolectal varieties.
In spite of Creole not being officialized, a 2005 government resolution[10] put forth the necessary conditions for the officialization of Creole, which in turn has been superseded by a 2015 resolution.[11] Thisofficialization has not yet occurred, mostly because the language is not yetstandardized, for several reasons:
There is significant dialectal fragmentation. Speakers are reluctant to speak a variant that is not their own.
Absence of rules to establish which is the right form (and also the right spelling) to be adopted for each word. For example, for the word corresponding to the Portuguese wordalgibeira ("pocket"), A. Fernandes[12] records the formsalgibêra,agibêra,albigêra,aljubêra,alj'bêra,gilbêra,julbêra,lijbêra.
Absence of rules to establish which are the lexical limits to be adopted. It is frequent for speakers of Creole, when writing, to join different grammatical classes.[13] For ex.:pâm... instead ofpâ m'... "for me to...".
Absence of rules to establish which are the grammatical structures to be adopted. It is not just about dialectal differences; even within a single variant there are fluctuations. For ex.: in the Santiago variant, when there are two sentences and one is subordinated to the other, there is a tense agreement in the verbs (bú cría pâ m' dába "you wanted me to give" – bothcría anddába are past tense), but some speakers do not practice it (bú cría pâ m' dâ – past then present – orbú crê pâ m' dába – present then past).
The writing system (ALUPEC) has not been well accepted by all Creole users.
The language levels (formal, informal, scientific, slang, etc.) are not well differentiated yet.
That is the reason why each speaker when speaking (or writing) uses their owndialect, their ownsociolect, and their ownidiolect.
To overcome these problems, some Creole advocates[14] propose the development of two standards: a North (Barlavento) standard, centered on the São Vicente variant, and a South (Sotavento) standard, centered on that of Santiago. If so, Creole would become apluricentric language.
There exists no complete translation of the Bible. However, the "Asosiason Kabuverdianu pa Traduson di Bíblia" was established with the goal of translating the entire Bible in Kabuverdianu-Sotaventu and Kabuverdianu-Barlaventu.[15] They have translated approximately 40% of theNew Testament in the Kabuverdianu-Sotaventu, and they have published Luke and Acts. The publication of Luke has won two awards in Cape Verde. Sérgio Frusoni translatedBartolomeo Rossetti's version of theRomanesco Italian poemEr Vangelo Seconno Noantri, which is a poem based on theFour Gospels. Frusoni translated the poem in the São Vicente Creole,Vangêle contód d'nôs móda.
In spite of being the only system officially recognized, the same law allows the use of alternative writing models, "as long as they are presented in a systematic and scientific way". As not all users are familiarized with ALUPEC or theIPA, in this article a slightly different system will be used to make it easier for the reader:
The sound[s] will be represented in an etymological way ("s" when in Portuguese is "s", "ss" when in Portuguese is "ss", "c" when in Portuguese is "c", "ç" when in Portuguese is "ç") instead of ALUPEC always "s".
The sound[z] will be represented in an etymological way ("s" when in Portuguese is "s", "z" when in Portuguese is "z") instead of ALUPEC always "z".
The sound[tʃ] will be represented by "tch" instead of ALUPEC "tx".
The sound[ʃ] will be represented in an etymological way ("x" when in Portuguese is "x", "ch" when in Portuguese is "ch") instead of ALUPEC always "x".
The sound[ʒ] will be represented in an etymological way ("j" when in Portuguese is "j", "g" when in Portuguese is "g") instead of ALUPEC always "j".
The sound[k] will be represented in an etymological way ("c" when in Portuguese is "c", "qu" when in Portuguese is "qu") instead of ALUPEC always "k".
The sound[ɡ] will be represented in an etymological way ("g" when in Portuguese is "g", "gu" when in Portuguese is "gu") instead of ALUPEC always "g".
The nasality of the vowels will be represented by an "m" after the vowel, when this vowel is at the end of the word or before the letters "p" and "b". In the other cases the nasality will be represented by the letter "n".
The words will always have a graphic accent. This will be an overwhelming use of accents, but it is the only way to effectively represent both the stressed syllable and vowel aperture.
To show an elided vowel in certain variants an apostrophe' will be used.
The vocabulary of Cape Verdean Creole comes mainly from Portuguese. Although several sources do not agree, the figures oscillate between 90 and 95% of words from Portuguese. The remaining comes from several languages from Western Africa (Mandingo,Wolof,Fulani,Temne,Balanta,Mandjak, etc.), and the vocabulary from other languages (English, French,Latin) is negligible.
Cape Verdean Creole's phonological system comes mainly from 15th-through-17th-century Portuguese. In terms of conservative features, Creole has kept theaffricate consonants/dʒ/ and/tʃ/ [written "j" (in the beginning of words) and "ch", in old Portuguese] which are not in use in today's Portuguese, and the pre-tonic vowels were not reduced as in today'sEuropean Portuguese. In terms of innovative features, the phoneme/ʎ/ (written "lh" in Portuguese) has evolved to/dʒ/ and the vowels have undergone several phonetic phenomena.
The personal pronoun that represents the subject form of the first person singular has a variable pronunciation according to the islands.
This pronoun comes from the object form of the first person singular in Portuguesemim, and it is phonetically reduced to the sound[m].
This pronunciation is nowadays found in the Barlavento variants. In the Sotavento variants that consonant[m] was reduced to a simple nasality[n̩]. For example:m' andâ[n̩ɐ̃ˈdɐ] ('I have walked'),m' stâ tâ sintí[n̩stɐtɐsĩˈti] ('I am feeling'),m' labába[n̩lɐˈbabɐ] ('I had washed'). Before plosive or affricate consonants this nasality becomeshomorganic nasal of the following consonant. For ex.:m' bêm[mbẽ] ('I came'),m' têm[ntẽ] ('I have'),m' tchigâ[ɲtʃiˈɡɐ] ('I arrived'),m' crê[ŋkɾe] ('I want').
Speakers who are strongly influenced by the Portuguese language tend to pronounce this pronoun as a nasal vowelúm[ũ] instead ofm'[m].
Before some forms of the verbsêr this pronoun takes back its full formmí[mi], in whatever variant:mí ê[mie] ('I am'),mí éra[miˈɛɾɐ] ('I was').
In this article, this pronoun is conventionally writtenm', no matter the variant.
Even though over 90% of Cape Verdean Creole words are derived from Portuguese, the grammar is very different, which makes it extremely difficult for an untrained Portuguese native speaker even to understand a basic conversation. On the other hand, the grammar shows a lot of similarities with other creoles, Portuguese-based or not (seesyntactic similarities of creoles).
The basic sentence structure in Creole is Subject – Verb – Object. Ex.:
Êl tâ cumê pêxi. "He eats fish."
When there are two objects, the indirect object comes first while the direct object comes after, and the sentence structure becomes Subject – Verb – Indirect Object – Direct Object. Ex.:
Êl tâ dâ pêxi cumída. "He gives food to the fish."
A feature that makes Cape Verdean Creole closer to other creoles is the possibility ofdouble negation (ex.:Náda m' câ atchâ. liter. "Nothing I didn't find."), or sometimes even triple negation (ex.:Núnca ninguêm câ tâ bába lâ. liter. "Never nobody didn't go there."). Although double negation is common in Portuguese (e.g. "Nunca ninguém foi lá"), triple negation is a little bit uncommon.
According to their function, the pronouns can be subject pronouns or object pronouns. Furthermore, in each of these functions, according to the position within the sentence the pronouns can be unstressed or stressed.
The unstressed subject pronouns generally bear the function of the subject and come before the verb. Ex.:
Nú crê. "We want."
The stressed subject pronouns bear the function of some kind of vocative and usually are separated from the verb (disjunctive pronouns). Ex.:
Mí, m' stâ lí, í bô, bú stâ lâ. "Me, I am here, and you, you are there."
The object pronouns, as the name shows, bear the function of the object (direct or indirect). The unstressed object pronouns are used with the present-tense forms of verbs. Ex.:
M' odjá-'l. "I have seen it."
M' tâ bejá-bu. "I kiss you."
The stressed object pronouns are used with the past-tense forms of verbs, when they are the second pronoun in a series of two pronouns, and after prepositions (prepositional pronouns). Ex.:
Ês tâ odjába-êl. "They saw it."
Bú dâ-m'-êl. "You gave it to me."
M' stâ fártu dí bô! "I'm fed up of you!"
When there are two object pronouns, the indirect pronoun comes first while the direct pronoun comes after, and the sentence structure becomes Subject – Verb – Indirect Pronoun – Direct Pronoun.
There are no reflexive pronouns. To indicate reflexivity, Creole uses the expressioncabéça ("head") after the possessive determiner. Ex.:
Ês mordê sês cabéça. "They have bitten themselves."
There are no reciprocal pronouns. To indicate reciprocity, Creole uses the expressioncumpanhêru ("companion"). Ex.:
Ês mordê cumpanhêru. "They have bitten each other."
The verbs have only minimal inflection (two forms). They have the same form for all the persons, and the notions of tense, mood and aspect are expressed through the presence (or absence) of certain morphemes (called "verbal actualizers" by Veiga[14]), as in the majority of creoles.
The verbs are generally reduced to two base forms, one for the present, another for the past. The form for the present is the same as the form for the infinitive (exception:sêr "to be"), that in turn comes, in the majority of the verbs, from the infinitive in Portuguese but without the finalr. Ex.:cantâ/kɐ̃ˈtɐ/ (from Portuguesecantar),mexê/meˈʃe/ (from Portuguesemexer),partí/pɐɾˈti/ (from Portuguesepartir),compô/kõˈpo/ (from Portuguesecompor),*lumbú/lũˈbu/ (from Portugueselombo). The form for the past is formed from the infinitive to which is joined the particle for the past~ba. Ex.:cantába/kɐ̃ˈtabɐ/,mexêba/meˈʃebɐ/,partíba/pɐɾˈtibɐ/,compôba/kõˈpobɐ/,*lumbúba/lũˈbubɐ/ (in the Barlavento variants, the particle for the past~va (or~ba) is joined to the imperfective actualizer, and not to the verb). It is noteworthy that the Upper Guinea creoles (Cape Verdean Creole andGuinea-Bissau Creole) put the past tense marker after the verbs, and not before like the majority of creoles (checksyntactic similarities of creoles).
It is important to mention that in the Santiago variant, the stress goes back to before the last syllable in the present tense forms of the verbs. Therefore, we have:cánta/ˈkãtɐ/ instead ofcantâ/kɐ̃ˈtɐ/,mêxe/ˈmeʃe/ ormêxi/ˈmeʃi/ instead ofmexê/meˈʃe/,pârti/ˈpɐɾti/ instead ofpartí/pɐɾˈti/,cômpo/ˈkõpo/ orcômpu/ˈkõpu/ instead ofcompô/kõˈpo/,búmbu/ˈbũbu/ instead ofbumbú/bũˈbu/. In the pronominal forms, however, the stress remains on the last syllable:cantâ-m'/kɐ̃ˈtɐ̃/,mexê-bu/meˈʃebu/,partí-'l/pɐɾˈtil/,compô-nu/kõˈponu/,bumbú-'s/bũˈbuz/.
As said before, the regular verbs are reduced to a form for the present tense and a form for the past tense, and the notions of mood and aspect are expressed through verbal actualizers.
The following table shows a paradigm of the indicative mood with the verbdâ "to give" in the first-person singular:
The perfective aspect of the present is used when the speech refers to present situations, but that are finished, that are complete. Ex.:
M' dâ.[mdɐ] "I gave. / I have given."
It corresponds roughly, according to context, to the past tense or present perfect in English.
The imperfective aspect of the present is used when the speech refers to present situations, but that are not finished yet, that are incomplete. Ex.:
M' tâ dâ.[mtɐdɐ] "I give."
It corresponds roughly to the present tense in English.
The progressive aspect of the present is used when the speech refers to present situations that are happening in a continuous, uninterrupted way. Ex.:
M' stâ tâ dâ.[mstɐtɐdɐ] "I am giving."
It corresponds roughly to the present continuous tense in English.
Note: Actually, this model doesn't exist anymore. It has evolved toM' stâ dâ.[nstɐdɐ] in Brava Fogo and Maio, toM' sâ tâ dâ.[nsɐtɐdɐ] in Santiago, toM' tâ tâ dâ.[mtɐtɐdɐ] in Boa Vista, Sal and São Nicolau and toM' ti tâ dá.[mtitɐda] in São Vicente and Santo Antão.
There is no specific form for the future. The future of the present may be expressed through three resources:
Using the imperfective of the present but bearing the function of the future. Ex.:M' tâ dâ manhã.[mtɐdɐmɐˈɲɐ̃] liter. "I give tomorrow."
Using the auxiliary verb "to go". Ex.:M' tâ bái dâ.[mtɐbajdɐ] liter. "I go to give."
Using a periphrasis showing an eventuality. Ex.:M' ál dâ.[maldɐ] "I will give."
It corresponds roughly to the future tense in English.
Theperfective aspect of the past is used when the speech refers to past situations that were finished, or complete. Ex.:
M' dába.[mˈdabɐ] "I had given."
It corresponds roughly to the past perfect in English.
Note: This form does not exist in the Barlavento variants.
Theimperfective aspect of the past is used when the speech refers to past situations that were not finished yet, or incomplete. Ex.:
M' tâ dába.[mtɐˈdabɐ] "I gave. / I used to give."
It corresponds roughly to the past tense in English.
Note: In the Barlavento variants the particle for the past is joined to the imperfective actualizer and not to the verb:M' táva dâ.[mˈtavɐdɐ]. In São Nicolau, along withM' táva dâ also subsists the older formM' tá dába[mtaˈdabɐ].
The progressive aspect of the past is used when the speech refers to past situations that were happening in a continuous and uninterrupted way. Ex.:
M' stába tâ dâ.[mˈstabɐtɐdɐ] "I was giving."
It corresponds roughly to the past continuous tense in English.
Note: Actually, this model only exists in Brava and Fogo. It has evolved toM' sâ tâ dába.[nsɐtɐˈdabɐ] in Santiago and Maio and toM' táva tâ dâ.[mˈtavɐtɐdɐ] in Boa Vista, Sal, São Nicolau, São Vicente and Santo Antão.
There is no specific form for the future. The future of the past may be expressed through three resources:
Using the imperfective of the past but bearing the function of the future. Ex.:M' tâ dába manhã.[mtɐˈdabɐmɐˈɲɐ̃] liter. "I gave tomorrow."
Using the auxiliary verb "to go". Ex.:M' tâ bába dâ.[mtɐˈbabɐdɐ] liter. "I went to give."
Using a periphrasis showing an eventuality. Ex.:M' ál dába. [m alˈdabɐ] "I would give."
It corresponds roughly to the conditional in English.
The remaining moods – subjunctive, conditional (not the same as "conditional" in English), eventual – do not have different aspects, only present and past tense, except the injunctive (imperative) mood which has only the present tense.
There is a group of verbs that do not follow the paradigmatic model presented above. They are the auxiliary verbssêr/seɾ/ "to be",stâ/stɐ/ "to be",têm/tẽ/ "to have" andtenê/teˈne/ "to have", and the modal verbscrê/kɾe/ "to want",sabê/sɐˈbe/ "to know",podê/poˈde/ "can",devê/deˈve/ "must" andmestê/mesˈte/ "to need".
Note.: The designation "auxiliary verbs" is not consensual.
There exist two registers for these verbs.
In thefirst register (in older speakers, in rural areas speakers or in speakers with little exposure to Portuguese) there are only two forms for the verbs: one for the present (ê/e/,stâ/stɐ/,têm/tẽ/,tenê/teˈne/,crê/kɾe/,sabê/sɐˈbe/,podê/poˈde/,devê/deˈve/,mestê/mesˈte/) and one for the past (éra/ˈɛɾɐ/,stába/stabɐ/,têmba /tẽbɐ/,tenêba/teˈnebɐ/,crêba/kɾebɐ/,sabêba/sɐˈbebɐ/,podêba/poˈdebɐ/,devêba/deˈvebɐ/,mestêba/mesˈtebɐ/). However, on the contrary of regular verbs, when the base form is used alone it represents the imperfective aspect and not the perfective aspect. Therefore,mí ê,m' têm,m' crê,m' sabê mean "I am, I have, I want, I know", and not "I've been, I've had, I've wanted, I've known", as it would be expected. Parallelly,mí éra,m' têmba,m' crêba,m' sabêba mean "I was, I had, I wanted, I knew", and not "I had been, I had had, I had wanted, I had known", as would be expected.
In thesecond register (among younger speakers, in urban areas or in speakers with more exposure to Portuguese) the system has been enriched with other forms influenced by Portuguese. Therefore, we have:
ê/e/,stâ/stɐ/,têm/tẽ/,crê/kɾe/,sabê/sɐˈbe/,podê/poˈde/,devê/deˈve/,mestê/mesˈte/ for the imperfective of the present;
fôi/foj/,stêvi/ˈstevi/,têvi/ˈtevi/,crís/kɾis/,sôbi/ˈsobi/,púdi/ˈpudi/ for the perfective of the present;
éra/ˈɛɾɐ/,stába/ˈstabɐ/,tínha/ˈtiɲɐ/,cría/ˈkɾiɐ/,sabía/sɐˈbiɐ/,pudía/puˈdiɐ/,divía/diˈviɐ/,mistía/misˈtiɐ/ for the imperfective of the past;
sêrba/ˈseɾbɐ/,stába/ˈstabɐ/,têmba/ˈtẽbɐ/,crêba/ˈkɾebɐ/,sabêba/sɐˈbebɐ/,podêba/poˈdebɐ/,devêba/deˈvebɐ/,mestêba/mesˈtebɐ/ for the perfective of the past;
Note.: Some authors[18] call these verbs "stative verbs" and to these verbs they add others:gostâ,conxê,merecê,morâ,tchomâ,valê. However that designation is contested: not all those verbs are in fact stative; not all those verbs are irregular (for ex.morâ); some of those verbs are regular in some variants (m' tâ gostâ – imperfective of the present withtâ), and irregulars in other variants (m' gostâ – imperfective of the present butwithouttâ).
There is a parallelism between the pair of the verbssêr /stâ "to be" and the pair of the verbstêm /tenê "to have".
The verbsêr is a copulative verb that expresses a permanent quality. Ex.:
Mí ê úm ómi./mieũˈɔmi/ "I am (I've always been and I will always be) a man."
The verbstâ is a copulative verb that expresses a temporary state. Ex.:
Êl stâ trísti./elstɐˈtɾisti/ "He is (in this precise moment) sad."
The verbtêm is a possessive verb that expresses a permanent quality. Ex.:
M' têm péli scúru./mtẽˈpɛliˈskuɾu/ "I have (I had and I will always have) dark skin."
The verbtenê is a possessive verb that expresses a temporary possession. Ex.:
M' tenê úm canéta nâ bôlsu./mteˈneũkɐˈnɛtɐnɐˈbolsu/ "I have (in this precise moment) a pen in the pocket."
permanent
temporary
copulative verbs
sêr
stâ
possessive verbs
têm
tenê
Note.: The verbsstâ andtenê do not have the progressive aspect: forms like*m' stâ tâ stâ or*m' stâ tâ tenê do not exist. The verbtenê does not exist in the Barlavento variants. In São Vicente and Santo Antão the verbstâ has the formstód' for the infinitive,tâ for the imperfective of the present,tív' for the perfective of the present, andtáva for the imperfective of the past.
Cape Verdean Creole has two voices. The active voice is used when the subject is explicit. The passive voice is used when the subject is indeterminate or unknown. There is also two forms for the passive. The form for the present is made with the infinitive to which is joined the particle~du. The form for the past is made with the infinitive to which is joined the particle~da. Ex.:
Tâ papiádu inglês nâ Mérca./tɐpɐpiˈaduĩˈɡleznɐˈmɛɾkɐ/ "English is spoken in America."
M' inxinádu tâ andâ./mĩʃiˈnadutɐɐ̃ˈdɐ/ "I was taught to walk."
Úm vêz, tâ cumêda tchêu mídju./ũveztɐkuˈmedɐtʃewˈmidʒu/ "Once, one used to eat a lot of corn."
Note.: In the Barlavento variants the form for the past does not exist.
Adjectives in Creole almost always come after the noun. Only the animated nouns (human beings and animals) demand gender inflection in their adjectives. Ex.:
ómi fêiu /mudjêr fêia "ugly man / ugly woman"
bódi prêtu /cábra préta "black buck / black goat"
The adjectives for unanimated nouns have the same form as the masculine adjectives. Ex.:
bistídu bráncu "white dress"
camísa bráncu "white shirt"
In general the plural marker does not appear on adjectives since it comes in a preceding grammatical category.
In Creole there are no definite articles. If it is absolutely necessary to determine the noun, thedemonstrative determiners are used instead.
For the indefinite articles there are two forms, one for the singular, another for the plural:
úm.../ũ/ "a, an (singular)",úns.../ũz/ "a, an (plural)"
The possessive determiners have number inflexion, but the plural refers to the objects possessed, and not to the owners. Ex.:
nhâ cárru "my car"
nhâs cárru "my cars"
nôs cárru can be either "our car" or "our cars"
The demonstrative determiners have only two degrees of proximity: close to the speaker (êss "this, these") and away from the speaker (quêl "that",quês "those").
Note.: Only the São Vicente and Santo Antão Creoles make a phonetic distinction between the singularêss/es/ ("this") and the pluralês/eʒ/ ("these").
Creole possesses a special grammatical category for presenting or announcing something. It appears in two forms, one to present something near, (alí.../ɐˈli/) and another to present something far (alâ.../ɐˈlɐ/). Ex.:
In spite of Cape Verde's small size, each island has developed its own way of speaking Creole. Each of these nine ways (there are 10 islands, one of which is uninhabited) is justifiably a differentdialect, but the scholars in Cape Verde usually call them "variants". These variants can be classified into two branches: in the South there are the Sotavento Creoles, which comprise theBrava,Fogo,Santiago andMaio variants; in the North there are the Barlavento Creoles, which comprise theBoa Vista,Sal,São Nicolau,São Vicente andSanto Antão variants.
Since somelexical forms of Cape Verdean Creole can be different according to each variant, the words and the sentences in this article will be presented in compromise model, a kind of "middle Creole", in order to ease the understanding and in order not to favor any variant. Whenever it will be necessary thephonemic transcription (or sometimes thephonetic transcription) will be shown immediately after the word.
For the writing system, check the sectionWriting system.
From a linguistic point of view, the most important variants are the Fogo, Santiago, São Nicolau and Santo Antão ones, and any deep study of Creole should approach at least these four. They are the only islands that have received slaves directly from the African continent, that possess the most conservative linguistic features, and that are the most distinct from each other.
From a social point of view, the most important variants are the Santiago and São Vicente ones, and any light study of Creole should approach at least these two. They are the variants of the two bigger cities (Praia andMindelo), the variants with the greatest number of speakers, and the variants with aglottophagist tendency over the neighboring ones.
The Sotavento Creoles are spoken in theSotavento Islands. Some characteristics:
The imperfective aspect of the past is formed joining the particle for the past~ba to the verb:tâ + V+ba.
The personal pronoun for the second person of the plural isnhôs.
The subject form of the personal pronoun for the first person of the singular is represented by a nasalization. Ex.:m' andâ pronounced/n̩ɐ̃ˈdɐ/ instead of/mɐ̃ˈdɐ/ "I have walked",m' stâ tâ sintí pronounced/n̩stɐtɐsĩˈti/ instead of/mstɐtɐsĩˈti/ "I am feeling",m' labába pronounced/n̩lɐˈbabɐ/ instead of/mlɐˈbabɐ/ "I had washed".
The object form of the personal pronoun for the first person of the singular disappears but nasalizes the preceding vowel. Ex.:lebâ-m' pronounced/leˈbɐ̃/ instead of/leˈbɐm/ "take me",metê-m' pronounced/meˈtẽ/ instead of/meˈtem/ "put me",cudí-m' pronounced/kuˈdĩ/ instead of/kuˈdim/ "answer me",compô-m' pronounced/kõˈpõ/ instead of/kõˈpom/ "fix me",bumbú-m' pronounced/bũˈbũ/ instead of/bũˈbum/ "put me on the back".
Brava Creole is spoken mainly onBrava Island. One of the least spoken being seventh place and one of the firsts to have written literature, in whichEugénio Tavares wrote some of his poems.
Besides the main characteristics of Sotavento Creoles, Brava Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingstâ before the verbs:stâ + V.
The sound that originates from Portuguese/ɐ̃w/ (writtenão) is/ɐ̃/ rather than/õ/. For example,coraçã/koɾɐˈsɐ̃/, notcoraçõ/koɾɐˈsõ/ "heart";mã/ˈmɐ̃/, notmõ/ˈmõ/ "hand";razã/ʀɐˈzɐ̃/, notrazõ/ʀɐˈzõ/ "reason".
Besides the main characteristics of Sotavento Creoles, Fogo has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingstâ before the verbs:stâ + V.
The sound that originates from Portuguese/ɐ̃w/ (writtenão) is represented by/ɐ̃/ instead of/õ/. Ex.coraçã/koɾɐˈsɐ̃/ instead ofcoraçõ/koɾɐˈsõ/ "heart",mã/mɐ̃/ instead ofmõ/mõ/ "hand",razã/ʀɐˈzɐ̃/ instead ofrazõ/ʀɐˈzõ/ "reason".
The sound/l/ switches to/ɾ/ when it is at the end of syllables. Ex.ártu/ˈaɾtu/ instead ofáltu/ˈaltu/ "tall",curpâ/kuɾˈpɐ/ instead ofculpâ/kulˈpɐ/ "to blame",burcã/buɾˈkɐ̃/ instead ofvulcõ/vulˈkõ/ "volcano".
The sound/ɾ/ disappears when it is at the end of words. Ex.:lugá'/luˈɡa/ instead oflugár/luˈɡaɾ/ "place",midjô'/miˈdʒo/ instead ofmidjôr/miˈdʒoɾ/ "better",mudjê'/muˈdʒe/ instead ofmudjêr/muˈdʒeɾ/ "woman".
The diphthongs (oral or nasal) are in general pronounced as vowels. Ex.:mã'/mɒ̃/ instead ofmãi/mɐ̃j/ "mother",nã'/nɐ̃/ instead ofnãu/nɐ̃w/ "no",pá'/pɒ/ instead ofpái/paj/ "father",rê'/re/ instead ofrêi/rej/ "king",tchapê'/tʃɐˈpe/ instead oftchapêu/tʃɐˈpew/ "hat".
The pre-tonic sound/a/ is velarized near labial or velar consonants. Ex.:badjâ "to dance" pronounced[bɒˈdʒɐ],cabêlu "hair" pronounced[kɒˈbelu],catchô' "dog" pronounced[kɒˈtʃo].
Maio Creole is spoken mainly onMaio Island. It numbers the entire island population which includes a small part which also speaks Portuguese.
It is one of the least spoken Cape Verdean Creole and is afterBrava and ahead ofBoa Vista.
Besides the main characteristics of Sotavento Creoles, Maio Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingstâ before the verbs:stâ + V.
The unstressed final vowels/i/ and/u/ frequently disappear. Ex.:cumádr'/kuˈmadɾ/ instead ofcumádri/kuˈmadɾi/ "midwife",vilúd'/viˈlud/ instead ofvilúdu/viˈludu/ "velvet",bunít'/buˈnit/ instead ofbunítu/buˈnitu/ "beautiful",cantád'/kɐ̃ˈtad/ instead ofcantádu/kɐ̃ˈtadu/ "sung".
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, writtenj in the beginning of words) is partially represented by/ʒ/. Ex.jantâ/ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead ofdjantâ/dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to dine",jôg'/ʒoɡ/ instead ofdjôgu/ˈdʒoɡu/ "game", but in words likedjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",Djõ/dʒõ/ "John" the sound/dʒ/ remains.
Santiago Creole is spoken mainly on theSantiago Island ofCape Verde, including the capital of the country,Praia.
Besides the main characteristics of Sotavento Creoles, Santiago Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingsâ tâ before the verbs:sâ tâ + V.
In the verbs, the stress goes back to the before the last syllable in the forms for the present. Ex.:cánta/ˈkãtɐ/ instead ofcantâ/kɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to sing",mêxe/ˈmeʃe/ ormêxi/ˈmeʃi/ instead ofmexê/meˈʃe/ "to move",pârti/ˈpɐɾti/ instead ofpartí/pɐɾˈti/ "to leave",cômpo/ˈkõpo/ orcômpu/ˈkõpu/ instead ofcompô/kõˈpo/ "to fix",búmbu/ˈbũbu/ instead ofbumbú/bũˈbu/ "to put on the back".
Some speakers pronounce the voiced sibilants as voiceless. Ex.cássa/ˈkasɐ/ instead ofcása/ˈkazɐ/ "house",ôxi/ˈoʃi/ instead ofôji/ˈoʒi/ "today".
Some speakers pronounce the sound/ʀ/ as/ɾ/. Ex.:cáru/ˈkaɾu/ instead ofcárru/ˈkaʀu/ "car",féru/ˈfɛɾu/ instead offérru/ˈfɛʀu/ "iron",curâl/kuˈɾɐl/ instead ofcurrál/kuˈʀal/ "corral".
The sound/ɾ/ is slightly aspirated[ɾʰ].
The sounds/n/,/t/ and/d/ are pronounced as alveolars[n͇],[t͇],[d͇] and not as dentals[n̪],[t̪],[d̪]
The nasal diphthongs are de-nasalized. Ex.:mâi/mɐj/ instead ofmãi/mɐ̃j/ "mother",nâu/nɐw/ instead ofnãu/nɐ̃w/ "no".
The stressed sound/a/ is pronounced/ɐ/ when it is before the sound/l/ at the end of words. Ex.:curâl/kuˈɾɐl/ instead ofcurrál/kuˈʀal/ "corral",mâl/mɐl/ instead ofmál/mal/ "bad",Tarrafâl/tɐɾɐˈfɐl/ instead ofTarrafál/tɐʀɐˈfal/ "Tarrafal" (place name).
The Barlavento Creoles are spoken in theBarlavento Islands. Some characteristics:
The imperfective aspect of the past is formed joining the particle for the past~va to the verbal actualizertâ:táva + V. Note: In São Nicolau, along withtáva + V also subsists the older formtá V+ba.
The personal pronoun for the second person of the plural isb'sôt'.
Raising of the stressed/a/ sound (oral or nasal) to/ɔ/ in words that used to end with the sound/u/. Ex.:ólt'/ˈɔlt/ fromáltu/ˈaltu/ "tall",cónd'/ˈkɔ̃d/ fromcándu/ˈkãdu/ "when",macóc'/mɐˈkɔk/ frommacácu/mɐˈkaku/ "monkey". Also with pronouns:b'tó-b'/ˈptɔb/ frombotá-bu/boˈtabu/ "throw you".
Boa Vista Creole is spoken mainly in theBoa Vista Island. It is the least spoken form of Creole in the language. Literature is rarely recorded but one of the speakers who was born on the island isGermano Almeida.
Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, Boa Vista Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingtâ tâ before the verbs:tâ +tâ + V.
In the verbs that end by~a, that sound/ɐ/ is replaced by/ɔ/ when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.:panhó-m'/pɐˈɲɔm/ instead ofpanhâ-m'/pɐˈɲɐm/ "to catch me",levó-m'/leˈvɔm/ instead oflevâ-m'/leˈvɐm/ "to take me",coçó-m'/koˈsɔm/ instead ofcoçâ-m'/koˈsɐm/ "to scratch me".
The stressede is always open/ɛ/. Ex.:bucé/buˈsɛ/ instead ofbocê/boˈse/ "you (respectful form),drét'/ˈdɾɛt/ instead ofdrêt'/ˈdɾet/ "right",tchobé/tʃoˈbɛ/ instead oftchovê/tʃoˈve/ "to rain". The stressedo is always open/ɔ/. Ex.:bó/bɔ/ instead ofbô/bo/ "you",compó/kõˈpɔ/ instead ofcompô/kõˈpo/ "to fix",tórrt'/ˈtɔʀt/ instead oftôrt'/ˈtoɾt/ "crooked".
The sound/ɾ/ at the end of syllables is pronounced/ʀ/. Ex.:furrtâ/fuʀˈtɐ/ instead offurtâ/fuɾˈtɐ/ "to steal",m'djérr/ˈmdʒɛʀ/ instead ofm'djêr/ˈmdʒeɾ/ "woman",pórrt'/ˈpɔʀt/ instead ofpôrt'/ˈpoɾt/ "harbor".
A/z/ originating from the junction of/l/ and/s/ is replaced by/ʀ/. Ex.:cárr/ˈkaʀ/ instead ofcás/ˈkaz/ "which ones",érr/ɛʀ/ instead ofês/ez/ "they",quérr/kɛʀ/ instead ofquês/kez/ "those".
A Portuguese/dʒ/ (writtenj in the beginning of words) is partially replaced by/ʒ/. Ex.jantâ/ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead ofdjantâ/dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to dine",jôg'/ˈʒoɡ/ instead ofdjôgu/ˈdʒoɡu/ "game", but in words likedjâ/dʒɐ/ "already" andDjõ/ˈdʒõ/ "John", the sound/dʒ/ remains.
Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, Sal Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingtâ tâ before the verbs:tâ +tâ + V.
In the verbs that end by~a, that sound/ɐ/ is represented by/ɔ/ when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.:panhó-m'/pɐˈɲɔm/ instead ofpanhâ-m'/pɐˈɲɐm/ "to catch me",levó-m'/leˈvɔm/ instead oflevâ-m'/leˈvɐm/ "to take me",coçó-m' /koˈsɔm/ instead ofcoçâ-m'/koˈsɐm/ "to scratch me".
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, writtenj in the beginning of words) is partially represented by/ʒ/. Ex.jantâ/ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead ofdjantâ /dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to dine",jôg'/ʒoɡ/ instead ofdjôgu/ˈdʒoɡu/ "game", but in words likedjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",Djõ/dʒõ/ "John" the sound/dʒ/ remains.
Santo Antão Creole is spoken mainly in theSanto Antão Island. It is ranked third of nine in the number of speakers and it is before Fogo and after the neighbouring São Vicente.
Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, Santo Antão Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingtí tâ before the verbs:tí +tâ + V.
The adverb of negation used with verbs, adverbs and adjectives isn'. Ex.:Mí n' crê instead ofM' câ crê "I don't want".
The sounds/s/ and/z/ are palatalized to[ʃ] and[ʒ] when they are at the end of syllables. Ex.:fésta "party" pronounced[ˈfɛʃtɐ] instead of[ˈfɛstɐ],gósga "tickles" pronounced[ˈɡɔʒɡɐ] instead of[ˈɡɔzɡɐ],més "more" pronounced[mɛʃ] instead of[mas].
The stressed final sound/ɐ/ is pronounced/a/. Ex.:já/ʒa/ instead ofdjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",lá/la/ instead oflâ/lɐ/ "there", and all the verbs that end by~â,calcá/kalˈka/ instead ofcalcâ/kɐlˈkɐ/ "to press",pintchá/pĩˈtʃa/ instead ofpintchâ/pĩˈtʃɐ/ "to push", etc.
Palatalization of the stressed/a/ sound (oral or nasal) to/ɛ/ in words that use to end by the sound/i/. Ex.:ént's/ɛ̃tʃ/ instead ofánt's/ãtʃ/ "before",grénd'/ɡɾɛ̃d/ instead ofgránd/ɡɾãd/ "big",verdéd'/veɾˈdɛd/ instead ofverdád'/veɾˈdad/ "truth". Also with pronouns:penhé-m'/peˈɲɛm/ instead ofpanhá-m'/pɐˈɲam/ "to catch me".
Palatalization of the pre-tonic/ɐ/ sound (oral or nasal) to/e/ when the stressed syllable possesses a palatal vowel. Ex.:essím/eˈsĩ/ instead ofassím/ɐˈsĩ/ "like so",quebéça/keˈbɛsɐ/ instead ofcabéça/kɐˈbɛsɐ/ "head". Velarization of the pre-tonic/ɐ/ sound (oral or nasal) to/o/ when the stressed syllable possesses a velar vowel. Ex.:cotchôrr'/koˈtʃoʀ/ instead ofcatchôrr'/kɐˈtʃoʀ/ "dog",otúm/oˈtũ/ instead ofatúm/ɐˈtũ/ "tuna".
The diphthong/aj/ (oral or nasal) is pronounced/ɛ/. Ex.:pé/pɛ/ instead ofpái/paj/ "father",mém/mɛ̃/ instead ofmãi/mɐ̃j/ "mother". The diphthong/aw/ (oral or nasal) is pronounced/ɔ/. Ex.:pó/pɔ/ instead ofpáu/paw/ "stick",nõ/nõ/ instead ofnãu/nɐ̃w/ "no".
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from Portuguese/ʎ/, written "lh") is represented by the sound/j/:bói'/bɔj/ instead ofbódj'/bɔdʒ/ "dance (noun)",ôi'/oj/ instead ofôdj'/odʒ/ "eye",spêi'/ʃpej/ instead ofspêdj'/spedʒ/ "mirror". Between vowels that sound/j/ disappears:vé'a/ˈvɛɐ/ instead ofbédja/ˈbɛdʒɐ/ "old (feminine)",o'á/oˈa/ instead ofodjâ/oˈdʒɐ/ "to see",pá'a/ˈpaɐ/ instead ofpádja/ˈpadʒɐ/ "straw". When it is immediately after a consonant, it is represented by/lj/:m'liôr/mljoɾ/ instead ofm'djôr/mdʒoɾ/ "better",c'liêr/kljeɾ/ instead ofc'djêr/kdʒeɾ/ "spoon".
The sound/j/ disappears when it is between vowels. Ex.:go'áva/ɡoˈavɐ/ instead ofgoiába/ɡoˈjabɐ/ "guava fruit",mê'a/ˈmeɐ/ instead ofmêia/ˈmejɐ/ "sock",papá'a/paˈpaɐ/ instead ofpapáia/pɐˈpajɐ/ "papaw".
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written "j" in the beginning of words) is totally represented by/ʒ/. Ex.já/ʒa/ instead ofdjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",jantá/ʒãˈta/ instead ofdjantâ/dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to dine",Jõ'/ʒõ/ instead ofDjõ'/dʒõ/ "John".
Some speakers pronounce the phonemes/ʃ/ and/ʒ/ as labialized[ʃʷ] and[ʒʷ].
Existence of a certain kind of vocabulary (also existing in São Vicente) that does not exist in the other islands. Ex.:dançá instead ofbadjâ "to dance",dzê instead offlâ "to say",falá instead ofpapiâ "to speak",guitá instead ofdjobê "to peek",ruf'ná instead offuliâ "to throw",stód' instead ofstâ "to be",tchocá instead offurtâ "to steal",tchúc' instead ofpôrc' "pig", etc.
Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, São Nicolau Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingtâ tâ before the verbs:tâ +tâ + V.
In the verbs that end by~a, that sound/ɐ/ is represented by/ɔ/ when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.:panhó-m'/pɐˈɲɔm/ instead ofpanhâ-m'/pɐˈɲɐm/ "to catch me",levó-m'/leˈvɔm/ instead oflevâ-m'/leˈvɐm/ "to take me",coçó-m'/koˈsɔm/ instead ofcoçâ-m'/koˈsɐm/ "to scratch me".
The sounds/k/ and/ɡ/ are pronounced by some speakers as/tʃ/ and/dʒ/ when they are before palatal vowels. Ex.:f'djêra/ˈfdʒeɾɐ/ instead off'guêra/ˈfɡeɾɐ/ "fig tree",patchê/pɐˈtʃe/ instead ofpaquê/pɐˈke/ "because",Pr'djíça/pɾˈdʒisɐ/ instead ofPr'guiíça/pɾˈɡisɐ/ "Preguiça" (place name),tchím/tʃĩ/ instead ofquêm/kẽ/ "who".
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, writtenj in the beginning of words) is partially represented by/ʒ/. Ex.jantâ/ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead ofdjantâ/dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to dine",jôg'/ʒoɡ/ instead ofdjôgu/ˈdʒoɡu/ "game", but in words likedjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",Djõ/dʒõ/ "John" the sound/dʒ/ remains.
The unstressed final vowel/u/ does not disappear when it follows the sounds/k/ or/ɡ/. Ex.:tabácu/tɐˈbaku/ instead oftabóc'/tɐˈbɔk/ "tobacco",frángu/ˈfɾãɡu/ instead offróng'/ˈfɾɔ̃ɡ/ "chicken".
São Vicente Creole is spoken mainly in theSão Vicente Island. It is spoken primarily in the São Vicente island, but also in a large segment of the Cape Verdeandiaspora population. It is the second most widely spoken Cape Verdean dialect. It has produced literature from many writers and musicians includingSergio Frusoni and many more.
Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, São Vicente Creole has the following:
The progressive aspect of the present is formed by puttingtí tâ before the verbs:tí +tâ + V.
The sounds/s/ and/z/ are palatalized to[ʃ] and[ʒ] when they are at the end of syllables. Ex.:fésta "party" pronounced[ˈfɛʃtɐ] instead of[ˈfɛstɐ],gósga "tickles" pronounced[ˈɡɔʒɡɐ] instead of[ˈɡɔzɡɐ],más "more" pronounced[maʃ] instead of[mas].
The stressed final sound/ɐ/ is pronounced/a/. Ex.:já/ʒa/ instead ofdjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",lá/la/ instead oflâ/lɐ/ "there", and all the verbs that end by~â,calcá/kɐlˈka/ instead ofcalcâ/kɐlˈkɐ/ "to press",pintchá/pĩˈtʃa/ instead ofpintchâ/pĩˈtʃɐ/ "to push", etc.
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from Portuguese/ʎ/, written "lh") is represented by the sound/j/:bói'/bɔj/ instead ofbódj'/bɔdʒ/ "dance (noun)",ôi'/oj/ instead ofôdj'/odʒ/ "eye",spêi'/ʃpej/ instead ofspêdj'/spedʒ/ "mirror". When it is after the sound/i/, the sound/dʒ/ remains:fídj'/fidʒ/ "son",mídj'/midʒ/ "corn". When it is immediately after a consonant, the sound/dʒ/ remains:m'djôr/mdʒoɾ/ "better",c'djêr/kdʒeɾ/ "spoon".
The sound/dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written "j" in the beginning of words) is totally represented by/ʒ/. Ex.já/ʒa/ instead ofdjâ/dʒɐ/ "already",jantá/ʒɐ̃ˈta/ instead ofdjantâ/dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ "to dine",Jõ'/ʒõ/ instead ofDjõ'/dʒõ/ "John".
Existence of a certain kind of vocabulary (also existing in Santo Antão) that does not exist in the other islands. Ex.:dançá instead ofbadjâ "to dance",dzê instead offlâ "to say",falá instead ofpapiâ "to speak",guitá instead ofdjobê "to peek",ruf'ná instead offuliâ "to throw",stód' instead ofstâ "to be",tchocá instead offurtâ "to steal",tchúc' instead ofpôrc' "pig", etc.
Oh Cape Verde, It is you who are my most sublime pain Oh Cape Verde, It is you who are my anguish, my passion My life was born From the challenge of your ungrateful climate The will of iron is you in my chest The taste for the fight is you in my arms It is you who are my war, My sweet love
Stretch your arms, Take my blood, Water your ground, And blossom! In order to distant land Come to an end for us You with the sea, the sky and your sons In a sweet hug of peace
Excerpt of the lyrics ofDôci Guérra from Antero Simas. The full lyrics may be found (with a different orthography) inCABOINDEX » Blog Archive » Doce Guerra.
Daddy, come tell me which race are we, oh dad Our race is blacks and whites melted in the wind Melted in the storm of slavery, oh son A generation of Portuguese with Africans
They came from Europe to scent richness They sold sons of Africa in slavery Loaded deep in the hold of their ships Under the whip and colonial yoke
Some that remained by here hidden in the mountains, oh son Mixed with the Portuguese, and created this Cape Verdean people This people that has suffered five hundred years of torture, oh, oh This people that has rebelled completely
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
^Dulce Pereira (October 2006).Crioulos de Base Portuguesa (in Portuguese). Caminho. p. 24.ISBN978-972-21-1822-4.o [crioulo] de Cabo Verde [é] o mais antigo que se conhece
^Santos, C., "Cultura e comunicação: um estudo no âmbito da sociolinguística"
Os dialectos românicos ou neo-latinos na África, Ásia e América (Coelho, F. Adolpho – 1880; capítulo 1: "Crioulo da Ilha de Santiago")
O crioulo de Cabo Verde. Breves estudos sobre o crioulo das ilhas de Cabo Verde (Botelho da Costa, Joaquim Vieira & Custódio José Duarte – 1886)
A Parábola do Filho Pródigo no crioulo de Santiago, do Fogo, da Brava, de Santo Antão, de S. Nicolau e da Boavista: O crioulo de Cabo Verde (Botelho da Costa, Joaquim Vieira & Custódio José Duarte – 1886)
Dialectos crioulos-portugueses. Apontamentos para a gramática do crioulo que se fala na ilha de Santiago de Cabo Verde (Brito, A. de Paula – 1887)
Cabo Verde. Contribuição para o estudo do dialecto falado no seu arquipélago (Duarte, Dulce Almada – 1961)
O dialecto crioulo – Léxico do dialecto crioulo do Arquipélago de Cabo Verde (Fernandes, Armando Napoleão Rodrigues – 1969)
The Creole dialect of the island of Brava (Meintel, Deirdre – 1975) inMiscelânea luso-africana coord. Marius F. Valkhoff
A linguistic approach to the Capeverdean language (Macedo, Donaldo Pereira – 1979)
O crioulo de Cabo Verde – surto e expansão (Carreira, António – 1982)
Left-dislocation and topicalization in Capeverdean creole (Braga, Maria Luiza: PhD Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania – 1982)
Variation and change in the verbal system of Capeverdean crioulo (Silva, Izione Santos —1985)
O crioulo da ilha de S. Nicolau de Cabo Verde (Cardoso, Eduardo Augusto – 1989)
Kabuverdianu: Elementaria seiner TMA-Morphosyntax im lusokreolischen Vergleich (Thiele, Petra. Kabuverdianu – 1991)
"O princípio da parcimónia em crioulo de Cabo Verde" (Pereira, Dulce – 1992: inActas do II. Colóquio sobre Crioulos de base lexical portuguesa, pp. 141–151)
O crioulo de Cabo Verde: Introdução à gramática (Veiga, Manuel – 1995)
Dicionário Caboverdiano–Português, Variante de Santiago (Quint(-Abrial), Nicolas, Lisboa: Verbalis – 1998)
Bilinguismo ou Diglossia (Duarte, Dulce Almada – 1998)
Le créole du Cap-Vert. Etude grammaticale descriptive et contrastive (Veiga, Manuel – 2000)
Le Cap-Verdien: Origines et devenir d'une langue métisse (Quint, Nicolas – 2000)
Grammaire de la langue cap-verdienne: Étude descriptive et compréhensive du créole afro-portugais des Iles du Cap-Vert (Quint, Nicolas – 2000)
Dictionnaire Cap-Verdien–français (Quint, Nicolas – 2000)
Dicionário do Crioulo da Ilha de Santiago (Cabo Verde) com equivalentes de tradução em alemão e português (ed. por Jürgen Lang: Tübingen – 2002)
Kurze Skizze der Grammatik des Kreols von Santiago (Kapverde) (Jürgen Lang – 2000 in: Neue Romania 23, 15–43)
The syntax of Cape Verdean Creole. The Sotavento Varieties (Baptista, Marlyse – 2002)
Dicionário Prático Português-Caboverdiano/Disionári Purtugés-Berdiánu Kiriolu di Santiagu Ku Splikasom di Uzu di Kada Palábra (M. Mendes, N. Quint, F. Ragageles, A. Semedo, Lisboa: Verbalis – 2002)
O Cabo-verdiano em 45 Lições (Veiga, Manuel – 2002)
Parlons capverdien : Langue et culture (Nicolas Quint, Aires Semedo – 2003)
Le créole capverdien de poche (Nicolas Quint, Aires Semedo, Chennevières-sur-Marne: Assimil – 2005)
Crioulos de base portuguesa (Pereira, Dulce – 2006)
Crioulo de Cabo Verde – Situação Linguística da Zona do Barlavento (Delgado, Carlos Alberto; Praia: IBNL – 2008)
A Grammar of Santiago Creole (Cape Verde) = Gramática do Crioulo da Ilha de Santiago (Cabo Verde) (Jürgen Lang; Erlangen 2012[1])
A variação geográfica do crioulo caboverdiano (Jürgen Lang, Raimundo Tavares Lopes, Ana Karina Tavares Moreira, Maria do Céu dos Santos Baptista; Erlangen: FAU University Press, 2014[2]
Les langues des autres dans la créolisation : théorie et exemplification par le créole d'empreinte wolof à l'île Santiago du Cap Vert (Jürgen Lang; Tübingen: Narr, 2009)
Literature
Os Lusíadas (estâncias 8 e 9 do Canto V) Teixeira, A. da Costa – 1898
Folk-Lore from the Cape Verde Islands (Parsons, Elsie Clews – 1923: Capeverdian Stories; book 1: English, book 2: Creole)
Asosiason Kabuverdianu pa Traduson di Bíblia Books: Stória di Natal (the Christmas Story), Lúkas, Notísia Sabi di Jizus (Luke, The Good News of Jesus), Bíblia na prugrésu di traduson pa lingua Kabuverdianu (The Bible in progress of translation into the Kabuverdianu Language, Luke 2nd ed. and Acts 1st ed. – see third picture link in top frame), Comics: Stória di Bon Samaritanu (The Story of the Good Samaritan), Stória di Fidju ki Perde (The Story of the Prodigal Son), Stória di Zakeu, Xéfi di Kobradoris di Inpostu, (The Story of Zacchaeus, chief tax collector – see links in left frame), Film: Filmi: Vida di Jizus (The Jesus Film – see fourth picture link in top frame) Best viewed with Internet Explorer.
