Papiamento love poem
Spiel
Bo imagen den e spiel
Ta mi poema mas precioso
Pero pura e ta disparse
E ta mi ultimo "Mi stima bo"
→ French poem ←
Papiamentu language & literature
My love poem (poesia di amor) translated into Papiamento a creole language of the Netherlands Antilles. This is a mixture of African, native american and european languages, in particular Spanish and Portuguese, with the influence of Dutch. It is spoken in Bonaire, Aruba and Curaçao where it is the official language.
In the Lesser Antilles, 350,000 people speak Papiamentu (Papiamentoe, Papiam, Curassese, Curaçoleño, Papiamen, Papiamento), it is not a lot, but it is an official language recognized by Holland. It is used in both public and private daily life, practical as well as artistic.
We do not know, from Portuguese or Spanish, which of these two languages is at the origin of Papiamentu (linguists have opposite opinions). Some think it was born in the 16th century when Spanish meet Caquetio Indians, others in the 17th century, with the meeting between Portuguese Jewish traders and African slaves.
Anyway, it is the Iberian influence, that is the most important in Papiamentu, the Dutch influence having been added afterwards. Depending on the island where it is spoken, writing is either etymological or phonological.
The oldest written trace dates from 1775, then from the 19th century some texts are conserved, especially religious! (Whatever the languages, the first writings are most often religious and or poetry).