Papiamento
Papiamento () or Papiamentu (; ) is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on the Caribbean ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), with official status in Aruba and Curaçao. Papiamento is also a recognised language in the Dutch public bodies of Sint-Eustatius and Saba. The language, spelled in Aruba and in Bonaire and Curaçao, is largely based on colonial-era Portuguese and Spanish (including Judaeo-Portuguese), and has been influenced considerably by Dutch and Venezuelan Spanish. Due to lexical similarities between Spanish and Portuguese, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of some words. Though there are different theories about its origins, most linguists now believe that Papiamento emerged from the Portuguese creole languages that developed in the West African coasts, as it has many similarities with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole. History There are various theories about the origin and development of the Papiamento language, and precise history has not been established. Its parent language is surely Iberian, but scholars disputed whether Papiamento was derived from Portuguese and its derived Portuguese-based creole languages or from Spanish. Historical constraints, core vocabulary, and grammatical features that Papiamento shares with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole are far less than those shared with Spanish, even though the Spanish and Dutch influences occurred later, from the 17th century onwards. Jacoba Bouschoute conducted a study on the various Dutch influences in Papiamento. An example of a such word is , which is a combination of a Dutch root (meaning "paint") and the Spanish suffix -dor (used for a person who performs an action, like "painter") The transformation from to involved shortening the -r to -dó due to a linguisitic process called apocopation. The name of the language itself originates from , from Portuguese and Cape Verdean Creole ("to chat, say, speak, talk"), added by the noun-forming suffix . Spain claimed dominion over the islands in the 15th century but made little use of them. Portuguese merchants had been trading extensively in the West Indies and with the Iberian Union between Portugal and Spain during 1580–1640 period, their trade extended to the Spanish West Indies. In 1634, the Dutch West India Company (WIC) took possession of the islands, deporting most of the small remaining Arawak and Spanish population to the continent (mostly to the Venezuelan west coast and the Venezuelan plains, as well as all the way east to the Venezuela Orinoco basin and Trinidad), and turned them into the hub of the Dutch slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean. The first evidence of widespread use of Papiamento in Aruba and Curaçao can be seen in official documents in the early 18th century. In the 19th century, most materials in the islands were written in Papiamento including Roman Catholic school books and hymnals. In 1837, the Catecismo Corticu pa uso di catolicanan di Curaçao was printed, the first printed book in Papiamento. In 2009 the Catecismo Corticu was added to the UNESCO Memory of the