Papiamento

Also known as Papiamentu

Papiamento (), or Papiamentu (; ), is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the ABC islands).

AI overview

Papiamento is a creole language with Portuguese roots that is spoken in the Dutch Caribbean, primarily on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. It is the most widely spoken language in these three islands, making it an important part of the local culture and identity.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Language.familycolor: Creole
Language.name: Papiamento
Language.states: Dutch Caribbean
Language.speakers: 350,000
Language.date: 2025
Language.ref: e25
Language.script: Latin (Papiamento orthography)
Language.fam1: Portuguese Creole
Language.fam2: Afro-Portuguese Creole
Language.fam3: Upper Guinea Creole
Language.fam4: Early Papiamento
Language.iso2: pap
Language.iso3: pap
Language.glotto: papi1253
Language.glottorefname: Papiamento
Language.lingua: 51-AAC-be
Language.map: ABCEilandenLocatie.PNG
Language.mapcaption: Location map of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, where Papiamento is spoken

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Dushi Caribbean style mural.jpg

Show 6 more facts

P10369: Turkish
Wikimedia language code: pap
native label: Papiamento
number of speakers, writers, or signers: 115000
exact match: data.linguistik.de/bll/bll-ontology#bll-133117715
Commons category: Papiamento creole

Sources (9)

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Article

30 sections

Contents

History
Local development theory
European and African origin theory
Linguistic and historical ties with Upper Guinea Portuguese Creole
Present status
Old Papiamento texts
Piter May letter 1775
Boo Jantje letter 1783
Quant Court affidavit 1803
Orthography and spelling
Distribution and dialects
Phonology
Vowels and diphthongs
Stress and accent
Lexicon
Vocabulary
Literature and culture
Examples
Phrase and word samples
Expressions
Lord's Prayer
Comparison of vocabularies
See also
Notes
References
Works cited
Further reading
Dictionaries
Grammar
External links

Papiamento (), or Papiamentu (; ), is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the ABC islands).

The language, spelled in Aruba and in Bonaire and Curaçao, is largely based on Portuguese as spoken in the 15th and 16th centuries, and has been influenced considerably by Dutch and Spanish. Due to lexical similarities between Portuguese and Spanish, 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-based creole languages of the West African coasts, as it has many similarities with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole.