In this chapter the author addresses the following questions: What does it mean to say that a language is a creole? Do creoles constitute a separate global typological class apart from other language typological groupings? The author calls for research on creole languages that is free from linguistic feature bias, creole language list bias, and genealogical bias. He compares expansion languages from the Meso and South American indigenous language families, particularly the Quechuan family (focusing on Ecuador, the northern border), with the Arawakan, Tupian, Cariban, Jêan, Chibchan, Uto-Aztecan, Mayan, and Otomanguean families. The comparison highlights processes of ethnogenesis, morphological reduction, and sub- or adstrate influence. The findings help broaden the definition of “creole” to refer to a special lexifier– descendant relationship, making the notion of creole a relational one, to facilitate comparisons with other languages and with “linguistic areas.” Questions that remain include: Are there area-specific features? And can this approach shed light on the characterization of creoles as a particular group of languages? What role can language contact play in reconstructing language families?

Papiamentu/o (Papiamento) / Papiamentu

Riba ala di Lenga di Mama

Ohalá

mas i mas

nos por siña,

un pèrla bunita,

balorá i konservá

nos lenga materno

Pasobra

no ta asina

ku ora nos lanta buelo

riba ala di lenga di mama

mas nos por amplia nos bista

riba tur aspekto di bida?

Pasobra papiamentu,

no ta ku bo konosementu

usando bo palabra i gramátika

ku entonashon i ritmo verbal natural

nos por bisa esun ku mas nos ta stima

ku t’e so so so asin’aki nos ta stima,

mi pretu di wowo, mi suku, midushi,

nos por usa palabranan kuchikuchi

yen di karino ku nos yuchi?

Pasobra,

mi lenga di mama,

mi m’matongo,

mi lengua materna,

minha lingua materna,

ma langue maternelle,

my mother language,

mijn moedertaal,

my moedertaal,

logghat oummi ( ,(لغة أمي

Zu Guo De Yu Yan (我的母语),

mia lingua nativa,

no ta asina

ku ta abo ta habri hanchu hanchu e kaminda

pa mas fasil otro idiomanan nos sina,

pa multilingual un dia nos por bira?

Hilda de Windt Ayoubi, Korsou,1 di februari, 2015.Nederlands (Dutch) / Hulandes

Op de vleugels van moedertaal

Konden we maar

steeds meer leren

onze moedertaal,

een prachtige parel,

te waarderen en

te conserveren

Want is het toch niet zo

dat wanneer wij op de vleugels

van moedertaal opstijgen

wij ons zicht op alle aspecten

des leven meer kunnen uitbreiden?

Want Papiamentu,

is het toch niet met jouw kennis,

dat wij gebruikmakend van jouw woorden engrammatica

met de natuurlijk intonatie en verbale ritme

tegen degene die wij het meest beminnen kunnenzeggen

dat wij hem, maar dan ook hem alleen zo liefhebben,

mijn oogappel, mijnsuikerdiefje, mijn lieve schat,

wij liefdevol kooswoordjes tegen ons kindje kunnenspreken?

Want

moedertaal,

mi mamatongo

mi lengua materna,

ma langue maternelle,

my mother language,

mijn moedertaal,

my moedertaal,

logghat oummi ( ,(لغة أمي

Zu Guo De Yu Yan (我的母语),

mia lingua nativa,

is het toch niet zo

dat jij de weg voor ons hebt vrijgemaakt

Africa is home to both large and smaller languagefamilies, and some that, as far as we know, areunrelated to other languages altogether. Due to thehistory and legacy of European colonization, mostlanguages of Africa generally do not have a highsocial status in the country. Many African countriesare highly multilingual, with several languages usedin the same community, neighborhood, and evenhousehold.

Similarly, the languages of Asia belong to manydifferent families (including Indo-European which wehave presented separately). As many countries inAsia were not fully under European colonial rule,their languages have generally maintained a highsocial status.

In some cases, the colonial powers did not completelyimpose their own European language onto the localpopulation, but rather gave privileges to the peoplewho spoke their European language, as is the case inDutchcolonized Indonesia.

We begin with a selection of African languages, fromnorth to south in the continent, and then turn toAsian languages.

Tarifiyt is the variety of Berber orAmazigh spoken in the Rif mountain range in northernMorocco and in some communities in Algeria. It isalso a heritage language in Belgium and theNetherlands. Altogether, it may have six or sevenmillion speakers. It does not have much prestige inMorocco itself, although there is a current culturalrevival movement. It is also called Rif or RiffianBerber and many speakers use “Tamazight” to refer toit, but that term is a generic label for all ofBerber. While there is a rich oral tradition, muchof which has been recorded, and/or written, Tarifiytliterature only dates from the twentieth century,and includes short stories, novels, plays,retellings of traditional stories, cartoons, andsongs. Many writers whose first language is Tarifiythave written in the languages of the diaspora:Spanish, French, Dutch, and even English. In Moroccoitself, many Tarifiyt speakers also know Arabic andFrench or Spanish.

Papiamentu/o (Papiamento) / Papiamentu andNederlands (Dutch) / Hulandes

PAPIAMENTU PA SEMPER

Papiamentu,

nan a pidi mi

pa mi lubida bo,

nan a asta roga mi

pa mi no papia bo

argumentando

ku no ta hopi hende

na mundu ta papia bo,

ku bo vokabulario ta masha limita

pa nos por ekspresa lo ke nos ta pensa

Papiamentu,

mi sinti a konsenti un tiki,

mi kurason a bringa ku rason

i a bisa rotundamente: NO!

Pasobra

maske* lenga di pueblo di

ku nos mester sina lenganan

internashonal

ku por hiba nos muchu mas ayá di kas…

kon lo mi por menospresiá bo,

kon lo mi por habraká** bo

si ta abo a sina mi kana

tur senda den selvá

i den mondi salbahe

di sílaba, palabra i frase?

Ku ta abo

a duna mi e base

pa semper mi por sigui kana

den mundu mas grandi di palabra?

Kon e yu por nenga

su mama ku a mam’è

sin’e kana sin trompekè

riba niun silaba ni niun palabra?

PAPIAMENTU VOOR ALTIJD

Papiamentu

ze vragen me

om je te vergeten

ze smeken me

om je niet te spreken

met het argument

dat er niet veel mensen

in de wereld zijn die je spreken,

dat je woordenschat te beperkt is

om uit te drukken wat we denken

Papiamentu,

Mijn verstand was het er een beetje mee

eens,

mijn hart sprong terecht op

en heeft ronduit: NEE gezegd!

Omdat

hoewel het volk beweert

dat we internationale talen moeten leren

die ons ver van huis kunnen meenemen …

hoe zouden we je kunnen minachten,

hoe zouden we je kunnen verhaspelen,

als jij zelf me hebt leren lopen

langs alle paden in het bos

en in het wilde woud

van lettergrepen, woorden, zinnen?

Dat jij zelf

mij de basis hebt gegeven

zodat ik altijd kan blijven lopen

in de grotere woorden wereld?

Hoe kan het kind zijn moeder negeren

die hem heeft gezoogd

hem heeft leren lopen zonder struikelen

over geen enkel lettergreep of woord?

Dansk sprog (Danish) is a Scandinavianlanguage spoken primarily in Denmark, in Greenland,and in Southern Schleswig in Germany, across theDanish border. Many find it hard to learn as asecond language, in part because of its many vowels(it has 27 of them) and 19 diphthongs. When learningindefinite nouns, the article precedes the noun,while with definite nouns it is attached to it.Thus, we have Jeg sa ethus. “I saw a house” and Jeg sa huset “I saw thehouse” and in the translation of the poem landet “the land”. Manywriters have published in Danish, a traditionestablished in the Middle Ages. Outside of Denmark,perhaps the best known are Hans Christian Andersenfor his children's tales and the philosopher SorenKierkegaard. Modern Danish literature is thrivingand many of its works are translated into otherlanguages.

German is an important language spokenprimarily in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Ithas a rich history and a vast literature. It has astandard written form but there is much regionalvariation. Someone from Bavaria speaks differentlythan someone from Berlin. In these territories, andin other areas in central Europe where German usedto be a literary language, great literary works haveappeared over the past millennium. German, Austrianand Swiss authors are core figures in the Europeancultural landscape. German also used to be animportant scientific language, but this is less ofthe case now.

Swiss German (also called Schweizerdeutsch or locallySchwiizerdutsch isclosely related to the German of the larger northernFederal Republic and Austria, and coexists withstandard German in Switzerland itself. However, ithas many distinct features. It is part of the groupof Alemannic dialects of German, and there are manygrammatical differences from standard German.

Ackermans, Annelies en Elodie

Alexander, Patrick (Director Penn State UniversityPress)

Amigoe di Kòrsou (newspaper Aruba, Curaçao,Bonaire)

Andriguetto-Sabag, Mariza

Ansano, Richinel (Former Director NationalArcheological Anthropological

Memory Management)

Arab American Institute Foundation in the United Statesof America

Aspekor Perú Kòrsou

Ayoubi, Abdallah

Bak, Suzette

Ball F, Gregory (Former Dean and now vice President forresearch University

of Maryland)

Bassil Davidson, Liliane

Berg, van der Margot (Assistant Professor, Universityof Utrecht)

Berry-Haseth, Lucille

Bouwland, Rebecca

Britten, Astrid (Director of Biblioteca NacionalAruba)

Broere, Joss

Brute, Ithel (Papiamento Faculty, University ofCuraçao)

Bushrui, Mary

Bushrui, Suheil (Professor, University of Maryland)

Consulate of Denmark in Curaçao

Consulate of Estonia in Curaçao

Consulate of Germany in Curaçao

Consulate of Israel in Curaçao

Consulate of Lebanon in Curaçao

Consulate of Suriname in Curaçao

Cornips, Leonie (Professor Maastricht University)

Corsen, Larissa

Criens, Linda

Cuales, Orlando (Radio Z86)

Da Costa Gomez, Monique

Dalnoot, Ludrith

Dick, Irene

Dingemans, Mark (University of Radboud, Department ofLanguage and Communication)

Doorn van, Monique

Do Rego, Charles (University of Curaçao, andwriter)

Dovale, Myrna

El Hoss, Majid and Suzy

Engels, Verele

Eps van, Quirine

Feng, Yen

Freitas de Ayoubi, Hadie

Freitas de, Zena

Fundashon Arte di Palabra

Fundashon Stima Korsou

Georges, Joseph Marcel (Professor University ofHaiti)

Glorie, Ingrid (www.voertaal.nu)

Gonzalez, Zatessa

Graff de, Anne Frederic (Professor MassachusettsInstitute of Technology)

Groenewoud, Margo (Assistant Professor University ofCuraçao)

Hek, Ivana

Heuvel, Jeroen (University of Curaçao)

Hooyer, Helen (Director/Owner Radio Hoyer)

Kahlil Gibran National Committee Lebanon

Kahlil Gibran Spirits of Humanity

Kalem, Glen (Australian Filmmaker and Kahlil GibranResearch-Historian)

Kempen van, Michiel (Professor of Dutch-CaribbeanLiterature, University of Amsterdam) Lacle,Jenny

Lacle, Mirjen

Lebacs, Diana

Leonora, Lianne (Library University of Curaçao andMongui Maduro Library)

Liesbeth Echteld (Associate Professor University ofCuraçao)

Lodewijks, Ludmila

Mantel, Liesbeth (Newspaper Amigoe)

Martinus Arion, Frank (Professor University ofCuraçao)

Martinus, Margi

Mous, Maarten (Professor Leiden University)

Mufwene, S. Salikoko

Neerlandistiek.nl (Journal of Dutch Linguistics andLiterature)

Neijhorst, Achmed (Board member of the UNI Foundationand Stichting Caraibische Integratie)

Irish (Gaeilge) is spoken both in Irelandand Scotland. in two different varieties, Irish(Gaelic) and Scottish Gaelic. Like Welsh, it is oneof the Celtic languages and thus part of the IndoEuropean languages. Although Irish has the thirdoldest literature in Europe after Latin and Greek,it has now been reduced to the language of aminority on the island of Ireland, spoken daily byabout 150,000 people, most of whom speak English aswell. It is spoken as a first language in countiessuch as Cork, Donegal, Galway and Kerry, as well asin smaller areas of the counties of Mayo and Meathand Waterford. Even though it is an officiallanguage of the country, it is in an endangeredstate, and as such it should be conserved.

Greek is the official language of Greeceand Cyprus. It has 13 million speakers in Greece,Cyprus, southern Albania, as well as in diasporacommunities all over the world and small traditionalpockets of speakers elsewhere in the easternMediterranean. In addition to the modern standardlanguage, there are many dialects. The language iswritten with the traditional alphabet inherited fromAncient Greek, from which it descends but from whichit also significantly differs. The impact of Greekupon the vocabulary of all languages, includingEnglish, has been enormous. Many prefixes such as,-poli (many), ‒tele (distance) andsuffixes such as -gram(letter), phobia, areused in the majority of languages. Modern Greekliterature started flourishing around 1600, andsince the nineteenth century there has been a steadystream of novels and poetry collections written inGreek.

The word “Arabic” can be used as acollective name for a large number of varieties,spoken in a vast area from the Persian Gulf toMauritania, often alongside of other locallanguages. It is also the term for Modern StandardArabic (a standardized variety that developed in theArabic world over a hundred years ago) and ClassicalArabic (the language used in the Quran and textsfrom the same period). The latter two varietiesdiffer mostly in vocabulary, and for Arabic speakersare variants of the same language. The identityconveyed by the term “Arabic” is so strong that itoverrides the many linguistic differences betweenthe varieties of the language. The written versionof the language is mostly the standard variety. LikeHebrew, Arabic is a Semitic language and it belongsto the Afro-asiatic language family. The Arabicscript dates back to the fourth century CE, and isalso used for many other languages in countries witha strong Islamic tradition. The Qur’an has beeninstrumental in giving shape to the extremely richArabic literary tradition, which covers many genres:poetry has been very important, as well as religiousstudies, surprisingly many cookbooks, but alsoplays, novels, and scholarly treatises. Only a smallpart of this tradition is known in the West. As isalready apparent from the writing system, words arecharacterized through their consonants, and vowelsadded for extra information.

Little need to introduce the Frenchlanguage here. It has lost quite a bit of its statusas a language of international communication, but itis spoken natively in most of France and parts ofBelgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, and Canada. It isthe official language of 29 countries (also of someislands in the Caribbean, Guadeloupe, Haiti,Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, French Guiana andSaint-Martin), but in many of these it is primarilyused as a second language. This also means thatthere is much diversity in the way French is spoken,although presumably there is a single “standard” inFrench, corresponding to educated Parisian French.There has been a large literature in French sincethe early Middle Ages. In the Francophone countries,including countries in Africa, authors write andpublish in French. French does not have the sameflexibility as Spanish to change the grammaticalorder of the parts of the sentence. For instance,existent dans notre monde“exist in our world” in the translationis the only order possible. France has theappearance now of a fairly monolingual country, butin earlier times, before the French Revolution andNapoleon in particular, the country was much moremultilingual. In the north there was a Dutchspeaking region, the Breton speaking area was muchlarger, in the southwest there was Gascon andBasque, in the south Provencal was widely spoken,and in the east Alsatian German was spoken. Inaddition, there were many dialects.

Catalan, catala or llengua catalana is aWestern Romance language derived from VulgarLatin.

On International Native Language Day, 2014, Hilda deWindt Ayoubi wrote a poem in Papiamento, “Lenga diMama” (Mother Tongue). A beautiful poem where thecontent speaks for itself.

I then tried to translate the poem into Dutch. It waspublished on the website of Stemmen van Africa,Voices from Africa (www.stemmenvanafrika. nl). Itsoon turned out that many more people thought it wasa beautiful poem, and in the course of time wereceived translations in more than fifty languages.The results from this prolific support is found inthis collection. It seems that time and time again,translators considered it worth the effort. The actof translation led to released emotions and newthinking. Hilda has supported this processenthusiastically during the years and deserves allthe praise for this publication.

The translators were not all professional translators,some had never thought they would ever translateanything, because very little was previously writtenin their own language. In this respect it seems alittle bit like Le PetitPrince (The LittlePrince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery,which, with translations in more than 300 languagesis the most translated book in the world after theBible. The Dutch film maker Marjoleine Boonstrarecently made a beautiful documentary about this,Het wonder van Le PetitPrince (The Miracleof Le Petit Prince) (IDFA, 2018).

Before you lies a smaller miracle. You may encounterthe poem in your own language, but it also invitesyou to discover all kinds of different languages,even several that you did not think you couldunderstand. Translating, recognizing, understanding:all of these contribute to making us become morehuman.

The reader of this book may wonder why, instead of theusual number of one or two languages for the prefaceand acknowledgements, six different languages areincluded in these sections. The first reason issimply that this book contains more than fiftytranslations of the main poem “Lenga di Mama”;adding these six languages in the opening sectionsof the publication builds on that consistency withthe idea of translingualism. The second reason, andperhaps the more important one, is that it reflectsthe language situation in the Dutch CaribbeanLeeward Islands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, where fivelanguages, namely Dutch, English, French,Papiamento, and Spanish, are included in the presentschool curriculum. A sixth language, Greek, was alsoincluded because it used to be part of thecurriculum at the secondary level in Curaçao, andalso because it was my wish to include one languagewith different letter signs. Moreover, approximatelyseven-teen percent of the vocabulary of thelanguages included in our curriculum are of Greekorigin.

As for the choice of translations of the poem “Lenga diMama”, one important criteria was that at leastfifty percent of the languages would be a minorityand/or an endangered language. In addition, then, atleast one translation from each language familywould be a minority language.

The other fifty percent of larger languages would thenserve as promoting media and information to theminority ones. It was our idea to include languagesfrom each continent. However, due to unforeseenCovid-19 circumstances, it was not possible toinclude indigenous languages of Australia.

Regarding the sequence of languages, instead ofalphabetically ordering the languages from eachlanguage family, we opted for a more visualstructure, that is, a more or less geographicalorder, moving mostly from north to south. For theCreole languages, we departed from the Caribbean,that is from Curaçao, the island where Papiamento isspoken, moving first towards the northern islands ofGuadeloupe, Haiti and Jamaica, then southwards tothe more southern islands, finally to Suriname forthe language of Sranantongo. After this, weproceeded to the West Coast of Africa for the CapeVerdean language, and finally to the Indian andPacific Ocean Creole languages.