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Languages of Aruba

Dutch may be the official language of Aruba, but Papiamento is the native language that evolved over the centuries from a blending of Dutch, Afro-Portuguese, Spanish, Arawak Indian, French and English. Essentially a Creole language, Papiamento has been considered a pidgin and is spoken by very few people, virtually all in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao ûknown as the ABC Islands of the Dutch Caribbean islands. The important point, however, is that although very few people (less than one half million) use Papiamento as their primary language, it is the language of the local people. The premise of this paper is that even though Papiamento is a mixture of several languages, and in spite of Dutch as the official government language since the 17th Century, and English the international language, Papiamento is the "mother tongue" of Aruba, and deserves to be held in the same high regard as other languages not just as a colorful dialect. Papiamento "is a language, not a dialect, and evolved from several older languages as most languages today have done" (Aruba û Travelguide.com).

According to linguistic scholars, "Arubans have an aptitude or an almost instinctive flair for languages. Four or even five languages as part of one conversation within a group is common, depending on who is being spoken to or who is doing the speaking" (Aruba û Travelguide.com).

The history of Papiamento is rooted in colonialism. When Holland occupied Aruba, and after colonialism kept Aruba as a present-day partner in the Netherlands Kingdom, the official language became Dutch, used to this day on government documents, street signs and in several local newspapers (Aruba û TravelGuide.com). Papiamento "is thought to have evolved in Curacao during the 16th Century, when slaves and their Spanish owners developed common ground in which to communicate" (Aruba û TravelGuide.com).

The word Papiamento comes from the Portuguese verb papear which means "to jabber" o...

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Languages of Aruba. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 11:07, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1693699.html