Pontoppidan, Eric. 1887. Det dansk-vestindisk Kreolsprog. Tilskueren. 4:295-303.The Danish West Indian Creole Language.

Translated from Danish by Robin Sabino and Anne-Katrin Gramberg, Auburn University
with the assistance of Erik Goebel, Danish National Archives

The word creole (n., adj.), (Spanish: "criollo, probably derived from criar, to grow, increase) meaning `in the West Indian language', about the same as `native'; in our islands, a creole Negro, is a native born Negro, and a white creole, a native born white West Indian. Also an inanimate object as well as a language can be creole. The creole language grew up on West Indian soil and is, after a short lifetime, near death. Nowadays, one will hardly find anyone who can speak it, and I myself now consider this as a nearly dead language. More attention to it, while one may still find living sources who speak, it may recall it from oblivion, and I have also thought that Danish readers will find it pleasurable to make at least a fleeting acquaintance with the language which for 100 years has spoken in our West Indian possessions and which still goes under the designation "Danish-creole."

These days, as is known, English is the dominant language for our West Indian islands, not only the official language but also the daily vernacular for the white as well as the colored population. But this, certainly has not always been so, and the supremacy of the English language is actually comparatively recent.

In the beginning of the last century, the islands were colonized by a very mixed and motley population. Dutchmen, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Englishmen, and Danes at different times come to the land and afterwards cultivated it with the labor of imported African slaves. Among the white colonizers no nationality predominated, and no language was common among the population; everyone used his/her own mother tongue in his/her own circle and had partial understandings of the others; Native West Indians have always been a very multilingual folk. And the black slaves then gradually molded their own mixed language, collected from all of the available European elements, Dutch, French, Spanish, or Danish, in which the first named [i.e. Dutch] was the most strongly represented. That [language] became predominant in all three islands and in addition to being used among the slaves was employed reciprocally between them and their white masters, even becoming one day a sort of a lingua franca among the white creoles.

Around the middle of the 18th century, the slaves, which had thus far lived in a Godless state, were converted to Christianity by the Hernhuter missionaries, the so-called Moravians, (Maehrische Brothers), partly by the catechists that were sent from Denmark. These obviously needed to acquaint themselves with [the] creole language themselves and, in the beginning, they instructed the slaves orally. Soon there was the need for printed aides, and between 1765 and 1770 the first small books in creole were published: namely Psalm books, primers, and Luther's little catechism. In 1781 the New Testament, translated into creole, was published. Naturally the language which was created by half-civilized Negroes for daily use was too limited and too impoverished for thought and expression to satisfactorily represent any but the most mundane and everyday things, and it was therefore necessary to have recourse to the parent languages, especially to Dutch, in order to make it suitable for use in wider spheres. In that way, there emerged Hoch Kreol, which was used for literacy and for religious purposes, and the low creole which generally the Negroes spoke in their daily activities.

It can be said, as will be seen from the attached list of literature which is more or less complete, several books in creole were published untill well into this [i.e the 19th] century which all were of religious content: psalm books or devotional books. Religious services at the colored church continued to be in creole until the [18]30's. But in the meantime there was a linguistic change; English became, especially after the British occupation of 1807-1814, more and more prevalent while the creole, especially the high creole, and especially in town went into oblivion, so that children at confirmation instruction had to learn it as a foreign language. The last creole textbook was published in 1827, and in the middle of the [18]30's creole sermons were replaced by English ones.

These days, knowledge of creole has almost totally disappeared from St. Croix; and in the city on St. Thomas [i.e. Charlotte Amalie] one can find here and there old Negro women who can still speak can speak it, and of the white creoles some of the older generation, who remember it from their childhood. Out among the country Negroes it is better retained and in the more isolated and untouched island of St. John one can still hear old folk daily using creole with each with ease but even with greater facility and experience than English. But for the younger generation it is even there a dead language, and it will not be long until it will be completely forgotten and can live only in place names and perhaps in a few old proverbs and sayings. It was therefore already some years since I resided in the Islands, when I strove, with some difficulty and few useful sources, to become a little familiar with this old, funny and really quite interesting language, since the informants were mostly very old country negroes who could neither read and write, and whose ideas and vocabulary did not go beyond their closest circle. Beside this remnant of the living, spoken language one has the high creole Literature, which compared to the actual and original Negro language was regarded artificial and concocted so that the Negroes themselves barely understood and in some places seemed more like a bad Dutch. Thus the translator of the New Testament also states in the Foreword "It is necessary for spiritual matters to follow Dutch rather than the actual common language of the creoles, so I am obliged to give a warning that I have followed the same rules in this translation of the New Testament. I have followed the Creole manner of speaking overall, but I have not used the common words and language because that is not appropriate for so spiritual a matter." 1This is more Dutch-Danish than creole: As an example, using this variety to simply state a thing such as "spreeken" or "spraek" in ordinary creole "Tal dit Sprog", would sound like "Prat ju Tael". Also Magens himself in his grammar, after the introduction and catechism speaking of a Negro: "As one cannot correctly understand conversation or learn the actual creole ways of speaking which are used in the daily dealings, because the theological ways of speaking and its word use were mostly [patterned] after Dutch, etc."

I shall therefore in the following give special consideration to the actual creole, that which is spoken or perhaps more correctly spoken for daily use, I will instead of taking my examples from the printed material, employ a collection of proverbs, which for the most part, I have gotten from the oral tradition and which absolutely characterizes this simple and singular nature of the language.

Anyone who has lived with the Negroes, knows also the ease with which they use a foreign language. But ease of acquisition only goes so far. The quick acquisition of a small supply nouns, adjectives, verbs, and using them with great virtuosity is certainly far from having respect for grammatical rules. Grammar creates for them insurmountable difficulties even in such a simple and formless language as English. Even the Negroes who were born and bred on English possessions, hardly ever, or never, overcome [this], and one hears them use "I is," "you am," "me be," "a teeth," etc. just as often than the correct forms. The Negroes speak English, French, or Spanish accordingly, using the same method as a child with little respect for grammar; it is therefore not a wonder that the creole, which as an original Negro language fulfills all their needs, in that respect; that is, as one knows perfectly well and, as I dare say, it is ideal as it probably would be impossible to invent a simpler language, and, it [the creole] differs in a decent way from Madvig's Latin grammar by having next to no rules and no "irregularities."2

Another characteristic of the creole language is its wealth of proverbs of which a good deal are rather original and striking. Their material is always taken from the Negroes' narrow circles and for that reason there are domestic animals in many of them. Many of these bear witness to considerable insight and power of observation not generally associated with these lower members of the Negro associates [i.e. the animals]. They are used with striking frequency and one can hear such old Negroes carry on a conversation almost exclusively in proverbs and sayings. It seems as if an uncultivated person, who never looks over his narrow boundaries, observes movements in his familiar sphere sharply and correctly, and that proverbs and sayings, as stereotype forms of ideas which easily stamp themselves in memory by their repeated use, in many cases economize the work of elaborating new thoughts and expressions for that weak, untrained intelligence.

Among the languages which have contributed to the creole formulation, Dutch stands distinct in points in relation to Hoch Kreol. But when it comes to low creole, it is difficult to determine the origins of many words. It is necessary to remember that the informants are generally ignorant field Negroes who are illiterate and whose pronunciation often varies from location to location or across individuals. There are a great many words which are indeterminate between Dutch, Danish, and English; it is not easy to see the paternity one should assign [ a word] positively. Words like fes `fish,' pin `pain,' werk `work' and many others can just as well proceed from one as from the other language. On the other hand, one finds however, also rather pure Dutch, Danish and English words and their proportion answers to their order.3 The English contingent is in any case the smallest, perhaps barely as large as those which French and Spanish have provided. These last elements are naturally a part easy to distinguish. The French [words] are first of all those which have a more cosmopolitan distribution and are found in all languages like Pardoon, Plesier, Creatier, Consciensje, Permissje, Satisfacsje, Condisje, etc. There is also a whole series of verbs all with the ending eer like respekteer, assisteer, exkyseer, pardonneer, permitteer, trakteer, persoadeer, forceer, obserweer, murmureer. The same ending can be attached to words that are not French like feroneer, leweer, vermeer. The Spanish portion has numerous names for animals, plants and domestic utensils but one does, however, find such words as pará `prepare', cabá `complete', mata `kill.' On the whole it is difficult to find any system in this gathering of word stock, they use forms from [various] languages. In this way, loop means `go' and kurir means `run.'

Strangely enough there are extraordinarily few words of African origin. Among these are obeah, jumbi, Mumbo-Jumbi (meaning witchcraft and superstition) and possibly a few others.4

On the other hand, some [words] seem to be of pure creole origin and as often these are onomatopoeic forms such as gurru-gurru `throat,' pat-pat `duck'. Such a doubling or repetition of a word is specifically creole and often indicates a reinforcement of the expression or something which is a quickly repeating action, for example pik pik 5`collect, gather,' war war `truly,' heel heel, `entirely,'hoop hoop `big heap,' gau gau `very quickly,' fru fru `early in the morning,' soo soo `nothing at all,' voor voor `long before' (i.e. much earlier), gugue `very much, Na stik stik `piece by piece'.6

From all these words gathered together from everywhere has now been created a language characterized by having absolutely no morphology, for as a general rule words do not change shape. What in other languages would be called inflections and the like are out of the question and can but be expressed with articles and helping verbs.

Singular and plural are like this: een kabaj `a horse,' mussic kabaj, `many horses'. The genitive is expressed thusly: een man sie kabaj, a man's horse (literally a man his horse.) Emphatic plural can be expressed by adding a form: die man sender `men.'

Both nouns, adjectives and articles are invariant in gender and number: een maroon Pussie `a wild cat', twee maroon Neger, `two wild (run away) Negroes.

Comparison is formed with meer or meest.

The personal pronouns mi, ju, him, ons, ju, die, are also used as possessives: mi bang ju hund `I am frightened of your dog.'

Verbs are not conjugated at all, and tense is signaled by context, e.g., mi kik di kabaj `I see the horse'; mi kik die kabai, wanneer mi caba, `I shall see the horse when I am finished'; or conjugations are undertaken in careful language by expressing the perfective with the help of either ha or ka: mi ha kik I have seen,' future with the sa or lo: mi sa kik `I shall see.' One does not find a proper passive in the creole, but infrequently and mostly in Hoch Kreol a circumlocution with bin can be used: mi bin verfolgt `I was followed'.

As the intention here is not to write a grammar of the Creole language, but to outline its very simple structure, it might be expedient of give an impression thereof, as well of the character of the language as a whole, by providing some examples. I shall first present the Ten Commandments in Creole:

I. Mi bin die Heer, ju Godt, ju no sa ha niet een ander Godt meer as mi.

I am the Master, your God, you shall not have any other God more than me.

II. Ju no sa gebryk die Heer ju Godt sie Naem na een wissie-wassie Manier, fordimaek die Heer him sa straf sender, die le gebryk sie Naem voor soso.

You shall not use the Master your God's name in a wishie-washie manner, because the Master he shall punish those, who use his name in that way.

III. Dink op die Rest-Dag, dat ju hou him heilig.

Think on the rest day that you hold him holy.

IV. Respkteer ju Tata mi ju Mama, dat die kan loop ju frai, en dat ju dan leef lang na bobo die Aerde.

Respect your father and your mother, that they can go (??) you well, and that you then live long upon the earth.

V. Iu no sa mata niet en Volk.

You shall not kill any person.

VI. Iu no saa Luur.

You shall not lie.

VII. Iu no sa dief.

You shall not steal.

VIII. Iu no sa prat fals Getiegen teegen ju Naeste.

You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor.

IX. Iu no sa ha Sin ju Naeste sie Hus.

You shall not have desire for your neighbor his house.

X. Ju no sa ha Sin ju Naeste sie Wif, sie Meissie, sie Os, sie Borika en na niet een gut, die bin van him.

You shall not have desire for your neighbor's wife, his daughter, his ox, his mule and not anything that is his.

Creole Proverbs and Sayings

Een finger no kan fang lus.

`One finger can't catch lice.'

Kakerlak no ha bestel na hundu sji kot.

`Cockroach has nothing to do in his fowl house.'

Mi bin pober kakelak, no ha regt na Hundu-kot.

`I am a poor cockroach, I have no right in the fowl house.'

Hundu suk7 makutu, makutu tu him.

`The fowl goes towards the basket, the basket falls over it.'8

Pad mi long, cheambó 9 drog na sji boom.

`My path is long, fruit will dry on its tree.'

Blau diffie seg: wanner die regen caba, mi sal bau mi eigen hus.

`The Blue dove (a bird which builds a common nest) says: when the rain stops, I will build my own house.

Pobre folk no fo ha hart bran.10

`Poor people must not have warm heart.'

Na guj hart mak kabrita sji gat bin nabitti.

`His good heart causes the goat's bottom to be exposed.'

Wanneer de wind ris, ju fo kik hundu sie gat.

`When the wind rises, you can see the chickens' bottoms.'

Pobre no bin fraj.

`Poor is not good.'11

Hundu seg: mi kan sweer for mi eju, ma no fo mi kikinsji.

`The hen says: I can swear for my egg, but not for my chick.'

Na groot geest mak Krabbo no ha kop. Dens store Aand go/r

`Its large spirit causes the crab not have (a) head.'

Wanneer chekké sie flegon 12 ha breek, him suk fo how geselskap mit hundu.

`When the guinea hen broke its wing, then it looks for the chickens' company.'

Cocro no bang Slang, Slang no bang cocro.

`The crocodile is not afraid of the snake, the snake is not afraid of the crocodile.'

Water kok fo fes, fes no weet.

`The water is being boiled for the fish, but the fish doesn't know it.'

Kuj sie horn nojt sa bin swar fo him drag.

`The cow's horn never becomes too heavy for her to carry.'

Brambi fal na molassi, da sut him ka fen.

`The ant fell into the syrup because she found it sweet.'13

Bergi mit Bergi no kan tek, ma twee mens sal tek.

`Mountain can't meet with mountain, but two people have to meet.'

Mata mumma, du die before die kint, him sal jeet; mata kint, du die fo mumma, him no sal jeet, him sal kris.

`Kill the mother and serve her to the child, it [the child] wants to eat her; kill the child and serve it [the child] to the mother, she does not want to eat it, she will cry.

Wat ple ju bottle bin, mi glas bin.

`Where your bottle is, my glass is.'

Een man dodt een ander man brod.

`One man's death, another man's bread.'

No man suk sji eigen wif.14

`No man courts his own wife.'

Man dodt, besjet kurie na sji door.

`When a man is dead, grass grows in front of his door.'15

No fordimak pussje wander him fang rotter.

`It isn't because the cat wanders around that she catches rats.'

Krabbo no wander, him no kom fet; as him wander attofel, him sal loop na pot.

`If the crab doesn't move, she will not become fat; but if she walks around too much, she walks into the pot.'

Pampuen no kan parie kalbas.

`Pumpkin no can bear calabash.'

Hundu weet sie nest.

`Hen know her nest.'

Hundu wil sie kikintsji atofel.

`Hen loves her chicks too much.'

Hogo no ha door.

`Eye no have door.'

Leelik folk ha fraj gut.

`Bad people have good things.'

Hund ha fir fut, no kan loop twee pat.

`Dog have four feet, no can go [on] two paths.'

As ju no ha loop na Krabbo Gat, ju no sa hoor krabbo nyws.

`If you don't go to the crab hole, you won't hear the crab's news.'

As pober folk doot, Guwerneer no hoor; as rik Folk doot, Guwerneer ka hoor.

`When poor people die, [the] govenor doesn't hear, if rich people die, [the] Govenor has heard.'16

No na eenmal aleen Man kan suk wif.

`It's not once only [a] man looks for [his] wife.'

As die Fier ka yt, klein kint jump na die hassesje.17

`When the fire goes [the] small child jumps in the ashes.'

As Pussie ka slaep, rotto le kuri na flur.

`When the cat is asleep, [the] mice run on the floor.'18

As folk ka quaet na ju, sender gif ju makutu for tap water.

`When people are angry with you, they give you [a] basket to pour water [in].'

Twee slem no kan kok boontje na een pot.

`Two evil people can't cook beans in the same pot.'

Diefman no betrou sie Maet drag groot sak.

`[a] thief doesn't trust his mate to carry a big sack.'

As kukkubak flieg, him weet na welk boom him sa flieg.

`When the crow flies, he knows on which tree he will fly to.'

Makaku weet, na wat boom him sa klem.

`Monkey knows on what tree he shall climb.'

Die gut kan du stok, can du tou.

`The thing can do stick, can do rope.'

Die gut bin na slang bik, bin na kaketis bik vookal.19

`The thing [that] is in snake's belly, is in lizard's belly also.'

Pober folk no mut ha wil.

`Poor people must not have desires.

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