Малайзиядағы португал-малай тілі: Папиа Кристанг

Creole language spoken in Malaysia

Papia Kristang or Kristang is a creole language spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and indigenous Malay ancestry, chiefly in Malaysia (Malacca), Singapore and Perth, Australia. In Malacca, the language is also called Cristão, Portugues di Melaka ("Malacca Portuguese"), Linggu Mai ("Mother Tongue") or simply Papia ("speak"). In Singapore, it is generally known as Kristang, where it is undergoing sustained revitalisation. In Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010; formerly the Red Book of Endangered Languages) published by UNESCO, Kristang is classified as a "severely endangered" language, with only about 2,000 speakers. Up to 2014, linguists concerned with Kristang have generally accepted a combined speaker population of about 1,000 individuals or less. The language has about 750 speakers in Malacca and another 100 in Singapore. A small number of speakers also live in other Portuguese Eurasian communities in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and in diaspora communities in Perth (Western Australia), Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

Its original endonym Papia Kristang is taken from Portuguese papear cristão ("to chat Christian"). An alternate etymology supporting the differentiation of the Kristang ethnicity and language from the Christian religion as part of revitalisation efforts in Singapore was also proposed in 2022, namely a portmanteau of Greek χρυσός (chrysos, meaning gold) and Dutch steen (stone). The papia element of the Papia Kristang is further cognate with Papiamento, another Portuguese based creole spoken in the Dutch West Indies.

The Kristang language originated after the conquest of Malacca (Malaysia) in 1511 by the Portuguese Empire. Until a takeover by the Dutch in 1642, Malacca served as one of the key ports in the trade and administration network of Portuguese establishments along with Goa and Hormuz, allowing Portugal control over main Asiatic trade routes. The lingua franca of Malacca then was a pidginised form of Malay known as Bazaar Malay or Melayu Pasar, used amongst the resident foreign population which then consisted mainly of Javanese, Tamils and Hokkien Chinese. The constant traffic of Portuguese and traders of other origins such as India eventually gave birth to Papia Kristang, one of many Portuguese derived contact languages which resulted from Portuguese colonial expansion during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A pidgin Portuguese preceding the Kristang creole has also been proposed, whereby a reduced system based on Portuguese converges with other languages present in the contact situation. Even after Portugal lost Malacca and almost all contact in 1641, the Kristang community largely preserved its language. The demographics of Malacca in the mid 17th century was still predominantly made up of the Portuguese even under Dutch control. The Irmang di Greza (Brothers of the Church), a manifestation of the bond between language and religion in the Kristang culture, acted as an intermediary between the priest and the remnants of the Portuguese population despite prohibition by the Dutch. Liturgy and pastoral sessions were conducted in Kristang in Malacca, which contributed to the longevity of the language into a period as late as the 20th century. Kristang also had a substantial influence on Macanese, the creole language spoken in Macau, due to substantial migration from Malacca after its conquest by the Dutch.

The ceding of Malacca by the Dutch to the British via the Anglo Dutch Treaty of 1824 directly caused the decline of the Kristang language. By the mid 19th century, many Kristangs flocked towards clerical and auxiliary positions provided by their new colonial masters. As such, the Kristang language saw a decline in use compared to English. In addition, the rising affluence of the region meant more job opportunities, resulting in many Kristangs moving away from Malacca. Moreover, the language is not taught at school, although there are still some Church services in Kristang. In the context of Singapore, Kristang arrived in the 1820s due to the large influx of Eurasian immigrants from Malacca. This resulted in a Kristang speaking community large enough for the variety of the language spoken in Singapore to be acknowledged as a distinct variety of Creole Portuguese. However, there was little exposure and recognition of Kristang in Singapore, especially when English became entrenched as the sole language of education and the major language used in most spheres of society after the country gained independence in 1965. As a result, the intergenerational transmission of Kristang ceased almost completely. The upkeep of Kristang can largely be attributed to its connection with the dominant religion of the Portuguese and their relative social standing in their communities between the 1600s to the late 1800s. The core Kristang speaking communities gradually eroded due to better socioeconomic opportunities elsewhere. Post World War Two, the new generation of Catholic priests that arrived to replace the pre war priests who had been executed demonstrated little sensitivity towards the Kristang language and culture. Eventually, the bond between Kristang and religion was severed due to the association of the Portuguese Mission with the St Xavier's Church. Migration overseas and intermarriage with other nationalities have also led to Kristang speakers leaving the Portuguese Settlement in order to live and work in other parts of Malaysia. Furthermore, the dominantly Kristang speaking middle class gradually began to speak English for practical reasons, altering the prestige of English with regards to Kristang. To many in the community, they grew to accept that speaking English was a key to employment instead of Kristang, facilitating a breakdown in the transmission of Kristang.

Papia Kristang is facing a steep decline in language use within the community. There has been an apparent language shift to English and Bahasa Malaysia due to the reduced prestige and accessibility of Kristang. However, revitalization efforts have begun in recent years in both the Portuguese Settlement in Singapore and Malacca. Such efforts have seen some success, nearly tripling the number of Kristang speakers of varying fluency.

The revitalisation of Papia Kristang in Singapore can be largely attributed to the Kodrah Kristang ('Awaken, Kristang') initiative led by Kevin Martens Wong, This long term revitalisation initiative seeks to revitalize the language by teaching it to a new generation of learners through complementary classes and the provision of online materials. Kodrah Kristang initially began with a small group of 14 people, eventually developing into a thorough Kristang revitalisation plan known as the Kaminyu di Kodramintu (Path of Awakening). The goals of the plan are twofold. Firstly, it sought to create a sizable pool of 50 100 new adults speakers who have acquired Kristang as a secondary language, speaking it alongside 75 100 elderly speakers. The subsequent focus will then be placed on intergenerational transmission. These estimates were made based on comparisons with other revitalized languages such as Hawaiian. In 2017, they also held the first Kristang Language Festival which was attended by more than 1,400 people, including the Portuguese Eurasian community in Singapore and Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean. The project includes an audio course on Soundcloud, known as Kontah Kristang and a vocabulary course on Memrise, known as Kriseh Kristang. The success of the Memrise project has "inspired the start of similar projects among speakers of other Indigenous languages," like Unangam Qilinĝingin to teach the Aleut language spoken in Alaska. A Kristang Online Dictionary was also launched at the Kristang Language Festival. The project, Pinchah Kristang: A Dictionary of Kristang, is led and developed by Luís Morgado da Costa based on the WordNet system developed at Nanyang Technological University. This dictionary also supports another initiative known as the Jardinggu, or Kristang Lexical Incubator based on a new word formation process called sunyeskah or dreamfishing. Initiated in April 2017, the Jardinggu provided a space for the discussion and accelerated addition of new words into the Kristang lexicon. Through this initiative, around 320 new lexemes for concepts that were previously represented by English loans have been suggested by the Kodrah community.

The Kristang speaking community located at the Portuguese Settlement, or Padri sa Chang (“The Priest’s Land”) was able to undertake more sustained revitalisation efforts and publicise itself to non Eurasian Malaysians, and the language. Notably with texts, stories and phrasebooks in Kristang produced by Joan Margaret Marbeck and through investments and interest from individuals and organisations outside the community. Joan Marbeck has produced three publications: Ungu Adanza (An Inheritance), Linggu Mai (Mother Tongue) and the Kristang Phrasebook. She is also credited with writing probably the only play in Kristang, called Seng Marianne (Without Marianne) and was also instrumental in staging a musical in Kristang Kazamintu no Praiya which translates to 'Wedding on the beach'. Within the community, there were efforts made together with the help of academics to promote their culture and the Kristang language. In 1988, Alan Baxter published A grammar of Kristang based on his fieldwork within the community. as well as the University of Malaya and linguists like Dr. Stefanie Pillai, who have produced a CD of Kristang hymns, and in plans of developing Kristang textbook for beginners. Along with Malacca Portuguese Eurasian Association (MPEA) president Michael Gerald Singho, they published a textbook, Beng Prende Portugues Malaká (Papiá Cristang), also known as Come, Let's Learn Portugues Malaká (Papiá Cristang) for people who want to learn Kristang. The association also maintains an active Facebook page aimed at sharing and promoting information related to the Kristang language the Kristang way of life.

Much of the lexicon for Kristang numbers draws influence from Portuguese, a Romance language. However, unlike Portuguese, which distinguishes between the masculine and feminine forms of “one” (um/uma) and “two” (dois/duas), numbers in Kristang do not inflect for gender. EnglishKristangPortugueseMalayoneungua/ngua um (masc.) / uma (fem. )satutwodosdois (masc.) / duas (fem. )duathreetrestrêstigafourkatruquatroempatfivesingkucincolimasixsezseisenamsevensetisetetujuheightoituoitolapanninenubinovesembilantendesdezsepuluh