A Dutch creole is a creole language whose main lexifier is the Dutch language, a West Germanic language of the Low Countries. These creoles usually developed from Dutch-based pidgins or through language mixing where Dutch served as a major influence.
Most Dutch-based creoles originated in Dutch colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia, after the 17th century expansion of Dutch maritime trade network and naval power. Almost all of them are now extinct, while two known varieties are classified as "critically endangered" and nearing extinction. The extinction has generally been attributed to a wilful cultural and generational language shift towards standard Dutch or the majority language of the area with each successive generation.
Afrikaans is considered to be a daughter language of Dutch[1][2] and it, by contrast, is vibrant and has completely displaced Dutch in southern Africa, primarily South Africa and Namibia. Though not a majority-held position, it is considered by some linguists to be a creole because of its simplified grammar relative to Dutch.[3][4]
List
The following is a list of described Dutch creoles with their locale and status:
| Creole | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Berbice[5] | Guyana | extinct[6] |
| Skepi | Guyana | extinct[7] |
| Negerhollands[8] | U.S. Virgin Islands | extinct[8] |
| Petjo | Indonesia, Netherlands (immigrant population) | extinct or critically endangered |
| Javindo[9] | Indonesia | critically endangered[10] |
| Mohawk Dutch | United States | extinct |
| Jersey Dutch (Bergen Dutch) | United States | extinct |
Dutch has also made a significant contribution to other creoles:
- Papiamento — based mostly on Portuguese and Spanish, spoken in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
- Saramaccan — based mostly on English, Portuguese and African languages, spoken in Suriname
- Sranan Tongo — based mostly on English, spoken in Suriname
- Manado Malay — based on Malay with a significant number of Dutch vocabulary, spoken in the city of Manado, Indonesia
Despite its name, Pennsylvania Dutch is not descended from Dutch, but is a variety of West Central German.[11]