Cabo Verde Languages

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Cabo Verde

Languages

Description

Cabo Verde's official language is Portuguese. It is the language of instruction and government. It is also used in newspapers, television, and radio.

Cape Verdean Creole or Kriolu is used colloquially and is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans. The national constitution calls for measures to give it parity with Portuguese. Cape Verdean Creole is a dialect continuum of a Portuguese-based creole. There is a substantial body of literature in Creole and has been gaining prestige since the nation's independence from Portugal.

The differences between the forms of the language within the islands have been a major obstacle in the way of standardization of the language. Some people have advocated the development of two standards: a Barlavento standard in the north, centered on the São Vicente Creole, and a Sotavento standard in the south, centered on the Santiago Creole.

Dialects of the different islands

• Barlavento Creoles are spoken in the Barlavento Islands
  • Boa Vista
  • Sal
  • Santo Antão
  • São Nicolau
  • São Vicente
• Sotavento Creoles are spoken in the Sotavento Islands
  • Brava
  • Fogo
  • Maio
  • Santiago

Word List(s)

Portuguese

• Portuguese Genealogical Word List

Cape Verdean Creole

• Cape Verdean Creole Word List Examples at Wikipedia
• Useful phrases in Cape Verdean Creole at Omniglot

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Portuguese

• Portuguese Alphabet and Pronunciation at Wikipedia
• Portuguese Alphabet and Pronunciation at Omniglot

Cape Verdean Creole

• Vowels at Wikipedia
• Consonants and semi-vowels at Wikipedia

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Portuguese

• Portuguese Letter Writing Guide at FamilySearch
• García, Teresa Alvarez, Sinda López Fuentes, and Ana Frankenberg-Garcia. Portuguese dictionary. Bishopbriggs, Glasgow: Collins, 2018. Available at: WorldCat.

Cape Verdean Creole

• Sentence structure at Wikipedia
• Nouns at Wikipedia
• Personal pronouns at Wikipedia
• Verbs at Wikipedia
• Adjectives at Wikipedia
• Quint, Nicolas. Dictionnaire français-cap-verdien : créole de Santiago = Diccionário francês-cabo-verdiano : crioulo santiaguense. Paris: Harmattan, 1997. Available at: WorldCat.

Additional Resources

• Gonçalves, Manuel, and Lelia Lomba De Andrade. Learn to speak Cape Verdean Creole = Pa nu papia Kriolu : a new Cape Verdean language book. Dorchester, MA: Manuel Gonçalves, 2004. Available at: WorldCat.
• Quint, Nicolas, and Rebecca Mitchell. Let's speak Capeverdean : language and culture. London: Battlebridge Publications, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.