Annobonese language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Fá d’Ambô
Native to Equatorial Guinea
Region mainly on Annobón island; some speakers on Bioko island
Native speakers 2,500[1][2]  (date missing)
Language family
Portuguese creoles
  • Afro-Portuguese creoles
    • Gulf of Guinea creoles
      • Fá d’Ambô
Language codes
ISO 639-3 fab
Linguasphere 51-AAC-ae

The Annobonese language, known to its speakers as Fá d'Ambô or Fa d'Ambu (Portuguese: Fala de Ano-Bom), is spoken by 2500 in the Annobon and Bioko Islands off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, mostly by people of mixed African, Spanish, and Portuguese descent.

Annobonese is a Portuguese creole. Its names in the Portuguese language are o falar de Ano Bom, anobonense or anobonês, and it is called annabonense, annobonense or annobonés in Spanish.

Contents

Origins [edit]

The language was spoken originally by the descendants of intermixing between Portuguese men and African women slaves imported from other places, especially from São Tomé and Angola, and therefore descends of Portuguese and Forro.

Features [edit]

Annobonese is analogous to Forro. In fact, it must be derived from Forro as it shares the same structure (82% of its lexicon). After Annobon passed to Spain, the language gained some words of Spanish origin (10% of its lexicon), although it is difficult to be sure, given the similarity between Spanish and Portuguese. Today, the Spanish language is the official language of the island. Portuguese is used as liturgical language. Portuguese is being restored as an official language in Equatorial Guinea.

References [edit]

  1. ^ Ethnologue
  2. ^ Holm, John A. (1989). Pidgins and Creoles: Reference Survey. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. p. 277. ISBN 978-0-521-35940-5. 

External links [edit]