Surinamese Dutch
Surinaams-Nederlands
Signs like ZOUTVLEES PARADYS and GEACHTE KLANTEN HIER IS SOWTU.
Butcher signs in a Paramaribo market
Pronunciation[ˌsyːriˈnaːms ˈneːdərlɑnts]
Native toSuriname
Early forms
Dutch alphabet
Official status
Official language in
Suriname
Regulated byDutch Language Union
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
IETFnl-SR
Coordinates: 4°N 56°W / 4°N 56°W / 4; -56

Surinamese Dutch (Surinaams-Nederlands, pronounced [ˌsyːriˈnaːms ˈneːdərlɑnts]) is the form of Dutch spoken in Suriname and is the official language in Suriname, a former Dutch colony.[1] Dutch is spoken as a native language by about 80% of the population, most of them being bilingual with Sranan Tongo, Hindustani, Javanese, and other languages.[1] Nevertheless, Dutch is the sole official language of the country. Surinamese Dutch is easily intelligible with other forms of Dutch. Furthermore, as opposed to other languages that have different forms in the Americas (e.g., American English vs. British English) the regulation and thus standardised spelling of the Dutch language is done through a joint Dutch–Belgian–Surinamese organization, the Dutch Language Union, and thus has no regional differences regarding spelling.[2] Suriname has been an associate member of this Nederlandse Taalunie since 2004.[3] Therefore, many typical Surinamese words were added to the official Wordlist of Standard Dutch, known as "the Green Booklet" (Groene Boekje).

Surinamese Dutch is generally easily distinguishable from other standardized forms of Dutch due to the accent and some loanwords adopted from other languages spoken in Suriname.

Phonology

In Surinamese Dutch, the voiced fricatives /v, z, ɣ/ have completely merged into the voiceless fricatives /f, s, x/.[4]

History

Dutch was introduced in what is now Suriname when Paramaribo and its environs became a Dutch colony. The remainder of Suriname, however, remained in British hands.[5] Only after the Dutch had lost New Netherland (now New York) to the British did they in exchange receive the rest of Suriname. Then, Dutch became the language of communication between Native Surinamese, African slaves, and the Dutch colonial administration. In 1876, the language also became official in the Surinamese education system, and new immigrants from British India and the Dutch East Indies also picked up the language.[6] The immigrants also added features to spoken Dutch that are not present in the original European variants of Dutch.

References

  1. 1 2 "Suriname - The World Factbook". CIA.gov. CIA. 2023-11-14. Archived from the original on 2023-11-16. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  2. ↑ "Taalunie". Taalunie.org (in Dutch). Taalunie. Archived from the original on 2023-10-21. Retrieved 2023-11-16. De Taalunie ontwikkelt en stimuleert beleid voor het Nederlands in Nederland, Vlaanderen en Suriname, en ondersteunt het Nederlands in de wereld.
  3. ↑ "Suriname - Taalunie". Taalunie.org (in Dutch). Taalunie. Archived from the original on 2023-04-17. Retrieved 2023-11-16. Sinds 2004 is Suriname geassocieerd lid van de Taalunie.
  4. ↑ De Schutter (2013), pp. 448, 451.
  5. ↑ "Suriname country profile - BBC News". BBC.com. BBC News. 2023-11-13. Archived from the original on 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
  6. ↑ Diepeveen, Janneke; Hüning, Matthias (2016). "The status of Dutch in post-colonial Suriname" (PDF). neon.niederlandistik.fu-berlin.de. Freien Universität Berlin. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-11-16.

Sources

  • De Schutter, Georges (2013) [First published 1994], "14 Dutch", in van der Auwera, Johan; König, Ekkehard (eds.), The Germanic Languages, Routledge, pp. 439–477, ISBN 978-0-415-05768-4
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