Cape Verde Language - Most Cape Verdeans speak Portuguese Creole
Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony until 1975, when it gained independence. The official language is Portuguese, but the majority of the population uses Creole as their national language. The Portuguese Creole combines the various influences of people who were part of the history of the Cape Verde Islands, namely languages brought by African slaves mixed with the Portuguese, English and French.
Creole language variants are found in the different islands that make up the island country. Cape Verdean Creole seems like a simplification of Portuguese phonetics, which suppressed concordance of gender and number. Creole is a source of pride and a factor of unity for the people and of the Cape Verde Language.
The majority of Cape Verdeans communicate almost entirely in Creole. This is a factor in the difficulty for them to accede to higher levels of education. Those who do not speak Portuguese are not using any written material produced by Brazil and Portugal. In the long term we will see what will be best for the country. Having their own language (a source of pride for Cape Verde people) or use the Portuguese language, that gives them access to wider opportunities.
Examples of Creole language;
Cape Verde language
língua cabo-verdiana in Portuguese, língua kabuverdianu in Creole.
Do you speak English?
Fala inglês? in Portuguese, Bu ta papia inglês? in Creole.
My name is…
Meu nome é… in Portuguese, Nha nomi e… in Creole.
We don’t drink
Nós não bebemos… in Portuguese, Nú câ tâ bebê … in Creole.
white dress
Vestido branco in Portuguese, bistídu bráncu in Creole.
white shirt
Camisa branca in Portuguese, camísa bráncu in Creole.
Hello
Olá.. in Portuguese, Oi.. in Creole.
Goodbye
Até logo.. in Portuguese, Txao.. in Creole.
Good/Excellent
Bom/Excelente in Portuguese, Fixe in Creole.
Enjoy your Cape Verde Holidays and do practice the Cape Verde Language. It really is very colourful!
