Kriolu the local language of Cape Verde
Report from T a resident of Santa Antao
Kriolu is the language spoken by all Cape Verdeans. It’s the
first language, and is spoken in the home, on the streets, between
couples, at bars and on the beach, amongst family and friends. When
children learn to speak, they learn kriolu. It is, for the most
part, not yet a written language. (I’ve found only one book
printed in kriolu, and that was on Praia.) Each of the inhabited
islands has its own particular dialect of kriolu, and oftentimes
dialects can even differ from village to village within the same
island. Although all the dialects are closely related, there are
big differences in vocabulary, pronunciation, syntax, grammar and
punctuation. Consequently, a stranger to the islands might hear
someone speaking the Badiu kriolu of Fogo and someone else the Sanpadjudo
kriolu of Santo Antao, and think they were speaking two completely
different languages. (This presents an especially difficult challenge
to Americans, as we all learn the badiu of Santiago, but are then
shipped off to various islands and forced to learn a new kriolu
once at site.) Cape Verdeans can, for the most part, understand
all of the various dialects, although each island would claim that
their particular version was mex seb, (better…as we’d
say here on Santo Antao).
Portuguese however, is the language that is spoken in schools,
government offices, and on the television. All written documents
and books in Cape Verde are printed in Portuguese. During classes
at all the schools, teachers teach in Portuguese, and the students
respond in Portuguese. When the kids head into the hallways during
a break, they speak to one another in kriolu, then return to the
classroom, and to conversing in Portuguese. Homework and papers
are completed in Portuguese.
