Kristang language

Not to be confused with Portugis.
Papia Kristang
Malaccan Creole Portuguese
Kristang
Native toMalaysia, Singapore
Native speakers
2,200 (2007)[1]
Portuguese Creole
  • Malayo-Portuguese Creole
    • Papia Kristang
Language codes
ISO 639-3mcm
GlottologNone
mala1533  Malacca–Batavia Creole
ELPMalaccan Creole Portuguese
Linguasphere51-AAC-aha
Kristang is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Papia Kristang or Kristang is a creole language spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and indigenous Malay ancestry, chiefly in Malaysia (Malacca), Singapore and Perth, Australia.

In Malacca, the language is also called Cristão, Portugues di Melaka ("Malacca Portuguese"), Linggu Mai ("Mother Tongue") or simply Papia ("speak"). In Singapore, it is generally known as Kristang, where it is undergoing sustained revitalisation.[2]

In Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010; formerly the Red Book of Endangered Languages) published by UNESCO, Kristang is classified as a "severely endangered"[3] language, with only about 2,000 speakers. Up to 2014, linguists concerned with Kristang have generally accepted a combined speaker population of about 1,000 individuals or less. The language has about 750 speakers in Malacca.[4] A small number of speakers also live in other Portuguese Eurasian communities in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and in other diaspora communities in Canada, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.[5]

  1. ^ Papia Kristang at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Teo, Chee Hean (20 June 2019). "DPM Teo Chee Hean at the first Kristang Language Festival Gala Dinner". Prime Minister's Office of Singapore. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  3. ^ Moseley, Christopher (2012). The UNESCO atlas of the world's languages in danger. World Oral Literature Project. ISBN 978-92-3-104096-2.
  4. ^ Baxter (2005), p. 16
  5. ^ Baxter, Alan N. (1988). A Grammar of Kristang (Malacca Creole Portuguese) (PDF). Pacific Linguistics Series B - No. 95. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/pl-b95. hdl:1885/145643. ISBN 0-85883-375-1.