Papiamento (also called Papiamentu) is spoken in the three Leeward
Islands of the Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao)
where it is co-official with Dutch. Papiamento is a
creole language that is mainly based on Spanish, but
it has also been influenced by Portuguese, Dutch,
English, French and other languages. The following
table shows a few examples of Papiamento's heterogenous vocabulary:
Papiamento word | Origin |
---|---|
imahinashon | from Spanish imaginación (imagination) |
yegada | from Spanish llegada (arrival) |
shen | from Spanish cien (hundred) |
wòchmèn | from English watchman |
erkondeshen | from English air condition |
wustein | from Dutch woestijn (desert) |
hür | from Dutch huur (rent) |
zjilèt | from French gilet (waistcoat) |
wowo | eye, perhaps related to Yoruba wò (to look) |