An Introduction to Sranan Heather Johnson May 4, 2006 LING 455

Sranan Overview  English-lexifier Creole  Substrates include: Dutch, Gbe, Kikongo and Twi.  The lingua franca of Surinam, South America. Also spoken in Aruba, the Netherlands Antilles, and the Netherlands  Approximately 500,000 speakers  300,000 of which are L1

Sociolinguistic History  English colony:  English influence ended by 1680  Dutch colony:  : Importation of ~200,000 slaves  Formative period of Sranan:  In this time, 90% of slaves were from: Togo, Benin, Gabon, Congo, Zaire and Angola.  Thus, Gbe, Kikongo and Twi can be assumed to have played a large role in creolization.

Sociolinguistic History  Life expectancy of slaves in 18 th C Surinam was 5-10 years.  At emancipation in 1863, only 36,000 of the imported black population remained.  Low birth rates, high death rates and high levels of immigration disrupted normal language acquisition and transmission processes.

Current Sociolinguistic Setting  Official language of Surinam is Dutch  Dutch used for education and other official purposes.  Sranan, the lingua franca, is used in day- to-day functions.  Public information is increasingly found in Sranan.

Creole Continuum?  Despite replacing English early in its history, no true Dutch-Sranan continuum exists.  Code-switching and mixed language varieties do exist.

Phonological Features  Consonants: Labial Dental/Alveolar PalatalVelar Labial Dental/Alveolar PalatalVelar  Stops p bt d ty dyg k  Fricatives s syx  Nasals mn nyŋ  Liquids l r  Glides w y  Due to different English dialectal influences, rhotic and non- rhotic lexical items exist  Ex: ‘fara’ glossed as ‘far’ and ‘fo’ glossed as ‘four’

Phonological Features  Vowels: Front Back Front Back  High /i//u/  Mid / ɛ // ɔ /  Low/a/  Nasals: All five vowels can also be nasalized.  Syllables are typically CV, with vowel harmony in CVCV words.

Morphological Features  Derivational Morphology  Suffixation: “-maN” “-waN” is added to verbs, adjectives and nouns.  Examples:takimaN: speaker lobiwaN: loved one  Reduplication: Both productive (diminutive) and nonproductive (deverbal nominalizations).  Examples: fatu: fat fátufátu: a little fat  Bow: to build bówbow: to build in different places  kaN (V): to comb kaNkáN/káNkaN (N): comb

Morphological Features  Compounding: Used greatly in Sranan and is the favored way to create new words.  The three most common types are: noun-noun, adjective-noun and verb-noun.  Examples: agu-meti pig-meat pork dungru-oso dark-house prison  Ideophones: An African feature, usually used as an intensifier:  Examples: A blaka so pii. He is so very black. A weti so faan. He is so very white.

Syntactic Features  Strict SVO order  Questions are formed by raised intonation.  TMA Markers: Past tense is unmarked.  “e” is used as a present progressive marker  “o” is used as a future marker, from “go”  A ferfi a oso. He painted the house.  A e ferfi a oso. He is painting the house.  A o ferfi a oso. He is going to paint the house.

Syntactic Features  Serialization: Serial verbs are used to express direction, argument, degree and aspect in addition to the expression of action.  Examples:  Mi teki fisi seri. Prani a karu gi yu.  1sg take fish sell Plant the corn give 2sg  “I sold the fish.” “Plant the corn for you.”

Lexical Example

 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. 6.There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7.The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. 8. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Sound File  Opo Kondreman: National Anthem Of Surinam  Sranan English Opo kondreman un opo Rise country men, rise Sranangron e kari un. The soil of Surinam is calling you. Wans ope tata komopo Where ever our ancestors came from Wi musu seti kondre bun. We should take care of our country. Strey de’f strey wi no sa frede, We are not afraid to fight Gado de wi fesi man. God is our leader. Eri libi te na dede Our whole life until our death, Wi sa feti gi Sranan. We will fight for Surinam.

Bibliography  Arends, Jacques et al. (1995). Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  Opo Kondreman.  Sebba, Mark. (1987). The Syntax of Serial Verbs. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.  Sranan.  The Bible in Sranan.