Ndyuka

Ndyuká (pronounced /(ɛ)nˈdʒuːkə/ in English), also called Aukan, Ndyuká tongo, Aukaans, or Okanisi, is a creole language of Suriname. Most of the 25 to 30 thousand speakers live in the interior of the country, which is a part of the country covered with tropical rainforests. Ethnologue lists two related languages under the name Ndyuka.

Ndyuka is based on English vocabulary, with influence from African languages in its grammar and sounds. For example, the difference between na "is" and ná "isn't" is tone; words can start with consonants such as mb and ng, and some speakers use the consonants kp and gb. (For other Ndyuka speakers, these are pronounced kw and gw. For example, the word "to leave" is gwé or gbé, from English "go away".) There are also influences from Portuguese and other languages.

Modern orthography differs from an older Dutch-based orthography in substituting u for oe and y for j. The digraphs ty and dy are pronounced more or less like English ch and j. Tone is infrequently written, though it is required for words such as ná "isn't". The syllabic Afaka script was devised for Ndyuka in 1908.

The Ndyuka language has three dialects, Ndyuka proper or Aukan, Aluku, and Paramaccan, which are ethnically distinct. Kwinti is distinct enough linguistically to be considered a separate language, though it too is sometimes included under the name Ndyuka.

The Ndyuka and related people are of African descent and identify themselves as Maroon (people)s. They were shipped as slaves to Suriname about 300 years ago to work on English colonial plantations. Those who escaped fled deep into the rain forests where they established communities along rivers in eastern Suriname and parts of neighboring French Guiana and where their culture adopted elements of Native American cultures.

In the last decades of the 20th century a large number of the Ndyuka people have moved from their ancestral villages to the coast, especially in and around Paramaribo, the country's capital.

See also

• Maroon (people)
• Afaka script

External links

• Ndyuka at Ethnologue
• Aukan-English Language Learning Library
• Entry for Ndyuka at Rosetta Project

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