Description

This phrasebook contains terms and phrases in Papiamento, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch. The book is arranged by topic.

Papiamento is a Creole language containing elements of Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English and French, as well as Arawakan and African languages. It is spoken by about 330,000 people in Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba, which were formerly known as the Netherlands Antilles. There are also Papiamento speakers in the Netherlands and Sint Maarten. In Curaçao and Bonaire the language is known as Papiamentu, and it is known as Papiamento in Aruba. Many Papiamento speakers are multilingual and are also able to speak Dutch, English and Spanish.

Papiamento has been an official language of Aruba since May, 2003. Papiamentu, Dutch and English are the official languages of Curaçao; Papiamentu and Dutch are official in Bonaire, and in Aruba the official languages are Papiamento and Dutch.