King42 at 04:33, 2 March 2026

2026-03-02T04:33:03Z

New page

{{Short description|Portuguese-based creole of western India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{Refimprove|date=December 2009}}
{{Expand Portuguese}}
{{Infobox language
|name = Daman and Diu Portuguese
|nativename = {{lang|idb-IN|Língua da Casa}}
|region = [[Damaon, Diu & Silvassa]], especially in the [[Daman district, India|Damaon]] and [[Diu district]]s.
|states = India
|speakers = 4,000 in Daman district and ca. 180 in Diu district
|date=2010
|ref=<ref name="http://www.openthemagazine.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/art-culture/the-death-of-an-indian-born-language |title=The Death of an Indian-born Language |last=Cardoso |first=Hugo |date=30 October 2010 |website=Open Magazine}}</ref>
|familycolor = Creole
|fam1 = [[Portuguese creole]]
|fam2 = [[Indo-Portuguese Creoles|Indo-Portuguese]]
|fam3 = [[Indo-Portuguese Creoles|Northern Indo-Portuguese]]
|isoexception=dialect
|ietf=idb-u-sd-indh
|glotto=dama1278
|glottorefname=Daman-Diu Portuguese
|lingua=51-AAC-agb
|map=[[File:MapaDamãoDiu.png|250px]]
|mapcaption=Damao and Diu in the Indian Union.
}}

The '''Daman and Diu Portuguese Creole''', {{langx|pt|'''Língua Crioula de Damãon e Dio'''}} & by its speakers as '''{{lang|idb-IN|Língua da Casa}}''' meaning "home language", refers to the variety of [[Indo-Portuguese creole]] spoken in the [[Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu]] ([[Damaon territory]]), in the northern [[Konkan region]] of India. Before the Indian annexation of the territory, the creole spoken by the Damanese natives underwent a profound [[decreolisation]] in the erstwhile [[Portuguese Goa and Damaon]] colony, a phenomenon whereby the Indo-Portuguese creole reconverged with [[European Portuguese]].

==Daman Indo-Portuguese==
The Daman creole is a descendant of the [[Norteiro Indo-Portuguese language|Norteiro creole]], spoken originally by the ''[[Norteiro people|Norteiro]]s'' on the coast from [[Chaul]], [[Vasai (Bassein)]], [[Bombay]], to [[Daman, India|Damaon]].

The [[Superstratum|superstrate]] language is Portuguese. The [[Substrata (linguistics)|substrate]] of the Daman creole is likely to be [[Konkani language|Konkani]]. [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] has also been suggested as a possible substrate, but this is doubtful since the [[Gujarati people]] moved into the area only ''after'' the Portuguese arrived.

==Diu Indo-Portuguese==
The Diu Indo-Portuguese or Diu Portuguese is spoken in [[Diu district]], [[India]]. It is a [[creole language]] based mainly on [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]. It is a member of the larger family of [[Indo-Portuguese creoles]], particularly close to the variety of Daman.<ref name="http://www.openthemagazine.com"/> There is a considerably vital oral tradition in this language, with songs regularly performed in Diu, elsewhere in India and among Indo-Portuguese communities abroad.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Cardoso |first=Hugo C. |date=2006-11-07 |title=Diu Indo-Portuguese at present |url=https://doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.21.2.04car |journal=Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=359–370 |doi=10.1075/jpcl.21.2.04car |issn=0920-9034|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Widely spoken in the past, it was first documented in the 19th century by the initiative of [[Hugo Schuchardt]].<ref>{{harvp|Schuchardt|1883}}</ref> At present, the language is spoken natively by most of the local Catholics, numbering about 180, but is potentially endangered by the pressure of other languages such as [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[English language|English]] and [[Portuguese language|standard Portuguese]].<ref name="http://www.openthemagazine.com"/><ref name=":2">Cardoso, Hugo (2009). ''The Indo-Portuguese language of Diu''. LOT. pp. 1–72.</ref>

=== Social Demographics of Diu Indo-Portuguese Speakers ===
The Roman Catholic Christian community of Diu is the only one that speaks Diu-Indo Portuguese at home and in every day activities.<ref name=":0" /> This is also the only community that speaks the creole natively, and teaches it to its younger generation.<ref name=":0" />

While some non-Christians claim to have working knowledge of the creole, Muslims and Hindus overwhelmingly speak Gujurati.<ref name=":0" /> They also speak Standard Portuguese due to regular emigration to Portugal for work or residential-related reasons.<ref name=":0" /> There are no class-based variations observed among speakers of Diu Indo-Portuguese, due to the small size of the speech community.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clements |first=J. Clancy |date=2009-12-31 |title=Accounting for some similarities and differences among the Indo-Portuguese creoles |journal=Journal of Portuguese Linguistics |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=23 |doi=10.5334/jpl.117 |doi-access=free |issn=2397-5563}}</ref>

While speakers of Diu Indo-Portuguese are relatively economically affluent compared to the entire population, this affluence cannot be attributed to the use of the language.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=Anchimbe |first=Eric A. |title=Chapter 1. Postcolonial linguistic voices: Stitching together identity choices and their representations |date=2011-10-14 |work=Postcolonial Linguistic Voices |pages=3–22 |url=https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110260694.3 |access-date=2025-11-24 |publisher=DE GRUYTER |doi=10.1515/9783110260694.3 |isbn=978-3-11-026066-3|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Rather, there is a stronger case of the link between economic affluence and speaking Standard Portuguese.<ref name=":1" /> Diu Indo-Portuguese speakers are also often fluent in Standard Portuguese as well, which explains their improved economic situation.<ref name=":1" />

=== Diu Indo-Portuguese Language Prestige ===
During Portuguese rule, Standard European Portuguese was considered more prestigious than Diu Indo-Creole. This was due to Standard Portuguese being the language of education, emigrants, Church authorities, and the ruling elites.<ref name=":1" />

This historical asymmetry has carried over into recent times. Diu Indo-Portuguese speakers prefer switching to Standard European Portuguese when they sense power asymmetries e.g. when speaking to perceived foreigners.<ref name=":1" /> Many who cannot switch as easily prefer conversing in English instead.<ref name=":1" /> This preference to not converse in the language, as well as the fact that a lot of speakers describe Diu Indo-Portuguese as "broken Portuguese", points to the low prestige associated with the language.<ref name=":0" />

However, there is still prestige associated with Diu Indo-Portuguese ''relative'' to other Indo-Portuguese languages. Many native speakers display pride in the fact that their language is closer to the European strain of Standard Portuguese.<ref name=":1" />

=== Reasons for Current Endangerment of Diu Indo-Portuguese ===
The greatest challenge to the language's stability and vitality is the extremely small size of its speaker population.<ref name=":2" /> At approximately 170 speakers, in 2006, Diu Indo-Portuguese is very susceptible to elimination via large immigration influxes.<ref name=":2" />

A large reason for the language's prevalence in the house life of Diuese was the institutional use of Standard Portuguese at work. However, there is only one institution that carries out its services in Standard Portuguese anymore: The Catholic Church.<ref name=":2" /> Furthermore, even the Church is beginning to adopt English as its official language of instruction, in line with the rest of the region.<ref name=":2" />

Considered a relic of the colonial age, Standard Portuguese has faced pressure from groups advocating for decolonization.<ref name=":2" /> These sentiments are also echoed by the younger generations of Diu, who prefer to converse in Gujarati, English, or even Hindi.<ref name=":0" /> Such pressures on Standard Portuguese will likely carry over to Diu Indo-Portuguese as well.<ref name=":2" /> This would mean that the language is considered an undesirable by-product of Portuguese colonialism.

==Number of speakers==
The Portuguese heritage in Daman is more common and lively than in Goa and this helped to keep the language alive. The language is spoken by an estimated number of 2,000 [[Damanese people|Damanese]].

Besides the {{lang|idb-IN|lingua da casa}}, Gujarati, Portuguese & Konkani are also found in the territory.

=== Number of Speakers of Diu Indo-Portuguese ===
The last official survey carried out in the region indiscriminately included both Diuese and Damanese people under the category of Christian. Therefore, testimonies from parish priests in Diu serve as better sources of population numbers.<ref name=":0" /> According to these testimonies, dated to 2006, there were 250 Christians in Diu.<ref name=":0" /> Of these, only 200 were native-born. Allowing for a small margin of natives who were not aware of Diu Indo-Portuguese for one reason or another, it is estimated that the language had 170 speakers in 2006.<ref name=":0" />

According to the most recent 2011 National Survey in India, only 202 people in India identify as Christian.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cardoso |first1=Hugo C. |last2=Pombo |first2=Pedro |date=2018-01-02 |title=Diu and the Diuese: Indian Ocean, Heritage, and Cultural Landscape |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02666030.2018.1439435 |journal=South Asian Studies |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.1080/02666030.2018.1439435 |issn=0266-6030}}</ref> Accounting for further non-native Christian immigration suggests that the Diu Indo-Portuguese speaking population is likely on the decline since 2006.

==See also==
*[[Kristi language]]
*[[Portuguese in Goa and Bombay]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
;Daman
* {{Cite book |title=Dialecto indo-português de Damão |last=Dalgado |first=Sebastião Rodolfo |year=1903 |location=Lisbon }}
;Diu
* {{Cite book |url=http://schuchardt.uni-graz.at/werk/online/772 |title=Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften |last=Schuchardt |first=Hugo |year=1883 |volume=103 |location=Wien |pages=3–18 |chapter=Kreolische Studien III. Ueber das Indoportugiesische von Diu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223164949/http://schuchardt.uni-graz.at/werk/online/772 |archive-date=23 December 2014 }}
* {{Cite book |url=https://www.lotpublications.nl/Documents/210_fulltext.pdf |title=The Indo-Portuguese language of Diu |last=Cardoso |first=Hugo C. |publisher=LOT |year=2009 |isbn=978-9078328872 }}
* {{Cite journal |last=Cardoso |first=Hugo C. |date=2018 |title=The Creole of Diu in Hugo Schuchardt's Archive |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323917802 |journal=South Asian Studies |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=17–32 |doi=10.1080/02666030.2018.1440058 |s2cid=192346477 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* [https://apics-online.info/surveys/39 APiCS Online - Survey chapter: Diu Indo-Portuguese]

{{Portuguese Creoles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daman and Diu Indo-Portuguese}}
[[Category:Portuguese-based pidgins and creoles]]
[[Category:Portuguese-language dialects]]
[[Category:Konkan]]
[[Category:Portuguese diaspora in Asia]]
[[Category:Daman and Diu]]
[[Category:Portuguese language in Asia]]

Daman and Diu Portuguese Creole - Revision history

King42 at 04:33, 2 March 2026