Malabar Indo-Portuguese Creole faces extinction, says linguist from Lisbon

He also discussed the now-extinct Indo-Portuguese Creole that was spoken in and around Fort Kochi and Vypin.

Dr Hugo Cardoso also recollected his earlier visits to different parts of Kerala to unearth evidence of various forms of the Creole as part of his doctoral research. (Photo | Rakesh Anand, Express)

KOCHI: The Malabar Indo-Portuguese Creole language, which originated with the arrival of the Portuguese on the shores of Kerala has been reduced to a handful of speakers in Kannur today and it is on the verge of fading away, said Dr Hugo Cardoso, professor of Linguistics at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, while delivering a talk at the Kerala Museum in Edappally recently.

Dr Cardoso, who has made inroads into the research on Portuguese-lexified creole languages in Asia, was speaking on the topic “Researching the Indo-Portuguese Creole Languages” during an event hosted by the Aazhi Archives and Uru Art Harbour in association with the Mar Chrysostom Chair of MG University and Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR).

Dr Cardoso spoke at length on the Malabar Creole which is confined to a few remaining speakers hailing from the Anglo-Indian community in Burnassery, Kannur.

Addressing the audience that comprised artists and research scholars, he explained the nuances of this unique language, how it was influenced by Malayalam and in what ways it differs from standard Portuguese.

He said that some members of this community settled in Australia had evinced interest in documenting this language and preserve it for posterity, adding that it was a positive sign.

He also discussed the now-extinct Indo-Portuguese Creole that was spoken in and around Fort Kochi and Vypin. He recalled his association with the late Francis Paynter and William Rozario, who were the last remaining speakers of this centuries-old version of Portuguese.

Dr Cardoso also recollected his earlier visits to different parts of Kerala to unearth evidence of various forms of the Creole as part of his doctoral research.

Professor MH Ilias, the coordinator of the Mar Chrysostom Chair, said the lecture was organised on the sidelines of a three-day workshop in Kodungalloor based on the theme ‘Chavittunatakam: The Past Present and Future of a Creolised Performance Genre’.

Mumbai-based multimedia artist and curator Riyas Komu also spoke during the event.