Papiamento - Dialects

Dialects

Papiamento has two main dialects: Papiamento in Aruba and Papiamentu in Curaçao and Bonaire. Although the Papiamentu in Curaçao and Bonaire are largely the same, there are still minor differences.

Spoken (Aruban) Papiamento sounds much more Spanish. The most apparent difference between the two dialects is given away in the name difference. Whereas Curaçao and Bonaire opted for a phonologically based spelling, Aruba uses an etymologically based spelling. Many words in Aruba end with "o" while that same word ends with "u" in Curaçao and Bonaire. And even on Curaçao, the use of the u-ending is still more pronounced among the Sephardic Jewish population. Similarly, there is also a difference between the usage of "k" in Curaçao and Bonaire and "c" in Aruba.

Due to the current evolution of the language, the language is suffering a hispanization and might eventually became a creolized dialect of spanish returning the language to a situation prior to the Dutch takeover over Spain's government of the island.

For example:

Furthermore, there is also an intonation and lexical difference between Papiamento and Papiamentu.