Language
In Suriname there are no fewer than twenty languages spoken. Most Surinamers are multilingual. In terms of numbers of speakers are the main languages in Suriname, successively the Dutch language, Sranan Tongo (Surinamese language), the Sarnami (Surinamese Hindi), the Javanese language, different Maroon Languages (especially Saramaccan), and the Chinese language. Since most Surinamese people are multilingual (for instance the Dutch and Surinamese language), it is not easy for people to share in a particular language group.
According to the results of the seventh general population and housing census, which was held in 2004, Dutch is the most spoken home language in Suriname. In over 70% of households Dutch is spoken as the first or second language. Sranan Tongo is spoken primarily as a second language in 46% of households, along with 22% Sarnami Hindustani and 11% Javanese.
| Spoken language per household in Suriname, 2004 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Language | Most spoken home language | Second home language | Total coverage of the language | |||
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |
| Dutch | 57.577 | 46.6 | 29.163 | 23.6 | 86.740 | 70.3 |
| Sranan Tongo | 11.105 | 9.0 | 45.634 | 37.0 | 56.739 | 46.0 |
| Sarnami Hindustani | 19.513 | 15.8 | 8.121 | 6.6 | 27.634 | 22.4 |
| Javanese | 6.895 | 5.6 | 6.846 | 5.5 | 13.741 | 11.1 |
| Maroon languages | 18.797 | 15.2 | 2.493 | 2.0 | 21.290 | 17.2 |
| Other languages | 6.501 | 5.3 | 4.030 | 3.3 | 10.531 | 8.5 |
| No second home language | - | - | 23.754 | 19.2 | ||
| Unknown | 3.075 | 2.5 | 3.422 | 2.8 | ||
| Total | 123.463 | 100.0 | 123.463 | 100.0 | ||
| Source: Seventh general population and housing census 2004, Algemeen Bureau voor de Statistiek | ||||||
Read more about this topic: Surinamese People
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“The language I have learnt these forty years,
My native English, now I must forgo,
And now my tongue’s use is to me no more
Than an unstringèd viol or a harp.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Now stamp the Lord’s Prayer on a grain of rice,
A Bible-leaved of all the written woods
Strip to this tree: a rocking alphabet,
Genesis in the root, the scarecrow word,
And one light’s language in the book of trees.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Though language forms the preacher,
‘Tis “good works” make the man.”
—Eliza Cook (1818–1889)