Barlavento Creoles

The Barlavento Creoles are spoken in the Barlavento Islands. Some characteristics:

• The imperfective aspect of the past is formed joining the particle for the past ~va to the verbal actualizer tâ: táva + V.
  
• The personal pronoun for the second person of the plural is b’sôt’.
• The unstressed vowels /i/ and /u/ frequently disappear. Ex.: c’mádr’ /ˈkmadɾ/ for cumádri /kuˈmadɾi/ “midwife”, v’lúd’ /ˈvlud/ for vilúdu /viˈludu/ “velvet”, c’dí /ˈkdi/ for cudí /kuˈdi/ “to answer”, tch’gâ /ˈtʃɡɐ/ for tchigâ /tʃiˈɡɐ/ “to arrive”.
• Raising of the stressed /a/ sound (oral or nasal) to /ɔ/ in words that used to end with the sound /u/. Ex.: ólt’ /ˈɔlt/ from áltu /ˈaltu/ “tall”, cónd’ /ˈkɔ̃d/ from cándu /ˈkãdu/ “when”, macóc’ /mɐˈkɔk/ from macácu /mɐˈkaku/ “monkey”. Also with pronouns: b’tó-b’ /ˈptɔb/ from botá-bu /boˈtabu/ “throw you”.

Boa Vista

Boa Vista Creole is spoken mainly in the Boa Vista Island. Speakers number 5,000, and is the least spoken form of Creole in the language. Literature is rarely recorded but one of the speakers who was born on the island is Germano Almeida.

Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, Boa Vista Creole has the following:

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tâ tâ before the verbs: tâ + tâ + V.
• In the verbs that end by ~a, that sound /ɐ/ is replaced by /ɔ/ when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.: panhó-m’ /pɐˈɲɔm/ instead of panhâ-m’ /pɐˈɲɐm/ “to catch me”, levó-m’ /leˈvɔm/ instead of levâ-m’ /leˈvɐm/ “to take me”, coçó-m’ /koˈsɔm/ instead of coçâ-m’ /koˈsɐm/ “to scratch me”.
• The stressed e is always open /ɛ/. Ex.: bucé /buˈsɛ/ instead of bocê /boˈse/ “you (respectful form), drét’ /ˈdɾɛt/ instead of drêt’ /ˈdɾet/ “right”, tchobé /tʃoˈbɛ/ instead of tchovê /tʃoˈve/ “to rain”. The stressed o is always open /ɔ/. Ex.: bó /bɔ/ instead of bô /bo/ “you”, compó /kõˈpɔ/ instead of compô /kõˈpo/ “to fix”, tórrt’ /ˈtɔʀt/ instead of tôrt’ /ˈtoɾt/ “crooked”.
• The sound /ɾ/ at the end of syllables is pronounced /ʀ/. Ex.: furrtâ /fuʀˈtɐ/ instead of furtâ /fuɾˈtɐ/ “to steal”, m’djérr /ˈmdʒɛʀ/ instead of m’djêr /ˈmdʒeɾ/ “woman”, pórrt’ /ˈpɔʀt/ instead of pôrt’ /ˈpoɾt/ “harbor”.
• A /z/ originating from the junction of /l/ and /s/ is replaced by /ʀ/. Ex.: cárr /ˈkaʀ/ instead of cás /ˈkaz/ “which ones”, érr /ɛʀ/ instead of ês /ez/ “they”, quérr /kɛʀ/ instead of quês /kez/ “those”.
• A Portuguese /dʒ/ (written j in the beginning of words) is partially replaced by /ʒ/. Ex. jantâ /ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead of djantâ /dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ “to dine”, jôg’ /ˈʒoɡ/ instead of djôgu /ˈdʒoɡu/ “game”, but in words like djâ /dʒɐ/ “already” and Djõ /ˈdʒõ/ “John”, the sound /dʒ/ remains.

Sal

Sal Creole is spoken mainly in the island of Sal. Speakers number 15,000.

Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, Sal Creole has the following:

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tâ tâ before the verbs: tâ + tâ + V.
• In the verbs that end by ~a, that sound /ɐ/ is represented by /ɔ/ when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.: panhó-m’ /pɐˈɲɔm/ instead of panhâ-m’ /pɐˈɲɐm/ “to catch me”, levó-m’ /leˈvɔm/ instead of levâ-m’ /leˈvɐm/ “to take me”, coçó-m’ /koˈsɔm/ instead of coçâ-m’ /koˈsɐm/ “to scratch me”.
• The sound /dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written j in the beginning of words) is partially represented by /ʒ/. Ex. jantâ /ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead of djantâ /dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/}} “to dine”, jôg’ /ʒoɡ/ instead of djôgu /ˈdʒoɡu/ “game”, but in words like djâ /dʒɐ/ “already”, Djõ /dʒõ/ “John” the sound /dʒ/ remains.

Santo Antão

Santo Antão Creole is spoken mainly in the Santo Antão Island. It is ranked third of nine in the number of speakers and it is before Fogo and after the neighbouring São Vicente.

Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, Santo Antão Creole has the following:

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tí tâ before the verbs: tí + tâ + V.
• The adverb of negation used with verbs, adverbs and adjectives is n’. Ex.: Mí n’ crê instead of M’ câ crê “I don’t want”.
• The sounds /s/ and /z/ are palatalized to and when they are at the end of syllables. Ex.: fésta “party” pronounced instead of, gósga “tickles” pronounced instead of, més “more” pronounced instead of .
• The stressed final sound /ɐ/ is pronounced /a/. Ex.: já /ʒa/ instead of djâ /dʒɐ/ “already”, lá /la/ instead of lâ /lɐ/ “there”, and all the verbs that end by ~â, calcá /kalˈka/ instead of calcâ /kɐlˈkɐ/ “to press”, pintchá /pĩˈtʃa/ instead of pintchâ /pĩˈtʃɐ/ “to push”, etc.
• Palatalization of the stressed /a/ sound (oral or nasal) to /ɛ/ in words that use to end by the sound /i/. Ex.: ént’s /ɛ̃tʃ/ instead of ánt's /ãtʃ/ “before”, grénd’ /ɡɾɛ̃d/ instead of gránd /ɡɾãd/ “big”, verdéd’ /veɾˈdɛd/ instead of verdád’ /veɾˈdad/ “truth”. Also with pronouns: penhé-m’ /peˈɲɛm/ instead of panhá-m’ /pɐˈɲam/ “to catch me”.
• Palatalization of the pre-tonic /ɐ/ sound (oral or nasal) to /e/ when the stressed syllable possesses a palatal vowel. Ex.: essím /eˈsĩ/ instead of assím /ɐˈsĩ/ “like so”, quebéça /keˈbɛsɐ/ instead of cabéça /kɐˈbɛsɐ/ “head”. Velarization of the pre-tonic /ɐ/ sound (oral or nasal) to /o/ when the stressed syllable possesses a velar vowel. Ex.: cotchôrr’ /koˈtʃoʀ/ instead of catchôrr’ /kɐˈtʃoʀ/ “dog”, otúm /oˈtũ/ instead of atúm /ɐˈtũ/ “tuna”.
• The diphthong /aj/ (oral or nasal) is pronounced /ɛ/. Ex.: pé /pɛ/ instead of pái /paj/ “father”, mém /mɛ̃/ instead of mãi /mɐ̃j/ “mother”. The diphthong /aw/ (oral or nasal) is pronounced /ɔ/. Ex.: pó /pɔ/ instead of páu /paw/ “stick”, nõ /nõ/ instead of nãu /nɐ̃w/ “no”.
• The sound /dʒ/ (that originates from Portuguese /ʎ/, written “lh”) is represented by the sound /j/: bói’ /bɔj/ instead of bódj’ /bɔdʒ/ “dance (noun)”, ôi’ /oj/ instead of ôdj’ /odʒ/ “eye”, spêi’ /ʃpej/ instead of spêdj’ /spedʒ/ “mirror”. Between vowels that sound /j/ disappears: vé’a /ˈvɛɐ/ instead of bédja /ˈbɛdʒɐ/ “old (feminine)”, o’á /oˈa/ instead of odjâ /oˈdʒɐ/ “to see”, pá’a /ˈpaɐ/ instead of pádja /ˈpadʒɐ/ “straw”. When it is immediately after a consonant, it is represented by /lj/: m’liôr /mljoɾ/ instead of m’djôr /mdʒoɾ/ “better”, c’liêr /kljeɾ/ instead of c’djêr /kdʒeɾ/ “spoon”.
• The sound /j/ disappears when it is between vowels. Ex.: go’áva /ɡoˈavɐ/ instead of goiába /ɡoˈjabɐ/ “guava fruit”, mê’a /ˈmeɐ/ instead of mêia /ˈmejɐ/ “sock”, papá’a /paˈpaɐ/ instead of papáia /pɐˈpajɐ/ “papaw”.
• The sound /dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written “j” in the beginning of words) is totally represented by /ʒ/. Ex. já /ʒa/ instead of djâ /dʒɐ/ “already”, jantá /ʒãˈta/ instead of djantâ /dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ “to dine”, Jõ’ /ʒõ/ instead of Djõ’ /dʒõ/ “John”.
• Some speakers pronounce the phonemes /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ as labialized and .
• Existence of a certain kind of vocabulary (also existing in São Vicente) that does not exist in the other islands. Ex.: dançá instead of badjâ “to dance”, dzê instead of flâ “to say”, falá instead of papiâ “to speak”, guitá instead of djobê “to peek”, ruf’ná instead of fuliâ “to throw”, stód’ instead of stâ “to be”, tchocá instead of furtâ “to steal”, tchúc’ instead of pôrc’ “pig”, etc.

São Nicolau

São Nicolau Creole is spoken mainly in the São Nicolau Island. There are 15,000 speakers, and is the fifth most spoken form of creole in the language. Literature is rarely recorded but the form of the Capeverdean Creole has been recorded in music, one of them is on caboverde.com on the page featuring this island.

Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, São Nicolau Creole has the following:

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tâ tâ before the verbs: tâ + tâ + V.
• In the verbs that end by ~a, that sound /ɐ/ is represented by /ɔ/ when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.: panhó-m’ /pɐˈɲɔm/ instead of panhâ-m’ /pɐˈɲɐm/ “to catch me”, levó-m’ /leˈvɔm/ instead of levâ-m’ /leˈvɐm/ “to take me”, coçó-m’ /koˈsɔm/ instead of coçâ-m’ /koˈsɐm/ “to scratch me”.
• The sounds /k/ and /ɡ/ are pronounced by some speakers as /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ when they are before palatal vowels. Ex.: f’djêra /ˈfdʒeɾɐ/ instead of f’guêra /ˈfɡeɾɐ/ “fig tree”, patchê /pɐˈtʃe/ instead of paquê /pɐˈke/ “because”, Pr’djíça /pɾˈdʒisɐ/ instead of Pr’guiíça /pɾˈɡisɐ/ “Preguiça” (place name), tchím /tʃĩ/ instead of quêm /kẽ/ “who”.
• The sound /dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written j in the beginning of words) is partially represented by /ʒ/. Ex. jantâ /ʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ instead of djantâ /dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ “to dine”, jôg’ /ʒoɡ/ instead of djôgu /ˈdʒoɡu/ “game”, but in words like djâ /dʒɐ/ “already”, Djõ /dʒõ/ “John” the sound /dʒ/ remains.
• The unstressed final vowel /u/ does not disappear when it follows the sounds /k/ or /ɡ/. Ex.: tabácu /tɐˈbaku/ instead of tabóc’ /tɐˈbɔk/ “tobacco”, frángu /ˈfɾãɡu/ instead of fróng’ /ˈfɾɔ̃ɡ/ “chicken”.

São Vicente

São Vicente Creole is spoken mainly in the São Vicente Island. It has about 80,000 to 100,000 speakers, primarily in the São Vicente island, but also in a large segment of the Cape Verdean diaspora population. It is the second most widely spoken Cape Verdean dialect. It has produced literature from a lot of writers and musicians including Sergio Frusoni and many more.

Besides the main characteristics of Barlavento Creoles, São Vicente Creole has the following:

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tí tâ before the verbs: tí + tâ + V.
• The sounds /s/ and /z/ are palatalized to and when they are at the end of syllables. Ex.: fésta “party” pronounced instead of, gósga “tickles” pronounced instead of, más “more” pronounced instead of .
• The stressed final sound /ɐ/ is pronounced /a/. Ex.: já /ʒa/ instead of djâ /dʒɐ/ “already”, lá /la/ instead of lâ /lɐ/ “there”, and all the verbs that end by ~â, calcá /kɐlˈka/ instead of calcâ /kɐlˈkɐ/ “to press”, pintchá /pĩˈtʃa/ instead of pintchâ /pĩˈtʃɐ/ “to push”, etc.
• The sound /dʒ/ (that originates from Portuguese /ʎ/, written “lh”) is represented by the sound /j/: bói’ /bɔj/ instead of bódj’ /bɔdʒ/ “dance (noun)”, ôi’ /oj/ instead of ôdj’ /odʒ/ “eye”, spêi’ /ʃpej/ instead of spêdj’ /spedʒ/ “mirror”. When it is after the sound /i/, the sound /dʒ/ remains: fídj’ /fidʒ/ “son”, mídj’ /midʒ/ “corn”. When it is immediately after a consonant, the sound /dʒ/ remains: m’djôr /mdʒoɾ/ “better”, c’djêr /kdʒeɾ/ “spoon”.
• The sound /dʒ/ (that originates from old Portuguese, written “j” in the beginning of words) is totally represented by /ʒ/. Ex. já /ʒa/ instead of djâ /dʒɐ/ “already”, jantá /ʒɐ̃ˈta/ instead of djantâ /dʒɐ̃ˈtɐ/ “to dine”, Jõ’ /ʒõ/ instead of Djõ’ /dʒõ/ “John”.
• Existence of a certain kind of vocabulary (also existing in Santo Antão) that does not exist in the other islands. Ex.: dançá instead of badjâ “to dance”, dzê instead of flâ “to say”, falá instead of papiâ “to speak”, guitá instead of djobê “to peek”, ruf’ná instead of fuliâ “to throw”, stód’ instead of stâ “to be”, tchocá instead of furtâ “to steal”, tchúc’ instead of pôrc’ “pig”, etc.

For more examples check the Swadesh List of Cape Verdean Creole (in Portuguese).