Structure dataset 36: Angolar

This language is described more fully in survey chapter 36.

The Portuguese-based language Angolar is spoken by approximatively 5,000 people in the southwestern and the southeastern part of the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. It is a maroon creole, that is, a creole that was spoken by slaves who escaped from slavery and rebuilt their own society in regions where they were free from the slave owners. Some Angolar speakers also live on Principe Island as well as in Portugal, especially in Lisbon.

It is not clear whether the language is still being passed on to the newer generations; the pressure from Santome, the other creole language spoken on the island, and from Portuguese is very strong.

Though Angolar is not mutually intelligible with Santome, it is closely related to and most probably derived from it (as the other two creole languages of the Gulf of Guinea, Principense and Fa d’Ambô). What characterizes Angolar is that an important part of its vocabulary is of Bantu, especially of Kimbundu origin. Note, however, that this influence concerns mostly the lexicon and not the morphosyntax of the language.

The default lect chosen for APiCS is the variety of speakers who at the time of my main fieldwork (in the early 1990s) were 50 years or older.

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No. Feature Value Details Source
No. Feature Value Details Source

Consonants

Pulmonic Consonants
Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal
↓ Manner Bilabial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Palato-
alveolar		 Retroflex Alveolo-
palatal		 Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal
/ Epiglottal		 Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop p mp mb t d ⁿd k g ŋg
Sibilant affricate t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Non-sibilant affricate ⁿd͡ʒ
Sibilant fricative s z ʃ ʒ
Non-sibilant fricative f ⁿf v θ ð
Approximant l j ȷ̃
Flap or tap
Trill r
Lateral affricate
Lateral fricative
Lateral approximant
Lateral flap
Implosive

Vowels

Front Near-front Central Near-back Back Close Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open ihigh front unrounded vowel ĩnasalized high front unrounded vowel uhigh back rounded vowel ũnasalized high back rounded vowel ehigher mid front unrounded vowel ohigher mid back rounded vowel ɛlower mid front unrounded vowel ɛ̃nasalized lower mid front unrounded vowel ɔlower mid back rounded vowel ɔ̃nasalized lower mid back rounded vowel alow central unrounded vowel ãnasalized low central unrounded vowel
Vowels

Special segments

Other segments
 ɓ  voiced bilabial implosive plosive
 w  voiced labial-velar glide

Legend

       Exists (as a major allophone)
       Exists only as a minor allophone
       Exists only in loanwords
No. Feature Value Details Source