Die Creol taal

250 years of Negerhollands texts

Regelnummers proza verbergen

[p. 47]

II Negerhollands texts

[p. 49]

1 The first texts: letters

In the first half of the 18th century, around 150 letters were written in Negerhollands. Only one was addressed to the slaves (see 1.1.1), while all of the others were written by slaves who were taught to read and write by the Moravian Brethren. In this section we only present a small selection; all known slave letters will be published in Stein & Beck (in preparation).

Every letter presented here is accompanied by a separate introduction containing information about the letter, like the exact provenance in the Archive of the Moravian Brethren in Herrnhut (Germany), its date, its author and writer, and its addressee.

5. An example of the first page of the manuscript of Zinzendorf's letter (1739)

1.1 Three letters from the Büdingische Sammlung (1742)

1.1.1 Des Hrn. Grafen Zinzendorff Abschied-Schreiben an die Negers in St. Thomas, in Cariolischer Sprache.

The first letter consciously and intentionally written in Negerhollands is not by a slave but by Zinzendorf. On leaving the Virgin Islands, he addressed a farewell letter to the slave community on 15 February 1739. This letter was printed in the Büdingische Sammlung in 1742 and thereby became the first printed Negerhollands text of some length. The printed version contains some transcription errors, which have been corrected here after the manuscript text in the Herrnhut Archive. Apart from typical creole structures, Zinzendorf's letter also contains many Dutch influences and ‘semantic incongruences’ (falsche Freunde). Its significance lies in the fact that, among

[p. 50]

other things, he demonstrated to the slaves the possibility of writing in their own language. Zinzendorf may not have written the text entirely by himself. Probably he was assisted by one of the settlers who thought well of the Herrnhut missionaries, Carstens. Of interest is the justification of the existence of slavery and the enslaving of Black people, which Zinzendorf gives in the last part of the letter. For an honest evaluation of his arguments one has to take into account that the letter was also directed to the white slave owners, whose permission Zinzendorf needed for the mission among the slaves.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-1.II.6	List-nr.: 12	def.-nr.:014
Date:	15.02.1739
Author:	Zinzendorf	Owner:-
Writer:	unknown	Recipient:	Black community

References:	Found in Büdingische Sammlung I, p. 453-457 with a few errors, which have been corrected here; German translation in Oldendorp 1777:592-596.
Remarks:	Writer is possibly Carstens[en] (Degn 1974).

The printing errors are visibly corrected here, according to the original¹ manuscript, by Stein and van Rossem. Where a manuscript form differed from the printed form, the manuscript form is added between accolades.

1 We only know this manuscript, which is a rather fair one, and we think it may be a copy of an earlier original.

VII.

Des Hrn. Grafen von Zinzendorff

Abschied=Schreiben an die Negers in St. Thomas, in Cariolischer Sprache.²

1	Min	hartlive	Vrinde,
	my	heart-loved	friend.PL

	Mi	a	kom	deze^3	verr	pad,	vor	kik	yoe^4,	en
	1SG	PST	come	DEM	far	path	FOR	see	2PL	and

2 Des Hrn. (...) Sprache: German, meaning: ‘Count Von Zinzendorf's farewell letter to the negroes in St. Thomas, in the creole language’.

3 deze ‘this’: du. demonstrative. cf. NH diso ‘this’ in de Josselin de Jong (1926).

4 yoe: ‘you’, also you in this letter, is the Zealandic pronoun. Its spelling, with and sometimes , may indicate that it was considered an English loan. yoe: its use as 2pl in this text is not in accordance with the grammar of 18^th c. NH as we know it, where joe/ju served as 2sg and jender or jellie as 2pl, but rather with the grammar of Early Modern Dutch, where gij, jij (Zld. joe) could be both sg. and pl.

[p. 51]

	bin	bly	vor	kik	een	begin,	dat	mi	a
	BE	happy	FOR	see	a	beginning	that	1SG	PST

	wens	over	ses	jaar	di	tit	mi	a	Stier^5	die	eerste
	wish	over	six	year	DET	time	1SG	PST	send	DET	first

5	van	mi	broeders	voor	leer	yoe -Li^6.
	of	1SG	brother.PL	FOR	teach	2PL

	Gedankt	bin	onze	Heere	God,	di	a	zegen
	thanked	BE	our	Lord	God	DET	PST	bless

	yoe	Bas^7	Martinus,	mi	dierbaare	Broeder,	en
	2PL	BAAS	Martinus	1SG	dear	brother	and

	die	help	hem!
	DET	help	3SG

	Di	zal	giv^8	een	groot	blydschap	na	de	Ko -
	DET	will	give	a	great	happiness	NA	DET	king

10	ning	van	Denemarken,	as	em	hoor,	dat	in	all
	-	of	Denmark	when	3SG	hear	that	in	all

	zyn	plaats	heydenen	leer	kenen,	zyn	Maje -
	his	place	heathen.PL	learn	know	his	majesty.GEN

	steits^9	God,	die	eenige	en	warachtige	God.
	-	God	DET	only	and	true	God

	Maar	o	hoe	groot	zal	wees	di	blydschap
	but	o	how	great	will	BE	DET	happiness

5 Stier: Du. sturen. Seems to be the sole case of unrounding in this letter, which makes it more probable that it is a dialectal form with an [i] deriving from West Germanic [iu], which usually yielded [y] in Standard Dutch.

6 yoe-Li ‘2pl’: from yoe-lie(den) ‘you-people’, cf. Du. jullie ‘2 pl’. Its use as a direct object is not in accordance with the grammar of 18^th c. NH as we know it but rather with the grammar of Dutch, since NH jellie could only be used as a nominative or a vocative.

7 Bas (elsewhere: Baas): Du. baas ‘boss’, here used as a title for the Moravian missionaries and preachers. In other Moravian texts it is also used as an appellative. Although it is reminiscent of Afrikaans Baas ‘Master, Massa’ it should be distinguished from it, because in this text a slave owner is referred to as Meester ‘Master’. Note that Magens (1770) does not make this distinction: in his conversations both slave owners and a Lutheran catechist are addressed with Meester.

8 giv: It is unclear whether this represents Du. geven ‘geven, yield’ or Germ. geben ‘give’ of the German existential construction. Elswhere in this text a Creole existential construction with hab ‘have’ is used.

9 zyn Majesteits God: first case of a Dutch possessive construction with the suffix -s in this text.

[p. 52]

	voor	onze	Heere	Jesus,	de	Verlosser	van	all
	FOR	our	Lord	Jesus	DET	Saviour	of	all

15	die	arme	Moors^10	siel	met	si	eygen	{e*g*gen}	Bloed,	voor
	DET	poor	black.PL	soul	with	3POS	own	own	blood	FOR

	dat	hem	kik	all -gar	goed	voor -uyt,	en	wet	all
	that	3sg	see	every	things	for -out	and	know	already

	onder	ginder	die	sal	blyv	getrouw,	en	zal
	under	2PL	DET	will	stay	faithful	and	will

	wor	si	zaligheit	deelagtig?
	become	3POS	salvation	share

	Ik	schey	van	yoe	met	soo	veel	beeven,	als
	I	part	from	2PL	with	so	much	shaking	as

20	blydschap:	de	reden	van	myn	blydschap	is	die:
	happiness	DET	reason	of	my	happiness	BE	DET

	Die	Cruis	van	onze	Heer	Jesus	bin	nu	all
	DET	cross	of	our	Lord	Jesus	BE	now	already

	bekennt	op	een	en	vyftig	plantagies:	as	die
	known	up	one	and	fifty	plantation.PL	as	DET

	a	hab	maar	een^11	op	elk	die	blyv	getrouw,	he^12
	PST	have	but	one	up	each	DET	stay	faithful	3SG

	zou	wees	een	Licht	voor	all	zyn	Meester -
	should	BE	a	light	FOR	all	3POS	master

...................................... Negers,

25	Negers^13,	en	zyn	Werk	zouw	wees	een	grot	{groot}
	negro.PL	and	his	work	should	BE	a	great	great

	Zegen	voor	zyn	Meester.
	blessing	FOR	his	master

10 Moors: the -s could also be GEN.

11 as die a hab maar een ‘if there were only one’: Creole existential construction with hab ‘have’.

12 he: typo for NH hem rather than a strange spelling of Du. hij ‘3sg masc’.

13 all zyn Meester Negers ‘all his Master's Negroes’: first case of an unmarked possessive construction, in this text.

[p. 53]

	Wa -gaid^14	{Wat -*gud*}	di	mester	nu	win,	die	hab	over	die
	what	what	DET	master	now	gain	DET	have	over	DET

	vyftig	ia	over	de	hondert,	die	loop	naar	Mar -
	fifty	yes	over	DET	hundred	DET	walk	to	-

	tinus	skool	voor	leer,	vor	ken	God,	zoo	aas	{as}
	Martinus	school	FOR	learn	FOR	know	God	so	as	as

30	Compagnie -Plantagie,	Mr.	Jan	de	Windt,	Mr.
	Company -plantation	Mr.	Jan	de	Windt	Mr.

	Adriaan	Bever -hout,	en	ander.
	Adriaan	Beverhout	and	other

	God	zegen	all	met	segen	van	boven,	en
	God	bless	all	with	bless	of	above	and

	met	segen	van	beneden,	die	wel	zyn	grae^15,	dat
	with	bless	of	below	DET	want	his	mercy?	that

	die	ziel	van	silli^16	Negers	uit	de	slaverey	van
	DET	soul	of	3PL	negro.PL	out	DET	slavery	of

35	Duivel	wor	gebragt	tot	Christus	vryheit.
	devil	become	brought	to	Christ	freedom

	Die	vede	{rede}	om	dat	my	beev	{ben}	voor	yoe -lid^17
	DET	***	reason	for	that	1SG	shake	BE	FOR	2PL

	{yoe -lid[-en]}	bin	die:
	2PL.PL	BE	DET

	De	Duivel	en	de	Wereld	zal	pass	you	op
	DET	devil	and	DET	world	will	watch	2PL	up

	Gy^18,	as	gy	ni	nu	wandelt	getrouw.
	2PL	when	2PL	NEG	now	walk	faithful

14 Wa-gaid: typo for Wa-goed ‘what stuff, what’.

15 grae may be a typo for g(e)nae, a shortened variant of genade ‘mercy’.

16 silli: In this case its use is not in accordance with the grammar of 18^th c. NH as we know it because sellie is supposed to be restricted to the nominative and the vocative. Cf. n. 6.

17 you-lid: -lid represents Du. lie(den) ‘people’. Cf. n. 6.

18 Gy ‘2sg’ and ‘2pl’: Dutch rather than NH. Belongs to the written register of Dutch of that period.

[p. 54]

40	All	die	hoor	de	Evangelium,	en	liv	het^19,	en
	all	DET	hear	DET	gospel	and	love	DET	and

	meest	die	bin	gedoopt	van	Martinus	in	di
	most	DET	BE	baptised	of	Martinus	in	DET

	naam	van	God	Vader,	Son	en	Heilig	Geest,	en
	name	of	God	Father	Son	and	Holy	Spirit	and

	di	bin	gesett	voor	leer	die	ander.
	DET	BE	put	FOR	teach	DET	other

	Zo	de	Wereld	zal	spot	met	ginder^20,	en	die
	so	DET	world	FUT	mock	with	2PL	and	DET

45	Duivel	sal	klag	yoe	{aan}	na	God	en	{den}	Heere.
	devil	FUT	complain	2PL	on	NA	God	and	DET	Lord

	Ik^21	a	wes	eerst	verwondert,	dat	Martyn	a
	1SG	PST	BE	first	surprised	that	Martyn	PST

wes

zo

scherp,

dat

em

a

jaj

{ja*g*}

de

Negers

van

de

BE

so

sharp

that

3SG

PST

chase

chase

DET

negro.PL

of

DET

	Leer,	wanneer	em	a	hoor,	dat	zinder^22	anneem^23
	teaching	when	3SG	PST	hear	that	3PL	PST.take

	weer	an	iets	van	die	oude	manier;
	again	on	something	of	DET	old	way

50	Maar	ik	zie,	em	a	ha	glyk,	voor	di	dat^24	vor
	but	1SG	see	3SG	PST	have	right	FOR	DET	that	FOR

19 het ‘it’: Dutch pronoun 3sg.

20 ginder ‘2PL’: corresponds to NH jender. The spelling ginder is reminiscent of the West Flemish 2PL pronoun discussed by Hesseling (1905) as a possible source for jender.

21 Ik ‘1sg’: Dutch personal pronoun instead of NH mi.

22 zinder ‘3PL’: corresponds to NH sender. The spelling zinder is reminiscent of the West Flemish 3PL pronoun discussed by Hesseling (1905) as a possible source for sender.

23 anneem ‘PST.take’: the spelling seems to represent the Dutch particle verb aannemen ‘adopt, take up’ (litt. ‘on-take’). However, aan- must be NH a ‘PST’ here, since the pertinent particle shows up in postverbal position (-neem weer an) in accordance with NH grammar. This also implies that weer an is not Early Mod. Du. weeraan ‘again’.

24 voor di dat: probably ‘because’.

[p. 55]

	han^25	de	geveinste	van	Jesus	Kerk	af,	voor	be -
	***	DET	feigned	of	Jesus	church	off	FOR	-

	lett	zinder	van	zinder	valsche	gedachten,	vo
	prevent	3PL	from	3PL	false	thought.PL	FOR

	wés	gezien	van	ander,	en	vo	{[-voor]<vo>}	ha	gemaakly -
	BE	seen	of	other	and	FOR	FOR	have	easier

	ker	in	de	Wereld,	of	no	vo	werk,	of	vo	wor
	-	in	DET	world	or	NEG	FOR	work	or	FOR	become

55	vry,	of	wat	mi	kan	zy	meer.
	free	or	what	1SG	can	say	more

........................................ Vor

	Vor	dat	i	bin	ook	goed,	dat	Martinus	no
	FOR	that	I	BE	also	good	that	Martinus	NEG

	leer	you	in	di	tyd,	dat	yoe	mu	werk;
	teach	2SG	in	DET	time	that	2PL	must	work

	Want	as	die	bin	yoe	recht	zin	vor	{vo}	wor	zaa -
	because	when	DET	BE	2PL	right	sense	FOR	FOR	become	blessed

	lig,	Jesus	kan	zegenen^26	die	klyn	tyd	die	gu	habt^27
	-	Jesus	can	bless	DET	small	time	DET	2PL	have

60	over	van	yoe	zelfs	voor	leer.
	over	of	2PL	self	FOR	learn

	Een	Heyden	no	mo	hab	ander	reden	voor
	a	heathen	NEG	must	have	other	reason	FOR

	bekeer	hem,	als	dat	em	geloov,	dat	Jesus	Gods
	convert	3SG	as	that	3SG	belief	that	Jesus	God.GEN

	Zoon	em	a	Herr	{sterv}	voor	betaal	voor,	de	mens
	son	3SG	PST	***	die	FOR	pay	FOR	DET	man

25 han: probably typo for hau ‘keep’.

26 zegenen: Dutch infinitival form.

27 habt: Du. inflexional ending -t.

[p. 56]

	Zonde,	en	dat	hem	nu	waar	leevt^28	voor	mag
	sin	and	that	3SG	now	true	lives	FOR	may

65	de	mens	lev	met	hem:
	DET	man	live	with	3SG

	Een	Heyden	no	kan	du	van	natuur	zoo	veel
	a	heathen	NEG	can	do	of	nature	so	much

	goed,	als	wel	meenig	mens,	die	bin	van	kleens
	good	as	well	many	man	DET	BE	of	small

	af	geleerd	voor	du	goed,	en	no	kryg	per -
	off	taught	FOR	do	good	and	NEG	get	-

	missie	vo	du	quaed.
	permission	FOR	do	evil

70	Want	een	Heyden	bin	vom^29	klyn	af	gewent
	because	a	heathen	BE	of.the	small	off	used

	vor	du	bosheit,	en	na	leer	beter.
	FOR	do	anger	and	NEG	learn	better

	Maar	als	een	Heyden	kryg	die	Genade	van
	but	as	a	heathen	get	DET	mercy	of

	de	Heer	Jesus,	dat	zyn	Zonde	word	verge -
	DET	Lord	Jesus	that	his	sin	become	forgiven

	ven,	en	em	word	gewaschen	met	Jesus	Bloed;
	-	and	3SG	become	washed	with	Jesus	blood

75	soo	em	kryg	die	kracht	om	al	quaed	te	laten,
	so	3SG	get	DET	strength	for	all	evil	to	leave

	en	goed	te	doen^30,	en	em	haat	de	zonde	so	veel,
	and	good	to	do	and	3SG	hate	DET	sin	so	much

28 leevt: Du. inflexional ending -t.

29 vom: German typo for van ‘of, from’. Germ. vom is a standard contraction of von ‘of, from’ and dative dem ‘the (masc. or neuter)’.

30 om al ... te doen: sudden interruption of Dutch infinitival OV order. This may be due to the use of the Dutch complementizer om plus infinitival marker te instead of NH vo(or).

[p. 57]

	als	em	a	had	liev	tevoor -en.
	as	3SG	PST	had	dear	before

	Dan	em	bin	een	van	Christus	sin	Volk,	zoo
	then	3SG	BE	one	of	Christ	3POS	people	so

	als	yoe	Bas	Martinus	zal	leer	yoe	verder.
	as	2PL	BAAS	Martinus	will	teach	2PL	furthermore

80	Nu	me	wens	maar,	dat	ik	wes	verzekert
	now	1SG	wish	but	that	1SG	BE	assured

	van	yoe -Li,	dan	mi	zal	loop	gerust	van	yoe,	en
	of	2PL	then	1SG	will	walk	quiet	off	2PL	and

	denk	op	ginder	met	groot	blydschap	voor	den
	think	up	2PL	with	great	happiness	FOR	DET

	Heere.
	Lord

	Voor -eerst	dat	gy	dink	altyd	op	de	Heer
	first	that	2PL	think	always	up	DET	Lord

85	Jesus,	dat	ginder	bid	Hem	altyd	voor	em
	Jesus	that	2PL	pray	3SG	always	FOR	3SG

	giv	yoe	de	rechte	geloov,	dat	de	Heere	mag
	give	2PL	DET	right	belief	that	DET	Lord	may

	staan	altyd	voor	ginder	ziel,	zoo	of	gy	gik^31
	stand	always	FOR	2PL	soul	so	if	2SG	like

....................................... Hem

	Hem,	zoo	als	Hem	ha	dot^32	voor	yoe	aan	het^33
	3SG	so	as	3SG	PST	die	FOR	2PL	on	DET

	Kruis.
	cross

31 gik: may be Du. gek ‘mad, crazy’ used as a verb ‘to love’ here.

32 dot ‘die’ < Du. dood ‘dead’.

33 het: Dutch neuter article instead of NH die.

[p. 58]

90	Voor	die	tvveede:	dat	yoe	handel	met	Mar -
	FOR	DET	second	that	2PL	act	with	-

	tinus	en	die	andere,	die	leer	yoe,	met	een	op -
	Martinus	and	DET	other.PL	DET	teach	2PL	with	a	-

	recht	hart,	en	no	toon	yoe	selfs	beeter	als	yoe
	sincere	heart	and	NEG	show	2PL	self	better	as	2PL

	bent.^34
	BE

	Voor	die	driede^35:	as	yoe	word	weggejagt	van
	FOR	DET	third	when	2PL	become	away.driven	of

95	de	Leer,	als	gy	ha	doe	quaed,	dat	yoe	ma	hab
	DET	doctrine	as	2SG	PST	do	evil	that	2PL	may	have

	een	recht	berouw,	en	hoop	eenvoudig	als	een
	a	sincere	repentance	and	hope	simple	as	a

	klyn	Kind,	vor	wor	aangenom,	weer -aan^36,	en
	small	child	FOR	become	adopted	again	and

	bid	Jesus	vor	Gnade	en	beterschap.
	pray	Jesus	FOR	mercy	and	improvement

	Voor	die	vierde:	dat	yoe	mo	wés	uwe^37	mee -
	FOR	DET	fourth	that	2PL	must	BE	2SG	master.PL

100	sters	en	vrouwen	getrouw,	en	uw	Meester -
	-	and	women	faithful	and	2SG	master

	Knechten	en	Bombas	gehoorzaam:	en	dat
	servant.PL	and	overseer.PL	obedient	and	that

	yoe	doe	al	yoe	Werk	met	Liefde	en	gauwig -
	2PL	do	all	2PL	work	with	love	and	speedi -

34 bent: Du. inflexional ending -t.

35 driede ‘third’: regularized ordinal number (drie ‘three’ + -de) instead of Du. derde. According to Magens derde is the correct form in Negerhollands. Therefore, driede may be due to interference from German (Germ. dritte ‘third’).

36 weer-aan ‘again’: Early Mod. Du. expression, literally ‘again-on’.

37 uwe, and uw: Du. possessive pronoun 2sg corresponding to gij, which belonged to the written register of Dutch in those days. Cf. n. 17.

[p. 59]

	keit,	zoo	als	ha	wés	yoe	eygen;	want	yoe
	ness	so	as	PST	BE	2PL	own	because	2PL

	moet	weeten,	dat	Christus	Hell	[stell]	elk	een	van
	must	know	that	Christ	***	put	every	one	of

105	syn	Kind,	selvst	in	het^38	Werk,	want	de	Heere
	3POS	child	self	in	DET	work	because	DET	Lord

	a	mak	alles	zelf,	Koning,	Heer,	Knecht	en
	PST	make	everything	self	king	lord	servant	and

	Slaav.	En	yder	moet	blyv,	zoo	lang	ons	lev
	slave	and	everyone	must	stay	so	long	1PL	live

	in	de	Wereld,	in	die	Plek,	da^39	God	ha	zett	em
	in	DET	world	in	DET	place	where	God	PST	put	3SG

	in,	en	wés	met	Gods	wyze	raad	te -Vreeden:
	in	and	BE	with	God.GEN	wise	advice	satisfied

110	want	de	Heere	ha	zet	de	dood	tot	straff	van
	because	DET	Lord	PST	put	DET	death	to	punishment	of

	di	menschen	allmaal,	en	di	Kinder^40	van	God
	DET	people	all	and	DET	child.PL	of	God

	ook	moe	sterven,	maar	di	bin	niet	anders	als
	also	must	die	but	DET	BE	NEG	else	as

	een	slaap	voor	haar^41,	en	loop	met	blydschap
	a	sleep	FOR	3PL	and	walk	with	happiness

mit

de

lyf

na

de

graf,

en

met

de

Ziel

na

bo -

with

DET

body

NA

DET

grave

and

with

DET

soul

NA

above

115	ven	by	de	Heiland.
	-	with	DET	Saviour

38 het: Dutch neuter article instead of NH die.

39 da: may be the Dutch relative R-pronoun da(ar) ‘there, where’, whose form is governed by the stranded preposition in. The absence of r may be due to the tendency to drop syllable-final r in the NH variety of the slaves combined with interference from German where da is a relative pronoun and adverb.

40 Kinder: in Dutch kinderen or kinders, plural of kind ‘child’. This abbreviated plural form may be due to interference from German (Germ. Kinder ‘children’).

41 haar ‘3pl’: Early Mod. Du. pronoun instead of NH sender.

[p. 60]

	Behalven	dit	God	ha	straf	de	eerste	Negers
	besides	this	God	PST	punish	DET	first	negro.PL

	voor	ém	eygen	sind	van	sinder^42,	en	haar	heel
	FOR	3SG	own	sin	of	3PL	and	3PL	entire

	geslacht,	dat	sinder	za	wés	slaven,	en	de
	generation	that	3PL	FUT	BE	slave.PL	and	DET

	Zieles -Zaaligheit,	no	mag^43	ginder	vry	na	de
	soul.salvation	NEG	may	2PL	free	NA	DET

....................................... lichaam,

120	lichaam,	maar	neem	weg	al	de	booze	gedach -
	body	but	take	away	all	DET	evil	thoughts

	ten,	quaedheit,	luygkeit^44,	ongetroun	{ongetrouw},	en	al
	-	anger	laziness	***	unfaithfullness	and	all

	wat	mak	yoe	verdrietig	vo	wes	slaav;	want
	what	make	2PL	sad	FOR	BE	slave	because

	onze	Heer	Jesus,	zoo	lang	em	a	wes	in	de
	our	Lord	Jesus	so	long	3SG	PST	BE	in	DET

	Wereld,	em	a	giv	sig	zelfs	vo	wes	een	Knegt,
	world	3SG	PST	give	3RP	self	FOR	BE	a	servant

125	en	a	wés	een	ambachtsmann	tot	een	of	twee
	and	PST	BE	a	artisan	to	one	or	two

	jaar	voor	dat	em	a	loop	uit	die	Wereld,	en	in
	year	before	that	3SG	PST	walk	from	DET	world	and	in

	Gods	Woord	ons	bin	aangetoont	als	een	ex -
	God.GEN	word	1PL	BE	shown	as	a	example

42 voor ém eygen sind van sinder ‘for his/her own sind of them’: difficult to interpret. ém seems anomalous here and may be a determiner. sind could be Germ. Sünde ‘sin’ in a southern truncated form with unrounded [y], which is somewhat unlikely given Count Zinzendorf's provenance. However we could also read eygen sind as Germ. Eigensinn ‘wilfulness, obstinacy, stubbornness’.

43 mag: may be ma(a)k ‘make’.

44 luygkeit: -keit instead of Du. -heit (-heid) may be German.

[p. 61]

	empel	voor	al	die	Knegts.	My	zelf	bin	vvel
	-	FOR	all	DET	servant.PL	1SG	self	BE	good

	vry	gebooren,	maar	myn	Heiland	ha	leer	mi
	free	born	but	my	Saviour	PST	teach	1SG

130	voor	Werk	voor	andere	dag	en	nacht	met
	FOR	work	FOR	other.PL	day	and	night	with

	plesier.
	pleasure

	Voor	die	vyfde;	dat	ginder	aan	die	andere
	FOR	DET	fifth	that	2PL	on	DET	other

	Negers	of	Wilden	mo	dink	altyd,	die	door
	negro.PL	or	savage.PL	must	think	always	DET	by

	de	Broeders	in	zoo	veele	plaatsen	tot	Jesus	ge -
	DET	brother.PL	in	so	many	place.PL	to	Jesus -

135	roepen	bin^45:	vvant	vvy^46	ha	beginn	hier	eerst	by
	called	BE	because	1PL	PST	begin	here	first	at

	gy -Li^47,	en	zoo	veel	van	de	Broeders	en	Zusters
	2PL	and	so	many	of	DET	brother.PL	and	sister.PL

	hier	onder	dit	Werk	voor	ginder	sin^48,	en	met
	here	under	this	work	FOR	2PL	BE	and	with

	gebed	voor	ginder.
	prayer	FOR	2PL

	Ginder	die	a	vves	die	erst,	ik	hoop	na	sa	vvor
	2PL	DET	PST	BE	DET	first	1SG	hope	NEG	FUT	become

45 die door de Broeders ... geroepen bin: relative clause with Dutch SOV word order and Creole auxiliary bin.

46 vvy: Du. pronoun 1PL instead of NH ons.

47 gy-Li: Du. nominative pronoun 2PL (with gy of the written register) governed by a preposition. May represent the NH pronoun jellie but its use is not in accordance with the grammar of 18^th c. NH as we know it because jellie is supposed to be restricted to the nominative and the vocative. Cf. n. 5.

48 sin: Du. zijn ‘be (present pl.). In this case zoo veel van de Broeders ... sin follows the Du. subordinate SOV pattern, which is in accordance with the fact that historically want ‘because, for’ was a subordinator rather than a coordinator as it is in Modern Dutch.

[p. 62]

140	die	leste.	De	Heere	segne^49	u -liede^50	allemaal,	en
	DET	last	DET	Lord	bless	2PL	all	and

	giv,	dat	ik	ga	bi -voor^51	syn	troon	met	blydschap,
	give	that	1SG	go	before	3 POS	throne	with	happiness

	en	dat	elk	met	myn^52	en	Martinus	mag	sing:	De
	and	that	every	with	my	and	Martinus	may	sing	DET

	Ziel	van	Christ	ha	segen	my,	sin	Geest	ha	mak
	soul	of	Christ	PST	bless	1SG	3POS	spirit	PST	make

	myn	hert	verbly,	sin	{syn}	lichaam	diep	voor	ons	ge -
	my	heart	cheer	3POS	3POS	body	deep	FOR	1PL -

145	vvond,	ons	gedaan	maak	Ziel	en	Lyf	gezond^53;
	wounded	1PL	done	make	soul	and	body	healthy

	zo	als	ons	ha	sing	soo	dikvvils	hier	op	St.
	so	as	1PL	PST	sing	so	often	here	up	St

	Thomas.	Vaar	vvel!
	Thomas	fare	well

	Geschreeven	op	St.	Thomas
	written	up	St	Thomas

	den	15.	Febr.	1739.
	DET	15	February	1739

150	De	Grave	Lodewyk.^54
	DET	count	Lodewijk

49 segne ‘may bless’: cf. the Du. conjunctive zegene or its Germ, counterpart segne.

50 u-liede: Dutch 2^nd p. pronoun u from the written register in its non-nominative form. The addition of liede(n) ‘people’ instead of -lie is again a feature of the written Dutch of that period.

51 bi-voor: Engl. before?

52 myn instead of my ‘me’ may be dialectal Dutch.

53 ons ... gezond: gedaan, which does not fit into the iambic meter, may be a perfective marker and may be a substitute for ka. The true line may be *ka maak ons Ziel en Lyf gezond ‘PRF make 1pl soul and body healthy’. gedaan as a substitute for ka may then presuppose an auxiliary heeft ‘has’ so that ons, interpreted as an Indirect Object could shift to the left.

54 Geschreeven ... Lodewyk: Dutch.

[p. 63]

Translation

From the Lord Count von Zinzendorf, a farewell letter to the negroes in St Thomas, in the creole language.

My dear-loved friends

I have come this long way to see you and I am happy to see a beginning that I wished six years ago, the time I sent the first of my brothers to teach you. Thanked be our Lord God, who blessed your master Martinus, my dear brother, and helped him! It will give a great happiness to the king of Denmark when he hears that in all his places heathens get to know his Majesty's God, the only and true God. But oh how great will be the happiness for our Lord Jesus, the Saviour of all the poor black souls with his own blood, so that He sees everything in advance, and knows all among you who will stay faithful, and will share in his salvation? I part from you with as much shaking, as happiness: the reason of my happiness is this: The cross of our Lord Jesus is now known on already fifty one plantations; if there would be just one on every one who remains faithful, he would be a light for all his master negroes and his work would be a great great blessing for his master. What does the master gain now, who has over fifty, yes over one hundred (slaves), who go to Martinus school to learn, to know God, just like Company-plantation, Mr. Jan de Windt, Mr. Adriaan Beverhout, and others. God bless all with blessing from above and with blessing from below, who well his grace, that the soul of you negroes from the slavery of the devil is brought to Christ's freedom. The reason for that I shake for you is this: The devil and the world will watch you, when you do not walk faithfully now. All that hear the gospel and love it and most who are baptised by Martinus in the name of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and who have been made to teach the other ones. So the world will mock you and the devil will complain about you to God and the Lord. First I was surprised that Martyn was so sharp that he chased the negroes from the doctrine, when he heard that they again took up something of the old ways; but I see, he was right, because to keep the hypocrite off from Jesus, to prevent them from their false thoughts, to be seen by others, and to have it easier in the world, or not to work or to become free, or what I can say more. For that it is also good that Martinus does not teach you in the time, that you must work; Because when it is your real wish to become blessed Jesus can bless the little time that you have for yourself to learn. A heathen should not have another reason to convert himself, than that he believes that Jesus God's son has died to pay for mankind's sin, and that he now truly lives so that man may live with him; A heathen cannot do by nature as much good, as any a human who has learned from childhood to do good, and does not get permission to do evil. Because a heathen is from childhood on used to do evil, and has not learned any better. But when a heathen gets the mercy of the Lord Jesus, that his sin is forgiven, and he is washed with Jesus' blood; so he receives the strength to leave all evil, and to do good and so he hates sin so much, as he had loved it before. Then he is one of Christ's people, so as your Master Martinus will teach you furthermore. Now I just wish, that I am assured of you, then I will go quietly from you, and think of you with great happiness for the Lord.

[p. 64]

First that you think always of the Lord Jesus, that you pray to him always, for him to give you the right belief, that the Lord may stand always for your soul, as if you are crazy about Him, the way he died for you on the cross.

Second: that you deal with Martinus and the others that teach you, with a sincere heart, and do not show yourself better than you are.

Third: when you are driven away from the doctrine, when you have done evil that you may have a sincere repentance, and hope simply as a small child, to be adopted again, and pray to Jesus for mercy and improvement.

Fourth: that you must be faithful to your masters and mistresses and obedient to your master servants and overseers: and that you do all your work with love and quickness as has been proper for you; because you must know that Christ puts every one of His children, in his plan, because the Lord has made everything Himself, king, lord, servant and slave. And everyone must remain, so long as we live in the world, in the place, that God has put him in, and be with God's wise council satisfied: because the Lord has made death as the punishment of all people, and the children of God also must die, but it is nothing else as a sleep for them, and go with happiness with the body to the grave, and with the soul above with the Saviour. Besides this God has punished the first negroes for their own sins, and their entire generation, that they will be slaves, and the soul blessings does not make you free in the body, but takes away all the evil thoughts, anger, laziness, unfaithfulness, and all what makes you sad to be a slave; because our Lord Jesus, so long as he was in the world; he gave himself even to be a servant, and was an artisan up to one or two year before he went away from the world, and in God's word we are shown as an example for all the servants. I myself am free born, but my Saviour taught me to work days and nights for others with pleasure.

Fifth: that you must always think of the other negroes or savages, who have been called to Jesus by the brothers in so many places; because we have begun here first with you, and so many of the brothers and sisters are here in this work for you, and with prayer for you. You who were the first, I hope will not become the last. The Lord bless you all and give, that I will go before His throne with happiness, and that each one with me and Martinus may sing: The soul of Christ has blessed me, His spirit has made my heart cheerful, His body deeply wounded for us, made our soul and body healthy; so as we have sung so often here on St. Thomas. Fare well!

Written on St Thomas, 15 February 1739. The count Lodewijk.

1.1.2 Der erweckten Negros in St. Thomas Schreiben an Jhro Majest. den König in Dännemarck.

On the return journey, Zinzendorf brought two letters with him to Europe, one from the male slaves for the Danish king and one from the female slave Marotta, baptised Magdalena, for the Danish queen. The second letter (in 1.1.3) is in Marotta's African language, accompanied by a Negerhollands translation. Both letters - the first diplomatic correspondence in a creole language - were also printed in the Büdingische Sammlung (Zinzendorf 1742). Especially in the letter by the male slaves, the language

[p. 65]

clearly is still influenced by Dutch, which shows the difficulties in the beginning of the employment of this spoken language as a written language.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-3.63.(2)	List-nr.: 130	def.-nr.: 015
Date:	15.02.1739
Author:	Pieter, Mingo et al.	Owner:
Writer:	Domingo Gesoe	Recipient: Dän.König

References:	Found in Büdingische Sammlung I:483-485; see letter nr. 125 (3.60) in Beck & Stein (forthcoming), which is a transcription/copy.
Remarks:	The text in the Büdingische Sammlung shows deviations from the manuscript. Here we give the original text.
Language:	NH/Du.

XI.

Der erweckten Negros in St. Thomas Schreiben an Ihro Majest. den Koenig in Daen-nemarck⁵⁵.

An. 1739.

1	Gnadige	Heer	Koning!
	mercyful	lord	king

	Nú	is	ons	hope,	de	Konings^56	Majestait	ons
	now	BE	1PL	hope	DET	king.GEN	majesty	1PL

	sal	die	order	geven^57,	dat	ons	durf^58
	FUT	DET	order	give	that	1PL	dare

...................................... voort-

	voortgaan	te	leeren	den	Heere	Jesus.	Ons
	continue	to	learn	DET	Lord	Jesus	1PL

5	staan	vast	tot	noch	toe,	als	het	God	den
	stand	fast	to	yet	till	as	it	God	DET

55 Der ...Daen-nemarck: German.

56 Note the use of the genitive here.

57 Note the order Subj. - Obj. pronoun - Aux. - NP - V. This need not be an L2 acquisition mistake since the intrusion of phrasal material between verbs of the verbal cluster is known from older stages of Dutch as well as from dialects.

58 durf may be Du. durven ‘dare’ or otherwise Germ. dürfen ‘may, be allowed’.

[p. 66]

	Heere	gelieft,	schon	ons	seer	gedrukt	word
	Lord	pleases	though	1PL	very	oppressed	become

	van	all,	en	komen^59	ons	slagen^60	en	kappen,
	by	all	and	come	1PL	hit	and	hew

	as	ons	by	den	Heyland	leert,	en	Boek	ver -
	when	1PL	by	DET	Saviour	learn	and	book	-

	branden,	en	doop	Hon -de -Doop	noemen,	en
	burn	and	baptism	dog -christening	call	and

10	Broeders	Beesten,	en	Negér	moet	niet	zaal -ig
	brother.PL	beast.PL	and	negro	must	NEG	blessed

	worden,	een	gedoopt	Neger	is	Brandhout
	become	a	baptised	negro	BE	fire.wood

	in	de	Hell.	En	hebben	ons	Broeders,	son -
	in	DET	hell	and	have	1PL	brother.PL	-

	erlyk	Bas	Martinus,	die	God	aan	ons	al
	especially	BAAS	Martinus	DET	God	on	1PL	already

	had	gebrúikt,	en	die	van	twentig	Broeders
	had	used	and	DET	of	twenty	brother.PL

15	overgebleven	is,	(die	gestorven	zyn,)	met
	remained	BE	DET	died	BE	with

	syn	Broeders,	over	drie	Maant	op	de	Fort	ge -
	3POS	brother.PL	over	three	month	up	DET	fort	-

	sett,	en	wil	sy	van	de	land	bannen.	All
	put	and	want	3PL	of	DET	country	exile	all

	beriepen	sich	nú	op	S.	Majesteits^61,	en	segge
	called	3RP	now	up	3PL	majesty.GEN	and	say

	Gy	heeft	verboden,	dat	Negers	niet	mo -
	2SG	have	forbidden	that	negro.PL	NEG	may

59 Read zij komen ‘they come’.

60 slagen instead of Du. slaan ‘beat’ (past participle geslagen) may be interference from German (Germ. schlagen ‘beat’).

61 Genitive unexplained.

[p. 67]

20	gen	de	Heiland	leere	kennen,	en	Gy	sult
	-	DET	Saviour	learn	know	and	2SG	will

	Bas	Martinus	hast	{krass}	weg	yagen.	Maar	we	&c.
	BAAS	Martinus	soon	severely	away	drive	but	1PL	etc.

	&c.	{niet	geloven	dat	en	hebben	twee	broeder	gesturt	om
	etc.	NEG	believe	that	and	have	two	brother	sent	for

u

te

vragen,

Jens

Rasmus

and

Andries

een

Dienaar

van

de

Neger

2SG

to

ask

Jens

Rasmus

and

Andries

a

servant

of

DET

negro

	Gemeente}	en	bidden	U.	laat	ons	den	Heere	leeren
	congregation	and	pray	2SG	let	1PL	DET	Lord	learn

25	kennen,	en	by	de	Broeder -kerke	{Broeders	kerke}	blyven:
	know	and	with	DET	Brethren -church	Brother.GEN	church	stay

	Want	wy	willen	met	haar	tot	den	Hey -
	because	1PL	want	with	3PL	to	DET	Saviour

	landt	gaan.	Ons	wil	ons	Meesters	in	all
	-	go	1PL	want	1PL	master.PL	in	all

	ding	gehoorsam	zyn,	enkel	ons	siel	na	de
	thing	obedient	BE	only	1PL	soul	NA	DET

	Hemel	by	den	Heer	Jesus	stúúren.	Want
	heaven	at	DET	Lord	Jesus	send	because

30	ons	heeft	ons	Heere	{Herte}	gestoolen^62,	Maron	ge -
	1PL	has	1PL	lord	heart	stolen	maroon	-

	loopen,	na	Porto	Rico	gegaan,	vlaw^63	ge -
	run	NA	Puerto	Rico	gone	naughty	-

	west,	en	de	Heeren	an	d'leftogd	bedrogen;
	been	and	DET	master.PL	on	DET.daily.ration	deceived

	en	nu	is	dat	all	anders	by	ons,	so	de	mee -
	and	now	BE	that	all	different	with	1PL	so	DET	master.PL

62 Heere may be plural: ‘masters’. gestolen may be bestolen ‘robbed’.

63 vlaw: Du.flauw, which can be translated into ‘weak’ or ‘naughty’. In this context ‘naughty’ seems the most correct.

[p. 68]

	sters	wool	weeten.	Menig	Neger	heeft
	-	well	know	many	negro	has

35	overhed^64	{over	het}	quad	stand -fastig	voeten	en	handen
	because.of.DET	over	DET	evil	stead -fastly	foot.PL	and	hand.PL

	sin^65	laten	afkappen.	Wy	sullen	grac	{grae}	onsen
	3POS	let	off.cut	1PL	shall	voluntarily	gladly	1PL

	kop	voor	de	Gemeente	onder	het	buil^66	{buyk}	leg -
	head	FOR	DET	community	under	DET	axe	belly	lay

	gen,
	-

	voor	den	Heere	Jesus,	als	ons	Mee -
	FOR	DET	Lord	Jesus	as	1PL	master.PL

40	sters	ons	dooden,	soo	als	sy	seg -gen.
	-	1PL	kill	so	as	3PL	say

	God	den	Heere	segne	ons	Genaadigste
	God	DET	Lord	bless	1PL	most.blessed

	Koning	duisendmaal.	Geschreven	in	St.
	king	thousand.times	written	in	St

	Thomas,	ten^67	15.	Febr.	1739.
	Thomas	-	15	February	1739

	Op	naam	van	over	de	seshondert	en
	up	name	of	over	DET	sixhundred	and

45	vyftig	swarte	scholieren	van	Jesus
	fifty	black	disciple.PL	of	Jesus

	Christus,	die	Bas	Martinus	leert,
	Christ	DET	BAAS	Martinus	teaches

64 overhed: over het ‘because.of DET’.

65 sin as as postnominal possessive is neither in accordance with Dutch nor with Negerhollands. It may be a typo for the reflexive indirect object zich as in text 1.2.2.

66 buil ‘bump’ may be a mistake for bijl ‘axe’, since bijl should be [bil] in NH whereas buil could be [byl] or [bil].

67 ten is either the article den (non-nominative), which should be used here, or ten ‘at the’ (< te den).

[p. 69]

	vornaamlyk	van	alle	degeen	die
	mainly	of	all	those	DET

	Hy	al	gedoopt	heeft,
	3SG	already	baptised	has

Pieter.

Mingo.

Andries.

Abra-ham.

Madlena.

	Rebecca,	Malattinen	{Malattine}.
		mulatto.woman.PL	mulatto.woman

Anna Maria.^68

68 In the manuscript version the names are placed in another order: Pieter, Madlena, Mingo, Rebecca, Malattine, Andries, Anna, Maria, Abraham. Malattine is not a name, but means ‘mulatto.woman’, which seems to refer to Rebecca.

Translation

The awakened negroes in St. Thomas write to their Majesty the king of Denmark.

Merciful Sir King!

Now it is our hope his majesty the king will give the order that we may continue to learn about the Lord Jesus. So far we have stood as firm as pleases God the Lord, although we are very much oppressed by all who come to beat and hew us when we learn about the Saviour, and who burn the books, and call baptism a baptism for dogs and call the brethren beasts, and say that negroes should not become blessed, and that a baptised negro is fire-wood in hell. And they have put our brethren, especially Reverend Martin, whom God had given to us already, and who has remained of 20 brethren, (who have died) with his brother, for over three months in the fort, and want to ban them from the land. All now called upon his majesty, and say you have forbidden that the Negroes learn to know the Saviour and that you will chase away Reverend Martin. But we do not believe this, and we have sent two brethren to ask you, Jens Rasmus and Andries, a servant of the negro community, and implore you. Let us learn to know the Lord, and remain with the brethren's church because we want to go with them to the Saviour. We want to be obedient to our masters in everything and only

[p. 70]

send our soul to heaven with Lord Jesus. Because we have robbed our lord, run maroon, went to Porto Rico, have been naughty and deceived our masters with our daily rations. And now this is all different with us, as the masters know well. Many negroes have got their hands and feet cut off because of the evil. We will gladly lay our heads for the community under the axe, for the Lord Jesus, if our masters will kill us, like they say. God bless our most merciful king a thousand times.

Written in St. Thomas, the 15th February, 1739.

On behalf of over 650 black pupils of Jesus Christ, whom are taught by Reverend Martin, especially of all those he has baptised already, Pieter, Mingo, Andries, Abraham, Madlena, Rebecca (mulatto woman), Anna Maria.

1.1.3 Der Ältestin der Gemeine der Negros in St. Thomas Schreiben an die Königin von Dännemarck.

6. Pages 486-487 of Zinzendorf (1742).

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-3.61.r.	List-nr.: 126	def.-nr.: 017
Date:	1739
Author:	Marotta, now Madlena (9)	Owner:
Writer:		Recipient: Dä. Königin
Format:

References:	In Büdingische Sammlung I:485-486 in which a NH translation of the African text is given also. There are 3 versions of the African text in the archive: 1. really unclear; 2. possible writer Domingo Gesoe; 3. copist. Here version 2, and the NH translation
Remarks:	It is still unclear which African language is used in this text.
Language:	African language; NH

[p. 71]

XII.

Der Aeltestin der Gemeine der Negros in St. Thomas Schreiben an die Koenigin von Daenemarck.

An. 1739.⁶⁹

Ne acadda.

1Cabe my le ad ga {adga} Tome {Tomas} minge bruhu {bruku} 2 mau, mi wago voltomé {votto mé}. Gewoma {Gew oma} 3 ....................................... dihé 4 dihé {diké}, na mangi Bruhu {brúku} Ajuba malle na ma do 5 wi tu ma gagni na mi, {mu} quassi nangi {mangi} netto 6 dy {dij} a Wo Du Gowo maja powo Dn. {Du.} Poppo 7 leosi, Mia meyi {meijji} diké bowo Dn {du} mille dikbe 8 migeé Meacadda nadak be no vo Dn {Du} Mau⁷⁰ 9 e na dak bena Anibà dassi sala Martinus {Martinús} na 10 doclio {doch} {[-d]} na mi {mí} nassé na mi angé vo Dn. {Du.} na 11 cossi de tami, denikó {denikò} Do Batroe {Batröe} Mau {Man[-u]} sé {Sé} Mau 12 mé agnisà ne a cadda. 13 Minzu {Minzù} Gnonù 14 en ho ma {ma[-a]} poppo! 15 Damma {Damma}.⁷¹

Ubersetzung ins Cariolische.⁷²

	Groote	Koninginne.
	great	queen

	Die	tyd	mi	a	wes	na	Poppo	op	Africa,
	DET	time	1SG	PST	BE	NA	Poppo	up	Africa

	doen	mi	a	dint	die	Heer	Mau,	nu	ko -
	then	1SG	PST	serve	DET	lord	God	now	come

69 XII .... An. 1739.:German.

70 Mau: Ewe ‘God’. (p.c. Dr. F. Ameka)

71 Ne acadda ... Damma. As yet unidentified African language.

72 Übersetzung ins Cariolische German, meaning: ‘translation into Creole’.

[p. 72]

	me	na	blanco^73	land^74,	mi	no	wilt	gu	din	de
	-	NA	white	country	1SG	NEG	want	very.much	serve	DET

	Heere.	Mi	no	ha	di	grond	vor	tú	dien	die
	Lord	1SG	NEG	have	DET	ground	FOR	to	serve	DET

20	Heere;	mi	ben	bedroev	na	min	herte,	voor
	Lord	1SG	BE	sad	NA	my	heart	FOR

	dat	Negrinne	no	kan	dien	die	Heere	Jesus	in
	that	negress.PL	NEG	can	serve	DET	Lord	Jesus	in

	Thomas,	die	Blanke	no	wil	dien	die	Heere.
	Thomas	DET	white	NEG	want	serve	DET	Lord

	Lat	so	as	sili^75	wil,	maar	soo	de	povre	swarte
	let	so	as	3PL	want	but	so	DET	poor	black

	Broeders	en	susters	wil	dien	de	Heer	Jesus,
	brother.PL	and	sister.PL	want	serve	DET	Lord	Jesus

25	so	moet	zilli	doen,	as^76	si	bin	maron	volk.	As
	so	must	3PL	do	as	3PL	BE	maroon	people	when

	Neacanda	belyv,	gy^77	moet	bidde	de	Heere	Je -
	Neacanda	please	2SG	must	pray	DET	Lord	-

	sus	voor	ons,	en	bidd	ook	A -Niba,	voor	la
	Jesus	FOR	1PL	and	pray	also	A -niba	FOR	let

........................................ stan

	stan^78	Bas	Martinus	prek	de	Heere	woord,
	stand	BAAS	Martinus	preach	DET	Lord	word

	voor	ons	moe	leer	voor	kenn	de	Heere,	en
	FOR	1PL	must	learn	FOR	know	DET	Lord	and

73 blanco derives from Du. blanke ‘white person’. Dutch or Zealandic word-final schwa becomes a full vowel in NH. Usually the stressed vowel determines the quality of the word-final vowel. However, in the case of stressed a the default option o/u is chosen. Cf. NH krabo/krabu ‘crab’ < Zealandic kraabbe (Du. krab).

74 blanko land: blanko probably is an unmarked possessive.

75 sili: sellie instead of the more usual sender. Compare the introduction.

76 as: here in sense of ‘as if’. See free translation.

77 gy: pronoun from the Dutch written register.

78 la stan ‘let’.

[p. 73]

30	voor	Doop	ons	Negers,	op	Naam	des	Va -
	FOR	baptise	1PL	negro.PL	up	name	DET.GEN	Father.GEN

	ders,	Sons	en	Hilig	Geest^79.	Die	Heer	be -
	-	Son.GEN	and	Holy	Spirit	DET	Lord	-

	waar	sinder,	en	seegene	sinder,	son	en	doch -
	keep	3PL	and	bless	3PL	son	and	daughter.and

	ter*s*en,	heel	Familie,	en	mi	sal	bid	den	Heer
	-	entire	family	and	1SG	FUT	pray	DET	Lord

	Jesus	voor	sinder.
	Jesus	FOR	3PL

35	Ob	naam	van	over	Tweehondert	en
	up	name	of	over	twohundred	and

	Vyftig	Negerssen	Zrouwen^80,	die
	fifty	negress.PL	woman.PL	DET

	den	Heere	Jesus	beminnen,	ge -
	DET	Lord	Jesus	love	-

	schreven	door
	written	by

Marotta

	nú
	now

Madlena

40	van	Poppo	uyt	Africa^81.
	of	Poppo	out	Africa

79 op Naam ... Geest: sudden intrusion of written Dutch genitives. However the Dutch formula (in de naam des Vaders, des Zoons en des Heiligen Geestes) is not completely followed.

80 Typo for Vrouwen ‘women’.

81 Ob naam van ... uyt Africa: Dutch. Ob may be Du. op ‘at, up’, as it is in the manuscript version. This may be interference from German (cf. Germ. ob ‘because of’) due to the use of op (naam van) instead of regular uit (naam van) ‘in (name of)’.

[p. 74]

Translation

Great Queen.

At the time I lived in Poppo in Africa I served Lord Mau and when I came to the whites' land, I did not very much want to serve the Lord. I did not have a reason to serve the Lord; I am sad in my heart that Negroe women cannot serve the Lord Jesus in St. Thomas. The Whites do not want to serve the Lord. Let it be as they want, but if the poor black brethren and sisters want to serve the Lord Jesus, they have to do as if they are maroon people. If it pleases the Queen, you should pray to the Lord Jesus for us, and implore also A Niba (the King) to let Reverend Martin preach the Lord's word and baptise us Negroes, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. May the Lord protect them and bless them, son and daughter and the whole family, and I will pray to the Lord Jesus for them. On behalf of two hundred and fifty Negro women, who love the Lord Jesus, written by Marotta, now Madlena of Poppo from Africa

1.2 The slave letters (1737-1767)

The earliest written documentation of the slaves' language is formed by letters. Since 1736, the missionaries had been teaching the slaves to read and some of them also to write, and indeed, the slaves soon began writing letters, the first one dating from January 11, 1737. A large amount of information about this stage of Negerhollands can be found in Stein's works (especially in those from 1984, 1985a, 1989 and 1991). On the whole, there are about 150 letters in the Herrnhut Archives; they were written between 1737 and 1768. These letters are mostly in Negerhollands, but one part was also in Dutch. In this chapter, we will present a selection of letters in diachronical order; Dutch letters will not be included here.

There is some difficulty in discovering the sentence boundaries. The comma sometimes seems to have the function of period, but may also be absent. When it is not clear what it does, and it therefore remains unclear to which (part of) sentence another sentence belongs, we treated it in the free translation as an independent sentence, i.e. between periods.

1.2.1 The first letter in Negerhollands

At the time the first letters were written, Negerhollands was not yet a ‘written language’. Therefore, the earliest letters were based on Dutch. Such a letter should represent the first document of our selection: Peter's letter to Friedrich Martin of 21 and 24 January 1738. In this letter, Dutch and Negerhollands structures alternate. On the one hand, it shows Peter's effort to write Dutch, and on the other, his difficulties with this language and the ensuing Creole influences. When one accepts the possibility of linguistic blending, this text may be an example of it (cf. Stein (1989) for the same letter). The letter is dated in German by someone else, and Friedrich Martin has added a comment in German in the right margin, at 90° to the text.

[p. 75]

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-10.62	List-nr.: 138	def.-nr.: 003
Date:	21/24.01.1738
Author:	Pitrus	Owner:
Writer:	Peter	Recipient:	Fr. Martin

Format:	15.0 × 19.2; only recto used
Language:	NH/Du.

1	[-an	de	Lifde^82	broeders	Maertijn
	to	DET	dear	brother.PL	Martin

	De	gemijnte	en	alle	de	broeders
	DET	congregation	and	all	DET	brother.PL

	en	diensdag]	avondt	de	vir	broeders
	and	Tuesday	evening	DET	four	brother.PL

	en	de	Susters	en	de	oud	man	Saca
	and	DET	sister.PL	and	DET	old	man	Saca

5	ons	hebt	samen	met	maerkanner
	1PL	have	together	with	each.other

	neder	geval	op	de	kneij	om	bed	an
	down	fallen	on	DET	knee	to	pray	on

	De	heere	en	lof	de	heere	en	vriedag^83
	DET	Lord	and	praise	DET	Lord	and	Friday

	avondt	ons	hebt	an	de	heere	wederan
	evening	1PL	have	on	DET	Lord	again

	Gebed	en	ons	hebt	met	maerkanner
	prayed	and	1PL	have	with	each.other

10	GeEten	en	ons	hebt	De	heere	gedaanckt
	eaten	and	1PL	have	DET	Lord	thanked

	Jck	hebt	mijn^84	broeder	gevrag	hoe
	1SG	have	1SG.GEN	brother	asked	how

82 Lifde: looks like Du. noun liefde ‘love’ but may be geliefde ‘beloved’.

83 vriedag: Zealandic [i] instead of Du. .

84 mijn: mijn and sijn are possessive pronouns in Dutch, respectively of 1SG and 3SG.

[p. 76]

	staet	met	sijn^85	hert	hem	seg	ben	sijn
	stand	with	3SG.GEN	heart	3SG	say	BE	3SG.GEN

	hert^86	noe^87	wel	van	de	heere	sijn	woordt
	heart	now	positive	of	DET	Lord	3SG.GEN	word

	Jck	hebt	andrijs^88	gevrag	hoe	ben	sijn
	1SG	have	***	asked	how	BE	3SG.GEN

15	hert	hen^89	Seg	ben	Sijn	hert	blie -Schep^90
	heart	3SG	say	BE	3SG.GEN	heart	happy.ness

	van	De	Lif	des	heer^91	Maar	sijn	vrou
	of	DET	love	DET.GEN	Lord	but	3SG.GEN	woman

	kan	sijn	hert	soo	boos	maken	daarom
	can	3SG.GEN	heart	so	angry	make	therefore

	hem	ben	ongesaem^92	Joannis	seg	hem	hebt
	3SG	BE	disobedient	Johannes	say	3SG	have

	soo	wel	gevon -en	sijn	hert	maer	niet
	so	well	found	3SG.GEN	heart	but	NEG

20	veel	pitrus
	much	Pitrus

	Vom Januari 21 und 24
	1738

teure brider hier ist daß erste brieflein

waß broeder Petris von seiner bande mich bericht

er hats auch selbst geschrieben⁹³

85 See footnote 3.

86 ben sijn hert: note the inversion of subject and finite verb.

87 noe: Zealandic noe ([nu]) instead of Du. nu ([ny]).

88 andrijs: proper name, but not spelled with a capital.

89 hen: should be hem ‘3sg’.

90 blie-Schep: Zealandic [i] instead of Du. .

91 De Lif des heer: attempt to write Du. de liefde des Heren.

92 ongesaem: Du. ongehoorzaam ‘disobedient’.

93 Vom Januari ... geschrieben: German.

[p. 77]

Translation

To the dear brethren Martin, the congregation and all the brethren. One Tuesday evening the four brethren and the sisters and the old man Saca, we knelt together and prayed to the Lord and praised the Lord, and Friday evening we prayed again to the Lord and we ate together and we thanked the Lord. I asked my brother how his heart fared, and he said his heart now belongs to the word of the Lord. I asked Andrijs how his heart was and he said his heart feels the happiness of the love of the Lord, but his wife can sometimes make her heart so angry, which is why she is disobedient. Johannes says he found his heart so well, but not very much. Pitrus.

From January 21 and 24, 1738

Dear brethren, here is the first small letter which Peter sent to me from his group. Also, he has written it himself.

1.2.2 The early 1740s.

The early letters indicate that Zinzendorf's letter stimulated further writing in Negerhollands. During the subsequent years more letters followed, of which especially the one from 1741 is important. Among them the first slave letters in Negerhollands are encountered, and Dutch was no longer used exclusively. Again, the initiative for this apparently did not come from the slaves but from the missionaries. One must keep in mind that not all slaves could write; indeed, during the first years only two of them could, Peter and Domingo Gesoe. As there are more senders of letters than different types of hand-writing, the letters were apparently dictated. This is supported by the fact that often several letters appear after each other on the same sheet of paper. Mostly they were small notes, from which one can conclude that paper was not available in abundance. Furthermore, Peter and Domingo mainly wrote Dutch letters; missionary Löhans, on the other hand, wrote almost exclusively in Negerhollands. Here we included a letter from Löhans. The contents of these letters does not display much variation; they represent declarations of faith with only very scanty reference to daily life.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-15.5a.l5	List-nr.:018	def.-nr.: 048
Date:	01.02.1740 [1741?]
Author:	Lenathge	Owner: Hans Claß
Writer:	Löhans	Recipient:

Format:	9.8 × 11.5 cm; verso
References:	Büdingische Sammlung 15
Remarks:	Baptised on 26 February 1741: Milka: the letter is probably from 1741, thus shortly before baptism. 1740 is not very likely
Language:	NH

[p. 78]

1	de	grutniß^94	an	alle	de	Schüsters^95
	DET	greetings	to	all	DET	sister.PL

	Mi	a -was^96	en	arem	verloren	Mensch.
	1SG	PST -was	a	poor	lost	person

	nu^97,	mi.a.kom	fin	de	heijland	sein	blut
	now	1SG.PST.come	find	DET	Saviour	3POS	blood

	die	blut.a.kom	wasch	mi	hart.
	DET	blood.PST.come	wash	1SG	heart

5	mi.a.was	so	lang	dit	vor	hor	de	heere
	1SG.PST.was	so	long	time	FOR	hear	DET	Lord

	sein	wort.	mar	mi	nu^98	a.frag	na	die
	3POS	become	but	1SG	NEG	PST.ask	NA	DET

	mar	dun	mi	a.kom	vul	de	heijland
	but	then	1SG	PST.come	feel	DET	Saviour

	sin	kracht.	na	mi	hart.	da	mi	a.krisch
	3POS	strength	NA	1SG	heart	then	1SG	PST.cry

	na	em	bardon.bardon.	en	so	mi	fin	die
	NA	3SG	pardon.pardon	and	so	1SG	find	DET

10	genade.a.kom	oover	mi,	mi	nu	ka
	mercy.PST.come	over	1SG	1SG	NEG	PRF

	danck	de	heijland	genug	vor	der^99	sien
	thank	DET	Saviour	enough	FOR	that	3POS

	blut.a.wasch	mi	hart.	mi	glof	fast
	blood.PST.wash	1SG	heart	1SG	believe	fast

94 Germ. -niß instead of Du. -nis.

95 Schüsters: Du. zusters. maybe because of Germ. Schwester ‘sister’.

96 -was: must be a reinterpretation of NH wees ‘to be’ as Du. was ‘was’. This may indicate that Löhans did not understand the creole TMA system yet or that he was not aware of the existence of the Dutch infinitive wezen ‘to be’ (instead of regular zijn).

97 The universal use of Germ. for [u] makes it likely that nu represents NH, Zealandic [nu] (noe) rather than written Dutch nu (i.e. [ny]).

98 nu, i.e. [nu]: one of the variants of the negation marker (na/no/nu). mar ... nu: ‘but ... not’ can be translated as ‘without’.

99 der: probably a mistake for det or dat ‘that’.

[p. 79]

	na	die	heijland.	em.a.hang	an	die	hout
	NA	DET	Saviour	3SG.PST.hang	on	DET	wood

	vor	mi	arm	sonder^100.
	FOR	1SG	poor	sinner

15	Lenathge^101	vonn	Hans	Claß
	Lena.DIM	of	Hans	Class

S. Thomas den 1. feber 1740

100 sonder instead of the irregular Du. form zondaar ‘sinner’ may be due to interference from Germ. Sünder ‘sinner’.

101 Lenathge: Lena-tje, diminutive of Lena.

Translation

Greetings to all sisters. I was a poor and lost person. Now I came and found the Saviour's blood. The blood came and cleansed my heart. I waited so long time before hearing the Lord's word. Without asking for it. But then I came to feel the Saviour's strength, in my heart, then I cried to him for forgiveness. And so I find the mercy has come over me. I now cannot thank the Saviour enough because his blood cleansed my heart. I believe firmly in the Saviour. He hung on the cross for me poor sinner. Lenathge of Hans Claß.

St. Thomas, February the first, 1740

7. School of the Moravian Brethren on St. Croix.

[p. 80]

1.2.3 Letters to Bethlehem (Pennsylvania, U.S.A.)

From the following years only very few and then almost exclusively Dutch letters have been preserved. Starting in 1752 and 1753 we find a larger number of letters again. They are predominantly written in Negerhollands, their size has increased, and the texts are longer. Furthermore, a new addressee appears: the Indian congregation in North America (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania). From the language in the letters one senses increasing experience with the Negerhollands language, the number of Dutch interferences is low, and in their place new structures are employed (see several publications of Stein, for instance Stein forthcoming b).

The following letter is by Domingo Gesoe to the Indian congregation. Domingo Gesoe, one of the two writers from the early years, disposed of a good knowledge of Dutch and always wrote his own letters in this language, while for others he also wrote in Negerhollands. This letter is the only one known to us which he wrote in Negerhollands himself. Apparently, for him the addressee plays a role in this linguistic choice.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-15.18.r	List-nr.:072	def.-nr.: 094
Date:	30.05.1752
Author:	Domingo Gesoe	Owner: Carstens
Writer:	Domingo Gesoe	Recipient: Bethlehem

Format:	Double sheet folded 2 × A4, 1.1 cm less wide, 0.7cm shorter; front page bears the address.
Remarks:	Brought by Oldendorp to Bethlehem, Penn., as are the following letters of the bundle.
Language:	NH

1	En	de	genade	van	ons	lieve	heijland
	and	DET	grace	of	1PL	dear	Saviour

	Lieve	broeders	alle -mael,	ons	alle -mael
	dear	brother.PL	all	1PL	all

	Jender	arme,	swaerte	Broeders	op	St	Thomas
	2PL	poor	black	brother.PL	on	St	Thomas

	Lee	groet	Jender	alle	veel	veel	diesen^102	mael,	en -
	ASP	greet	2PL	all	much	much	thousand	time	and

5	De	bloetige	wonden	van	ons	zoed	Lam,	die	a
	DET	bloody	wound.PL	of	1PL	sweet	lamb	DET	PST

102 diesen: Du. duizend ‘thousand’ with unrounded [y].

[p. 81]

	Dood	en	betaeld^103	voor	ons	zonden	an	de	Chroshoud^104
	die	and	pay	FOR	1PL	sin.PL	at	DET	cross.wood

	Ja	ons	danck	hem	voor	sie	bloedige	zweet	en
	yes	1PL	thank	3SG	for	3POS	bloody	sweat	and

	ook	voor	die	wonden	an	hand	en	voet	Ja
	also	for	DET	wound.PL	at	hand	and	foot	yes

	Die	grood	Zieholleje^105,	die	waer	ons	alle -mael
	DET	great	side.hole.DIM	DET	where	1PL	all

10	zal	zet	als	dietje,	voor	alle	quadt,	hem	zal
	FUT	sit	as	animal.DIM	for	all	evil	3SG	FUT

	Bewaer	ons,	ons	kan	noe	kan	gie	een	goed
	keep	1PL	1PL	can	NEG	can	give	a	thing

	Maer	ons	danck	hem	voor	die	liefde	die	Em
	but	1PL	thank	3SG	For	DET	love	DET	3SG

	a	gie	Jender	na	bennen	Jender	hart	dat	ook
	PST	give	2PL	NA	inside	2PL	heart	that	also

	Jender	moe	dinck	op	ons	arm	pover	volck
	2PL	must	think	on	1PL	poor	poor	folk

15	En	doe	soo	veel	moeijten	voor	ons	hem	selfs
	and	do	so	much	trouble	for	1PL	3SG	self

	sal	betael	Jender	voor	die,	en	gie	jender
	FUT	pay	2PL	for	DET	and	give	2PL

	Meer	kracht	en	liefde	voor	Wandel	na
	more	strength	and	love	FOR	walk	NA

	bennen	Sie	paet	die	hem	ka	mack	open
	inside	3POS	path	DET	3SG	PRF	make	open

103 betaeld: Dutch past participle with ending -d or spelling variety of expected Dutch present tense marker -t?

104 Chros-: English cross or a variant of a NH form kroes ‘cross’ with an Old West Germanic (Latin) [u] (Du. kruis). Cf. the introduction on the use of [u] instead of [y] in some Zealandic etyma.

105 Zieholleje: an innovative compound plus diminutive, if our interpretation is correct.

[p. 82]

	voor	ons,	en	voor	de	he[-l]le	Weereld,	dat	ons
	for	1PL	and	for	DET	whole	world	that	1PL

20	kan	kom	vrie	van	alle	sonden,	door	sie
	can	come	free	of	all	sin.PL	through	3POS

	bloed	en	dood,	ons	allemael	lee	groet
	blood	and	dead	1PL	all	ASP	greet

	Jender	veel	veel	diesen	mael	en	ook
	2PL	much	much	thousand	time	and	also

	an	ons	lieve	broeders	die	amerikanner^106
	on	1PL	dear	brother.PL	DET	American.PL

	Die	ook,	die	hae	de	lieve	heijland	lief,	ons
	DET	also	DET	have	DET	dear	Saviour	dear	1PL

25	Ben	moeSe	blie	voe	hoor	van	Sender,	ons
	BE	much	happy	FOR	hear	of	3PL	1PL

	noe	kan	voe	kiec	hier	So	met	makander
	NEG	can	FOR	see	here	so	with	each.other

	maer	ons	hoop	voe	kiec	makander	bij	de
	but	1PL	hope	FOR	see	each.other	at	DET

	Lieve	heijland,	ons	Groet	weer -an	en	de
	dear	Saviour	1PL	greet	again	in	DET

	Naem	van	alle	onse	Swaerte	broeders
	name	of	all	1PL	black	brother.PL

30	En	het	Laeste	ook	van	uwe	arme
	and	DET	last	also	of	2SG.GEN	poor

	Broeder	Domingo	Gesoe
	brother	Domingo	Gesoe

106 amerikanner: older Dutch (and German) Amerikaner ‘American’ with -aner instead of more normal Du. -aan. Can be interpreted as singular or as plural. In this context a plural seems more likely.

[p. 83]

Translation

And the grace of our dear Saviour. Dear brethren, all of us, your poor Black brethren on St. Thomas, we greet you all many thousand times. And the bloody wounds of our sweet Lamb, who died and paid for our sins on the cross. Yes we thank him for his bloody sweat and also for the wounds on his hands and feet. Yes the large side-hole, which is where we all will sit as little animals. We cannot repay him in any way, he who will keep us from all evil. But we thank him for the love which He has given you in your hearts, so that you must also think of us poor piteous people and take so great pains for us. He Himself will pay you for it, and give you more power and love to walk his path which he has opened for us, and for the whole world, so that we can become free of all sins, through his blood and death. We all greet you many thousand times, and also to our dear brethren the Americans. Them too, who love the Saviour, we are very happy to hear from them. We cannot see each other here, but we hope to see each other with the dear Saviour. We greet again on behalf of all our Black brethren, and finally also from your poor brother. Domingo Gesoe.

1.2.4 A letter from Cornelius

The following is a letter from Cornelius to Spangenberg, the principal assistant and later successor of Count Zinzendorf in the leadership of the Moravian congregation. Cornelius was the decisive personality in the slave congregation of the ‘second generation’; his portrait is found among the important Moravian personalities in the Unitäts-Archiv in Herrnhut. Like Domingo Gesoe he used both Dutch and Negerhollands in his letters. Spangenberg visited St. Thomas as early as 1736, three years before Zinzendorf.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-15.16	List-nr.: 071 def.-nr.: 107
Date:	06.07.1753
Author:	Cornelius	Owner: Compagnie
Writer:	Cornelius	Recipient: Spangenberg
Format:	19.8 × 32.2 cm; recto: text, verso: address + seal
Language:	NH

1	Mijn	zeer	hertelijk	Broeder
	1SG.GEN	very	dear	brother

	Spaningberg
	Spangenberg

	Mi	le	groet	en	kus	joe	muschie	Muschie	Duijsend
	1SG	ASP	greet	and	kiss	2SG	much	much	thousand

	Maal	ujt	gnade	in	Jesus	wonden	en	mi	no	wet
	time	out	grace	in	Jesus	wound.PL	and	1SG	NEG	know

[p. 84]

5

as^107

joe

sal

kend/

mi

voor

di -j

tijd

joe

a

weest^108

na

as

2SG

FUT

knows

1SG

before

DET

time

2SG

PST

BE

NA

	St	Thomas	mi	no	a	kan	loop	[-na]	vor	hoort
	St	Thomas	1SG	NEG	PST	can	walk	NA	FOR	hears

	van	de	heijland	en	mi	a	weest	[-fl]	heel	jong
	of	DET	Saviour	and	1SG	PST	BE	***	very	young

	na	bennen	de	weereld	sonde.	mi	no	a	weet
	NA	inside	DET	world	sin	1SG	NEG	PST	know

	Die	hab	soo	en	heijland	maar	nu	mi	noo
	DET	have	so	and	Saviour	but	now	1SG	NEG

10	kan	leeft	zonder	de	heijlan	want	as	mi
	can	lives	without	DET	Saviour	because	as	1SG

	hert	no	sal	voelt	Si	bloed	alle	Dagen	na	ben
	heart	NEG	FUT	feels	3POS	blood	all	day.PL	NA	inside

	mi	hert	<ol•o>	mi	komt	hel	bedroeft	en	mi^109
	1SG	heart	o	1SG	comes	very	sad	and	1SG

	ziek	van	bedroeft	maar	mi	hert	kan
	ill	of	sad	but	1SG	heart	can

	ander	die	ben	hel	zeer	over	de	Heijland	met
	other	DET	BE	very	sore	over	DET	Saviour	with

15	allemal	Si	wonden	na	Si	Lief	voor	mi	son-
	all	3POS	wound.PL	NA	3POS	body	FOR	1SG	sin

	-De	want	mi	hert	le	brand	allen	na	hem
	-	because	1SG	heart	ASP	burn	only	NA	3SG

	van	liefde	:o:	mi	live	broeder	mi	no	kan	joe
	of	love	o	1SG	dear	brother	1SG	NEG	can	2SG

107 as instead of of ‘if, whether’ can also be found in Dutch dialects.

108 Despite the clearly creole features of this letter, verbal stems (‘infinitives’) often are written as Dutch 3SG finite forms (with -t, sometimes written as -d).

109 mi: may be mi ‘(fin.) be’. In the 20th century mi ‘be’ appears quite often. See vocabulary of De Josselin de Jong (1926).

[p. 85]

	no	moet	vergeet	mi	Ja	joe	no	moet	vergeet	ons
	NEG	must	forget	1SG	yes	2SG	NEG	must	forget	1PL

	want	mi	ben	die	Aarmste	verloor	voelk	di
	because	1SG	BE	DET	poorest	lose	folk	DET

20	a	maak	de	Heijland	Sweet	bloed	vor	mi
	PST	make	DET	Saviour	sweat	blood	FOR	1SG

	maar	de	Heijland	no	Rekend	mi	hem	hab
	but	DET	Saviour	NEG	counts	1SG	3SG	have

	mi	goe	muschie	lief	Ja	hem	hab	ons	goe
	1SG	very	much	love	yes	3SG	have	1PL	very

	en	mi	hab	joe	ook	goe	muschie	liev	na
	and	1SG	have	2SG	also	very	much	love	NA

mi

hert

en

[-m]

niet

meer

mi

le

groet

joe

van

mi

1SG

heart

and

***

NEG

more

1SG

ASP

greet

2SG

of

1SG

25	Moeder	ook	Sooe	en	na	almal	broeder	en	Suste<ol•r>
	mother	also	so	and	NA	all	brother	and	sister

	en	buijsonder^110	na	di	briend^111	broeder	en	suster
	and	especially	NA	DET	brown	brother	and	sister

	[-a]	van	ons	almal	1	swart	broeder	en	suster
	***	of	1PL	all	***	black	brother	and	sister

	hier	na	St.	Thomas	en	mi	ben	joe	[-M]	Aarme
	here	NA	St	Thomas	and	1SG	BE	2SG	***	poor

	Swart	broeder	Cornelius	van	de	Companie
	black	brother	Cornelius	of	DET	company

30	St.	Thomas	den	6	Julij	Ao	1753
	St	Thomas	DET	6	July	A.D.	1753

110 buijsonder: Du. bizonder. This spelling mistake indicates that could be pronounced as [i]. Cf. briend in the same line (Du. bruin).

111 briend: probably a hypercorrection. Dutch consonantal sequences in the rime of a syllable could be reduced in NH. This means that there may be an alternative, phonological explanation for the -t/-d ending on the verbal stems in this letter.

[p. 86]

Translation

My very cordial brother Spangenberg,

I greet and kiss you many a thousand times from the grace of Jesus' wounds. And I do not know whether you will know me. Before the time you were in St. Thomas I did not come to hear about the Saviour, and very young I was within the world's sins. I did not know there was such a Saviour, but now I cannot live without the Saviour, because if my heart does not feel His blood every day within my heart, O I become very sad and I am ill from sadness. But my heart can change. It is very sore over the Saviour with all His wounds over His body for my sins, because my heart burns of love only for him. O my dear brother I do not know (?) you. You must not forget me. Yes you must not forget us because I am the poorest lost person who made the Saviour sweat blood for me, but the Saviour does not hold it against me. He loves me very much. Yes he loves us much, and I also love you very much in my heart and nothing else I greet you, from my mother also, and to all brethren and sisters and especially to the brown brethren and sisters from all of us Black brethren and sisters in St. Thomas, and I am your poor Black brother Cornelius of the Company. St. Thomas, the sixth of July, anno 1753.

1.2.5 The copies of Oldendorp

Oldendorp had been conducting fieldwork on St. Thomas for his Missionsgeschichte for 17 months. On the return journey from St. Thomas, during his stay in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Oldendorp copied a number of letters written by the St. Thomas slave congregation to the Indian congregation. One of these letters is also included here.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-15.25.21/22	List-nr.: 089	def.-nr.: 127
Date:	ca. 1753
Author:	Catarina	Owner: Linberg
Writer:	Copist-Oldendorp	Recipient:

Format:	see letter 118 in Beck & Stein (forthcoming)
Remarks:	see letter 118 in Beck & Stein (forthcoming)
Language:	NH

1	Mi	groet	de	Heer	Graav	en	Baas	Johanes	en
	1SG	greet	DET	lord	count	and	reverend	Johannes	and

	Zuster	Maria	en	Judit	muschi,	mi	bin	heel
	sister	Maria	and	Judith	much	1SG	BE	very

	bli	over	de	gnade	van	de	Hyland,	De	Heer	Graav
	happy	over	DET	grace	of	DET	Saviour	DET	lord	count

[p. 87]

de

ha

gi

mi

de

Hand

een

maal

hieso,

as

mi

no

DET

PST

give

1SG

DET

hand

one

time

here

as

1SG

NEG

5	sal	kik	hem	hieso,	mi	hoop	mi	zal	kik	hem	bi
	FUT	see	3SG	here	1SG	hope	1SG	FUT	see	3SG	at

	de	Hyland;	Mi	groet	Baas	Johanes	ook	all^112,	mi
	DET	Saviour	1SG	greet	reverend	Johannes	also	already	1SG

	dank	hem	muschi	voor	de	gnade	hem	ka	bring
	thank	3SG	much	FOR	DET	grace	3SG	PRF	bring

	na	ons,	Ons	voel	de	nogal,	mi	no	voorget	broeder
	NA	1PL	1PL	feel	DET	quite	1SG	NEG	forget	brother

	Bruker,	mi	groet	de	heel	gemeente,	so	groet^113
	Bruker	1SG	greet	DET	whole	congregation	so	great

10	di	gnade	bin	na	mi	hart,	so	groet	bin	de	gemeete
	DET	grace	BE	NA	1SG	heart	so	great	BE	DET	congregation

	ook	all,
	also	already

	Catarina	van	H	Linberg
	Catharina	of	Mr.	Linberg

	P.S.	mi	Mama	Ruth	groet	muschi	muschi	hem
	P.S.	1SG	mother	Ruth	greet	much	much	3SG

	bin	heel	bli	na	de	gnade	van	ons	Hyland	David
	BE	very	happy	NA	DET	mercy	of	1PL	Saviour	David

15	mi	Man	van	Compani	groet	di	heel	gemeente
	1SG	man	of	company	greet	DET	whole	congregation

	hem	weet	de	Heere	Graav	en	groet	hem	ook	all.
	3SG	know	DET	lord	count	and	greet	3SG	also	already

112 ook all: Du. ook al ‘also’ (lit. ‘also already’). The NH use of it is often not in accordance with Dutch usage.

113 groet: why the spelling groet is chosen here (instead of Du. groot ‘great, big’) is unclear.

[p. 88]

Translation

I greet the lord count and reverend Johannes and sister Maria and Judith much. I am very glad for the grace of the Saviour. The lord count once shook my hand here. If I will not see him here anymore I hope I will see him with the Saviour. I greet reverend Johannes also. I thank him much for the grace he has brought to us. We feel it strongly. I do not forget brother Bruker. I greet the whole congregation. As large as the grace is inside my heart, so as large be the congregation too. Catharina of Mr. Linberg.

P.S. My mother greets very much. She is very happy in the grace of our Saviour. David, my husband of the Company greets the whole congregation. He knows the lord count and greets him as well.

1.2.6 Letters from St. Croix

At the outset, the centre of the Moravian slave congregation was St. Thomas. In the course of time, however, small new communities emerged on St. John and St. Croix. From St. Croix, letters have been preserved, but none from St. John. The conclusion of our selection concerns two letters from St. Croix, both written after 1760. The first one is written by Davis Messelaar, a member of the slave congregation, the second one by a missionary who is recognizable from the occasional German styling in his writing.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba 15.28.2	List-nr.: 093	def.-nr.: 132
Date:
Author:	Nathaniel	Owner: Koning
Writer:	David Messelaar	Recipient:

Format:	see letter 131 in Beck & Stein (forthcoming); letter 132 commences recto and ends verso (3 lines)
Remarks:	see letter 131 in Beck & Stein (forthcoming)
Language:	NH (St. Croix)

1

O

mi

Lieve

Br

mi

le

dank

di

Lieve

heijland

voor

di

Groet^114

o

1SG

dear

brother

1SG

ASP

thank

DET

dear

Saviour

FOR

DET

great

genade

di

hem

laat

mi

voel

na

ben

mi

hert

voor

Dink

op

[-Si]

mercy

DET

3SG

let

1SG

feel

NA

inside

1SG

heart

FOR

think

on

3POS

Si

Dood

en

Lijden

<ol•di>

hem

Grieg^115

na

di

Chrus

hout

en

ovoor

3POS

dead

and

suffering

DET

3SG

get

NA

DET

cross

wood

and

over

114 Groet: why the spelling groet is chosen here (instead of Du. groot ‘great, big’), is unclear.

115 Grieg: read Crieg or Krieg (Du. krijgen ‘get’).

[p. 89]

di

mi

wel

bed

hem

voor

voel

lievft

en

wes

gelovf^116

na

DET

1SG

will

pray

3SG

FOR

feel

love

and

BE

belief

NA

5

Hem

Maar

mi

le

bied

Joe

Lieve

Br

dat

jender

ook

mo

dink

3SG

but

1SG

ASP

pray

2SG

dear

brother

that

2PL

also

may

think

<lm•na>

Mi

arm

poveer

en

mi

no

wet

ander

goed

as

Alleen

vor

NA

1SG

poor

poor

and

1SG

NEG

know

other

thing

as

only

FOR

Blef

na

hem

en

di

alleen

zal

wes

mi

di

Grooste

goed

na

ben

remain

NA

3SG

and

DET

only

FUT

BE

1SG

DET

biggest

good

NA

inside

	<ol•mi>	heert	Niet	anders	as	de	groetnes	na	mi	Lieve	Broeder
	1SG	heart	nothing	else	as	DET	greetings	NA	1SG	dear	brother

	Nathaniel	en	almaal	ander	<ol•br>	en	Susr.	na	heele	Gemente	ut
	Nathaniel	and	all	other	brother	and	sister	NA	whole	congregation	out

10	Nathaniel	van	zijn	Koning
	Nathaniel	of	3POS	Koning

116 gelovf: may be Du. gelovig ‘faithful’ rather than Du. geloof ‘belief, faith’.

Translation

O my dear brother I thank the dear Saviour for the great mercy He lets me feel inside my heart to think of His death and suffering, which He endured at the cross. And because of that I want to pray to Him to feel love and have faith in Him. But I pray you dear brother that you all will also think of me poor piteous person and I do not know anything else but only to remain with Him and that alone will be to me the highest good inside my heart. Nothing else but greetings to my dear brother Nathaniel and all other brethren and sisters in the whole congregation, out of the wounds of our God and Saviour. I am your poor brother Nathaniel of his king.

Arch-nr.:	R15^Ba-15.31.8	List-nr.: 107	def.-nr.: 143
Date:	20.04.1762
Author:	Mari Magdalene	Owner: Princess/King
Writer:	[N.N., Missionary]	Recipient: Bethlehem
Format:	see letter 100 in Beck & Stein (forthcoming); last letter, written in another hand, not D. Messelaar
Remarks:	see letter 100 in Beck & Stein (forthcoming)
Language:	NH (St. Croix)

[p. 90]

The German missionary who wrote this letter for Mari Magdalene had a reasonable command of Dutch orthography. Thus, he occasionally used <ij> for [i], as in mij ‘1SG’ or in muschij ‘much’. Yet, he consistently spelled [u] with Germ. <u> instead of Du. <oe> so that there is no difference between the [u] of muschij ‘much’ and the [u] of vul ‘feel’. Furthermore, he introduced a couple of German words: unwürdig ‘unworthy’, wunden ‘wounds’, König ‘king’.

auf Der Königlichen Plantaij Prinzess

genam

St Crux d 20 April 1762¹¹⁷

1	mij	live	bruder	en	sisters^118	allgar.	mij	lee	grud	jender	allgar
	1SG	dear	brother	and	sister.PL	all	1SG	ASP	greet	2PL	all

muschij

muschij

van

all

mij

hart.

wad

mij

sal

see

na

jender,

mij

VUl

much

much

of

all

1SG

heart

what

1SG

FUT

say

NA

2PL

1SG

feel

mij

arm

en

boven^119

na

bin

mij

hart,

en

unwürdig

vor

die

gnade,

1SG

poor

and

poor

NA

inside

1SG

heart

and

unworthy

FOR

DET

mercy

8. Archiv der Brüder-Unität, Herrnhut.

117 auf Der ... 1762: German, however with NH plantai ‘plantation’ instead of Du. plantagie/plantage ‘id.’. The participle genam could be Du. genaamd ‘called’ unless it represents Germ. genannt ‘id’.

118 Sisters: this ‘English’ spelling (instead of Du. zuster or semi-German süster) may be another early indication for a high front vowel in the NH word for ‘sister’.

119 boven ‘above’ must be a misspelling for *bover, i.e. pover ‘poor’.

[p. 91]

die

mij

lifte

Heiland

du

vor

mij.

en

mij

verlang

bin

vor

kom

mehr

DET

1SG

dear

Saviour

do

FOR

1SG

and

1SG

long

BE

FOR

come

more

5	tieper	na	binne	sie	bludig	wunden.	wand	mij	vul	die.	mij
	deeper	NA	inside	3POS	bloody	wound.PL	because	1SG	feel	DET	1SG

ha

die

gu

mahtig.

en

mij

bit

jender,

vor

tienck

na

mij

vor

die

have

DET

very

mighty

and

1SG

pray

2PL

FOR

think

NA

1SG

FOR

DET

	lifte	Heiland.	mij	grud	noch	apart.	die	lieve	baas	Nathanael
	dear	Saviour	1SG	greet	yet	separately	DET	dear	reverend	Nathanael

en

baas

Philippus.

En

Sister

mari.

M.

en

Sister

Susanna,

die

mij

and

reverend

Philippus

and

sister

Mari

M

and

sister

Susanna

DET

1SG

kenn

En

mij

bin

en

blif

die

arm

unwürdige,

med

lifte

na

jender

know

and

1SG

BE

and

stay

DET

poor

unworthy

with

love

NA

2PL

10	mari	magdalene	v.	König
	Mari	Magdalene	of	King

Translation

On the royal plantation named Princess, St. Croix, the 20th of April 1762.

My dear brethren and sisters all together. I greet you all very much from my whole heart. What will I say to you. I feel poor and piteous inside my heart, and unworthy of the grace which my dear Saviour is doing for me. And I long to come deeper into his bloody wounds. Because I feel them. It overcomes me. And I beg you to think of me for the dear Saviour. And furthermore I greet the dear reverend Nathaniel and reverend Philippus, and sister Mari M. and sister Susanna, who knows me. And I am and remain the poor unworthy, with love to you. Mari Magdalene of the king.