Die Creol taal

250 years of Negerhollands texts

[p. 177]

4 Lay material

4.1 The ABC booklets (1770, 1770 and 1800)

This section deals with a specific category of printed work: language primers. Language primers, in Negerhollands AB(C) boekjes ‘AB(C) booklets’, were usually produced by missionaries for education of the illiterate converts. Three have survived. As they were meant to help teach reading and writing, they also represent a source of metalinguistic information. They may furthermore contain reading material of edifying calibre, often taken from Luther's catechism, like the Ten Commandments, the Lord's and other prayers, hymns and songs, verses from the NT, sacraments. Interestingly, we have both Moravian and Danish primers. The Moravian primer appears to be the more pedagogical one. Apart from the alphabet and a character combination table for the possible ‘syllables’, which are found in all three, it also gives numbers, lists of proper names, etc. The Danish give more pieces of textual reading material. Another interesting factor is the time of publication of the two Danish primers; they are both from 1770 and may as such shed light on a part of the synchronic variation in NH at the time.

First, we will treat the metalinguistic information that these books contain and, if possible, make a comparison. Thereafter, certain textual parts will be dealt with. We will only look at those texts they have in common, and in such a way that they can easily be compared. The following language primers are treated here:

Kingo:	Kreool A, B, buk.
by:	Johan Christopher Kørbitz Thomsen Kingo
at:	St. Croix 1770
	16 pages

Wold:	Creool A B Buk voor die Deen Missioon na Westindien
by:	Erich Röring Wold
at:	Unknown place 1770
	16 pages

Anon.:	A B C-BOEKJE voor die Neger-Kinders na St. Thomas, St. Croix en St. Jan.
by:	Unknown member of the Moravian Brethren
at:	Barby 1800
	12 pages

According to Reinecke et al.'s (1975) bibliography, another Moravian primer with the same title as Anonymous was printed in 1825, but we did not have access to it.

[p. 178]

Questions about authorship

It is claimed in Lose (1891), on the basis of his archival research of the correspondence of the Danish mission, that Kingo had translated Luther's Smaller Catechism into Negerhollands by 1764. It was, according to Lose's sources, sent to Copenhagen for printing, but it remained in Denmark for several years, before being sent to Magens on St. Thomas in 1769. Magens and Wold would have revised Kingo's translation and prepared it for printing in 1770.

All of this has never been confirmed by another independent source, or by a check of Lose's sources. All other publications that witness or imply this reconstruction base themselves on Lose. Because of a lack of immediate access to the documents consulted by Lose and others, there is at the moment only one other way that may enable us to ascertain the plausibility of Lose's reconstruction: the comparison of sources of whose authenticity we are certain.

As for Kingo, only one printed work bears his name as author: the Kreool A, B, Buk from 1770. It is a 16-page Negerhollands primer, with combinatory tables of vowels and consonants, the Lord's Prayer, the first two Articles of Faith, the Ten Commandments, and some sacraments and prayers. Finally, it contains the hymn O! Planter-Man and some verses from the New Testament.

The same can be said about Wold. His 1770 Creool A B Buk does not contain the Hymn nor the verses, however.

This copy of Wold, which was kept in Copenhagen University Library in the Fiolstraede (which in 1992 was incorporated into the Royal Library in Copenhagen), is part of a volume containing two further works, in exactly the same type, with the same decorations, also issued at an unknown place in 1770. They are D. Martin Luther sie klein Catechismus and Creool Psalm-Buk, but they lack reference to an author, and they are separately paginated.

The third part, Creool Psalm-Buk, is also found as a single volume in the Royal Library in Copenhagen. They are identical in all respects, and among the hymns O! Planterman is also included. Lose ascribes this work to Wold and Magens.

About D. Martin Luther sie klein Catechismus, the Smaller Catechism, it could be said that according to Lose it has three authors; Kingo, Magens and Wold. To find out if there is some truth in this claim, one could compare Kingo's and Wold's primers, and then compare (Wold's?) the Smaller Catechism with both, as partially the same material forms their contents (namely: the Smaller Catechism contains the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the first two Articles of Faith, the Sacrament of Baptism, the Table Sacrament, and some prayers).

If Kingo and Wold both wrote a primer, independently of each other, and if Wold and Magens revised a Catechism originally translated by Kingo, then one would expect that this Catechism would have certain traits in common with Kingo's primer, but not necessarily with Wold's primer.

Apart from the whereabouts of certain Negerhollands works, also the authorship of several known texts may continue to present the students of Negerhollands with puzzles in the future. In relation to these questions, it may be worthwhile to note that

[p. 179]

Kingo also contains material from the New Testament, but nothing from Matthew. For additional details, see the bibliography.

Linguistic instruction

All three primers contain tables with the alphabet and the syllables that may be formed by combining characters. Only in Kingo do we find some explicit instructions for the interpretation of the characters:

Elke	Letter	ha	di	self	Naem,	so	as
every	character	have	DET	self	name	so	as

na	di	Deen	of	Latiin	Tael,	en	di	Voort
NA	DET	Danish	or	Latin	language	and	DET	word

le	praet	yt^1,	so	as	di	stan	skrif^2	hi-so,	so
ASP	speak	out	so	as	DET	stand	write	here-so	so

di	no	ha	nit	een	svaer	for	les	of	for	spel
DET	NEG	have	NEG	one	difficulty	FOR	read	or	FOR	spell

di.	vant	ju	nem	di	Voort	so	as	di	stan.
DET	because	2SG	take	DET	word	so	as	DET	stand

1 preat yt is a hidden passive: ‘be pronounced’.

2 stan skrif ‘stands written’: no participial morphology. Cf. note 1.

Translation

Every character has the same name as in Danish or Latin, and the words are pronounced like they are written here, so there will be no difficulties in reading or spelling them, because you take the words according to how they are written.

In Anon. we find no such remarks, but on the other hand we find a list of example words for every character. They appear to be carefully chosen to illustrate the orthographic representation of vowel quantity, diphthongs, voice, etc. The first examples are easy monosyllabic words, but later examples are words of increasing syllabic and derivational complexity. Anon. also gives the numbers, both in Arabic and Roman style, gives an additional version of the alphabet in italic type, and even introduces some linguistic terms. Anon. seems to be pedagogically the most sophisticated of the three primers and must have been especially designed for reading classes. Wold only gives an alphabet and a syllable scheme, next to his religious texts. Below, we have given the sections containing linguistic instructions from all primers.

[p. 180]

Alphabets

Kingo

A

a,

b,

d,

e,

f,

g,

A,

B,

D,

E,

F,

G,

h,

i,

j,

k,

l,

m,

n,

H,

I,

J,

K,

L,

M,

o,

p,

q,

r,

s,

s,

t,

N,

O,

P,

Q,

R,

S,

u,

v,

x,

y,

ö.

T,

U,

V,

X,

Y,

Ö.

ai. au. ei. oi. ou.

Wold

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

g.

h.

F.

G.

H.

I.

J.

i.

j.

k.

l.

m.

n.

o.

p.

K.

L.

M.

N.

O.

q.

r.

s.

s.

t.

u.

v.

w.

U.

V.

W.

X.

Y.

x.

y.

z.

ö.

Z.

OE.

Anon

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

a

b

c

d

e

f

(ff)

g

h

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z.

s

(s

ss)

t

u

v

w

x

z.

Anon further divides the characters into phonetic categories and gives Arabic and Latin numbers:

Vocalen.	a	e	i	(y)	o	u.					(‘vowels’)
Consonanten.	b	c	d	f	g	h	j	k	l	m	(‘consonants’)
	n	p	q	r	s	t	v	w	x	z.

1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	20.	30.	40.	50.
60.	70.	80.	90.	100.	200.	300.	400.	500.	600.
700.	800.	900.	1000

I.	II.	III.	IV.	V.	VI.	VII.	VIII.	IX.	X.	XI.
1.	2.	3.	4.	5.	6.	7.	8.	9.	10.	11.
XII.	XX.	L.	C.	D.	M.
12.	20.	50.	100.	500.	1000.

[p. 181]

Anon also gives examples to illustrate how the alphabet should be used³.

a (enkel^4	aa (dobbel^5)	e (enkel)	ee (dobbel)
lat	laat	en	een
al	maal	Vel	veel
dan	staan	Wet	weet
sap	Slaap	ben	Been
Man	Maan	best	Beest

o (enkel)	oo (dobbel)	u (enkel)	uu (dobbel)
vor	voor	ut	Uur
word	Woord	Nut	Vuur
Kop	Koop	Stut
Skot	Skoot

ea	ei (ey)	eu	ie	oe	au
aerm	leid	Deugd	die	doe	Faut
waerd	skey		gie	goe	gauw
ley	hier		Hoes	flauw
reyel	niet		toen	blauw

ou	ui	aai	ooi	oei	ieu
	(uy)	(aay)	(ooy)	(oey)
dou	huichel	draai	gooy	groey	nieuw
bouw	fraai	mooj	Koei
koud	saay	nooit	Moei
Vrouw	waay	rooy	foey

3 These words are translated in this footnote, according to the order of their occurrence from top to bottom: a (single): slath, already, then, juice, man. aa (double): late, times, stand, sleep, moon. e: and, skin, law, be, best. ee: one/a, much/many, know, leg, animal. o: FOR, become, head, shot. oo: in front of, word, buy, lap. u: out, use, sustain. uu: hour, fire. ea: arm, worth. ei: lead, separate, lay swap. eu: virtue. ie: DET, give, here, not. oe: do, very, house, then. au: mistake, quick, bland/unconscious, blue. ou: push, build, cold, woman. ui: pretend. aai: turn, well, sow, blow. ooi: throw, beautiful, never, uproot. oei: grow, cow, mother, reject. ieu: new. ch: Christ, yet. ph: pharaoh. th: door(?). qu: evil/angry. B: tray, best, board. P: paquet, pest, gate. D: descend, dirt, through (or door). T: language, pull, wrath.

4 enkel: ‘single’.

5 dobbel: ‘double’.

[p. 182]

ch	ph	th	qu
Christ	Pharao	Thoor	quaad
noch

B	P	D	T
Bak	Pak	Daal	Taal
Best	Pest	Drek	trek
Boord	Poort	door	Toorn

Fragment from ABC-boekje voor die Neger-Kinders. Barby: 1800.⁶

6 1: earth, break, day, oath, party, great, heart, 2SG, cross, live, power, name, 1PL, part, evil, fame, jump, throne, fear, which. 2: arm, bring, think, one/a, mistake/fault, luck, help, 2PL, child, light, milk, night, too/also, plague (or: tease), advice/counsel/council, mind/desire, heavy/difficult, consolation, fruit, world. 3: position, blind, thing, honour, form, faith, dog, side, knock, praise, human being, take, ear, place, vine, clean, time, flame, feel, wish. 4: image/statue, naked, animal, every, God, hand, head, like, lamb, wage, courage, not, old, psalm, right, get frightened, until, people, because, wine. 5: pale, thank, dead, first, grave, lord, year, strength, land, man, mouth, need, path, speak, ring, son, wrath, friend, be, reside.

[p. 183]

al le^7	an der,	a ster,	Ar beid,	A vend,
Broe er,	Be geer,	be hou,	Bli skap,	be waar,
Dan ki,	don ker,	dier baar,	der wil,	Du vel,
ee nigst,	eer der,	En gel,	Ei land,	En de,
fro lik,	Fi gur,
Gna de,	Goed heid,	Ge taal,	God heid,	gloo fig,
Hei land,	Her der,	He mel,	Hoop ning,
Je sus,	Jong vrouw,	Jo den,	jen der,	Ja mer,
Ket ting,	Ken nis,	Kin ders,	Krup pel,	Ko ning,
Lief de,	Li chaam,	Lee ring,	Lug naar,	Led maat,
Morgsteer,	Mod der,	Moe der,	Mee ster,	moe schi,
Naa ring,	Na tie,	nie mand,	na by,	na voor,
On skuld,	on der,	o ver,	Oor deel,	Ou ders,
Par don,	Person,	Pen ning,	Ple si,	po ver,
Quaa je,	Quaat doen,	quaa lik,	Quar tier,
Rant soen,	Re gen,	re geer,	Rech ter,	Rik dom,
Son do,	Ska de,	Skan de,	such ten,	Sus ter,
Tee ken,	Tem pel,	Troo ster,	Toe komst,
Va der,	Ver stand,	Vleerken,	Voor hoofd,	Voet-bank,
Waar heid,	Wan del,	waar schouw,	Won der,	Woo ning,^8

7 a: all, other, after, work, evening. b: brother, desire, keep, happiness, protect. d: thanks, dark/night, beloved, while/because, devil. e: only, earlier, angel, island, end. f: happy, figure. g: mercy, goodness, number, divinity, believing. h: Saviour, shepherd, heaven, hope. j: Jesus, virgin, Jews, 2PL, pity. k: chain, knowledge, children, lame, king. l: love, body, teaching, liar, member. m: morning star, mud, mother, master, much/very. n: nourishment, nation, no-one, close, in front of. o: innocence, under, over, judgement, parents. p: forgiveness, person, penny, pleasure, poor. q: angry one, do evil, bad, quarter. r: ration, rain, govern, judge, wealth. s: sin, damage, shame, sigh, sister. t: sign, temple, comforter/paracleter, future. v: father, wits, wing, fore head, foot bench. w: truth, walk/go, warn, wonder/miracle, house.

8 The following comments are in order: (a) Broe er: instead of the written Dutch form broeder which appears in the letters. (b) En de ‘end’: looks like Ger. Ende ‘id.’ but may be a genuine form. (c) Hoop ning: a Dutchified version of Germ. Hoffnung ‘hope’. (d) (Morg) steer: looks like a compromise between Du. ster ‘star’ and NH stêre ‘id.’. (e) Naa ring: may be a Dutchification of Germ. Nährung ‘nourishment’. (f) Son do: creolized version of Du. zonde ‘sin’. Cf. the Introduction. (g) Vleer ken: although this is a plural in Dutch, the form flegn ‘wing’ in De Josselin de Jong's glossary suggests a singular interpretation.

[p. 184]

Aster aan^9	Avend maal,	allee nig,	Aange sicht,
Bruide gom,	Benauwt heid,	barmher tig,	Betaa-ling,
Christen dom,	Christen heid,	Cheru bim,	Crea-tur,
Drink beeker	Duster nis,	Dankbaar heid,	Die-naa rin,
Eigen dom,	Eewig heid,	Evan gelium,	Even beeld,
Farin ge, Fami lie,	Fonda ment,
Genees man,	Gemeen skap,	Gesond heid,	Gedach ten,
Heerlik heid,	hooghei lig,	Hemel rik	herte lik,
Jong heid,	jamer voll,	Je mand,	In druk,
Koning rik,	Kerken raad,
Liefde voll,	Lita ney,	Loof psalmen,	lang moedig,
Manke ment,	Mis handling,	mal kander,	Maje-steit,
Na bovo,	Na binne,	noodzaak lik,	Nabi heid,
Onder skeid,	onge recht,	Op passer	Ouder ling,
Patien tie,	Priester dom,	Pro feten,	Panne koek,
Quaat doener,	Quantiteit,
Roenkert je,	Regen back,	Regee ring,	recht-vaerdig,
Salig heid,	sacht moedig,	Sera phim,	Sacra ment,
Testa ment,	Timmer man,	Toevre denheid,
Voor daarom,	Verster king,	Verle genheid,
Weeraan komst,	waar achtig,	Welbe hagen,
Zeba oth.^10

9 a: behind, (Lord's) supper, alone, face. b: bridegroom, suffocation/fear, merciful, payment. c: Christianity, Christendom (people), Cherubim, creature. d: cup/chalice, darkness, gratefulness, female servant. e: property/possession, eternity, Gospel, image/likeness. f: groundcorn, family, foundation. g: healer, community, health, thoughts. h: delight, very holy, kingdom of heaven, heartily. j: youth, compassionate, someone, impression. k: kingdom, church council. l: loving, litany, hymns of praise, bearing with patience. m: lack/deficiency, mistreatment/wrong action, each other, majesty. n: up(wards), in(wards), necessary, closeness. o: distinction, unjustice, caretaker/keeper, elder. p: patience, priesthood, prophets, pancake. q: evil doer, quantity. r: buzzer (humming-bird, bee), rainbarrel, government, just. s: salvation, meek, Seraphim, sacrament. t: testament, carpenter, contentment. v: therefore, strengthening, shyness. w: return, truthful/truly, satisfaction. z: Zebaoth.

10 The following comments are in order: (a) Evan gelium: this is German (Evangelium) rather than Dutch (Evangelie). (b) Farin ge: may be NH faria ‘corn meal’ which De Josselin de Jong relates to Portuguese farinha ‘flour’. (c) (Na) bovo: Creole vowel system. Not visible in (Na) binne. (d) Roenkertje: is a Zeelandic word.

[p. 185]

Combinations

Kingo

Ab,

eb,

ib,

ob,

ub,

yb,

Öb,

Ba,

be,

bi,

bo,

bu,

by,

bö,

Ad,

ed,

id,

od,

ud,

yd,

öd,

Da,

de,

di,

do,

du,

dy,

dö,

Af,

ef,

if,

of,

uf,

yf,

öf,

Fa,

fe,

fi,

fo,

fu,

fy,

fö,

Ag,

eg,

ig,

og,

ug,

yg,

ög,

Ga,

ge,

gi,

go,

gu,

gy,

gö,

Ak,

ek,

ik,

ok,

uk,

yk,

ök,

Ka,

ke,

ki,

ko,

ku,

ky,

kö,

Al,

el,

il,

ol,

ul,

yl,

öl,

La,

le,

li,

lo,

lu,

ly,

lö,

Am,

em,

im,

om,

um,

ym,

öm,

Ma,

me,

mi,

mo,

mu,

my,

mö,

An,

en,

in,

on,

un,

yn,

ön,

Na,

ne,

ni,

no,

nu,

ny,

nö,

Ap,

ep,

ip,

op,

up,

yp,

öp,

Pa,

pe,

pi,

po,

pu,

py,

pö,

Ar,

er,

ir,

or,

ur,

yr,

ör,

Ra,

re,

ri,

ro,

ru,

ry,

rö,

As,

es,

is,

os,

us,

ys,

ös,

Sa,

se,

si,

so,

su,

sy,

sö,

At,

et,

it,

ot,

ut,

yt,

öt,

Ta,

te,

ti,

to,

tu,

ty,

tö,

Av,

ev,

iv,

ov,

uv,

yv,

öv,

Va,

ve,

vi,

vo,

vu,

vy,

vö,

Wold

Spel-Taefel.

Ab.

eb.

ib.

ob.

ub.

yb.

öb.

Ba.

be.

bi.

bo.

bu.

by.

bö.

Ac.

ec.

ic.

oc.

uc.

yc.

öc.

Ca.

ce.

ci.

co.

cu.

cy.

cö.

Ad.

ed.

id.

od.

ud.

yd.

öd.

Da.

de.

di.

do.

du.

dy.

dö.

Af.

ef.

if.

of.

uf.

yf.

öf.

Fa.

fe.

fi.

fo.

fu.

fy.

fö.

Aj.

ej.

-

oj.

-

-

öj.

Ja.

je.

ji.

jo.

ju.

jy.

jö.

Ak.

ek.

ik.

ok.

uk.

yk.

ök.

Ka.

ke.

ki.

ko.

ku.

ky.

kö.

Al.

el.

il.

ol.

ul.

yl.

öl.

La.

le.

li.

lo.

lu.

ly.

lö.

Am.

em.

im.

om.

um.

ym.

öm.

Ma.

me.

mi.

mo.

mu.

my.

mö.

An.

en.

in.

on.

un.

yn.

ön.

Na.

ne.

ni.

no.

nu.

ny.

nö.

Ap.

ep.

ip.

op.

up.

yp.

öp.

Pa.

pe.

pi.

po.

pu.

py.

pö.

Ar.

er.

ir.

or.

ur.

yr.

ör.

Ra.

re.

ri.

ro.

ru.

ry.

rö.

As.

es.

is.

os.

us.

ys.

ös.

Sa.

se.

si.

so.

su.

sy.

sö.

At.

et.

it.

ot.

ut.

yt.

öt.

Ta.

te.

ti.

to.

tu.

ty.

tö.

Av.

ev.

iv.

ov.

uv.

yv.

öv.

Va.

ve.

vi.

vo.

vu.

vy.

vö.

Aw.

ew.

iw.

ow.

uw.

yw.

öw.

Wa.

we.

wi.

wo.

wu.

wy.

wö.

[p. 186]

Anon

Syllaben.

Ab	eb	ib	ob	ub		Fa	fe	fi	fo	fu
Ac	ec	ic	oc	uc		Ga	ge	gi	go	gu
Ad	ed	id	od	ud		Ha	he	hi	ho	hu
Af	ef	if	of	uf		Ja	je	ji	jo	ju
Ag	eg	ig	og	ug		Ka	ke	ki	ko	ku
Ak	ek	ik	ok	uk		La	le	li	lo	lu
Al	el	il	ol	ul		Ma	me	mi	mo	mu
Am	em	im	om	um		Na	ne	ni	no	nu
An	en	in	on	un		Pa	pe	Pi	po	pu
Ar	er	ir	or	ur		Ra	re	ri	ro	ru
As	es	is	os	us		Sa	se	si	so	su
At	et	it	ot	ut		Ta	te	ti	to	tu
Ba	be	bi(by)	bo	bu		Va	ve	vi	vo	vu
Ca	ce	ci	co	cu		Wa	we	wi	wo	wu
Da	de	di	do	du		Za	ze	zi	zo	zu

Religions instruction

Here, the situation is the inverse of that in the linguistic section. Apparently, the Danish booklets were primarily meant for religious instruction. Their major parts, in both cases pages 6 to 16, therefore consist of spiritually edifying material. Wold contains the majority of this, Kingo has basically the same material, but in some cases only gives excerpts, and Anon, contains the least. Below, we reprint the sections that are identical among the primers. Through research on possible alternative ways of expression and on the value of orthographic variants, the differences between our sources may be related to dialectal variation in Negerhollands. Apart from this, the material is also of importance in the quest to establish the authorship of other Danish works and to discover the identity of Danish works that we only know of through mention. This issue is discussed to some extent at the end of this section.

Note that the hymn O! Planterman is not found in Wold's primer, but it is found in the Psalm-Buk of 1770 which is attached to the primer. Furthermore, a fourth version of the Lord's Prayer was found in the Klein Catechismus of 1770, also attached to Wold's primer. Even though they do not belong to Wold's primer, we included both these texts here to facilitate comparison, and because they may be from Wold's hand.

Note also that everywhere in the Anon A B C-Boekje, polysyllabic words are systematically split up into syllables by spaces. This was obviously done out of pedagogical considerations.

[p. 187]

	Kingo 1770				Wold 1770
1	Di	Heer	si	Gebet.	Di	Heer	sie	Gebet.
	DET	Lord	3POS	prayer	DET	Lord	3POS	prayer

	Ons	Fader,	Ons	Vaeder,
	1PL	father	1PL	father

ju

di

bin

na

di

Hemel

senner,

Ju

di

bin

na

binne

die

Heemel.

2SG

DET

BE

NA

DET

heaven

3PL

2SG

DET

BE

NA

inside

DET

heaven

	ju	Naem	kom	heilig^11,	Ju	Naem	wort	geheiligt.
	2SG	name	come	holy	2SG	name	become	hallowed

5	ju	Konig -Rik	kom,	Ju	Kooningrik	kom.
	2SG	kingdom	come	2SG	kingdom	come

	ju	Vil	geskiet	Ju	Wil	geskiet
	2SG	will	happen	2SG	will	happen

lik

na

die

Hemel,

so

ok -al

na

di

Gront^12,

na

Aerde

glik

na

binne

die

Heemel.

like

NA

DET

heaven,

so

also

NA

DET

earth

NA

earth

like

NA

inside

DET

heaven

gif

ons

fan

Dag,

ons

daglik

Broot,

Gief

ons

van

Dag

ons

daglik

Broot.

give

1PL

of

day

1PL

daily

bread

give

1PL

of

day

1PL

daily

bread

	en	gif	ons,	ons	skylt	as -ter^13,	Vergeef	ons	ons	Skylt,
	and	give	1PL	1PL	guilt	after	forgive	1PL	1PL	guilt

10	lik	ons	soo	glik	ons
	like	1PL	so	like	1PL

	le	gif	ons	Skyldenar	senner	aster,	vergeef	ons	Skyl -denaer	sender.
	ASP	give	1PL	debtor	3PL	after	forgive	1PL	debtor	3PL

11 ju Naem kom heilig: This sentence is ambiguous between ‘may Thy name become holy’ (cf. Du. heilig ‘holy’) and ‘Hallowed be Thy name’ (cf. Du. heiligen ‘hallow, sanctify’), where the other versions use the unambiguous ‘Dutch’ passive wort/word geheiligt. Cf. the Introduction on the various passive constructions of 18^th century Negerhollands.

12 As for Gront ‘ground, field, earth’ (grond ‘ground’) vs. Aarde/Aerde ‘earth’ compare de Josselin de Jong sub gron and adu resp.

13 gif ... aster, which occurs twice in this version, may mean ‘give ... afterwards’, ‘forgive ... afterwards’ or simply ‘forgive’.

[p. 188]

en

no

bring

ons

na

binne

die

Pro -beer;

En

no

lej

ons

na

binno

Versukking,

and

NEG

bring

1PL

NA

inside

DET

try

and

NEG

lead

1PL

NA

inside

temptation

ma

trek

ons

yt

fan

di

Qvaet,

maer

verlos

ons

van

die

Qwaet.

but

pull

1PL

out

of

DET

evil

but

deliver

1PL

of

DET

evil

vant

fan

ju

bin

di

Konig -Rik,

Want

fan

Ju

bin

die

Kooningrik,

because

of

2SG

BE

DET

kingdom

because

of

2SG

BE

DET

kingdom

15	di	Kragt	en	di	Eer	die	Kragt	en	die	Heerligheit
	DET	power	and	DET	glory	DET	power	and	DET	glory

	na	Evigheit.	Amen.	tee	na	die	Ewigheit.	Amen.
	NA	eternity	amen	until	NA	DET	eternity	amen

	Anon 1800					Catechismus 1770
	Die	Gebed	van	die	Heere.	Die	Gebet	van	ons	Heilant.
	DET	prayer	of	DET	Lord	DET	prayer	of	1PL	Saviour

	Ons	Va.der	Ons	Vaeder,
	1PL	father	1PL	father

	na	die	Hemel!	Ju	die	bin	na	binne	die	Heemel
	NA	DET	heaven	2SG	DET	BE	NA	inside	DET	heaven

20	Joe	Naam	word	ge hei ligt;	Ju	Naem	wort	geheiligt.
	2SG	name	become	hallowed	2SG	name	become	hallowed

	Joe	Ko ning rik	kom;	Ju	Kooningrik	kom.
	2SG	kingdom	come	2SG	kingdom	come

	o	dat	Joe	Will	sal	ge skied	Ju	Wil	geskiet
	o	that	2SG	will	FUT	happen	2SG	will	happen

op

die

Aar.de,

soo

as

na

die

He mel;

na

Aerde

glik

na

binne

die

Heemel.

on

DET

earth

so

as

NA

DET

heaven

NA

earth

like

NA

inside

DET

heaven

[p. 189]

Gie

ons

van

Dag

ons

daag lik

Brood,

Gief

ons

van

Dag

ons

daglik

Broot.

give

1PL

of

day

1PL

daily

bread

give

1PL

of

day

1PL

daily

bread

25	en	ver	gie ons	on	se	Skul -den,	Vergeef	ons	ons	skylt,
	and	for	give	1PL	1PL	fault.PL	forgive	1PL	1PL	fault

	soo	as	ons	glik	ons
	so	as	1PL	like	1PL

	ver	gie	ons	Skul de naars;	le	vergeef	ons	Skyldenaar	sender.
	for	give	1PL	debtor.PL	ASP	forgive	1PL	debtor	3PL

en

ley

ons

niet

na

Ver soe king,

En

no

lej

ons

na

binne

Ver -sueking.

and

lead

1PL

NEG

NA

temptation

and

NEG

lead

1PL

NA

inside

temptation

maar

ver -loss

ons

van

die

Quaa je.

Maer

verlos

ons

van

die

Quaet.

but

deliver

1PL

of

DET

evil

but

deliver

1PL

of

DET

evil

30

Want

van

Joe

ben

die

Ko ning rik,

Want

van

Ju

bin

die

Ko -ningrik,

because

of

2SG

BE

DET

kingdom

because

of

2SG

BE

DET

kingdom

	en	die	Kracht,	en	die	Heer -lik heid	die	Kragt	en	die	Heerlikheit
	and	DET	power	and	DET	glory	DET	power	and	DET	glory

	na	Ee wig heid.	Amen.	tee	na	die	Eewigheit.	Amen
	NA	eternity	amen	until	NA	DET	eternity	amen

	Kingo				Wold
	Di	Tien	Got	Gebot.	Godt	si	tien	Gebot
	DET	ten	God	commandment.	God	3POS	ten	commandment

	DI	ERSTE.	Die	Eerste.
	DET	first	DET	first

Mi

bin

di

Heer

ju

Got,

Mie

bin

die

Heer,

Ju

Godt,

1SG

BE

DET

Lord

2SG

God

1SG

BE

DET

Lord

2SG

God

ju

no

sa

ha

ander

Got

senner

Ju

no

sa

hab

niet

een

ander

Godt

2SG

NEG

FUT

have

other

God

3PL

2SG

NEG

FUT

have

NEG

one

other

God

[p. 190]

	bitten	mi.	meer	as	mie.
	outside	1SG	more	as	1SG

	DI	TVEDE.	Die	Tweede.
	DET	second	DET	second

	Ju	no	sa	gebryk	Ju	no	sa	gebryk
	2SG	NEG	FUT	use	2SG	NEG	FUT	use

40	di	Heer,	ju	Got	Naem	die	Heer	Ju	Godt	sie	Naem
	DET	Lord	2SG	God	name	DET	Lord	2SG	God	3POS	name

	for	soso,	na	een	wissie	wassie	Ma -nier;
	FOR	so -so	NA	a	wishy	washy	manner

	vant	di	Heer	Fordiemaek	die	Heer
	because	DET	Lord	therefore	DET	Lord

	em	sa	straf	di	senner,	hem	sa	straf	sender,
	3SG	FUT	punish	DET	3PL	3SG	FUT	punish	3PL

di

le

gebryk

si

Naem

so -so.

die

le

gebryk

sie

Naem

voor

soso.

DET

ASP

use

3POS

name

so -so

DET

ASP

use

3POS

name

FOR

so -so

45	DI	DERDE.	Die	Derde.
	DET	third	DET	third

	Denk	op,	Dink	op
	think	up	think	up

da

ju

le

hou

die

Rees -Dag

heilig.

die

Rest -Dag,

dat

Ju

hou

hem

heilig.

that

2SG

ASP

keep

DET

rest -day

holy

DET

rest -day

that

2SG

keep

3SG

holy

	DI	FIIRDE.	Die	Vierde.
	DET	fourth	DET	fourth

[p. 191]

Hou

ju

Tatta

mit

ju

Mamma

na

Respekt,

Respecteer

Ju

Tata

mit

Ju

Mama,

keep

2SG

father

with

2SG

mother

NA

respect

respect

2SG

father

with

2SG

mother

50

da

di

kan

kom

for

lop

ju

frei^14,

dat

die

kan

loop

Ju

fraej,

that

DET

can

come

FOR

go

2SG

well

that

DET

can

walk

2SG

well

en

ju

kan

leef

lang

na

di

Verel.

en

dat

Ju

kan

leef

lang

na

bobo

die

Aerde.

and

2SG

can

live

long

NA

DET

world

and

that

2SG

can

live

long

NA

above

DET

earth

	DI	FEIFDE.	Die	Veifde.
	DET	fifth	DET	fifth

Ju

no

sa

matta

nit

een

Folk.

Ju

no

sa

martae

niet

een

Volk.

2SG

NEG

FUT

kill

NEG

one

folk

2SG

NEG

FUT

kill

NEG

one

folk

	DI	SESDE.	Die	Sesde.
	DET	sixth	DET	sixth

55	Ju	no	sa	huur.	Ju	no	sa	huur.
	2SG	NEG	FUT	whore	2SG	NEG	FUT	whore

	DI	SEVENDE.	Die	Seevende.
	DET	seventh	DET	seventh

	Ju	no	sa	dif.	Ju	no	sa	dief.
	2SG	NEG	FUT	steal	2SG	NEG	FUT	steal

	DI	AKSTE.	Die	Agtste.
	DET	eighth	DET	eighth

Ju

no

sa

praet

fals

Getygen

Ju

no

sa

praet

vals

Getiegen

2SG

NEG

FUT

speak

false

witness

2SG

NEG

FUT

speak

false

witness

60	tegen	ju	Naeste.	teegen	Ju	Naeste.
	against	2SG	neighbour	against	2SG	neighbour

14 ‘That you may prosper’. For lop ju frei ‘(lit.) go you (ind. obj.) well’ compare Du. goed gaan ‘(litt.) well go’ plus indirect object.

[p. 192]

	DI	NEGENDE.	Die	Neegende.
	DET	ninth	DET	ninth

	Ju	no	sa	begeer	Ju	no	sa	hab	sin
	2SG	NEG	FUT	desire	2SG	NEG	FUT	have	desire

	ju	Naeste	Hus.	na	Ju	Naeste	sie	Hus.
	2SG	neighbour	house	NA	2SG	neighbour	3POS	house

	DI	TIENDE.	Die	Tiende.
	DET	tenth	DET	tenth

65	Ju	no	sa	hab	sin	Ju	no	sa	ha	Sin
	2SG	NEG	FUT	have	desire	2SG	NEG	FUT	have	desire

	na	ju	Naeste	si	Vif,	na	Ju	Naeste	sie	Wif,
	NA	2SG	neighbour	3POS	wife	NA	2SG	neighbour	3POS	wife

si

Jong,

si

Meisi,

si

Os,

si

Borika,

sie

Jong,

sie

Meisje,

sie

Os,

sie

Borika,

3POS

boy

3POS

girl

3POS

ox

3POS

donkey

3POS

boy

3POS

girl

3POS

ox

3POS

donkey

	of	eniste	gut,	fan	allema	di*,*	en	na	niet	een	gut,
	or	any	thing	of	all	DET	and	NA	NEG	one	thing

	di	fan	em.	die	bin	van	hem.
	DET	of	3SG	DET	BE	of	3SG

70	Fan	allema	di	Gebot	senner	Van	almael	die	Gebot,
	of	all	DET	commandment	3PL	of	all	DET	commandment

	da	so	Got	le	praet	da	soo	Godt	le	praet
	EMP	so	God	ASP	speak	EMP	so	God	ASP	speak

na

2

Mos.

20

Kp.

5,6,

v.

na

Moses

sie

tweede

Buk

20

Cap. 5.6.Vers.

NA

2

Mos.

20:

Ch.

5 -6,

v.

NA

Moses

3POS

second

book

20

Ch.5th.6th.Verse

	Kingo									Wold
	Gebet	for	sei	op	fru fru,	as	ju	le	hoppo.	Gebet	for	vruvrue,	as	Ju	hoppo	van	Slaep.
	prayer	FOR	say	up	early -RED	as	2SG	ASP	up	prayer	FOR	early.RED	as	2SG	up	from	sleep

[p. 193]

Mi

le

sei

ju

mussi

groot

Danki,

O!

Mie

seg

Ju

groot

Dankie

O

1SG

ASP

say

2SG

much

big

thanks

o

1SG

say

2SG

big

thanks

o

75	Fader	en	Heer	fan	di	Hemel	Vaeder,	Heer	van	Heemel
	Father	and	lord	or	DET	heaven	Father	Lord	of	heaven

	en	di	Gront	door	Jesum	Kristum^15	en	Aerde,	door	Jesus	Christus
	and	DET	earth	through	Jesus	Christ	and	earth	through	Jesus	Christ

	ju	lief -de	Soon,	ons	Heilant,	Ju	lieve	Soon,	ons	Heilant,
	2SG	dear	Son	1PL	Saviour	2SG	dear	Son	1PL	Saviour

da

ju

ka

bevaer

mi

na

di

Donker,

dat

Ju

ka

be -waer

mie

fraej

na

die

Donker,

that

2SG

PRF

save

1SG

NA

DET

darkness

that

2SG

PRF

save

1SG

well

NA

DET

darkness

en

ka

parra

allega

Qvaet

fan

mi,

en

ka

parae

almael

qwaet

van

mie:

and

PRF

keep

all

evil

of

1SG

and

PRF

keep

all

evil

of

1SG

80	mi	le	bet	ju	mussi,	Mie	bidt	Ju,
	1SG	ASP	pray	2SG	much	1SG	pray	2SG

dat

ju

vil

bevaer

mi

okal

fan

Dag,

dat

Ju

wil

bewaer

mie

ookal

van

Dag,

that

2SG

will

keep

1SG

also

of

day

that

2SG

will

keep

1SG

also

of

day

da

mi

no

sa

kom

for

fal

dat

mie

no

sa

val

that

1SG

NEG

FUT

come

FOR

fall

that

1SG

NEG

FUT

fall

na

binne

di

Sondo^16,

of

an -der

Qvaet,

na

Sonde

of

ander

Qwaet,

NA

inside

DET

sin

or

other

evil

NA

sin

or

other

evil

15 Jesum Kristum is a Latin accusative. Also the dative Jesu Kristo and the Latin-Greek genitive Jesu can be found. The use of Latin cases for the names Jesus, Christus and Jesus Christus is (was) not uncommon in Danish and German religious speech.

16 Sondo: compare what the remarks about the forms sondo and zonde in the Introduction.

[p. 194]

ma

gif!

da

allema

mi

Ge -dagten,

maer

gief,

dat

almael

mie

Gedagten,

but

give

that

all

1SG

thought.PL

but

give

that

all

1SG

thought.PL

85	Voort	en	Verk	senner	mie	Woort	en	mie	Werk	sender
	word	and	work	3PL	1SG	word	and	1SG	work	3PL

	mut	ves	frei	for	ju,	mut	wees	fraej	na	Ju;
	must	BE	well	FOR	2SG	must	BE	well	NA	2SG

vant

mi

le

betrou

mi

self

Want

mie

le

be -trou

mie

self,

because

1SG

ASP

entrust

1SG

self

because

1SG

ASP

entrust

1SG

self

	mit	Leggom	en	Siel	mie	Likam	en	Siel	mit	almael	gut
	with	body	and	soul	1SG	body	and	soul	with	all	thing

	na	ju	Hant,	na	ju	Hant:
	NA	2SG	hand	NA	2SG	hand

90

no

la

stan

ju

heilig

Engel

senner

No

la -staen

Ju

heilig

Engel

sender

NEG

let

stand

2SG

holy

angel

3PL

NEG

let -stand

2SG

holy

angel

3PL

lop

nit

een

Plek

fan

mi,

loop

niet

een

Plek

van

mie,

walk

NEG

one

place

of

1SG

walk

NEG

one

place

of

1SG

da

di

Divel

no

sa

for

du

mi

dat

die

Die -vel

no

sa

due

mi

that

DET

devil

NEG

FUT

FOR

do

1SG

that

DET

devil

NEG

FUT

do

1SG

	een	Qvaet.	Amen.	niet	een	gut.	Amen.	Ons	Vaeder	&c.
	one	evil	amen	NEG	one	thing	amen	1PL	Father	etc.

	Kingo					Wold
	Gebet	for	di	Skoolkint	senner.	Gebet	voor	en	Skool -Kint.
	prayer	FOR	DET	schoolchild	3PL	prayer	FOR	a	school -child

95

O!

Ju

eene

Almagtig

Got

O

Ju

eewig

en

eene

almagtig

Godt,

O

2SG

one

almighty

God

O

2SG

eternal

and

one

almighty

God

[p. 195]

	Fader;	Soon	en	Heilig	Gees,	Vaeder,	Soon	en	Heilig	Geest,
	Father	Son	and	holy	Spirit	Father	Son	and	holy	Spirit

ju

di

bin

een

Fader

over

alle=ma

di,

Ju

die

bin

Vaeder

over

al,

2SG

DET

BE

one

Father

over

all

DET

2SG

DET

BE

Father

over

all

di

ha

kint

Naem

fan

di

Hemel

die

hab

Naem

van

Kint

na

Heemel

DET

have

child

name

of

DET

heaven

DET

have

name

of

child

NA

heaven

en

di

Gront,

help

mi

pover

Kint

en

Aerde,

help

mie,

mie

pover

Kint,

and

DET

earth

help

1SG

poor

child

and

earth

help

1SG

1SG

poor

child

100

en

stier^17

mi

di

Heilig

Gees

en

styer

mie

die

Heilig

Geest

and

send

1SG

DET

holy

Spirit

and

send

1SG

DET

holy

Spirit

	for	braek	mi	Haert,	for	breek	mie	Hart,
	FOR	break	1SG	heart	FOR	break	1SG	heart

en

for

gif

mi

Hon -ger

na

ju

Voort,

en

gief

mie

Honger

na

Ju

Woort,

and

FOR

give

1SG

hunger

NA

2SG

word

and

give

1SG

hunger

NA

2SG

word

di

bin

di

ret

Pat

for

kom

viis,

die

bin

die

regt

Begin

for

kom

wies;

DET

BE

DET

right

path

FOR

come

wise

DET

BE

DET

right

beginning

FOR

come

wise

bevaer

mi

fan

al

fals

leer,

Bewaer

mie

van

al

vals

Leer,

save

1SG

from

all

false

teaching

save

1SG

from

all

false

teaching

105	en	la	stan	mi	grui -j	op	en	Lastaen	mie	gruj	op
	and	let	stand	1SG	grow	up	and	let.stand	1SG	grow	up

	na	di	ene	vare	Glof,	na	die	een	waer	Gloof,
	NA	DET	one	true	belief	NA	DET	one	true	belief

en

hou

stif

na

di

te

mi

laste,

en

hou

vast

na

die

tee

mie

leste:

and

hold

rigid

NA

DET

until

1SG

last

and

hold

fast

NA

DET

until

1SG

last

17 Kingo's stier vs. Wold's styer with Danish for [y] may be indicative of variation in the rendering of Dutch and Zealandic [y] in 18th century Negerhollands. Cf. the Introduction.

[p. 196]

plant

na

mi

die

vare

Liefde

na

ju,

Plant

na

mie

die

waer

Liefde

na

Ju,

plant

NA

1SG

DET

true

love

NA

2SG

plant

NA

1SG

DET

true

love

NA

2SG

da

ju

Voort

mut

kom

for

fas

Vortel

dat

Ju

Woort

mut

wortel

vast

that

2SG

word

must

come

FOR

seize

root

that

2SG

word

must

root

fast

110	na	mi	Haert,	na	mie	Hart,
	NA	1SG	heart	NA	1SG	heart

en

di

mi

mut

drag

mi

self

frei^18;

en

dat

mie

mut

draeg

mie

self

fraej;

and

DET

1SG

must

carry

1SG

self

well

and

that

1SG

must

carry

1SG

self

well

help,

da

di

Divel,

di

Verel,

Help

mie,

dat

die

Die -vel,

die

Weerelt,

help

that

DET

devil

DET

world

help

1SG

that

DET

devil

DET

world

mi

eigen

Fleis

en

Blut

mie

eigen

Vleis

en

Bluet,

1SG

own

flesh

and

blood

1SG

own

flesh

and

blood

	en	qvai	Geselskap	en	qwaej	Geselskap
	and	evil	company	and	evil	company

115

no

sa

bedrig

en

fer -lei

mi,

no

sa

bedrieg

en

verlej

mie;

NEG

FUT

deceive

and

tempt

1SG

NEG

FUT

deceive

and

tempt

1SG

da

mi

kan

kom

for

grui-j

op

Dat

mie

kan

gruj

op

that

1SG

can

come

FOR

grow

up

that

1SG

can

grow

up

	as	een	frei	Plantki^19	as	een	fraej	Plantje,
	like	a	nice	plant.DIM	like	a	nice	plant.DIM

	en	blui -j	na	al	Rektfer -digheit,	en	bluj	na	al	Regtveerdigheit,
	and	blossom	NA	all	righteousness	and	blossom	NA	all	righteousness

18 Read ‘and that I must behave myself well’. In view of de Josselin de Jong's bidraag one would expect bedrag (cf. Du. zich gedragen, Germ. zich betragen).

19 Plantki: a Danish spelling for something like [plAntši]. Cf. the phonology of the petrified Dutch diminutives in de Josselin de Jong's NH vocabulary.

[p. 197]

na

Ferstant

en

gui -j

Maneren

na

al

fraej

Verstant

en

guej

Manier

NA

understanding

and

good

manner.PL

NA

all

good

sense

and

good

manner

120	for	Got	en	ider	Mens;	voor	Godt,	en	ieder	Mens.
	FOR	God	and	every	human.being	FOR	God	and	every	human.being

	hoor	mi,	mi	Tat -ta	Hoor	mie	mie	Vaeder,
	hear	1SG	1SG	Father	hear	1SG	1SG	Father

	na	di	Hemel	Ju	die	bin	na	binne	die	Heemel
	NA	DET	heaven	2SG	DET	BE	NA	inside	DET	heaven

	na	Jesu,	mi	Heilant	si	Naem.	Amen.	&c.
	NA	Jesus	1SG	saviour	3POS	name	amen	etc.

	Kingo					Psalm-Buk 1770
	Melodi:	na	Jesu	Naem.		Melodie.	J.	Jesu	Navn^20,
	tune	NA	Jesus	name		tune	in	Jesus	name

	1.		1.
125	O!	Planter -Man	O!	Planterman,
	o	planter -man	o	planter.man

	Ju	frei	en	sutto^21	Got,	Ju	fraej	en	sutte	Godt,
	2SG	good	and	sweet	God	2SG	good	and	sweet	God

Di

alle

Lan

En

elke

na

si

Stan

Die

alle

Lant,

en

elke

na

sie

Stant,

DET

all

land

and

each

NA

3P0S

class

DET

all

land

and

each

NA

3P0S

class

Rup

door

ju

Voort

en

Gebot:

Rup

door

Ju

Woort

en

G'bot;

call

through

2SG

word

and

command

call

through

2SG

word

and

command

Help

mi,

da

mi

hoor

ju

Rup

Help

mie,

dat

mie

hoor

Ju

Rup

help

1SG

that

1SG

hear

2SG

call

help

1SG

that

1SG

hear

2SG

call

20 J. Jesu Navn: Danish.

21 sutto: Dutch inflected adjective zoete with coloring of the schwa.

[p. 198]

130	En	kom	klug,	En	kom	kluk,
	and	come	alert	and	come	alert

Da

ju

krig

Sin

na

mi,

Dat

Ju

krieg

Sin

na

mie,

that

2SG

get

desire

NA

1SG

that

2SG

get

desire

NA

1SG

Vant

ju

ka

kop

mi

Fri:

Dat

Ju

ka

koop

mie

vrie;

because

2SG

PRF

buy

1SG

free

that

2SG

PRF

buy

1SG

free

Stier

mi

lop

na

ju

Plantaj,

Stier

mie

loop

na

Ju

Plantaj

send

1SG

walk

NA

2SG

plantation

send

1SG

walk

NA

2SG

plantation

Da

for

plant,

for

verk

en

sai,

Daer

for

plant,

for

werk

en

saej,

EMP

FOR

plant

FOR

work

and

sow

there

FOR

plant

FOR

work

and

sow

135

Brek

mi

Haert,

as

di

bin

tai.

Breek

mie

Hart,

as

die

bin

taej.

break

1SG

heart

as

DET

BE

tough

break

1SG

heart

as

DET

BE

tough

	2.			2.
	Vaneer	ju	ma	Wanneer	Ju	maer,
	when	2SG	but	when	2SG	but

	Self	le	deel	yt	di	Loon,	Self	le	partie	die	Loon;
	self	ASP	part	out	DET	wage	self	ASP	part.out	DET	wage

Denk

mi

op

da

Mi

Verk

ben

passima^22;

Ju

denk

op

daer,

mie

Werk

ka

pasima,

think

1SG

up

that

1SG

work

BE

skinny

2SG

think

up

while

1SG

work

PRF

skinny

	Ju	fan	Gnade	skenk	Pardoon;	Ju	van	Gnaede	skenk	Pardoon;
	2SG	of	mercy	grant	pardon	2SG	of	mercy	grant	pardon

140

Vant

as

mi

kik,

en

le

suk

Want,

as

mie

kik,

en

le

suk,

because

as

1SG

look

and

ASP

search

because

as

1SG

look

and

ASP

search

22 Both this line and the corresponding line in Psalm-Buk 1770 seem to be corrupted. daer ‘there’ in the Psalm-Buk version should be da(t) ‘that’. In Kingo's versoon mi ’1SG’ does not make sense unless Denk mi op da ... is a corruption of Denk op mi da ... ‘remember (think of) me, that ...’. Alternative emendations are En denk op da ... ‘and (if you) remember that ...’ or Ju denk op da ... ‘You remember that ...’.

[p. 199]

Na

mi

Dag -Buk,

Va

Gut

mi

ka

ferdin

Na

mie

Dag -Buk,

Wagut^24

mie

ka

verdien,

NA

1SG

day -book^23

what

thing

1SG

PRF

earn

NA

1SG

day -book

what

1SG

PRF

earn

	Di	no	bin	na	ju	Sin:
	DET	NEG	BE	NA	2SG	desire

Di

mak^25!

Jesu

denk

op

mi,

Die

maek

Jesu

denk

op

mie

DET

make

Jesus

think

up

1SG

DET

make

Jesus

think

up

1SG

Nit

een

Gut,

mi

ha

for

kri,

Niet

een

gut

mie

hab

voor

krieg,

NEG

one

thing

1SG

have

FOR

get

NEG

one

thing

1SG

have

FOR

get

145

As

ju

no

le

jammer

mi.

As

Ju

no

le

jammer

mie.

as

2SG

NEG

ASP

pity

1SG

as

2SG

NEG

ASP

pity

1SG

	Joh. 6 Kp. 54, 55, 56 v.
	John 6 Ch. 54, 55, 56 v.

	Em,	di	le	jet	mi	Fleis,	en	drink	mi
	3SG	DET	ASP	eat	1SG	flesh	and	drink	1SG

	Blut,	em	ha	een	evig	Lif,	en	mi	sa	mak
	blood	3SG	have	a	eternal	life	and	1SG	FUT	make

	em	hoppo	na	di	laste	Dag;	vant	mi	Fleis
	3SG	up	NA	DET	last	day	because	1SG	flesh

150	bin	vaer	jet,	en	mi	Blut	vaer	Drink.
	BE	true	eat	and	1SG	blood	true	drink

	Di	geen	jet	mi	Fleis,	en	drink	mi	Blut
	DET	one	eat	1SG	flesh	and	drink	1SG	blood

	em	blif	na	mi,	en	mi	na	em.
	3SG	stay	NA	1SG	and	1SG	NA	3SG

	1 Petr. 1 Kp. 13, 14, 15, v.
	1 Peter 1 Ch. 13, 14, 15, v.

24 Wagut: literally ‘what thing’, means ‘what’.

23 Dutch: dagboek ‘diary’.

25 Di mak ‘therefore’.

[p. 200]

	So	mak	jenner	Sin	los	fan	di	Verel	ves
	so	make	2PL	desire	loose	from	DET	world	BE

155	nykter,	en	set	jenner	Hoop	heel	heel	na
	sober	and	place	2PL	hope	very	very	NA

	di	Gnade,	di	nu	le	kom	for	offereer	jenner	na
	DET	mercy	DET	now	ASP	come	FOR	offer	2PL	NA

	di	Kennis	fan	Jesu	Kristo:	ves	so	as	gehoorsam
	DET	knowledge	of	Jesus	Christ	BE	so	like	obedient

	Kinder,	da	jenner	no	hou	an	na	di	sondig	Lust,
	child	that	2PL	NEG	keep	on	NA	DET	sinful	desire

	senner,	Velke	jenner	ka	ha	te foren	na	jenner
	3PL	which	2PL	PRF	have	before	NA	2PL

160	Blinheit;	ma	evenso	em	bin	heilig,	di	ka	rup
	blindness	but	equal.so	3SG	BE	holy	DET	PRF	call

	jenner,	so	jenner	okal	ves	heilig	na	jenner
	2PL	so	2PL	also	BE	holy	NA	2PL

	Vandle.
	walk

	Ebr. 13 Kp. 20, 21, v.
	Hebr. 13 Ch. 20, 21, v.

	Di	Got	fan	di	Frede,	em,	di	ha	bring	yt
	DET	God	of	DET	peace	3SG	DET	PST	bring	out

165	fan	di	doot	veran	di	grooto^26	Baes	over	di
	of	DET	dead	again	DET	big	boss	over	DET

	Skap	senner,	ons	Heer	Jesum	Kristum,	door
	sheep	3PL	1PL	Lord	Jesus	Christ	through

	een	evig	Testament^27	Blut,	Em	mak	jenner	be -
	one	eternal	testament	blood	3SG	make	2PL	competent

26 grooto: Dutch inflected adjective grote with coloring of the schwa.

27 Testament ‘testament’, i.e. ‘covenant’.

[p. 201]

	qvaem	na	al	frei	Verk	for	du	si	Sin;	en	Em
	{-}	NA	all	good	work	FOR	do	3POS	desire	and	3SG

	Verk	na	binne	jenner	di	gut,	di	bin	frei	for
	work	NA	inside	2PL	DET	thing	DET	BE	good	FOR

170	Em	self,	door	Jesum	Kristum,	Velke	ves	Eer
	3SG	self	through	Jesus	Christ	which	BE	honour

	na	al	Evigheit.	Amen.
	NA	all	eternity	amen

	FIN.
	end

4.2 Dialogues and proverbs

Like the primers, the ‘ABC booklets’, the grammars cannot be said to have strictly secular contents. Yet we have put any material from these sources in a chapter titled ‘Lay material’. The edifying aspect of the contents of the material was not, we believe, the main objective of the authors. The ABC booklets were principally intended to

13. Neu Herrnhut on St. Thomas.

[p. 202]

further the acquisition of literacy by (native) Negerhollands speakers. The grammars principally analyzed and classified the structures of Negerhollands according to the classical Latin mould. They were also used for second language acquisition by missionaries and by other literates as well (at any rate, Magens, the author, was a layman himself). The target audience probably consisted of literate Europeans who had not been in contact with the language before. This may be one of the reasons why all grammars contain conversations which were obviously intended to illustrate Negerhollands in its daily spoken form.

In this chapter we present text samples from all three known grammars: two Moravian manuscript grammars, one of which is a part of Oldendorp's Missionsgeschichte of the early 1770s, and the other the Herrnhut grammar of around 1802; and the famous printed grammar of 1770 by Magens. From Magens, we also took a number of proverbs, including some of their Danish translations.

4.2.1 Dialogue from Oldendorp's Missionsgeschichte

The following dialogue passage is from the grammar part of the fair manuscript copy of Oldendorp's Missionsgeschichte. From several conversations in Oldendorp's manuscript it becomes clear that many slaves, especially the married ones, bring their arguments before the congregation's Minister for judgement.

1.) Gespräch zwischen Baas nebst seiner Frau und einem ungetauften Ehepaar.²⁸

‘Conversation between the Minister with his wife and an unbaptized married couple.’

1	Baas.	Wagoed	jender	ha	voor	praat	mee	malkander.	Laatstaan
	Minister	what	2PL	have	FOR	talk	with	each.other	let

	ons	hoor	jender	na	voor	malkander.	Koffee!	joe	begin	voor
	1PL	hear	2PL	NA	FOR	each.other	Koffee	2SG	start	FOR

praat.

Koffee.

Baas!

da

mi

wief

ben

da.

Em

no

doe

niemetal

talk

Koffee

Minister

EMP

1SG

wife

BE

there

3SG

NEG

do

nothing

voor

mi:

em

no

kook

pot,

em

no

soek

hout,

em

no

gie

mi

water

FOR

1SG

3SG

NEG

cook

pot

3SG

NEG

seek

wood

3SG

NEG

give

1SG

water

5

voor

wasch

mi

hand

en

mi

voet,

em

no

gie

mi

vuur

voor

stek

op^29

FOR

wash

1SG

hand

and

1SG

foot

3SG

NEG

give

1SG

fire

FOR

stick

up

mi

pipe,

em

no

werk

mee

mi

na

plantij^30.

Voor

sosoo

mi

ha

em,

1SG

pipe

3SG

NEG

work

with

1SG

NA

plantation

FOR

nothing

1SG

have

3SG

28 Gespräch (...) Ehepaar: German.

29 Stek op: from Dutch opsteken ‘to light’.

30 plantij instead of plantai: In this text is sometimes used instead of graphemes like , , , etc. Cf. nij ‘sow’, sije ‘skirt’. This indicates knowledge of the diphthongal status of in Standard Dutch.

[p. 203]

	mi	no	weet,	dat	mi	ha	wief	self.	Da	no	waar?
	1SG	NEG	know	that	1SG	have	wife	self	EMP	NEG	true

	B.	Noe,	Tetee!,	praat	joe	reden.	Wagoed	joe	ha	voor	praat?
	B	now	Tetee	talk	2SG	reason	what	2SG	have	FOR	talk

	Die	ben	waar,	wat	Koffee	praat?
	DET	BE	true	what	Koffee	talk

10

Tetee.

Die

no

ben

waar.

Die

tied,

mi

a

neem

em,

em

no

a

ha

Tetee

DET

NEG

BE

true

DET

time

1SG

PST

take

3SG

3SG

NEG

PST

have

doeki

na

si

lief.

Da

mi

a

maak

em

voor

Man.

Mi

a

koop

doeki

cloth

NA

3POS

body

EMP

1SG

PST

make

3SG

FOR

man

1SG

PST

buy

cloth

	voor	em,	mi	nij	em	broek,	en	kamisol,	en	hemmede,	karpoes
	FOR	3SG	1SG	sew	3SG	trousers	and	camisole	and	shirt	cap

ookal.

Van

sens

mi

ha

em,

em

no

a

gie

mi

niet

een

goed.

Mi

ha

also

from

since

1SG

have

3SG

3SG

NEG

PST

give

1SG

NEG

one

thing

1SG

have

soo

moeschi

Kinders

van

em:

em

no

gie

mi

jeet

voor

mi

en

mi

so

many

child.PL

of

3SG

3SG

NEG

give

1SG

food

FOR

1SG

and

1SG

15

Kinders.

As

mi

no

werk,

voor

koop

brood,

ons

no

sal

ha

jeet.

child.PL

as

1SG

NEG

work

FOR

buy

bread

1PL

NEG

FUT

have

food

Em

ha

soo

veel

kassau

na

si

plantij.

Wanneer

em

trek

die,

da

3SG

have

so

many

cassave

NA

3POS

plantation

when

3SG

pull

DET

EMP

mi

moe

krou

die,

da

mi

moe

bak

die,

da

mi

moe

verkoop

die

1SG

must

rasp

DET

EMP

1SG

must

bake

DET

EMP

1SG

must

sell

DET

ookal,

en

mi

moe

gie

die

Man

die

stuver.

Baas!

em

no

gie

mi

also

and

1SG

must

give

DET

man

DET

penny

Minister

3SG

NEG

give

1SG

soo - -veel^31,

em

no

gie

mi

een

stuver

van

die.

Wanneer

mi

vraag

so -much

3SG

NEG

give

1SG

a

penny

of

DET

when

1SG

ask

20

die

Man,

em

sal

gie

mi

een

stuver:

em

le

quaat,

em

le

see,

mi

DET

man

3SG

FUT

give

1SG

a

penny

3SG

ASP

angry

3SG

ASP

say

1SG

31 Read: ‘He does not even give me THAT much’.

[p. 204]

no

ha.

Baas!

die

loop

soo -

Mi

no

weet,

wat

plek

em

doe

si

NEG

have

Minister

DET

walk

so

1SG

NEG

know

what

place

3SG

put

3POS

stuvers.

Mi

moe

vind

die

kleer

mee

die

jeet

voor

mi

mee

mi

penny.PL

1SG

must

find

DET

clothes

with

DET

food

FOR

1SG

with

1SG

Kinders,

en

voor

die

Man

ookal.

En

as

mi

no

gie

em,

em

no

ha

child.PL

and

FOR

DET

man

also

and

as

1SG

NEG

give

3SG

3SG

NEG

have

	doeki	voor	draag.	Koffee.	Die	no	ben	waar,	wat	joe	praat.
	cloth	FOR	wear	Koffee	DET	NEG	BE	true	what	2SG	talk

25

Tetee.

Gie

mi

tied

voor

praat,

mi

ook

a

gie

joe

tied.

Da

no

Tetee

give

1SG

time

FOR

talk

1SG

also

PST

give

2SG

time

EMP

NEG

allegaar

van

mi

sweet,

wagoed

mi

ha?^32

Mi

werk,

tee

die

sweet

all

of

1SG

sweat

what

1SG

have

1SG

work

until

DET

sweat

drup

na

grond.

Baas!

van

sens

mi

ha

em,

em

no

a

gie

mi

sije,

drip

NA

ground

Minister

of

since

1SG

have

3SG

3SG

NEG

PST

give

1SG

skirt

em

no

a

gie

mi

japoenje,

em

no

a

gie

mi

naesdoek^33,

em

no

ben

3SG

NEG

PST

give

1SG

dress.DIM

3SG

NEG

PST

give

1SG

nose.cloth

3SG

NEG

BE

kapabel

voor

merteneer^34

si

kinders.

As

mi

kook

jeet

voor

em,

em

capable

FOR

maintain

3POS

child.PL

as

1SG

cook

food

FOR

3SG

3SG

30

le

see,

die

jeet

no

fraai.

En

mi

moe

koop

die

vleesch.

As

mi

ASP

say

DET

food

NEG

well

and

1SG

must

buy

DET

meat

as

1SG

no

tek

hand

na

mi

sak,

voor

koop

die

jeet,

ons

no

ha

jeet.

Mi

NEG

put

hand

NA

1SG

sack

FOR

buy

DET

food

1PL

NEG

have

food

1SG

wasch

voor

em,

mi

nij

voor

em,

mi

doe

allegaar

goed

voor

em.

wash

FOR

3SG

1SG

sew

FOR

3SG

1SG

do

all

thing

FOR

3SG

Mi

moe

koop

die

garn,

mi

moe

vind

die

lap,

voor

lap

si

doeki.

1SG

must

buy

DET

yarn

1SG

must

find

DET

cloth

FOR

patch

3POS

cloth

32 The emphatic expression Da no allegaar van mi sweet, unlike Da no ander dag below, is difficult to translate. The wh-word wagoed ‘what?’ makes it impossible to render it as ‘Isn't it all through my sweat that ...’. Therefore, read: ‘unless all through my sweat’.

33 naesdoek, literally ‘nose-cloth’, derives from Du. neusdoek (obsolete) ‘kerchief’ (not necessarily ‘handkerchief’).

34 Probably a writing error for menteneer.

[p. 205]

Em

no

weet,

van

waar

die

kom.

Koffee.

Baas!

die

no

waar,

em

praat

lug.

3SG

NEG

know

of

where

DET

come

Koffee

Minister

DET

NEG

true

3SG

talk

lie

35

Tetee.

Baas!

die

ben

waar,

mi

no

sal

lug

na

voor

em.

Tetee

Minister

DET

BE

true

1SG

NEG

FUT

lie

NA

FOR

3SG

Koffee.

Die

no

waar,

em

lug.

Mi

no

weet,

wagoed

mi

sal

doe

mee

Koffee

DET

NEG

true

3SG

lie

1SG

NEG

know

what

1SG

FUT

do

with

em.

Da

no

ander

dag^35

em

a

sal

bring

water

voor

wasch

mi

voet?

3SG

EMP

NEG

other

day

3SG

PST

FUT

bring

water

FOR

wash

1SG

foot

Em

no

a

doe

die,

em

a

ha

goe

asserant

mond.

Mi

no

daerf

praat

3SG

NEG

PST

do

DET

3SG

PST

have

very

bold

mouth

1SG

NEG

dare

talk

	een	woord	na	em,	em	vlieg	eenrees	op.
	one	word	NA	3SG	3SG	fly	once	up

40

Tetee.

Mi

no

a

maak

heet

water

voor

joe?

mi

no

a

bring

die

Tetee

1SG

NEG

PST

make

hot

water

FOR

2SG

1SG

NEG

PST

bring

DET

kom?

Baas!

die

ben

waar,

mi

no

a

wil

wasch

si

voet,

em

kan

come

Minister

DET

BE

true

1SG

NEG

PST

want

wash

3POS

foot

3SG

can

	wasch	sender	self.	Baas!	die	no	genoeg?	Baas!	die	Man	ben
	wash	3PL	self	Minister	DET	NEG	enough	Minister	DET	man	BE

	altoeveel	stout.	As	mi	maak	mi	altoeveel	kleentje	na	onder	em,
	very	naughty	as	1SG	make	1SG	very	small	NA	under	3SG

em

meer

mi.

Baas!

Ons

a

ha

een

varki.

Da

mi

a

queek

em,

da

mi

3SG

more

1SG

Minister

1PL

PST

have

a

pig

EMP

1SG

PST

foster

3SG

EMP

1SG

45

a

soek

jeet

en

drink

voor

em,

mi

a

pina

mee

em

soo

lang,

tee

PST

seek

food

and

drink

FOR

3SG

1SG

PST

worry

with

3SG

so

long

until

die

varki

a

kom

groot.

Da

mi

a

maak

em

vet.

Ons

matan

die

DET

pig

PST

come

great

EMP

1SG

PST

make

3SG

fat

1PL

kill

DET

varki,

voor

verkoop

die

vleesch,

die

a

maas

16

stuk.

Baas!

em

pig

FOR

sell

DET

meat

DET

PST

make?

16

piece

Minister

3SG

35 Da no ander dag: ‘Wasn't it the other day that ...’.

[p. 206]

	no	a	gie	mi	soo - veel	van	die.^36
	NEG	PST	give	1SG	so -much	of	DET

Koffee.

Baas!

mi

bewaar

die

stuvers

tee

na

skaars

tied,

dan

mi

Koffee

Minister

1SG

save

DET

penny.PL

until

NA

scarce

time

then

1SG

50

koop

jeet

en

kleer

voor

die.

As

mi

gie

em

die

mee

een^37,

em

maak

buy

food

and

clothes

FOR

DET

as

1SG

give

3SG

DET

with

one

3SG

make

wee

mee

die,

em

morss

die,

en

die

tied

ons

mankeer

die,

ons

no

away

with

DET

3SG

spoil

DET

and

DET

time

1PL

lack

DET

1PL

NEG

ha.

En

as

mi

ook

koop

em

een

dobbelsteen

sije,

die

no

genoeg

have

and

as

1SG

also

buy

3SG

a

dice

skirt

DET

NEG

enough

	voor	em:	em	ha	goe	groot	hoogo.
	FOR	3SG	3SG	have	very	great	eye

Tetee.

Die

no

ben

waar.

Em

no

a

gie

mi

sije,

van

sens

mi

ha

Tetee

DET

NEG

BE

true

3SG

NEG

PST

give

1SG

skirt

of

since

1SG

have

55

em.

Baas!

em

droenk.

As

em

ook

ha

stuvers,

em

koop

soopi

voor

3SG

Minister

3SG

drunk

as

3SG

also

have

penny.PL

3SG

buy

brandy

FOR

	die.	En	as	mi	praat	over	die,	em	gie	mi	bangele^38.
	DET	and	as	1SG	talk	over	DET	3SG	give	1SG	slap

Baas.

Noe

mi

ka

hoor

jender,

en

mi

bemerk,

jender

all

twee

ha

Minister

now

1SG

PRF

hear

2PL

and

1SG

notice

2PL

all

two

have

faut.

En

mi

no

wil

neem

idereen

si

skuld,

en

lee

na

gewicht,

wrong

and

1SG

NEG

want

take

everyone

3POS

guilt

and

lay

NA

weight

voor

kik,

wie

ha

meer

faut.

Jender

moe

maak

die

af

mee

malkan

FOR

see

who

have

more

wrong

2PL

must

make

DET

off

with

each.other

60	der.	Koffee	ben	groothert,	en	Tetee	ben	asserant:	die	maak
	-	Koffee	BE	arrogant	and	Tetee	BE	bold	DET	make

niet

een

kan

verdraag

een

goed

van

die

ander.

Maar

as

jender

NEG

one

can

stand

one

thing

of

DET

other

but

as

2PL

36 Read: ‘He did not give me even THAT much of it.’

37 mee een ‘with one’, i.e. ‘at once’. Cf. Du. meteen ‘id.’.

38 Cf. banggalá/bangglá ‘club’ in de Josselin de Jong's vocabulary. It is unclear whther this is a plural form.

[p. 207]

pover

sal

leer

voor

ken

jender

bederf

hert,

en

kik,

na

wat

poor

FUT

learn

FOR

know

2PL

spoil

heart

and

see

NA

what

	voor^39	een	slecht	omstandigkeet	jender	ben:	dan	idereen	sal	vind
	FOR	a	bad	circumstance	2PL	BE	then	everyone	FUT	find

si

eegen

faut.

Jender

ben

Heiden

nochal,

en

jender

no

ken

God,

3POS

own

wrong

2PL

BE

heathen

still

and

2PL

NEG

know

God

65	die	maak,	dat	jender	moe	handel	na	jender	bederf	natuur.	Dan
	DET	make	that	2PL	must	act	NA	2PL	spoil	nature	then

die

loop

soo,

as

die

ben

tuschen

jender

twee.

En

die

reden

DET

walk

so

as

DET

BE

between

2PL

two

and

DET

reason

	ben,	die	liefde	mankeer	na	onder	jender.	Maar	jender	doch	kom
	BE	DET	love	lack	NA	under	2PL	but	2PL	yet	come

na

kerk,

en

hoor

die

soet

woord

van

die

liefe

Heiland.

Da

die

NA

church

and

hear

DET

sweet

word

of

DET

dear

Saviour

EMP

DET

	maak	ons	praat	mee	jender,	en	gie	jender	goeje	raad.
	make	1PL	talk	with	2PL	and	give	2PL	good	advice

70	As	jender	bed	die	liefe	Heiland,	voor	verklaar	jender	die
	as	2PL	pray	DET	dear	Saviour	FOR	explain	2PL	DET

	woord	jender	le	hoor,	dat	jender	hert	kom	verander^40,	en	as
	word	2PL	ASP	hear	that	2PL	heart	come	change	and	if

	jender	sal	krieg	die	Heiland	lief:	soo	jender	ook	sal	krieg
	2PL	FUT	get	DET	Saviour	dear	so	2PL	also	FUT	get

	meer	liefde	tegen	malkander.
	more	love	towards	each.other

	Koffee	en	Tetee.	Danki	Baas!	danki	Vro!
	Koffee	and	Tetee	thanks	Minister	thanks	woman

75	Baas.	Laatstaan	ons	hoor,	hoeso	die	loop	verder	mee	jender.
	Minister	let	1PL	hear	how	DET	walk	further	with	2PL

39 wat voor ‘(lit.) what for’: ‘what kind of’ (Dutch).

40 kom verander: passive.

[p. 208]

	Wanneer	jender	ha	tied,	jender	kan	kom	weeraan.
	when	2PL	have	time	2PL	can	come	again

	Koffee	en	Tetee.	Ja	Baas!	ons	sal	kom.
	Koffee	and	Tetee	yes	Minister	1PL	FUT	come

Translation

Conversation between (the) Minister with his wife and an unbaptized married couple. Minister: What do you have to argue about with each other. Let us listen to you in the presence of each other. Koffee! You start talking. Koffee: Minister! There is my wife. She does nothing for me: she does not cook meals, she does not gather wood, she does not give me water to wash my hands and feet, she does not give me fire to light my pipe, she does not work with me on the plantation [Oldendorp notes: ‘namely on their own Negro-plantation’]. I have her for nothing, I do not even know that I have a wife at all. Isn't it true? Minister: Now Tetee!, give your argument. What do you have to say? Is it true what Koffee is saying? Tetee: It is not true. At the time I took him, he did not have a rag to wear. I made a man of him. I bought fabric for him, I sewed trousers for him and a camisole and shirts, caps too. Since I have him, he has not given me a thing. I have so many children of him: he does not give me food for me and my children. If I do not work to buy bread, we will not have anything to eat. He has so much cassave on his plantation. When he pulls it out, I have to rasp/grate it, I have to bake it, then I have to sell it too and I have to give the money to that man, Minister! he does not give me THAT much, he does not give me a penny of it. When I ask that man to give me a penny: he gets angry and says ‘I don't have any’, Minister! It goes like this - [Old.: ‘It goes so - away’]. I do not know where he puts his money. I have to get clothes and food for myself and my children, and for that man also. And when I don't give it to him he has no clothes to wear. Koffee: It is not true what you are saying. Tetee: Give me time to speak, I also gave you time. Unless all through my sweat, what do I have? I work until the sweat is dripping on the ground, Minister! Since I have him, he has not given me a skirt, he gave me no dress, he gave me no kerchief, he is not capable of taking care of his children. When I cook for him, he says the food is bad. And I have to buy the meat. If I do not pay from my own purse to buy food we do not have anything to eat. I wash for him, I sew for him. I do everything for him. I must buy the yarn, I must find the fabric to patch up his clothes. He does not know where it is from. Koffee: Minister! It is not true, she is lying. Tetee: Minister, it IS true, I will not lie in his presence. Koffee: It is not true. She is lying. I don't know what I should do with her. Is it not the other day that she would bring water to wash my feet? She did not do it, she had a real insolent mouth. I do not dare to say one word to her, she flares up immediately. Tetee: Did I not heat up water for you? Did I not bring it over? Minister! It is true, I did not want to wash his feet, he can wash them himself. Minister! Is it not enough, Minister! That man is far too tough on me. If I humiliate myself for him too much, he will overpower me. Minister! We have a pig. I brought it up, I gathered food and drink for it, I have strained myself with it so long until the

[p. 209]

pig grew up. I have fattened it. We killed the pig to sell the meat, it measured 16 pieces [Old.: 16 Stück von Achten ‘16 pieces of eight’]. Minister! He has not given me even THAT much of it. Koffee: Minister! I save the money until scarce times, then I buy food and clothes for it. If I give it to her at once, she wastes it, she spoils it and when we need it we have nothing. And when I also buy her a dice skirt, it is not enough for her: she is very greedy. Tetee: It is not true. He has not given me a skirt, since I have him. Minister! He is a drunkard. If he has money, he buys brandy with it. And if I say anything about it he gives me a thrashing. Minister: Now I have listened to you, and I notice you are both wrong. And I do not want to take the guilt of each of you and put it on the scales to see who has most of it. You will have to sort it out with each other. Koffee is arrogant and Tetee is insolent: that makes that no-one of you can stand a thing of the other. But when you poor people will learn to know your own spoiled hearts, and see what bad circumstances you are in: then each will discover his own fault. You are still heathens, and you do not know God, which is the reason that you have to act according to your spoilt nature. Then it goes as it is between the two of you. And the reason is that there is no love between you. Yet you do come to church, and hear the sweet words of the dear Saviour. That is why we talk with you, and give you advice. When you pray to the dear Saviour, to explain to you the words that you are hearing, so that your heart will change, and when you begin to love the Saviour: then you will also get more love for each other. Koffee and Tetee: Thank you Minister! Thank you Madam! Minister: Let us know how you will be doing. When you have time, you can come again. Koffee and Tetee: Yes Minister! We will come.

4.2.2 Proverbs and dialogues in Magens' grammar

In the grammar of J.M. Magens (1770) more than just a grammatical description of Negerhollands is presented. The final parts of the book consist of a section of proverbs and one with several colloquies. In this paragraph we would like to reproduce the proverbs and sayings and a selection of the conversations in order also to present some examples of secular texts, since most of the material in the 18th century has a religious character.

The content of the three conversations we included tells us something about the life of slaves and masters in St. Thomas in the 18th century. We include all the sayings which are presented in Magens (1770). It is interesting to see how local animals and plants are the subjects in these sayings.

These texts were also included unchanged in Hesseling (1905). We took over his version.

B. Teksten ontleend aan de Spraakkunst der Denen. (G.D.)⁴¹

‘Texts borrowed form the Grammar of the Danes. (G.D.)’

41 Dutch titles are from Hesseling (1905).

[p. 210]

14. Cassave

Spreekwoorden en zegswijzen.
‘Proverbs and sayings’

1	Pampuen	no	kan	parie	Kalbas.
	pumpkin	NEG	can	give.birth	gourd

	Branmier	val	na	Malassie,	da	sut	hem	ha	vind
	ant	fall	NA	molasses	EMP	sweet	3SG	PST	find

	Hunder	weet	sie	Nest.
	hen	know	3POS	nest

	Hunder	wil	si	Kikkentje	alteveel.
	hen	want	3POS	chicken.DIM	too.much

5	Mie	bin	pover	Kakelak,	mie	no	hab	Regt	na	Hunderkot.
	1SG	BE	poor	cockroach	1SG	NEG	have	right	NA	chicken -house

	Hogo	no	hab	Deer.
	eye	NEG	have	door

	Leelik	Volk	hab	fraej	gut.
	ugly	people	have	beautiful	thing

[p. 211]

Mie

jammer

Ju

tee

mie

kries

Ju,

tee

mie

neem

Steen

veeg

1SG

regret

2SG

until

1SG

cry

2SG

until

1SG

take

stone

wipe

	mie	Hogo.
	1SG	eye

10	Hont	hab	vier	Vut,	no	kan	loop	twee	Pat.
	dog	have	four	foot	NEG	can	walk	two	path

As

Ju

no

ha

loop

na

Krabbo

Gat,

Ju

no

sa

hoor

Krabbo

as

2SG

NEG

PST

walk

NA

crab

hole

2SG

NEG

FUT

hear

crab

	Nyws.
	news

	As	Ju	suk	gut,	gut	sa	due	Ju.
	as	2SG	search	thing	thing	FUT	do	2SG

	As	pover	Volk	doot,	Guwerneer	no	hoor,	as	rik	Volk	dood,
	as	poor	people	die	governor	NEG	hear	as	rich	people	die

15	Guwerneer	ka	hoor.
	governor	PRF	hear

	No	na	eenmael	alleen	Man	kan	suk	Wief.
	NEG	NA	once	only	man	can	search	wife

	Één	Finger	no	kan	vang	Lues.
	one	finger	NEG	can	catch	louse

	As	Ju	no	kan	krieg	Kaneel,	neem	Mapua.
	as	2SG	NEG	can	get	cinnamon	take	mapua

As

Ju

no

ha

kik

mie,

Ju

no

sa

weet

mie

ha

kik

Ju?

as

2SG

NEG

PST

see

1SG

2SG

NEG

FUT

know

1SG

PST

see

2SG

20	Altit	Ju	praet	qwaet	na	bobo	sie	Kop.
	always	2SG	talk	angry	NA	above	3POS	head

Als

die

Vier

ka

yt,

klein

Kint

le

jump

na

die

Hassesje.

as

DET

fire

PRF

out

small

child

ASP

jump

NA

DET

ashes

	As	Pussie	ka	slaep,	Rotto	le	kurrie	na	Vluer.
	as	pussy -cat	PRF	sleep	rat	ASP	run	NA	floor

[p. 212]

As

Volk

ka

qwaet

na

Ju,

sender

gief

Ju

Makut

for

tap

as

people

PRF

angry

NA

2SG

3PL

give

2SG

basket

FOR

tap

	Water.
	water

25	Twee	Hont	vekkete	voor	een	Been.
	two	dog	fight	FOR	one	bone

	Twee	slem	no	kan	kook	Boontje	na	een	Pot.
	two	clever	NEG	can	cook	bean.DIM	NA	one	pot

	Finger	seg	Ju,	no	seg	mie.
	finger	say	2SG	NEG	say	1SG

	Hangman	no	sa	verloor	sie	Regt.
	hangman	NEG	FUT	lose	3POS	right

	Diefman	no	betrou	sie	Maet	draeg	groot	Sak.
	thief	NEG	trust	3POS	mate	carry	great	bag

30	Hem	no	kan	help,	da	sie	hou	sik	die	bin.
	3SG	NEG	can	help	EMP	3POS	old	illness	DET	BE

	Da	no	eenmael	Volk	kan	snie	Haer,	Haer	sa	gruj	weeran.
	EMP	NEG	once	people	can	cut	hair	hair	FUT	grow	again

	Katje	no	vraeg	na	Diffie,	Diffie	no	vraeg	na	Katje.
	cat.DIM	NEG	ask	NA	pigeon	pigeon	NEG	ask	NA	cat.DIM

	As	Kukkuba	vlieg,	hem	weet	na	welk	Boom	hem	sa	vlieg.
	as	sparrow -hawk	fly	3SG	know	NA	which	tree	3SG	FUT	fly

	Makaku^42	weet	na	wat	Boom	hem	sa	klem.
	monkey	know	NA	what	tree	3SG	FUT	climb

35	Die	gut	kan	due	Stok,	kan	due	Tou.
	DET	thing	can	do	stalk	can	do	rope

	Die	gut	bin	Slang	Bik,	bin	na	Kakketis	Bik	ook -al.
	DET	thing	inside	snake	belly	inside	NA	lizard	belly	also

	Pover	Volk	no	mut	hab	wil.
	poor	people	NEG	must	have	want

42 The word makaku originates from Portuguese/Spanish macaco ‘monkey’.

[p. 213]

	Sie	Boja	ka	draej	Steen.
	3P0S	tutelary.spirit	PRF	turn	stone

	Gras	no	le	gruj	na	sie	Door.
	grass	NEG	ASP	grow	NA	3POS	door

40	Gras	le	gruj	na	Dootman	sie	Door.
	grass	ASP	grow	NA	dead.man	3POS	door

	Ju	Mont	sa	koop	Kabaj	for	Ju	rie.
	2SG	mouth	FUT	buy	horse	FOR	2SG	ride

	Mie	Mont	ha	slip.
	1SG	mouth	PST	slip

	Ju	suk	for	pik	Haer	na	mie	Nees.
	2SG	search	FOR	pick	hair	NA	1SG	nose

	As	mie	Hogo	tengel	mit	sie	Hogo.
	as	1SG	eye	tangle	with	3POS	eye

45	Hem	bin	sender	Funje	Pot.
	3SG	BE	3PL	cornmeal	pot

	Ju	suk	Tant	na	mie	Mont.
	2SG	search	tooth	NA	1SG	mouth

	Ju	suk	for	skraep	mie	Tong.
	2SG	search	FOR	scrape	1SG	tongue

Samenspraken.

‘Dialogues’

Tussen twee slaven.

‘Between two slaves’

	Dag,	Carabeer!
	day	comrade

	Dag,	wat	ju	le	loop?
	day	what	2SG	ASP	walk

50	Mie	loop	na	ons	Plantaj.
	1SG	walk	NA	1PL	plantation

[p. 214]

	Da	wa	gut	ju	sa	due	daso?
	EMP	what	thing	2SG	FUT	do	there

	Mie	sa	seg	na	die	Meesterknegt	for	lastaen	maek	Jeet	klaer.
	1SG	FUT	say	NA	DET	foreman	FOR	let.stand	make	food	ready

	Ju	Meester	le	loop	na	Plantaj?
	2SG	master	ASP	walk	NA	plantation

	Ja,	en	Ju	Meester	sa	rie	mit	hem.
	yes	and	2SG	master	FUT	ride	with	3SG

55	Da	diemaek	mie	Meester	ka	stier	mie	for	hael	sie	Kabaj,
	EMP	therefore	1SG	master	PRF	send	1SG	FOR	get	3POS	horse

	en	for	lastaen	beslae	die.
	and	FOR	let	shoe	DET

	Da	Ju	sa	loop	mit	hem?
	EMP	2SG	FUT	walk	with	3SG

	Neen,	mie	mut	blief	na	Hus	for	pas	op.
	no	1SG	must	remain	NA	house	FOR	watch	on

	Dat	wie	sa	loop	mit	hem?
	that	who	FUT	walk	with	3SG

60	Die	ander	Vutbaj.
	DET	other	servant

Mie

wens

da

Ju

ha

mut

loop

mit,

fordiemaek

mie

no

keer

1SG

wish

that

2SG

PST

must

walk

with

because

1SG

NEG

care

	for	maek	Maet	mit	die	ander.
	FOR	make	mate	with	DET	other

	Adjoe.
	goodbye

Tussen twee vrienden.

‘Between two friends’

	Hueso,	Ju	no	ka	hoppo	nogal?
	how.so	2SG	NEG	PRF	stand.up	yet

[p. 215]

65	Neen,	maer	mie	ka	wees	wakker	lang	Tit.
	no	but	1SG	PRF	BE	awake	long	time

	Wat	maek	Ju	slaep	soo	laet	van	Dag?
	what	make	2SG	sleep	so	late	of	day

	Mie	ha	loop	lej	neer	for	lo	slaep	gue	laet	gester
	1SG	PST	walk	lay	down	FOR	ASP	sleep	good	late	yesterday

	Donker.
	night

	Da	wat	Ju	ha	due	dan,	aster	Ju	ha	ka	jeet?
	EMP	what	2SG	PST	do	then	after	2SG	PST	PRF	eat

70

Aster

Ju

ka

loop

wej,

die

ander

ka

blief

hiesoo,

en

soo

after

2SG

PRF

walk

away

DET

other

PRF

remain

here

and

so

	sender	ha	wil	speel	Kaert.
	3PL	PST	want	play	cards

	Jender	ha	speel?
	2PL	PST	play

	Ju,	mie	ookal.
	yes	1SG	also

	Dat	wat	Speel	Jender	ha	le	speel?
	that	what	play	2PL	PST	ASP	play

75	Ons	ha	speel	drie	Kaert.
	1PL	PST	play	three	cards

	Jellie	almael	ha	speel?
	2PL	all	PST	play

Ju,

maer

ons

ha

wees

alteveel,

soo

die

Speel

no

ha

wees

yes

but

1PL

PST

BE

too.much

so

DET

play

NEG

PST

BE

	sut.
	sweet

	Da	wie	ha	win?
	EMP	who	PST	win

[p. 216]

80	Da	mie	alleen.
	EMP	1SG	only

	Hueveel	Ju	ha	win?
	how.much	2SG	PST	win

	Tien	Stik	mit	half.
	ten	piece	with	half

	Ju	no	bin	gewent	for	win.
	2SG	NEG	BE	used	FOR	win

	Mie	kan	verloor	altit.
	1SG	can	lose	always

85	Hue	laet	Jellie	ha	speel?
	how	late	2PL	PST	play

	Ons	ha	speel	tee	twee	Yer.
	1PL	PST	play	until	two	hour

	Wat	Tit	Ju	ha	loop	slaep?
	what	time	2SG	PST	walk	sleep

	Die	Tit	die	Klok	ha	slae	drie.
	DET	time	DET	clock	PST	strike	three

	Dan	die	no	bin	Wonder,	Ju	le	lej	soo	laet.
	then	DET	NEG	BE	wonder	2SG	ASP	lay	so	late

90	Hue	laet	die	bin?
	how	late	DET	BE

	Neegen	yer	ka	slae.
	nine	hour	PRF	strike

	Dan	mie	mut	hoppo	nunu.
	then	1SG	must	stand.up	now.RED

	Voor	wagut?
	FOR	what

	Sender	ha	seg	sender	sa	kom	jeet	Vrukost	na	mie.
	3PL	PST	say	3PL	FUT	come	eat	breakfast	NA	1SG

[p. 217]

95	Da	diemaek	Ju	ha	win	sender	Gelt.
	EMP	therefore	2SG	PST	win	3PL	money

	Mie	gloof	soo.
	1SG	belief	so

	Ju	mut	wees	gau	for	hoppo.
	2SG	must	BE	quick	FOR	stand.up

	Hueso?
	how.so

	Da	sender	le	kom.
	EMP	3PL	ASP	come

100	Due^43,	loop	beetje	na	sender.
	please	walk	little	NA	3PL

	Seg	mie	Neegerin	for	maek	die	Vrukost	klaer.
	say	1SG	negress	FOR	make	DET	breakfast	ready

	Mie	sal.
	1SG	will

	Maer	Ju	no	mut	blief	lang	weg.
	but	2SG	NEG	must	remain	long	away

43 From Dutch toe ‘please’.

Tussen een vrouw en haar slavin.

‘Between a woman and her female slave’

	Na	wa	Ju	blief?
	NA	where	2SG	remain

105	Mie	le	krieg	skoon	Kleer	voor	Vrou.
	1SG	ASP	get	clean	clothes	FOR	woman

	Wa	Ju	klein	Vrou	bin?
	where	2SG	small	woman	BE

	Hem	bin	hieso.
	3SG	BE	here

[p. 218]

	Krieg	een	Paer	skoon	Kous.
	get	a	pair	clean	stocking

	Ju	ka	krieg	skoon	Kleer?
	2SG	PRF	get	clean	clothes

110	Ja,	Vrou.
	yes	woman

	Wa	mie	blau	Sie	Skuen	mit	die	Silver	Galoon?
	where	1SG	blue	silk	shoe	with	DET	silver	lace

	Gief	mie	een	van	die	Onder	Saja	mie	ha	maek	lest.
	give	1SG	one	of	DET	under	skirt	1SG	PST	make	lately

	Gief	mie	een	Hemete	mit	Bordier -Lobbetje.
	give	1SG	a	chemise	with	embroidered.side.DIM

	Ju	mut	neem	die	Kap,	en	die	Neesduk	van	die	selfde
	2SG	must	take	DET	cap	and	DET	handkerchief	of	DET	same

115	Sort.	Ju	hoor?
	Kind	2SG	hear

	Wat	Japuen	Vrou	wil	heb?
	what	dress	woman	want	have

	Die	roo	Damast.
	DET	red	damask

	Wat	lent	Vrou	wil	hab?
	what	ribbon	woman	want	have

	Die	blau	sender,	en	die	blau	Kalala	en	Oorhanger	Ju
	DET	blue	3PL	and	DET	blue	necklace	and	earring	2SG

120	hoor?
	hear

	Kom,	bind	mie	Haer!
	come	tie	1SG	hair

	Wa	mie	Kap?
	where	1SG	cap

[p. 219]

	Gief	mie	Spel.
	give	1SG	pin

	Die	no	hab	meer	groot?
	DET	NEG	have	more	big

125	Die	no	hab.
	DET	NEG	have

	Kik	na	die	Skiffie,	die	hab	daeso.
	look	NA	DET	drawer	DET	have	there

	Veeg	die	Spiegel.
	wipe	DET	mirror

	Hoppo	die	Venster.
	open	DET	window

	Mie	Kap	sit	fraej	na	aster?
	1SG	cap	sit	well	NA	behind

130	Spel	die	Lent	na	aster.
	pin	DET	ribbon	NA	behind

	Die	Strikkie	no	ka	maek	fraej.
	DET	bow.DIM	NEG	PRF	make	well

	Ja,	nu	die	bin	guet.
	yes	now	DET	BE	good

	Wa	mie	Hemete	bin?
	where	1SG	undershirt.DIM	BE

	Hieso.
	here

135	Sender	no	ha	plooj	die	klein	genug.
	3PL	NEG	PST	fold	DET	small	enough

	Gief	mie	mie	onder -Saja.
	give	1SG	1SG	under -skirt

	Wa	die	gestigte	Keers?
	where	DET	stiched	bodice

[p. 220]

	Gief	mie	die	blaue.
	give	1SG	DET	blue

	Wa	mie	Sak	sender	bin?
	where	1SG	pocket	3PL	BE

140	Geef	mie	die	Japuen.
	give	1SG	DET	dress

	Wa	mie	Borsje	bin?
	where	1SG	under.bodice	BE

	Kik,	as	mie	Japuen	sit	glat	na	aster.
	see	as	1SG	dress	sit	smooth	NA	behind

	Hael	mie	Hemete	beetje	na	molee.
	pull	1SG	chemise	little	NA	down

	Da	alteveel,	mie	geloof	Ju	bin	sot.
	EMP	too.much	1SG	believe	2SG	BE	foolish

145	Ja,	nu	die	bin	fraej.
	yes	now	DET	BE	well

	Wa	mie	Hals -Neesduk?
	where	1SG	neck -kerchief

	Spel	die	na	aster.
	pin	DET	NA	behind

	Na	wa	Ju	blief	mit	die	Spel	sender?	Ju	no	hoor?
	NA	where	2SG	remain	with	DET	pin	3PL	2SG	NEG	hear

	Mie	le	kom.
	1SG	ASP	come

150	Mie	gloof	Ju	wil	hab	mie	sa	kom	haal	Ju.
	1SG	belief	2SG	want	have	1SG	FUT	come	get	2SG

	Die	no	hab	meer	van	die	groot	Spel	sender.
	DET	NEG	have	more	of	DET	big	pin	3PL

	Gief	mie	van	die	kleintje.
	give	1SG	of	DET	small.DIM

[p. 221]

	Bind	mie	Kalala.
	tie	1SG	necklace

	Due	die	Oorhanger	na	mie	Hoor.
	do	DET	earring	NA	1SG	ear

155	Ju	due	mie	Seer.
	2SG	do	1SG	pain

	Mie	no	kan	help.
	1SG	NEG	can	help

	Gief	mie	mie	Hantskuen	sender.
	give	1SG	1SG	glove	3PL

	Gief	een	beetje	Waeter.
	give	a	little	water

	Hueso	Ju	ka	spel	die	Kap	na	aster?
	how.so	2SG	PRF	pin	DET	cap	NA	behind

160	No	steek	mie.
	NEG	stab	1SG

	Wa	mie	Vlyveel	Bangres?
	where	1SG	velvet	hooded.cloak

	Mie	ha	denk	Vrou	sa	gebryk	die	Hutje.
	1SG	PST	think	woman	FUT	use	DET	hat.DIM

	Wa	die	Paresol?
	where	DET	parasol

	Kik	as	die	Kas	sender	ka	tue.
	see	if	DET	closet	3PL	PRF	close

165	Due	die	Magasien	Sleetel	na	die	Kas.
	do	DET	warehouse	key	NA	DET	closet

	Gief	mie	die	Kas -Sleetel	sender.
	give	1SG	DET	closet -key	3PL

	Pas	op,	tee	mie	le	kom	na	Hus.
	watch	on	until	1SG	ASP	come	NA	house

[p. 222]

	Seg	ju	Meester,	mie	ka	klaer,	mie	le	wag	hem.
	say	2SG	master	1SG	PRF	ready	1SG	ASP	wait	3SG

	Da	waer,	gief	mie	mie	Nees -duk,	mie	Snif -Doosie	en	mie
	EMP	where	give	1SG	1SG	nose -kerchief	1SG	snuff -box	and	1SG

170	Wajer.
	fan

	Kaj!	Vrou	ka	sjansee	gue	mooj.
	kaj	woman	PRF	change	very	beautiful

Translation

Texts taken from the grammar of the Danish.

Proverbs and sayings.

A pumpkin cannot give birth to a gourd. / An ant falls into the molasses, very sweet it finds it. / A hen knows its nest. / A hen like its chick very much. / I am a poor cockroach, I do not have a right to be in the chicken-coop. / An eye does not have a door. / Ugly people have beautiful things. / I lament you until I cry for you, until I take a stone and wipe my eye. / A dog has four feet, it cannot go on two paths. / If you did not go into the crab hole, you will not hear the crab news. /If you look for thing, thing will do you. / When poor people die the governor does not hear it, when rich people die the governor has heard it already. / Not once only can a man look for a wife. / One finger cannot catch lice. / If you cannot get cinnamon, take mapua. / If you did not see me, you will not know that I saw you? / Always you talk scandal over his head. / When the fire has gone out, a small child jumps on the ashes. / When the pussy-cat has fallen asleep, rats are running on the floor. / When people have become angry with you, they give you a basket to tap water. / Two dogs fight for one bone. / Two clever ones cannot cook a little bean in one pot. / The finger says you, it does not say me. / The hangman will not lose his right. / A thief does not trust his mate to carry a large bag. / He cannot help, it is his old illness again. / It is not once people can cut their hair and the hair will grow again. / The little cat does not ask the pigeon, the pigeon does not ask the little cat. / When the sparrow-hawk flies, it knows which tree it will fly to. / The monkey knows into what tree it will climb. / The thing that can do stalk, can do rope. / The thing that is in a snake belly, is in a lizard belly as well. / Poor people must not have wishes. / His tutelary spirit has turned a stone. / Grass does not grow at his door. / Grass is growing at the dead man's door. / Your mouth will buy a horse for you to ride. / My mouth slipped. / You aim to pull hair out of my nose. / When my eye tangles with his eye. / It is their cornmeal pot. / You look for a tooth in my mouth. / You try to scrape my tongue.

[p. 223]

Colloquies.

Between two slaves.

- Good day, comrade. - Good day, what are you up to? - I go to our plantation. - What is it you will do there? - I will tell the foreman to have food prepared. - Is your master going to the plantation? - Yes, and your master will ride with him. - It is for that reason my master has sent me to get his horse and to let them shoe it. - Will you go with him? - No, I must remain at home to keep watch. - Who then will go with him? - The other servant. - I wish that you had to accompany, because I do not care to befriend the other person. - Goodbye.

Between two friends.

- How come you have not gotten up yet? - No, but I have been awake a long time. - What makes you sleep so late today? - I went and laid down to sleep very late yesterday night. - What then did you do, after you had eaten? - After you had gone away, the other ones remained here, and so they wanted to play cards. - Did you play? - Yes, I also did. - What game did you play? - We played three cards. - Did you all play? - Yes, but we were too many, so the game was not agreeable. - Who won? - Only me. - How much did you win? - Ten pieces and a half. - You are not used to winning. - I normally always lose. - Till how late did you play? - We played until two o'clock. - What time did you go to sleep? - The time the clock struck three. - Then it is no wonder you are in bed so late. - What time is it? - Nine hours have struck. - Then I must get up this very moment. - For what? - They said they will come and eat breakfast with me. - It is because you have won their money. - I believe so. - You must be quick in getting up. - Why? - They are coming. - Please go a little way to meet them. - Tell my negress to make the breakfast ready. - I will. - But you must not stay away long.

Between a woman and her female slave.

Where were you? - I was getting clean clothes for madam. - Where is your little woman? - She is here. - Get a pair of clean stockings. - Did you get clean clothes? - Yes, madam. - Where are my blue silk shoes with the silver lace? - Give me one of the underskirts I have made lately. - Give me a chemise with an embroidered side. - You must take the cap and the kerchief of the same kind, you hear? - What dress does madam want? - The red damask one. - What ribbon does madam want? - The blue ones, and the blue necklace and earrings, you hear? - Come, tie my hair! - Where is my cap? - Give me my pin. - There is no bigger one? - No, there is not. - Look at the drawer, it is there. - Wipe the mirror. - Open the window. - Is my cap correct from behind? - Pin the ribbon at the back. - The bow has not been tied well. - Yes, now it is good. - Where is my chemise? - Here. - They did not fold it small enough. - Give me my under skirt. - Where is the stitched bodice? - Give me the blue one. - Where are my bags? - Give me the dress. - Where is my under bodice? - See if my dress fits smoothly from behind. - Pull my chemise down a little. - It is too much, I believe you are foolish. - Yes, now it is good. - Where is my scarf? - Pin it at the back. - Where then are you with the pins? Don't you hear? - I am coming. - I believe you want to have me come and get you. - There are no more of the large pins. - Give me some of the small ones. - Tie my

[p. 224]

necklace. - Put the earrings in my ears. - You hurt me. - I cannot help it. - Give me my gloves. - Give me a little water. - How have you pinned the cap from behind? - Do not stab me. - Where is my velvet hooded cloak. - I thought madam would use the little hat. - Where is the parasol? - See if the closets are closed. - Do the warehouse key in the closet. - Give me the closet keys. - Keep watch until I am coming home. - Tell your master I am ready, I am waiting for him. - Where then, give me my kerchief, my snuff box and my fan. - Kaj! Madam has changed very prettily!

4.3 Short secular texts

As can be seen in the previous sections (except for 4.2.2), most of the texts written and published at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century have a religious character or were written by missionaries. However, in a few sources short texts are presented which have a secular content. Since these texts are quite rare and not well studied, we will present a few samples.

In Schmidt (1788) a rebellious slave song was published. Although the song does not appear to be particularly incomplete, in Vibaek (1953:350) it is called ‘fragments of a rebel song’. The text is spelled rather phonetically, and not according to Dutch or German spelling. Another curious aspect is the origin of the text. According to Schmidt it is from St. Croix, but several sources state that on this island, at least at the end of the 18th century, hardly any Dutch-based Creole was spoken.

15. Pages 233-234 of Samleren (1788)

[p. 225]

1	Adjo	my	Mester	Neeger,	e -Samja^44
	goodbye	1SG	master	negroe	***

	Da	lob	my	lo	lob,	e -Samja
	EMP	go	1SG	ASP	go	***

	My	nöy	kan	hau	di	uit	mer,	e -Samja
	1SG	NEG	can	hold	DET	out	more	***

	Di	Blanco	no	frey,	e -Samja
	DET	white	NEG	good	***

5	Adjo	my	Syssie,	e -Samja
	goodbye	1SG	sister.DIM	***

	Van -Dag	du	Mandag,	e -Samja
	today	EMP	Monday	***

	Adjo	my	Mama,	e -Samja
	goodbye	1SG	mother	***

	Da	lob	my	lo	lob,	e -Samja
	EMP	go	1SG	ASP	go	***

	Adjo	my	beer^45	Maade^46,	e-Samja
	goodbye	1SG	bed	friend.PL	***

10	Adjo	my	gud	Friende,	e -Samja
	goodbye	1SG	good	friend.PL	***

	Adjo	my	Tata,	e -Samja
	goodbye	1SG	father	***

	Di	Land	no	frey,	e -Samja
	DET	country	NEG	good	***

	Adjo	my	Viefe,	e -Samja
	goodbye	1SG	wife	***

44 According to the Danish translation of this text in Samleren the expression e-Samja means ‘I unhappy one’. It is not Negerhollands.

45 beer, bere ‘bed’ in vocabulary of de Josselin de Jong (1926).

46 beer Maade: Literally ‘bedfellows’, but according to the Danish translation (see 15) the meaning of these words is ‘stable brothers’, which also means ‘close friends’.

[p. 226]

	Lef	frey	met	my	Mama,	e -Samja
	live	good	with	1SG	mother	***

15	Dunk	op	my	altyd,	e -Samja
	think	on	1SG	always	***

	My	nu	sae	ferjet	jou,	e -Samja
	1SG	NEG	FUT	forget	2SG	***

Translation

Farewell my Master-slave, I unhappy one.
I am going to leave, I unhappy one.
I can't stand it anymore, I unhappy one.
The whites are not good, I unhappy one.
Farewell my sister, I unhappy one.
Today it is Monday, I unhappy one.
Farewell, my mother, I unhappy one.
I am going to leave, I unhappy one.
Farewell my bedfellows, I unhappy one.
Farewell, my good friends, I unhappy one.
Farewell, my father, I unhappy one.
This country isn't good, I unhappy one.
Farewell, my wife, I unhappy one.
Live good with my mother, I unhappy one.
Always think about me, I unhappy one.
I will not forget you, I unhappy one.

One of the most well-known and important slaves to the mission of the Moravian Brethren was Cornelius to whom a chapter is dedicated in Degn (1974). He was one of the Moravian Brethren and was buried in Neu-Herrnhut, St. Thomas. In Degn (1974) his gravestone text is reproduced:

1	Hieso	rust	die	Gebeente
	here	rest	DET	bones

	van	die	getraue	Dienaar	en	Friend	Jesus
	of	DET	faithful	servant	and	friend	Jesus

	Em	ka	loop	na	si	Liefde	Heere
	3SG	PRF	go	NA	3POS	love	Lord

[p. 227]

Translation

Here rest the bones of the faithful servant and friend of Jesus. He has gone to his beloved Lord.

In the Royal Archives in Copenhagen, Denmark, the so-called Politiprotokoller (police reports) are stored. These are the reports of the interrogation of suspects and prosecutors at the St. Jan police court. They are almost wholly written in Danish, fraktur script, yet in some of them, words and short sentences in Negerhollands and English are found in Latin script, when direct speech is quoted untranslated. The quotations are sometimes marked by: /:quotation:/. Parts in Latin script are here represented underlined.

To give some examples, the following words and sentences were found in volumes 40 and 41 of the reports:

I. volume 40, p.93b

... at lade <ol•(neger)> Drengen Jacob arbeide i Marken, følgende Ord: ‘Wa ma senne self ne a kom dick die’ *werende* hvorfor hun /:Sarah Elisabeth Martin:/ ikke selv kom og gravede i Marken.

Negerhollands:

	wa ma	senne	self	ne	a	kom	dick	die
	why	3PL	self	NEG	PST	come	dig	DET

Translation

... to let the negro boy Jacob work in the field, the following words: ‘Why did they not come to dig it themselves’, being [=meaning] why she /:Sarah Elisabeth Martin:/ not came herself and dug the field.

II. volume 41, p.120

... gik *Vogt* manden Christopher forbi ham; *dey* huus op til sit Eget, og sagde de, saadan hen for sig: ‘Mr Matheus Duvergie ka wees hieso gester dunko!’; men eller sagde han intet.

Negerhollands:

	Mr	Matheus	Duvergie	ka	wees	hieso	gester	dunko
	Mr	Matheus	Duvergie	PRF	BE	here	yesterday	night

[p. 228]

Translation

... went the guard Christopher past him *his* house up to his own, and they said, for themselves: ‘Mister Matheus Duvergie has been here yesterday night!’, but otherwise he said nothing.

III. volume 41, p.121

de som gik hjem til sit huus paa Plantagen, og passerede de andre Negerhuse, kalte som *seet med* sig selv, om hvad han forrige Aften havde seet, og sagde: Mr Duvergie ka wees hieso gesterdunko met die twe Jung sender; mi ka rick kowtobak heel fray en die bin die ma*n*er dat die ducko ka[-n] lo[-op]<ol•op> way: men han talte ikke til David eller nogen i saerdeleshed.

Negerhollands:

	Mr. Duvergie	ka	wees	hieso	gesterdunko	met	die	twe	Jung
	Mr Duvergie	PRF	BE	here	yesterday.night	with	DET	two	Young

	sender;	mi	ka	rick	kowtobak	heel	fray	en	die	bin
	3PL	1SG	PRF	smell	chew.tobacco	very	good	and	DET	BE

	die	ma*n*er	dat	die	ducko	ka[-n]	loop	way
	DET	way	that	DET	night	HAB	go	away

Translation

those, who went home on the plantation, and passed the other negro houses, spoke, as mentioned, for oneself, about what he had seen the other evening and said: Mr. Duvergie has been here yesterday night with the two boys; I have smelled chewing tobacco very well and that is the way to pass the night⁴⁷.; but he did not speak to David nor to anyone in particular.

IV. volume 41, p. 126b

det var da mörkt /:di ka wees dyst*a/o/er* frey:/ mussie Dunko:/

Negerhollands:

	di	ka	wees	dyst*a/o/er*	frey	mussie	Dunko
	it	PRF	BE	dark	well	very	dark

47 This seems the most plausible interpretation, provided that ka is interpreted as the habitual marker derived from kan ‘can’ (see Bruyn & Veenstra 1993 and Bakker, Post and Van der Voort 1994), and the word ducko as dunko ‘night’.

[p. 229]

Translation

after all it was dark: it has been dark, very very dark.

V. volume 41, p.127

i en spørgende Tone: ‘Massa, no ka frag me na di twe Hautoobak met duiko?’

Negerhollands:

	Massa,	no	ka	frag	me	na	di	twe	Hautoobak	met	duiko?
	master	NEG	PRF	ask	1SG	NA	DET	two	chew.tobacco	with	night

Translation

in an interrogative voice: master did not ask me for the two chewing tobaccos at night?

VI. volume 41, p. 127b

Malene, som er Grootmoi

Negerhollands:

	grootmoi
	great.aunt

Translation

Malene, who is grandmother