Sãotomense

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A language of São Tomé e Príncipe

ISO 639-3
cri
Alternate Names
Forro, Santomense, São Tomense
Population

69,900 (1999 SIL).

Location

São Tomé Island except south tip.

Language Maps
Language Status

6b (Threatened). De facto language of provincial identity in São Tomé Island except south tip.

Classification
Creole, Portuguese based
Dialects

Substratum largely Kwa [kwb] and Western Bantu languages; quite distinct from the creoles of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Gambia, and Cape Verde. Lexical similarity: 77% with Principense [pre], 62% with Fa d’Ambu [fab] (Annobonese), 70% with Angolar [aoa].

Typology

Tonal

Language Use

The language of social identity in most São Tomé social networks for age 30 and above. Forros, the emancipated, are a distinct ethnolinguistic group from the Angolares. Most also use Portuguese [por].

Language Development
Literacy rate in L2: 50% Portuguese.
Other Comments

Tonal, although 90% of lexicon of Portuguese [por] origin.