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Ethnologue: Languages of the World
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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > India > Indo-Portuguese

Indo-Portuguese

A language of India

ISO 639-3: idb

Population  4,940 in India (Cardoso 2006). Relatively few monolingual speakers even in Korlai (Cardoso 2006). Population total all countries: 4,970.
Region  Daman and Diu; Maharashtra, Korlai near Bombay; Kerala, Cannanore, possibly in Cochin area. Also in Australia, Sri Lanka.
Classification  Creole, Portuguese based
Language use  Some communities in India have no remaining speakers. Few remaining speakers in Cannanore. Some younger speakers. Indo-Portuguese is in competition with standard Portuguese. Also use English, Marathi [mar], Gujarati [guj], Hindi (Cardoso 2006).
Language development  NT: 1826–1852.
Writing system  Latin script.
Comments  The term Indo-Portuguese does not stand for one language but rather a number of Portuguese-lexified creoles scattered across South Asia (Cardoso 2006). Christian.

Also spoken in:

Sri Lanka

Language name   Indo-Portuguese
Population  30 in Sri Lanka (1992 P. Baker). No monolinguals. Ethnic population: 3,406.
Region  Trincomalee, Batticaloa.
Language map  Sri Lanka
Language use  Many in the ethnic group may not know the creole well. Virtually no contact with Goa or Portugal since 1656. The creole is used at home only. Most of the Burgher caste speak it at home. Also use Tamil [tam], English; or Sinhala [sin].