Principense

A language of SÃ£o TomÃ© e PrÃncipe

ISO 639: pre
Alternate Names: Dialeto, Lun’gwiye
Population: 20 (2019 D. Eberhard). Ethnic population: Estimates of ethnic population unreliable due to high degree of mixed marriages and increased awareness of national identity (2020 M. Bouchard).
Location:: Príncipe province.
Language Status: 8b (Nearly extinct).
Classification: Creole, Portuguese based
Dialects: None known. Substratum largely Kwa [kwb] and Western Bantu; quite distinct from creoles of Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Gambia, and Cape Verde. Lexical similarity: 77% with Sãotomense [cri], 67% with Angolar [aoa], 62% with Fa d’Ambu [fab].
Language Use: Elderly only. Shifted to Portuguese [por]. Some also use Kabuverdianu [kea]. Some also use Sãotomense [cri].
Language Development: Grammar.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Principense
Writing: Latin script [Latn], no longer in use, unified alphabet (ALUSTP) developed for use by all native languages of São Tomé e Principe officially recognized by government in 2010 (2020 M. Bouchard). No published literature.
Other Comments: Christian.