Negerengels

Dutch

Alternative forms

Neger-Engels (superseded)
N.E. (initialism)

Etymology

Literally, “Negro English”, compound of neger (“Negro”) +‎ Engels (“English”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈneːɣərˌɛŋəls/
Audio: (file)
Hyphenation: Ne‧ger‧eng‧els

Proper noun

Negerengels n

(colloquial and dated in Suriname, obsolete and possibly offensive in the Netherlands and Belgium) Sranan Tongo (an English-based creole language and lingua franca in Suriname)
Synonyms: Sranantongo, Sranan, Surinaams Creools (dated, rare), Surinaams (Netherlands, proscribed in Suriname), takitaki (dated, pejorative, offensive)

Verstaat u Negerengels? ― Do you understand Sranan Tongo?
- 1783-1785, Hendrik Schouten, “Een huishoudelyke twist [A domestic row]”, in Jan Voorhoeve, Ursy M. Lichtveld, editors, Suriname: Spiegel der vaderlandse kooplieden‎^[1], Den Haag: Martinus Nijhoff, published 1980, →ISBN, page 194:
  Wilt nu maar Neeger-Engelsch blaffen!
  Go ahead and bark in Sranan Tongo!
- 1931 January 3, [J.H. Heslinga], “Uit onze West. Nederlandsch in Suriname. [From our West-Indies. The Dutch language in Suriname.]”, in De Maasbode‎^[2], page 10:
  Alleen de allerlaagste volksklasse bedient zich van een taal, samengesteld uit een mengelmoes van verschillende talen[,] Neger-Engelsch of taki-taki geheeten, welke taal ook gebezigd wordt bij de bestuurs-aanraking met boschnegers en Indianen.
  Only the very lowest classes of the population use a language made up of a mishmash of different languages, called Negro English or takitaki, which is also used in administrative contacts with Bush Negroes and Indians.
- 2003, Marylin Simons, Carrousel‎^[3], Paramaribo: Okopipi, →ISBN, page 53:
  Die overgrootmoeder van me, ze was eigenlijk niet van hier, als je goed berekent. Is van Bridgetown was ze. ‘Bados’ zeggen die mensen van daar want ze weten niet als wij te praten. Badyan... is Badyan praten ze daar, een soort van Negerengels ma' toch een beetje anders als van ons.
  My great-grandmother, she was actually not from here, strictly speaking. From Bridgetown, she was. 'Bados', the local people say, because they can't speak like us. Bajan... Bajan, they speak there, a kind of Creole, but still a bit different from ours.
- 2024 January 19, Tascha Aveloo, “Flos Rustveld: ‘Sranatongo^[sic] is de taal van mijn hart’ [Flos Rustveld: ‘Sranan Tongo is the language of my heart’]”, in De Ware Tijd‎^[4], retrieved 13 March 2024:
  Tijdens het gesprek met de Ware Tijd praat zij voor 99 procent alleen Sranantongo. Wat een verschil met vroeger: op jongere leeftijd moest ze haar mond met zeep of tandpasta reinigen als ze deze taal sprak. “Geen pak slaag hoor, dat niet, maar het was niet zo geaccepteerd als nu. Op school kreeg je strafregels: ‘ik mag geen Sranantongo praten’. Toen zei men overigens vooral Negerengels.”
  Talking to de Ware Tijd, for 99 percent [of the time], she speaks only Sranan Tongo. What a contrast with the old days: when she was younger, she had to clean her mouth with soap or toothpaste whenever she spoke this language. "I didn't get spanked, not that, but it wasn't as accepted as it is now. At school I was given lines to write: 'I must not speak Sranan Tongo'. Back then, by the way, people mainly called it Negro English."

Usage notes

Started to be superseded by Sranantongo in the 1960s. In Suriname, still used colloquially, mainly by older speakers who are not ethnic Creoles, without an overtly pejorative meaning, or sometimes by ethnic Creoles who do not identify with the language, in which case it may have a pejorative undertone. Possibly perceived by some speakers as the correct Dutch equivalent of informal Sranan Tongo nengre. Obsolete and possibly offensive in all other contexts.