The multifunctionality of Papiamentu pa and its similarities with Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese
Marco A. Schaumloeffel
Article published in the Journal of Portuguese and Spanish Lexically-based Creoles / Revista de Crioulos de Base Lexical Portuguesa e Espanhola 7 (2017), pp. 15-33. ISSN 1646-7000. Association of Portuguese- and Spanish-Lexified Creoles/Associação de Crioulos de Base Lexical Portuguesa e Espanhola (ACBLPE). Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa. Released in March 2018.
Here you can also download the pdf file.
Abstract
The Papiamentu (PA) element pa covers a broad array of functions, operating as a preposition, a mood marker and a complementiser. Lefebvre and Therrien (2007) compare the functions of PA pa to those of para in standard Portuguese (PT), noting that the 15 functions of pa they identify do not match up with the significantly fewer functions of PT para. In this study, it is argued that the functions claimed by Lefebvre and Therrien (2007) to be shared by PA pa and PT para are not without questions. Moreover, we offer a comparison between PA pa and pra in Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese (VBP), showing that these two elements share all 15 functions identified by Lefebvre and Therrien (2007). Finally, we offer an account as to why this sharp discrepancy exists between the results of the PA pa – PT para.
Keywords: Papiamentu, Vernacular Brazilian Portuguese, Multifunctionality of Papiamentu pa, Origins of Papiamentu