The Sranan Tongo words for "to know" and "small children" are sabi and pikin. The Portuguese were the first European explorers of the West African coast. A trading pidgin language developed between them and Africans, and later explorers, including the English, also used this creole. Based on its lexicon, Sranan Tongo has been found to have developed as mostly an English-based creole language, because of the early influence of English colonists here, who imported numerous Africans as slaves for the plantations. After the Dutch takeover in 1667, a substantial overlay of words were adopted from the Dutch language. Sranan Tongo's lexicon is a fusion of mostly English grammar and Dutch vocabulary, plus some words from Portuguese and West African languages. It began as a pidgin spoken primarily by enslaved Africans from various tribes in Suriname, who often did not have an African language in common. Sranan Tongo also became the language of communication between the slaves and the slaveowners. Under Dutch rule, the slaves were not permitted to learn or speak Dutch. As other ethnic groups, such as East Indians and Chinese, were brought to Suriname as contract workers, Sranan Tongo became a lingua franca.
Modern use
Although the formal Dutch-based educational system repressed the use of Sranan Tongo, it gradually became more accepted by the establishment. During the 1980s, this language was popularized by dictator Dési Bouterse, who often delivered national speeches in Sranan Tongo. Sranan Tongo remains widely used in Suriname and in Dutch urban areas populated by immigrants from Suriname. They especially use it in casual conversation, often freely mixing it with Dutch. Written code-switching between Sranan Tongo and Dutch is also common in computer-mediated communication. People often greet each other in Sranan Tongo by saying, for example, fa waka, instead of the more formal Dutch hoe gaat het.
Literature
As a written language, Sranan Tongo has existed since the late 18th century. The first publication in Sranan Tongo was in 1783 by Hendrik Schouten who wrote a part Dutch, part Sranan Tongo poem, called Een huishoudelijke twist. The first important book was published in 1864 by Johannes King, and relates to his travels to Drietabbetje for the Moravian Church. Early writers often used their own spelling system. An official orthography was adopted by the government of Suriname on July 15, 1986 in Resolution 4501. A few writers have used Sranan in their work, most notably the poet Henri Frans de Ziel, who also wrote God zij met ons Suriname, Suriname's national anthem, whose second verse is sung in Sranan Tongo. Other notable writers in Sranan Tongo are Eugène Drenthe, André Pakosie, Celestine Raalte, Michaël Slory, and Bea Vianen.
