Didn’t it happen to you that in Geography classes you were drawn to small countries or territories that are pegaditos to the Atlantic? Guyana, French Guiana and… Suriname, the only country in the Americas whose official language is not Spanish, Portuguese, French or English. What language do they speak in those parts?
It’s not german eitheralthough the official language in Suriname is related to the Germanic family which, in turn, broke off from the Indo-European.
But let’s review, because the official language history of Suriname is very interesting —like that of many countries in America, which prior to the arrival of the European fleet in the fifteenth century, had a diversity of languages that today try to survive thanks to the oral tradition of native peoples.
What language do they speak in Suriname?
The official language of Suriname is Dutch.. Net? If you were told in your Geography classes —in primary or secondary school—, you surely knew that Suriname is one of the few countries in America whose language by law is Dutch.
(Although, as we will tell you later, you will find that Suriname is a multilingual country, because although Dutch is the official language, people speak from Spanish to English or the native languages, all because of the history of this nation) .
Suriname shares its language with the Netherlands. And in America, with nations that are members of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such as Aruba.
Everything has its origin in intervention of this European kingdom in the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries in Suriname.
Before its independence —on November 25, 1975—Suriname was a European colony, of the Netherlands, a nation that for many, many years was at war with the United Kingdom to see who would get this territory.
Before its independence and calling itself the Republic of Suriname, this region was known as Dutch Guiana.
1498
We already know what language they speak in Suriname, but it doesn’t hurt to take a look at their history and how the native peoples were displaced—along with their languages like Maipure—by the European invasion.
Europe had Suriname on the map, or rather the Guianas region since 1948when Christopher Columbus passed through the area.
However, it was until 1593 when Spain decided to explore this region and soon after England, France and the Netherlands joined.
And the truth is that they took a long time to settle, especially because of the resistance they encountered in native communitiesuntil in 1653 the United Kingdom took what is now the capital of Paramarimbo.
The Guianas region aroused the interest of several european kingdoms —because of their resources such as sugar, cotton, coffee or indigo extract—, who decided not to leave everything in the hands of a single nation and looked for a way to get by.
In the case of the Netherlands, the Dutch West India Company he did not give up until this country went to war with the United Kingdom for control of the colony. The result? Until the 19th century, Suriname remained in the hands, now definitively, of the Netherlands..
And after two Anglo-Dutch wars, in December 1954 Suriname became a member country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands until its independence in 1975.
(Suriname would later experience a period of uncertainty, with a coup d’état organized by the military in 1980).
English, Spanish and native languages
Despite the fact that Dutch is the official language of Suriname, there they have sought to change it to English or Spanish —especially due to international treaties and short-term trade relations with other American countries.
Eye, the First language in Suriname remains Dutch among 46.6% of the population.
But we can also find language sranan tongowhich is a mixture between the language that the people who were brought from Africa to work as slaves in the fields of Suriname —and exploited by Europeans— Dutch and English.
Sranan Tongo is spoken by 37% of the population, although they also preserve the language of the native Carib and Arawak populations.
