Javindo, also known by the pejorative name Krontjong, is a Dutch-based creole language spoken on Java, Indonesia, such as Semarang. The name Javindo is a portmanteau of Java and Indo, the Dutch word for a person of mixed Indonesian and Dutch descent. This contact language developed from communication between Javanese-speaking mothers and Dutch-speaking fathers in Indo families. Its main speakers were Indo-Eurasian people. Its grammar was based on Javanese, and its vocabulary was based on the Dutch lexicon but pronounced in a Javanese manner.[3] It shows simplification of morphological verb system from Javanese grammar such as merging verb class, disappearance of verbal subcategories.[4]

Javindo
RegionJava, Indonesia
Native speakers
10–99[1] (2007)[2]
Dutch Creole
  • Javindo
Language codes
ISO 639-3jvd
jvd
Glottologjavi1237
ELPJavindo

It should not be confused with Petjo, a different Dutch- and Malay-based creole also spoken by Indo-Eurasians. With the loss of the generation that lived in the Dutch East Indies era, that language has almost died out, but it become identity for Indo descent.[5] In contrast, the colonial society saw the creole languages as a corrupted Dutch which should be corrected as quickly as possible.[6]

Comparison between Javindo and Petjo[4]
Javindo Petjo
Actor vs non-actor strong preference for non-actor-oriented sentences
Lexifier language Dutch
Origin of the Speakers Semarang Batavia
Substrate language Javanese Batavian Malay
Speaker as actor indicator taq, tak, ta` ku-
Hearer as actor koq kau- / absent
Affixation by suffix lack of

Writing system

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Javindo is written using Latin script, specifically Dutch orthography.

Grammar

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Even though most of the lexicon is derived from Dutch, the grammar of the language is mostly of Javanese origin, including elements such as morphology; lack of verbs; no past tense; no finite verb.[7][4] The inherited feature of Javindo from Javanese is the non-actor-oriented verb morphology.[4]

  • The actor-oriented in Javindo shows similarity to the Dutch construct as there is no nasal prefix morpheme such as in Javanese.[4]
Javindo dan wij kijken geldnja
Dutch dan wij kijken het geld
English then we look for the money
  • The suffix -i indicates transitive verb similar to Javanese, but only happens on construct with morpheme taq or koq.[4]
  • The suffix -(s)ke shows indirect-relational value with possibility of causative value. For example, jij taq doenske means "I do (it) for you" from Dutch doen "to do".[4]
  • Actor preceded taq (sometimes written as tak- or ta`) and koq constructs, but it is not expressed with prefix di- (such as jij digoendoeli 'you are cut bald') and prefix ke- (such as ketjeklik mijn enkel 'my angkle has been strained'). Sometimes, prefix ke- is combined with non-obligatory suffix -an. The difference between construct with prefix di- and prefix ke- is the difference on non-accidental nature vs accidental nature. [4]
  • Reduplication shows iterative, intensive, or conative value.[4]
  • Dutch influence in non-actor-oriented sentence manifests as usage of passive auxiliary verb (such as worden or zijn) and past participle or usage of past participle only.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ "Javindo". Endangered Languages Project. 2007.
  2. ^ "Javindo". Endangered Languages Project. 2007.
  3. ^ Willems, Wim Sporen van een Indisch verleden (1600–1942)., Part III by de Gruiter, V.E. (COMT, Leiden, 1994) ISBN 90-71042-44-8 P.140-143
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j de Vries, Jan W.; Stokhof, Wim (1997-01-01). "Verbal Morphology in Javindo and Pecok". In Odé, Cecilia; Stokhof, Wim (eds.). Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics. BRILL. doi:10.1163/9789004643253_019. ISBN 978-90-04-64325-3.
  5. ^ Vries, J. W. de (1992). "lndisch-Nederlands: verleden, hedenen toekomst" [Indo: past, present and future]. In Willems, W. (ed.). Sporen van een lndisch verleden 1600-1942 [Traces of an Indo past 1600-1942] (in Dutch). Leiden: Centrum voor Onderzoek van Maatschappelijke Tegenstellingen, Rijksuniversiteit Leiden. pp. 125–139.
  6. ^ Bakker, M. A.; Morrison, B. H., eds. (1994). "The language of the Indo-Dutch". Studies in Netherlandic Culture and Literature. 7. Lanham-New York-London: University Press of America: 213–226.
  7. ^ Willems, Wim Sporen van een Indisch verleden (1600–1942)., Part III by de Gruiter, V.E. (COMT, Leiden, 1994) ISBN 90-71042-44-8 P.150

Further reading

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  • De Gruiter, Miel (1994). "Javindo, a contact language in pre-war Semarang". In Peter Bakker & Maarten Mous (ed.). Mixed Languages: 15 Case Studies in Language Intertwining. Amsterdam: IFOTT. pp. 151–159.
  • De Gruiter, Victor Emile (1994) [1990]. Het Javindo : de verboden taal. Den Haag: Moesson.