Papiamento

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Papiamento (English: ), or Papiamentu (English: ; Dutch: Papiaments [ˌpaːpijaːˈmɛnts]), is a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in the Dutch Caribbean. It is the most widely spoken language on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao (the ABC islands). The language, spelled Papiamento in Aruba and Papiamentu in Bonaire and Curaçao, is largely based on Portuguese as spoken in the 15th and 16th centuries, and has been influenced considerably by Dutch and Spanish. Lexical similarities between Portuguese and Spanish make it difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of some words. Though there are different theories about its origins, most linguists now believe that Papiamento emerged from the Portuguese-based creole languages of the West African coasts, as it has many similarities with Cape Verdean Creole and Guinea-Bissau Creole.

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