In Babel of Tongues, Suriname Seeks Itself

[Harold F. Schiffman]

March 23, 2008
In Babel of Tongues, Suriname Seeks Itself

By SIMON ROMERO

PARAMARIBO, Suriname  Walk into a government office here and you will be
greeted in Dutch, the official language. But in a reflection of the
astonishing diversity of this South American nation, Surinamese speak more
than 10 other languages, including variants of Chinese, Hindi, Javanese
and half a dozen original Creoles.

Making matters more complex, English is also beamed into homes on
television and Portuguese is the fastest-growing language since an influx
of immigrants from Brazil in recent years. And one language stands above
all others as the lingua franca: Sranan Tongo (literally Suriname tongue),
a resilient Creole developed by African slaves in the 17th century. So
which language should Surinames 470,000 people speak? Therein lies a
quandary for this country, which is still fiercely debating its national
identity after just three decades of independence from the Netherlands.

We shook off the chains of Dutch colonialism in the 1970s, but our
consciousness remains colonized by the Dutch language, said Paul
Middellijn, 58, a writer who composes poetry in Sranan Tongo.
Nevertheless, Mr. Middellijn said English should be declared Surinames
national language, a position shared by many Surinamese who want stronger
links to the Caribbean and North America. Sranan will survive because
nothing can replace it as the language of the street, he said.

It is a form of communication perfect not just for poets but for the
Chinese groceryman or Brazilian miner who arrived a few months ago, he
continued. Are they going to go through the trouble of learning Dutch? No
way. The flexibility of Sranan, as it is commonly known, enabled it to
evolve into the countrys most widely spoken language. Based largely on
English, it crystallized here before the Dutch traded New York with the
British for Suriname in the 17th century; the colonial powers switched
places but the slave populations did not.

Sranan developed an overlay of words from Dutch, Portuguese and West
African languages. Today Surinamese speak it interchangeably with Dutch,
depending on the formality of the setting. For instance, lawyers use Dutch
in court proceedings, while shoppers use Sranan to bargain for fish in the
market. Jokes and rap music are often made in Sranan, dismissively called
Taki-Taki (derived from the English talky talky) in the past, but at
cocktail parties diplomats struggle with Dutch and get by in English.

I do not speak Sranan, said Suprijanto Muhadi, the ambassador from
Indonesia, the former Dutch colony that sent Javanese laborers here until
the eve of World War II. But a manservant I brought from Indonesia a year
ago picked it up much easier than Dutch. The use of Sranan became
associated with nationalist politics after Desi Bouterse, a former
dictator, began using Sranan in his speeches in the 1980s. The slogan of
his National Democratic Party, the biggest in Suriname, remains Let a faya
baka! Sranan for Turn the lights back on! or, figuratively, get things
working again.

But even though relations with the Netherlands are tepid, Dutch is taught
in schools rather than Sranan. In 2004, Suriname became an associate
member of Taalunie, a Dutch language association including the Netherlands
and Belgian Flanders. Meanwhile, amid periodic bursts of debate in
Parliament to change the national language to English or even Spanish in a
nod to geography, other languages here are thriving because of their use
by descendants of escaped slaves and indentured laborers brought here by
the Dutch from the far corners of the world.

To get a sense of the Babel of languages here, just stroll through this
capital, which resembles a small New England town except the stately white
clapboard houses are interspersed with palm trees, colorful Chinese
casinos and minaret-topped mosques. Slip into one of the Indonesian
eateries known as warungs to hear Javanese, spoken by about 15 percent of
the population. Choose a roti shop, with its traditional Indian bread, to
listen to Surinamese Hindi, spoken by the descendants of 19th-century
Indian immigrants, who make up more than a third of the population. And
merchants throughout Paramaribo speak Chinese, even though the numbers of
Chinese immigrants are small.

Venture into the jungly interior, where indigenous languages like Arawak
and Carib are still heard with languages like Saramaccan, a Portuguese and
English-inspired Creole spoken by descendants of runaway slaves who worked
on plantations once owned by Sephardic Jews. The linguistic diversity that
makes Suriname exceptional also isolates it from its own hemisphere.
Paramaribo, unlike many other regional capitals, has no direct flights to
large cities like Miami or So Paulo. Instead, airlines fly to Curaao in
the Dutch Antilles or to Amsterdam, places with communities of Surinamese
immigrants.

Dutch had a stronger presence in rural communities before a civil war from
1986 to 1991 destroyed many schools. As a result Sranan became even more
critical for interethnic communication once peace was restored. For a
glimpse into Surinames linguistic future, visit Belenzinho, a neighborhood
here with several thousand Brazilian immigrants, many of them gold miners.
The storefront signs are lettered in Portuguese instead of Dutch or
Chinese. Suriname has some 50,000 Brazilians, more than 10 percent of the
population.

All I need is Portuguese since my world is Brazilian, said Ivanildo Vieira
Cardoso, 38, a miner from northeast Brazil who was sipping not a Parbo,
the Surinamese beer brewed by Heineken, but a can of Nova Schin imported
from Brazil. Whether Portuguese blends into Sranan or vice versa, scholars
contend that linguistic choices here reflect a tension beneath the surface
of a nationalist ethos that shuns ethnic identity for unity. Resentment
has emerged against Chinese and Brazilians, recent immigrant groups that
are economically successful. And because Sranan is the native language for
Creoles in and near Paramaribo, groups like the Maroons, descended from
runaway slaves, might chafe at making it the national language.

Is it a language that unifies us or separates us because it is associated
with Creoles? asked Paul Tjon Sien Fat, a Surinamese linguist at the
University of Amsterdam. In our mind set, Sranan is black and Dutch is
white. Suriname could not function without Sranan, but this is still an
obstacle in formalizing its acceptance for many Surinamese.

Faced with such quandaries, inertia may rule. If so, while Dutch would
remain official, English is likely to gain ground. That seems to be the
outcome reflected in bookstores here, with titles in Dutch and English far
outnumbering books in Sranan, mainly bibles and poetry, which have gained
a toehold among readers.

But even bookstore owners profess their love of Sranan. Sranan is very
smooth, with so many influences from everywhere, something that is purely
and emotionally Surinamese, said Debora van Etten, 46, a bookseller in
Paramaribos old city. Taking Sranan to the next level would be bold, she
said, but for so many of us it would be a very big jump.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/world/americas/23suriname.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

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