Unserdeutsch
Creole (German-based)
The world's only documented German-based creole. Emerged ca. 1900 among mixed-race children at the Vunapope Catholic mission orphanage near Rabaul, where German-speaking nuns enforced German in class while children played in Tok Pisin — producing a creolized German with analytic morphology (no case, no gender; plural via preposed "alle"; copula "is/bis"; preverbal TMA particles "wit/hat/am").
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Unserdeutsch
Water
—
/—/
Fire
—
/—/
Sun
—
/—/
Moon
—
/—/
Star
stern
/ʃtɛrn/
Mother
mama
/mama/
Father
papa
/papa/
I
i
/i/
You
du
/du/
Name
name
/ˈnaːmə/
Eye
—
/—/
Hand
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
—
/—/
House
haus
/haus/
Dog
hund
/hʊnt/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
essen
/ˈesən/
Drink
trinken
/ˈtʁɪŋkən/
One
eins
/aɪns/
Two
zwei
/tsvai/
Hello
hallo
/haˈlo/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
gut
/ɡut/
Sources
- Volker, Craig A. (1982) An Introduction to Rabaul Creole German (Unserdeutsch). MLitSt thesis, University of Queensland.
- Maitz, Péter (2017) Documenting Unserdeutsch: Reversing colonial amnesia. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 32:2.
- Maitz, P. & Lindenfelser, S. (2018) Unserdeutsch (Rabaul Creole German): Eine vergessene koloniale Varietät des Deutschen.
- Glottolog: Unserdeutsch
Words compared
Compared with related Creole (German-based) languages
| Meaning | Unserdeutsch | Faliscan | Proto-Japonic-Koreanic | Messapic | Iberian | Oscan | Etruscan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | usil /ˈuzil/ |
| Moon | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tiur /ˈtiur/ |
| Star | stern /ʃtɛrn/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | mama /mama/ | — /—/ | *əma /əma/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | maatúf /maːtof/ | ati /ˈati/ |
| Father | papa /papa/ | pater /ˈpa.ter/ | *əpa /əpa/ | ana /ˈana/ | — /—/ | patír /patiːr/ | apa /ˈapa/ |
| I | i /i/ | eko /ˈeko/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | egom /egom/ | mi /mi/ |
| You | du /du/ | tu /tuː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | tú /tuː/ | — /—/ |
| Name | name /ˈnaːmə/ | nomen /ˈnomen/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | númen /nuːmen/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | manim /manim/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | haus /haus/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | iltiŕ /iltir̥/ | trííbúm /triːbom/ | śuthi /ˈsuθi/ |
| Dog | hund /hʊnt/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | essen /ˈesən/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | trinken /ˈtʁɪŋkən/ | pipafo /ˈpi.pa.foː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | eins /aɪns/ | oinos /ˈoi̯.nos/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ban /ban/ | — /—/ | thu /θu/ |
| Two | zwei /tsvai/ | duo /ˈduo/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | bi /bi/ | dús /duːs/ | zal /tsal/ |
| Hello | hallo /haˈlo/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | gut /ɡut/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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