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
20 core words in Unserdeutsch
Water
—
/—/
Fire
—
/—/
Sun
—
/—/
Moon
—
/—/
Mother
mama
/mama/
Father
papa
/papa/
Eat
essen
/ˈesən/
Drink
trinken
/ˈtʁɪŋkən/
Love
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Tree
—
/—/
House
haus
/haus/
Dog
hund
/hʊnt/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
—
/—/
Eye
—
/—/
Hello
hallo
/haˈlo/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
eins
/aɪns/
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 | Proto-Japonic-Koreanic | Faliscan | Messapic | Iberian | Nicaraguan Sign Language | Tartessian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | mama /mama/ | *əma /əma/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Father | papa /papa/ | *əpa /əpa/ | pater /ˈpa.ter/ | ana /ˈana/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | essen /ˈesən/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | trinken /ˈtʁɪŋkən/ | — /—/ | pipafo /ˈpi.pa.foː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | haus /haus/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | iltiŕ /iltir̥/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | hund /hʊnt/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | hallo /haˈlo/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | eins /aɪns/ | — /—/ | oinos /ˈoi̯.nos/ | — /—/ | ban /ban/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | gut /ɡut/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.