LANGUAGE OF MACAO PAST AND PRESENT

–

§1. LANGUAGE OF MACAO

What should we understand by Language of Macao – in Macao, a land of many Languages? Those who have never been here many presume that it is only Portuguese, as this is Portuguese Territory. Those who have paid but a sort visit to Macao, will probably think that Portuguese is not spoken here, as they may wander around town for hours without hearing a word spoken in this Language. No wonder. There are approximately three-hundred-thousand Chinese, some born here, some not, but living and dying here, yet who have never spoken a word in Portuguese, compared with a scarce nine-thousand Portuguese, most of them Macanese, who are also familiar with the Chinese Language and speaking it with the neighbouring Chinese people or even among themselves.

However, the Chinese Language spoken by the Macanese, the so-called 'mother-tongue',is the Chinese 'street Language' and very different to refined Guangdongnese [Cantonese], spoken by more learned Chinese people. And, on the other hand, Guangdongnese is absolutely distinct, in pronunciation, from Mandarin or Official Northern Language, than can also be heard, occasionally, in Macao.

Furthermore, posters in English, seen on store fronts, are common. English newspapers, magazines and books are abundant here. And even some of our publications have a small English section. It is also frequent to see some Macanese youngsters speaking English – or something like it – with their Chinese friends. Or, English may even be spoken between two Chinese, be it for snobbish reasons, or real necessity, considering they are not local people or from the Guangdongnese spoken region and so unable to understand each order in their own Dialects. So frequent is the misuse of English in Macao, that a Portuguese lady, newly arrived in Macao, asked me once for some information in English and was very surprised when I replied in Portuguese.

– "I was told that people only spoke English here!..." – she explained.

And what about Portuguese Language?

As far as Portuguese is concerned, we have the limited area of current Portuguese, spoken by overseas residents and by the Macanese with a higher education. We have the prattle of the youth, a mixture of Portuguese, Chinese and English. And, finally, the typical talk of the elderly or middle-aged, with reminiscences of the old Dialect and the influences of current Portuguese.

Which, then, amongst this Babel, is the Language of Macao?

By Language of Macao or Macanese Language (i. e.: patoá or patois), it is locally understood to be the old Creole Dialect, that is, a Colonial Dialect which took root here and was passed on from father to son for three-hundred years up to the last century, and was spoken as a common Language even among the more distinguished people. It was also spoken by the Chinese in their daily contact with the Macanese, and also by African and Asian slaves brought by here by people from various sources, and afterwards by the following generations born here.

It is in that basic sense that we shall use the expression Language of Macao. In addition, we shall also use it, in a broader sense, when referring to all typical local Portuguese talk, from the old Creole up to today's Language spoken by the average generation. The latter is no longer what it was a century ago, nor is it yet the current Portuguese. Scientifically it may be referred to as a 'tongue', as it is no longer a Dialect. A 'tongue' that will give headaches to any grammatist or any teacher of Portuguese, but is also a field of unfailing interest and study to the linguist, and to everyone who wishes to have an idea of what is the Macanese personality.

§2. THE MACAENSE (MACANESE) PEOPLE

Before going any further, perhaps we should go back to the very beginning: what is a Macaense?

It seems so obvious – a Macaense is a person born in Macao. However, I have met many good people, overseas and locally, who do not know what this means, either because they have never heard the expression Macaense (Macanese), or because they do not quite understand, neither here nor abroad, its meaning, believing that Macanese (equal to Chinese) is everyone born or living in Macao.

I remember going once to a small town theatre, in Portugal, with some people from Macao. And sitting in the next front row, some ladies looking back, rather confused, were talking to each other:

– "Are they Chinese or Japanese?"

– "They are Chinese. Don't you know that the Japanese are much uglier?"

One of the ladies in our group could not refrain from explaining:

– "They are neither Chinese nor Japanese, they are Macanese."

– "Macanese?!..." – said the other even more astonished. – "'What is that, lady?"

But of course this happened with Provincial people, so we can understand their ignorance. However, on another occasion, a travelled and very distinguished lady from Oporto, talking with me about the Macanese, asked, very politely:

– "And the gentlemen, do they still wear those pigtails?"

So, let us see what is a Macaense (Macanese).

Generally speaking, a Macanese has a Chinese ascendancy, but does not consider himself, nor is he considered by the Chinese themselves, a Chinese.

The Chinese people in Macao make a very clear distinction between Chông Kwók iân, Sai Yeóng iân and Ou-Mun iân, that is, people from China (Chinese), 1 people from Portugal (Metropolitans) and people from Macao (Macanese). The same distinction is implicitly made with regards to the local Language, when considering the filos da terra (Port.: filhos da terra; or: sons and daughters of the soil, children of Macao) only the genuine Macanese, that is, someone born in Macao, descendant of Portuguese with a mixture of Chinese, Indian, Malay, Javanese, Philippine or Japanese blood, and what not... – in a word: the mestizo. And I know of no other people among from the word 'mestizo' is so utterly destitute of complexes.

– "I am a mestizo!" – say the kids from Secondary School, most naturally – "Because my father is Portuguese and my mother is Chinese".

Curious is the fact that the filhos da terra and the Chinese consider each other as foreigners. Nonetheless, if a genuine Chinese is baptized, has a Portuguese name, has attended our schools, has assimilated our Language and culture, he is automatically considered by the Macanese as one of their kind. We are familiar with many cases of Macanese by adoption, but the expression filho da terra or Ou-Mun iân does not apply to them. This means that the Macanese, (practically self-dependent for over three-hundred years – only in the course of this century, for obvious reasons, has the contact with the Motherland been closer – and, not only surrounded by the neighbouring Chinese, but also having them within their Gates, 2 their streets, their houses), have kept, up to now, a lifestyle and personality which are not to be mistaken for Chinese style or Chinese Character. But neither can they be perfectly identified with those from the Motherland.

They are Macanese.

§3. MACAENSE AND MACAÍSTA

With regards to these words, allow us the transcription of a letter I wrote to the "Notícias de Macau" newspaper on the 16th of January 1970:

"Dear Director of 'Notícias de Macau':

"On the 9th instant the newspaper, under your superior management, published an interesting article by Mr. António Cacho, and I was asked to offer my assistance in solving a rather common question regarding the meaning of Macaense and Macaísta.

Most greatful for Mr. António Cacho's words, I am only too pleased to express my opinion on the matter, not as a 'philologist' or 'ethnologist', which I do not pretend to be, but as a teacher of Portuguese and an attentive person on Macaense... or Macaísta matters.

Though the suffix "ista" does not mean nationality in today's current Portuguese and for that matter in Portugal's newspapers, there is no difference between the expressions Macaense and Macaísta as stated in any reliable Portuguese dictionary. However, I believe this has not always been the case and that only recently have the two words been mutually identified.

In the early stages of Macao, none of these words were used to express the native people, descendants of European Portuguese. Orientalist writers refer to them as filhos de terra. Still in the middle of the seventeenth century the good Br. José de Jeus Maria, scandously referring to the intimacy between Portuguese and Chinese people in Macao, wrote in Azia Sinica e Japonica: "But it is a fact that the Portuguese and the filhos da terra so desire [...]."

Filhos da terra or filhos de Macau – filo Macau, as yet spoken of by the very old – must have been for centuries and still are here, current expressions used by the locally born Portuguese, thus making their own distinction from either the metropolitan Portuguese or the Chinese from Macao. We have no clues as to when the expression Macaense was first used, but it is clear that it is a modern word and one of educated influence. As far as Macaísta is concerned, it can be found in Creole texts of the last century, not in the sense of 'native of the land', but as an adjective, meaning something peculiar of Macao, especially the Language. Macaísta Language was the old Dialect, in opposition to educated Portuguese.

[...]

From 'particular or characteristic to Macao' the expression must have changed its meaning to 'native of Macao', with the perfect blending of both words Macaísta and Macaense in the Metropolitan Vocabulary, but rather distinct in Macanese Vocabulary, in which the expression Macaísta is considered depreciative, or at least unpleasant.

Thanking you for the publication of this letter."

[signed] G. Batalha"

§4. ACKNOWLEDGING THE DIALECT – I

Bibliography published at the end of the last century or beginning of this one must have been, some fifteen or twenty years ago, the only source available to anyone wishing to gather information regarding the Language of Macao.

In such bibliography, relatively extensive, the names of some prominent philologists stood out such as Adolfo Coelho and Leite de Vasconcelos, who devoted various studies to the Language of Macao, and even produced a small Portuguese Macaísta Vocabulary.

Nevertheless, and in spite of their perfection, these studies lack the authenticity of an information in loco, since a trip to Macao for such purpose was not an easy task in those days.

From this point of view, greater attention should be given to works produced by a distinguished Macanese, João Feliciano Marques Pereira who, at the time, exhaustively dedicated himself to the study of his native Language. And despite the fact that he did not leave us a regular work on the Dialect, like Leite de Vasconcelos, he did publish in "Ta-Ssi-Yang-Kuo" (Macau, terminus a quo 7 Oct. 1863, terminus ad quern 26 Apr. 1866), a review of which he was the director, a considerable number of texts sent to him from Macao and which he meticulously recorded, relying on his linguistic experience and on reminiscences of his childhood in Macao.

Marques Pereira was adequately prepared, as he had been a student under the prominent Dialectologist Adolfo Coelho at the Curso Superior de Letras de Lisboa. It is obvious, nonetheless, that his notes require further re-examination after a period of more than half a century. Not even such splendid work should ever be considered conclusive.

Based on the majority of the texts pertaining to the "Ta-Ssi-Yang-Kuo" review and others that he actively gathered during his stay in the Colony, Dr. Danilo Barreiros published and extensive collection - Dialecto Português de Macau (Anthology of Macanese Dialect) - in the "Renascimento" review (Macao, 1943-1944) of which he was one of the founders. A Vocabulary should have followed the collection of texts but, unfortunately, it stopped short of some unedited notes. 3

Since then and up to 1959, the year when our edition of Estado actual do dialecto macaense (Present Status of the Macanese Dialect) was published, in Coimbra, no other studies have been devoted to the Language of Macao, ancient or modern. It has all been left to some re-editions or excerpts of old texts and some waggish poetic parodies to the patoá, or some grotesque theatrical performances – which may give the impression that the Dialect, locally unspoken since the end of the last century, or beginning of the present, continued to be the Territory's native Language. In 1955, a booklet on Macao was published in Coimbra, the author of which we were told, had been here for some years and yet give as an example of the Dialect, referring to is as updated, a humoristic poem from a book by Macanese Francisco Carvalho e Rêgo, who had had it published with the information that it was already old at that time!

Notice that many of the texts published by Marques Pereira are not very reliable as far as the authenticity of the Language is concerned. Taking into consideration the humoristic intentions and the manifest cultured origins of such texts, it might very well be that they are archaic in relation to the real status of the Dialect in those days. Only a small number of texts were obtained from the people, as pointed out by M. Pereira:

"[...] most important are popular poetry, tales and stories (estória-rainha), balderdashes, riddles, proverbs and adages, etc. [...] These are the texts of lesser quantity in my own collection, through no fault of mine, but because of the people I have come in contact with who, generally speaking, are rather reluctant or find it difficult to send me those very interesting documents [...]."4

More difficulty than reluctance, I should say. At the time, the genuine Macanese folklore (non Chinese) would have had no great vitality. And it would have been difficult to find any real popular source willing to provide, with no restraints, such information.

Somehow, I was lucky to meet, among the very old ladies of Macao, some good friends full of patience and goodwill, who were precious sources of information, either during my written enquiries or tape-recordings. But they are all people with some education (I never met an illiterate Macanese), and so they would even correct their own statements occasionally. And being well-on in years, in their Eighties or Nineties, their memories were already fading. It would be very hard for them to completely recollect a poem, a riddle or a song, as all those things were also long-one.

In memory of such old ladies, who I miss so much and have all departed from this world – Maria Jorge, Carmelina (Aína) Encarnação, Chai-Chai Rosário, Maria Sequeira, and others – I hereby wish to render my homage of gratitude.

I must acknowledge also the many middle-age people, impossible to mention all by name who, recalling expressions heard in their youth or eventually still in use today, report them to me and help me in trying to find their meaning or origins.

§5. ACKNOWLEDGING THE DIALECT – II

Curious enough is the fact that the oldest source known for the study of the Language of Macao, is of Chinese origin.

It happens to be a small Sino-Macanese Vocabulary, introduced in the edition Aomen Jilue or, in Guangdongnese: Ou-Mun Kei-Leok (Monograph of Macao) written in 1745-1746 by Zhang Rulin (Tcheong-Ü-Lam) and (Yin Guangren) Ian-Kuong-Iâm and published for the first time around the year 1751.

As the people say in their unfailing wisdom: 'No one is a prophet in his own Country'. For over three-hundred years, and not before the nineteenth century Romantic Movement had awakened an eagerness for National Language and folklore, no Portuguese ever remembered to put into writing his knowledge, present or past, of the Language spoken in this remote Portuguese tract of land5 Such Language, more or less identical in any land discovered or conquered by us in the sixteenth century, was undoubtedly so common in those days to anyone travelling overseas, that no one ever bothered to record it. And it took a foreigner to provide us with the first description of the way of life in Macao.

Not a very precise report, written by an outsider, but of great interest anyway. It has been said that the worn-out Portuguese negligence, of which Garcia de Resende already complained about in the fifteenth century, has stuck by itself everywhere and at all times. The first scientific study on a Portuguese Creole Dialect was the one made by the Italian E. Tesa in his work Indoportughese [...].

Whereas the learned Zhang Rulin – may a linguistic god speak of his soul – while fulfilling his Administrative duties in Qianshan (Tch'in Sán), dedicated his spare hours gathering information about the neighbouring City of strange 'barbarians', not forgetting their 'barbaric' Language. Such information was later compiled into the mentioned Monograph, with the cooperation of Ying Guangren. In the last pages of this work there is a list of words and sentences, probably those most commonly used during the contacts between the Chinese and the Portuguese from Macao, reproducing the Macanese pronunciation in as much as could be achieved by Chinese ears and characters. This makes it obvious that such record is far more important because of its primitiveness, than its accuracy. Nonetheless, it does provide some very enlightening references, especially with regard to the structure of sentences, such as: pequenino chuva (Port.: chuviscos; or lit.: small rain, meaning: drizzle), não tem vento (Port.: não há vento; or lit.: have no wind, meaning: it is not windy), abrir porta (Port.: abre a porta; or lit.: open door, meaning: open the door), Porta Cerco (Port.: Portas do Cerco; or: City Gates), etc.

The first translation of Ou-Mun Kei-Leok, reprinted several times in China, is due to the laborious activity of Luís Gonzaga Gomes who, aware of its historical value, translated the document into Portuguese, in 1950. However, and confirming once more the afore-mentioned proverb, the translation and the original documents were rather ignored among us, until someone, in some other Country, realized that they had more than mere historical importance.

Prof. C. R. Bawden, from the University of Cambridge, an expert on Chinese and Portuguese Languages, studied the original Monograph from a linguistic point of view, trying to reestablish the genuine Macanese forms through Chinese transcriptions. However, he did resort to the Portuguese translation for comparison purposes. His attention to the latter, nowadays as rare as the original, was drawn by another prominent Orientalist, the famous Prof. Charles Ralph Boxer, who has dedicated great interest to Portuguese matters in the Orient, as we all know. There are still several other studies by foreigners in connection with this matter of the Vocabulary, but the work that best completes those afore-mentioned was the one presented by R. Wallace Thompson, former professor at the University of Hong Kong and a distinguished Hispanist who has also given a large contribution to the study of Portuguese Language and our Creole Dialects, namely the Hong Kong Macanese. This author compared the words and expressions recorded in the Ou-Mun Kei-Leok Glossary with the corresponding current Portuguese terms spoken in Hong Kong, that is, the still active remainder of the old Dialect, brought to the neighbouring Colony by the families from Macao seeking residence soon after the British occupation in 1841. Families who, amidst the English Language (that in fact they speak) have preserved up to now their native 'tongue', with the exclusion of the younger generation.

This way, Thompson clarified many doubts raised by the intricate Chinese transcriptions and, at the same time, gave precious indications about the old Creole of Macao, through its remnants in Hong Kong.

As we can understand, there are many studies on the 'old Language of Macao', while as far as the current Language is concerned, nothing was published until 1959.

All that has been done so far are copies or simulations of the old texts that no longer correspond to the actual facts.

When we arrived in Macao in 1949 we also thought that the Creole Dialect, taught at the University, was the local popular Language. But, we soon found out how old-fashioned was our knowledge and how such Language, though different to that spoken in the Motherland at the same level (urban-popular), was no longer the same revealed to us by Leite de Vasconcelos and his contemporaries. Since then and up to the present moment, due to closer contacts with the Motherland, the Dialect has been improving rapidly towards a greater approach to the current Portuguese, particularly with regard to the Vocabulary and pronunciation. The good old ladies who had been our source of information used to say that the lingua maquiçta (macaísta or macaista Language) was spoken by their grand-mothers, and that they themselves could not speak it anymore. Notice, however, that the Language of the elderly is not yet identical to that of their children, that is, to those in their Fifties. The Language of the very old (if they are not very educated, of course) is almost unintelligible to a newcomer, while that of the average generation is understood almost immediately, although requiring some attention at first. On the other hand, the Language of the middle-aged is also not the same spoken by the children and youngsters, in other words by the student population. If it is a fact that the other two Languages undergo a normal transition period, the consequent instability becomes manifest in the truly chaotic speech of the young population. Facing opposite influences - on one side the Chinese Language spoken since child-hood, on the other, the different Portuguese kinds of domestic and the scholastic, and yet the omnipresent English – such speech is nowadays a mixture of Languages, a jargon to the following effect:

– "Olha, empresta este livro a min, hã?" (Port.: – " Olha, emprestas-me este livro? "; or lit: – "Look, lend this book to me, eh?", meaning: – "Look, lend me this book, eh?")

– "Sorry, hoje unq tak, preciso ele..."(Port.: Desculpe, mas hoje não pode ser, eupreciso disso... "; or lit: – "Sorry, today cannot, I need him... ", meaning: – "Sorry, not today, I need it...").

This happens when they are alone with no prying ears close by. Or else they will solve the problem by speaking Chinese, popular Guangdongnese or 'mother tongue', all too familiar to both of them. But when they have to speak Portuguese during classes, especially the very young, they manifest the confusion in their minds with phrases such as: eu caiu (Port.: [eu] caio – present tense/[eu] caio – past tense; or lit.: [I] fall, meaning: [I] fell – indiscriminately, eles puchoume – Port.: [ele] puxame present tense singular / [eles] puxamme – present tenseplural / [eles] puxoume – past tensesingular)/ [eles] puxaramme - past tenseplural, or lit.: They pushes me, meaning: [he] pushes me / [they] push me / [he] pushed me / [they] pushed me – indiscriminately, eu bereime (Port.: [eu] berro present tense / [eu] berrei – past tense, or lit.: I screamed myself, meaning: I scream/I screamed – indiscriminately) and other similar ones, or even with the following proverb, eventually quoted by a thirty year old adult:

Quem com os porcos se juntam, farelos comem (Port: Quem com os porcos se junta, farelos come; or: If you lie down with dogs you get up with flees).

We believe that only by the end of the next two or three generations will the Language adjust itself to new patterns. With the following series of chapters we do not wish to correct or criticize the present state of instability that characterizes the current Language of Macao. All we want is to give our modest contribution in the phenomena as it continues to reveal itself in this obscure land of ours - and to which we are so mysteriously attracted by its strange mixtures. 6

§6. DIALECT-BUILDING – I

The building and development of any Language is a dramatic experience, as thrilling as a human history.

As people do words have their own migrations and conquests, their fights for survival, their improvements and setbacks in space and time, their youth, old age and death. Often enough an apparent death, taking into account that a word that dies here may reappear somewhere else with a new form or a new sense, both of which may in turn change to give way to further new creations.

Linguistic Geography, establishing in geographical charts the area corresponding to a certain word, has led to surprising conclusions, not only from the linguistic point of view but also the historical and ethnographic as well. The study of words, in the abstract, brought about some unknown human problems, and the solving of others considered unsolvable until then.

Words are motivated by people, following peoples' trails and marking their presence, even where such presence has long been forgotten.

Therefore, it is impossible to make the history of a people without the inclusion of a chapter dedicated to their Language; much less to have a profound knowledge of a Language without studying the people who created it.

However it will not be here that we shall retell the history of Macao, as it would not fit the sphere of this modest article. We will not even linger on the initial question, already much discussed and always so unclear, regarding the date and the conditions found by the Portuguese when they first settled here. We shall start from the undetermined moment when our pioneers felt, under their heavy boots, a sufficiently stable ground on which to settle with their families. We shall try to identify what was the Language that followed the vertiginous days when the small trading post expanded and became a City; and what happened to such Language, since then and right through the centuries, up to the present days.

We have heard, even from learned persons, that the Macanese Dialect was the result of a mixture of old Portuguese and Chinese Languages. This is today's notion of Colonial Dialect, a mixture of Languages. However, studies made by prominent philologists show that the processing of such Dialects did not consist essentially of a mixture of Languages, but rather the hasty and imperfect assimilation of a foreign Language by the native people, having in view the basic needs of communication with the colonizers. And when the latter also adapted themselves to that communicant patoá, and when, to the common descendants, such patoá ceased to be a strange Language and became the 'Mother' Language - then a Creole Dialect was established. But, the building of the Creole Language of Macao has a peculiar history, taking into account that not much was to be expected from half a dozen Chinese families living in the Territory, before our arrival, if in fact the Country was inhabited. Some historians say that only a few Chinese families lived here, others say that there were no permanent residents but only the floating population of seamen who would temporarily seek the port for shelter.

Whatever the case, it is obvious from its study that the foundation of the Dialect has nothing to do with the native Chinese. If it was at all influenced by the Chinese, such influence is much more recent than could be imagined.

It goes without saying that the Dialect happened to assume its personal characteristics from the Macanese people's own lips, but it was a Language already in full progress here when it was first introduce, bought partly by the Metropolitan pioneers, mostly from Southern Portugal, thus contributing with their regional peculiarities: also, partly and mainly, by the heterogeneous population that came along with them. In 1563, according to Montalto de Jesus in his Historic Macao [1st edition: 1902], there were already nine-hundred Portuguese in the City, besides "several thousands of Malays, Indians and Africans, most of them domestic slaves." Those people from those "desvairadas nações" ("frenzy of nations"), according to good old Fernão Lopes, had to speak a common Language not only among themselves, but with their masters as well - and that Language was Portuguese. What sort of Portuguese was that, spoken by so many, we shall see right away.

§7. DIALECT BUILDING – II

We have seen that the foundation of Macao was not followed by the sudden appearance of a 'free-spoken' Language, the basic means of communication with the native people, similar to what had happened in other Countries where the Portuguese were the first settlers. On the contrary, life in this City began with a Dialect that had certain traditions already for over a century since the arrival of Vasco da Gama at Calicut – our sailors, soldiers, merchants and missionaries had laboured along the coasts of Oriental Countries – and much longer yet, along the African coasts. As all dominating peoples do, we imposed our Language wherever we settled, though using many of the natives words. These natives, on the other hand, learnt our Language as is always the case of people who, with no grammatical studies, start to speak a foreign Language. Thanks to some short dramatic plays by Gil Vicente and his followers, who used the African slaves talk as a comical ingredient in their shows, we have an idea of what was the former Portuguese Language spoken by the colonized natives.

Here are two examples by Gil Vicente:

"Negro – Já mi forro, nam sa cativo

Bosso conhece Maracote?

Corregidor Tibão é.

Ele comprai a mi primeiro;

Quando já paga a rinheiro (dinheiro)

Deita a mi ferro na pé."

(Clérigo da Beira) (Clerical from Beira)

"E na mão minha barete (meu barrete)

Mi risse (disse) a ela: Minha rosa,

Minha oio de saramonete

Falai-me por o bida bosso. (por vida vossa)

Nau d'Amores (Ship of Loves)"

It is odd that expressions such as nam sa cativo (Port. lit.: Não sou cativo; or: I am no longer a prisoner), fero na pé (Port. lit.: ferro no pé; or: foot-ironed), minha barete (Port. lit.: meu barrete; or: my cap), could still easily be heard in Macao's popular talk today.

Because of these and other common remnants that can still be found scattered over Portuguese speaking Countries, we can assume that such former Afro-Portuguese talk might have experienced a rather lasting state of sensitive constancy, at least until our settlement in India. When the Portuguese arrived in Macao, almost a century later, already a more mature Language, enriched with various other vocables mainly from the first non-European inhabitants, had been established here.

As there were native Africans among them, as described by Montalto de Jesus and other historians, such fact would partly explain certain similarities, surprising at first, between the old Creole of Macao and the Afro-Portuguese Creole Languages, mainly those from the Cape Verde islands. It will even explain some coincidences with Brazil's popular talk, considering that this country took a large number of African labourers during its colonization. But only partly, as we have said, because certain phenomena frequent in other Creole Languages did not 'travel', but are the result of psychological principles identical to all peoples, such as the tendency to simplify things.

Therefore, this tendency in Macao to conjugate verbs in one single form for all grammatical persons is not necessarily of African origin. For example, terms eu sabe – Port.: eu sei (present tense-first person-singular / ele sabe – present tense-third person-singular; or: I know / he knows – indiscriminately), nós sabe (Port.: ele sabe - present tense-third person-singular) / nós sabemos-present tense - first person-plural; or: he knows/we know - indiscriminately), eles sabe (Port.: ele sabe - present tense-third person-singular/ eles sabem - present tense-third person-plural; or: he knows / they know - indiscriminately, or the forming of periphrases to substitute simple verbal tenses, such as tá vai (lit.: já vai; Port.: vou já, estou; or: [I] am - for the present tense); logo vai or lô vai (lit.: [logo, i. e.: já] ire; Port.: estarei; or lit: later be, meaning: I will be for the future tense); and já vai or já vai já (Port.: estive; or lit: now go now, meaning: I have been for the past tense).

Another feature very common in Creole Dialects and something that can always be detected in the deficient assimilation of a foreign Language, is the confusion of grammatical genders. This particular had already been revealed by the Negroes in Gil Vicente's plays and is still much alive in Macao.

Many feminine words in current Portuguese are used in the masculine in the Dialect of Macao, and vice-versa. Frequently they have no definite gender and are either masculine or feminine depending on the fancy of whoever is talking. This exasperates any teacher of Grammar, but the linguist will simply consider that the grammatical gender, as far as the inanimate nature is concerned, is a mere arbitrary creation established according to each persons own liking, for whatever reason. Furthermore, as time goes by, there are changes in the gender of many words in one Language, such as fim (end) and mar (sea), which in former Portuguese used to be of the feminine gender: a fim (presently: o fim - masculine gender; or: the end), a mar (presently: o mar- masculine gender; or: the sea), same as in French: la fin, la mer.

This being the case, we can understand, in Macao, people may say caiu na mar (Port.: caiu no mar; or: fell overboard) and similar expressions. Most surprising, too, is that after the strenuous struggle of so many teachers of Portuguese, the use of the former ele, daquele (he/him, of that/from him - indiscriminately) for persons and animals of the female sex, has persisted to these days, as we have heard from some Macanese youngsters. Surely, this must be the case of Chinese influence, considering that they make no distinction of gender in pronouns.

One day, a Chinese mother's little boy from Primary School was telling me about a family problem, and repeatedly said ele... ele... ele... (Port.: ela - feminine gender; or: he... he... he..., meaning: she), and I could not understand what was he referring to.

- "Ele quem?" (- "He who?") - I asked.

- "Meu Mãe!" (Port.: -"Minha Mãe!" - feminine gender; or: - "He (my) Mother!", meaning: - "My Mother!") - he replied, astonished by my question.

§8. DIALECT-BUILDING - III

We have said that the Macanese Dialect, even from the very beginning, had already excelled the Afro-Portuguese and had been largely enriched with vocables from various sources.

It is clear that the majority of these words, the basis of such relative richness in vocabulary, were Portuguese, the Portuguese spoken at the time, that had already grown strong roots in our Colonies of India and Malacca, later coming to Macao. That is why many of the Dialect's vocables and grammatical forms that seem so strange to us now, are nothing but reminiscences of the old sixteenth century and even medieval Portuguese Language. Let us not forget that the main part of our colonizers were not the learned people of the menfolk, whose Language, besides revealing some small differences to the Motherland's Dialect, also had an archaic character - an ever-so common factor in popular Language.

We can still hear some of the elderly using old expressions, such as azinha · or asinha (Port.: depressa; or: quickly), ade · (Port.: pato salgado; or: salted duck), bredo · (Port.: legumes; hortaliça; or: vegetables), pateca · (Port.: melancia; or: watermelon) as well as some verbal forms such as sam (lit.: são; Port.: é; or: [they] are, meaning: [he, she, it] is) from the verb ser (to be), that was used for the first singular person in former Portuguese, and spontaneously used in Macao for all grammatical persons, as in the most common express used by the old ladies: nunca sam (lit.: nunca são; Port.: não é; or lit.: never are, meaning: [he, she, it] is not).

Referring to exotic vocables, it is perfectly natural that many of them may have had an Indian origin, such as aluar · (Port. expl.: doce tradicional de Natal; or: traditional Macanese Christmas candy), chale · (Port.: travessa, beco; or: alleyway), daia · (Port.: parteira; or: midwife), jambo · (Port.: fruta-rosa; or: rose apple) and jambolão · (Port. expl.: fruta semelhante a um grande bago de uva preta; or: jamboo fruit), etc. 7For this reason, and the fact that it has a grammatical structure similar in many ways, some people considered the Macaísta Dialect to be a mere extension of the Indo-Portuguese Dialect.

However, Sebastião Rodolfo Dalgado, an expert on such matters, who studied intensely the Indo-Portuguese Dialects in the beginning of this century, had already sensed the differences in the Macaista Dialect. In a study on Daman's Indo-Portuguese Dialect, published in the "Ta-Ssi-Yang-Kuo" review, he wrote:

"The Macaísta Creole, provided it is not one of those of the Indo-Portuguese group, has many common Grammar and Vocabulary features for three reasons: their original common identity, as they all reflect the popular Portuguese Language especially from the South, of the sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries; the general principles that supervise the formation and determine the evolution of similar Dialects; and the mutual influence, mainly lexical, considering the formerly so frequent relations between India and the Far East."

It is even possible that Indo-Portuguese may have been the current Language during the early stages of Macao's foundation. There are many traces, either in expressions of Indian origin, or in our own words with similar pronunciation here and in India, probably because that is where they came from.

However, in the Creole texts of the nineteenth century (the old ones that still prevail, as we have seen) words of Malay origin are more frequently found. This should not come as a surprise considering that, due to a greater proximity to Malacca, the long term relations with this City were undoubtedly much closer than those with India. Let us bear in mind that Malacca was conquered by Afonso de Albuquerque almost half a century before the foundation of Macao.

The lexical variety of the Portuguese Language spoken in Macao had been improved, in the course of time, with the introduction of some foreign European terms, especially English from Hong Kong. Some of these words still persist in their more or less original form, while others have taken a curious Portuguese-like characteristic, such as dangeroso · (from: dangerous. Port.: perigoso), espitume · (from: spittoon. Port.: escarrador), fluauice · (from: fluke. Port.: sorte) and others.

Strange as it may seem, Chinese influence in the primitive Creole was minimum, with a substantial increase in recent years. Quite natural though, considering that in a large number of today's Macanese families, the mother is Chinese. And, as we know, it is always the mother, with her exemplary contribution to society, who has the greatest influence in a Language, a social phenomenon by excellence. Here we come to a question that has not been discussed, but is far from having a mere historical interest. 8It is commonly assumed, so we believe, that the first generations of Macanese people were also descendants of Chinese mothers.

However, such assumption cannot be confirmed either by the testimony of the Language or by what historians say with regard to the original relations with Chinese people. Even after the achievement of a mutual trust between the two people, there must have been a period of time before a Chinese woman would willingly accept to couple with a 'foreign devil'.

So, if they were not Chinese, or mostly Metropolitan, for obvious reasons, then who were the first wives and mothers in Macao?

The answer is given by the Country's Language. We have observed the predominance of Malayan among the exotic elements of the old Macaísta vocabulary. Furthermore, the Malay expressions usually refer to culinary elements, such as jangom · (etim: janghon; Port.: jangão, milho; or: Indian corn), balechão · (etim: balachãn balichâ; Port. expl.: condimento; or: balachan seasoning, spicy sauce), dodol · (Port. expl.: doce de perada; or: dessert of pears in syrup); kitchenware such as buião · (etim: buiã; Port.: boião; or: small jar) and gargu · (etim.: gargó or gargul; Port. expl.: chaleira em barro; or: clay kettle, recipient for liquids), chilicati · etim: chelekati; Port.: alicate; or: betel-nut scissors), parão · (etim.: parang, parã; Port.: cutelo de cozinha; or: kitchen machete), daiom · (etim: dayong; Port. expl.: espátula de madeira utilizada na cozinha; or: sort of wooden shaped oar); or still some female clothes such as saraça · (etim.: sarásah; or: coloured mantel worn by women over the head) or baju · (etim.: padjús; Port.: casaquinho, blusa; or: jacket, coat, outer garnment).

Such vocables undoubtedly reveal the woman and are an indication that the first wives and women of a large number of the founders of Macao must have come from Malaysia. Besides, we know that a large number of Portuguese people got married in Malacca then. Fernão Mendes Pinto, in his Peregrinaçam (Pilgrimage), constantly refers to the men of those days in these terms: "Mr. Soand so, married in Malacca [...]."

Of course, there were then women of other races as well, including Chinese and even Japanese. But the majority seem to have been the lovely brunettes from Malaysia and nearby islands. Their remote descendants must be proud of them, of those brave women willing to follow men of a different race to a common strange land, a more or less hostile land. Here, their traditional beauty and tenderness must have greatly contributed to soothe the harsh-ness of their husbands' lives in those days.

§9. ASPECTS OF THE DIALECT - I

We have referred to Vocabulary as a curious feature of the Macaista Dialect, by revealing this Country's cosmopolitism during the various stages of its life, a cosmopolitism that did not prevent a determined conservatism of the old Portuguese legacy. Nevertheless, it is not the Vocabulary that defines a Dialect or even a Language, but rather its phonetic and morphologic characteristics. As far as phonetics of Macao's Dialect is concerned, there are many differences in relation to Lisbon's or Coimbra's pronunciation. But many of such particularities, especially with regard to vowels, can also be found in the provincial speech of the Motherland. There is even an event that, though seeming more exotic, is not rare in Portugal the diphthongization [two adjacent vowels pronounced as a single sound], still observed today, of certain vowels, in words such as mês (month), vez (occasion), talvez (perhaps), which we have frequently heard pronounced like mâis, vâis, talvâis. The tendency for similar diphthongizations is revealed through repeated mistakes made by children from primary and early secondary schools, by writing pois and rapaiz when the teacher dictates pôs (put) and rapaz (boy).

Similar diphthongizations must have surely been noticed by any educated person, with regard; to Brazil's half-breed and negroe speech, so realistically handled by the modern Brazilian writers. I can still remember a popular march, familiar to many others, sung by Lurdinha Brasil, with the following refrain:

"Marcha que marcha

Chegando pertinho,

Voltando p'ra tráis (trás)

Fazendo rodinha."

In Portugal, I have known only one diphthongization of the kind in Alcanede, in the Ribatejo region, when I heard some years ago someone saying péis instead of pés (feet). This example, and the detection in Brazil, obviously not influenced by Macao, of the same diphthongization such words where the last vowel is "a", "e" and "o", leads us to believe that such pronunciation formerly comprised a much larger area than it does nowadays;

Orally, an even more important fact is the deletion of the sound "r" in all verbs in the infinitive and, in a general way, in every word ending in "r". Falá (Port.: falar; or: talk), comê (Port.: comer; or: eat), calô (Port.: calor; or: heat), are expressions in use since the creation of Creole up to our days. All we know is that, in Portugal, the same phenomenon occurs in some specific places of the Alto Alentejo, such as the Mira region, where we have heard such words as escarrá (Port. escarrar; or: expectorate), cuspi (Port.: cuspir; or: spit). But the general deletion of the "r" in all or almost all of our Creole Dialects, in addition to the fact that in some of the Indo-Portuguese Creoles all ending sounds fall (as in minh (Port.: minha; or: my/mine - feminine gender) and filh (Port.: filha; or: daughter), infers that the last tones in a word may have been very faint in Portuguese popular pronunciation of the sixteenth century.

At a first glance, the only phonetical characteristics that seem to be due to Oriental influence, probably Malay, are the tones "dj" and "tch" still used by the elderly in words such as djambo (Mac. Dial.: jambo · ; etim.: jambu; Port.: fruta-rosa; or: rose apple) and tatcho (Port.: tacho; or: pan).

But it is very difficult to prove such influence, at least not until a study of the Portuguese speech and Dialects has been completed. We know that the question of "tch" is not new in Portugal; and in the aforementioned Brazilian march, wherepértchindo (Port.: pertinho; or lit.: close small, meaning: very close - diminutive) and ródjinha (Port.: rodinha; or: small ring of a dance - diminutive) sounding and are two examples of the commonness of these sounds in Brazil.

We have no definite information as to our overseas Dialects. However, aware of the fact that the areas farthest to a diffusion center are always the most conservative, the identity of phonetical characteristics between the Macaísta and the Brazilian makes us come to the conclusion that the majority of such characteristics is not due to native influences, but to the retention of pronunciations brought by our colonizers from Portugal. Some of them, under the pressure of cultivated Language, have vanished completely or almost so from Portugal, but others are still very active indeed. We could mention quite a few examples, but we do not wish to prolong this matter any further.

As we have said, it is through grammar that a Dialect is better distinguished and, so, it is in the morphologic aspect that the old patoá of Macao mostly differs from the 'mother-tongue'. The main changes, what are we shall see in the next chapter.

§10. ASPECTS OF THE DIALECT - II

The most important and characteristic change in the chapter of morphology is the forming of the plural, which in old Creole and Malay-Portuguese Creole, was achieved by a process called 're-duplication', that is, by repeating the noun. This 're-duplication' is no longer found in the younger people or even the middle-aged, but the old ladies in their Eighties or so still say quinça-quiança (lit.: criança-criança; Port.: as crianças; or lit.: children-children, meaning: the children), tchina-tchina (lit.: China-China; Port.: os Chinas; or: Chinese-Chinese, meaning: the Chinese). According to Rodolfo Dalgado, the erudite linguist whom we have previously referred to, "it is found among the Macaísta and Malay Creoles through the indirect influence of indigenous Languages". As a matter of fact in Guangdongnese the re-duplication is common, but it has not exactly the same simple plural value, for example: iân-iân (lit.: pessoa-pessoa; Port.: todos as pessoas; or lit: person-person, meaning: everybody) or iât-iât (lit.: dia-dia; Port. todos os dias; or lit.: dayday, meaning: everyday). The indigenous influence is more Malay than Chinese.

Apart from one or another particular case, such as this, the changes introduced in our Grammar by the Macaista Creole are more or less identical to other Creoles, all of them submitted to the urgent simplification of a particularly complex morphology. Anyway, the same thing happened to Creole Dialects of other European Languages.

We have mentioned before the confusion between masculine and feminine words, that can be detected time and again in the old texts, through expressions such as minha vêlo (lit.: minha velho; Port.: minha velha - feminine gender -/meu velho - masculine gender; or: my old), unga pinu (lit: uma perú; Port.: um perú-masculine gender/ uma perúa - feminine gender; or: one turkey, meaning: a turkey), qui mau hora hoze já vên (lit.: que mau hora em que hoje viemos; Port.: que má hora em que hoje viemos; or: we came at a bad time today), masqui seza isca sã nosso (lit.: se bem que a isca seja nosso; Port.: se bem que o isco seja nosso; or: though the bait is ours), etc.

We have also explained the abbreviation of the verbal inflexion to a single form, or the verb in the infinite, or the person third singular in the present tense, for all grammatical persons and for all tenses; and also the periphrases of the type tá vai, lôgo vai and já vai to show whether the action was in the present, the future or the past. The particle "tá "(Port.: está; or: is) also conferred on the verb what is called the aspectual value of continuous or unfinished action:

"Inda bom maré tá enchê" (Port.: "ainda bem que a maré estava a encher"; or: "fortunately the tide was rising").

In Macao and likewise in certain African Creoles and in Malacca, this method of periphrase gained curious aspects, especially in what pronouns are concerned. In order to emphasize the idea of possession, the possessive sua (yours - feminine gender) was attached to pronouns and nouns related to the possessor. And so, ele sua (Port.: dele; or lit.:his yours-feminine gender, meaning: his), vossôtro sua (Port.: de vós, vosso; lit.: from yours-feminine gender, meaning: from you) and syntaxes as the following:

"Hoje sã prámor de Pancha

qui eu já vên Siára sua pê."

(Port.: "Hoje é por causa de Pancha

que eu vim ao pé da Senhora"; or:

"Lady I came to you today

because of Pancha.").

"Cusa? Sium na Sium sua tera

Sã assim pidi casa?"

(Port.: "O quê? O Senhor na sua terra

é assim que pede casamento?"; or,

"What? Is this how you ask in

marriage in your country Sir?").

Notice that syntaxes such as these are perfectly natural in Macao today, but the pronoun sua has been abbreviated to sa– which in fact is still seen, occasionally, in medieval Portuguese writings-changing into an atonic particle and pronounced enclitically: eusa mão (Port.: a minha mão; or: my hand), elesa casa (Port.: a sua casa; or: his house), Mariasa mãe (Port.: A mãe da Maria; or: Mary's mother), etc. I have also heard other expressions such as é de eusa and even in the very young people, é de meusa (Port.: de mim; or: mine).

Formerly, in the other categories of pronouns, there were also interesting forms:

Unga· (Port.: uma; or: one, a), estunga· (Port.: esta; or: this), umsong· (Port.: ele / ela; or: he/she), vossôtro· (Port.: vós; or: you – second person plural, both feminine and masculine), ilótro· (Port.: eles / elas; or: they – both feminine and masculine), etc.

Vós, (pronounced vôc) was the pronoun used in familiar terms, equivalent to tu or você (deferential "you"), more precisely to the English "you", used when addressing all sorts of persons. The tu (familiar "you") was never used and must have been introduced very recently in Macao's speech, and is still rarely used today. The confusion brought about by its present use will be looked at later on.

In spite of the fact that the tu (familiar intimate and affectionate was not used in close relationships there were nevertheless many tender and very original diminutives. Instead of being English 'imported' or 'hired', as is currently done, the old Macanese people created their own 'nomes de casa' ('home' names, nicknames) [or hypocorisms] for all Christian names. I rounded up from a single poem, transcribed and recorded by Marques Pereira, the following ones:

Bica (Port.: Beatriz (?); or: Beatrix).

Chana (Port.: Alexandra; or: Alexandra).

Chencho (Port.: Lourenço; or: Lawrence).

Chente (Port.: Vicente; or: Vincent).

Janjan (Port.: João; or: John)-still used.

Pancha (Port.: Inácia; or: Ignatia).

Moreover, common 'home' names in Portugal such as Maricas, Micas, Mimi, Anita, Néné and so many others, were and are still used in Macao. Finally, we will transcribe some examples of the old Dialect which will undoubtedly give a much better idea than any other personal comment on the matter. We shall not linger on texts that are not of popular origin, no matter how gracefully they were written by experts of the Dialect. Instead we shall resort to some more original works old Macanese folklore, now definitely dead and buried, following the 'pre-radio-record playing' generation who nursed it.

And, referring to dead folklore, we shall start with a riddle to that effect:

"Quim fazê nadi lográ

Quim lográ nom pode olá,

Quim olá l^ogo churá.

Sã: sepultura."9

(Port.: "Quem a faz não a há-de lograr

Quem a lograr não a pode ver

Quem a vir chorará

É: sepultura. "; or:

"He/she who makes it shall not profit from it

He/she who profits from it cannot see it

He/she who sees it shall weep

Is: grave.")

Now let us observe the following four lines' strophe, still remembered by some of the elderly, and given as an example of the Language of Macao:

"Quim querê pra mim

Tant' ancusa lôgo dá:

Apa muchi-coco,

Pipis, catupá."

Another version:

"Quim querê pra mim

Tant' ancusa lôgo da:

Sôco, bufatada,

Sã ancusa qui nadi faltá."

The second version is best known, but I think that it's only a parody of the first. Both strophes begin with: "He/she who likes me, many things (ancusa) will give me". In the first strophe the two last verses explain what will be given: cookies and delicacies from Macao. In the second strophe, instead of cookies and delicacies, it mentions, for a laugh, that: "Punches and slaps are things that shall not (nadi) be in short supply!"

As we have previously seen, there are many texts available to anyone who wishes to have a better idea of the old Language of Macao, if only to savour the picturesque and the naive wit of its expressions, or the keen humoristic spirit revealed in some of those texts.

It is a fact that such texts, as we have also seen, are somewhat recent and only give us an idea of last century's Dialect. Information on earlier centuries is scarce.

But it would be precisely in the nineteenth century that the Dialect was to reach its utmost vitality and individuality, once the former close relations with India and Malaca had been eased, and still maintaining a considerable isolation from the Motherland.

In the last fifty years the Dialect has definitely been loosing ground. If it has not completely disappeared yet, considering that its reminiscences stick obstinately to current Language, it is condemned to be a 'dead' Language within a few decades.

Even among the old Portuguese community of Shanghai10 and the one now existing in Hong Kong which, for obvious reasons, did not keep up with Macao's evolution, the Dialect will also be loosing its vitality. Forming small minorities within the much larger English speaking communities, most necessarily they adopt such idiom as their current Language and study it accordingly. The younger people do not even understand their ancestors old patoá anymore.

Something that has swiftly yielded the influence of modern times, in the Dialect, was, as we have said, the folklore. That is a characteristic that is being swept from the face of the Earth, but Macao, in its isolation, could have kept that very old legacy, as it did with others. It could have even increased it, so much was its poetic and musical vocation. However, it does lack the creative spiritual ingenuity so evident in the riddles, strophes and ballads of the old days, like the ones previously mentioned as well as the following one:

"Madéra, madéra, (Port.: "Madeira, madeira, ; or: "Wood, wood,")

Já vai cavá chan. (Port.: Foi cavar o chão.; or: "Went to dig the ground.")

–Qui de chan? (Port.:– Onde está o chão?; or:–"Where is the ground?")

Já vai simiá nêle. (Port.: Foi semeado.; or "Went to seed it.")

–Qui de nêle? (Port.:– Onde estão as sementes?; or:–"Where are the seeds?")

Galinha já pica. (Port.: A galinha bicou-as.; or: "The chicken has pecked them.")

–Qui de galinha? (Port.:– Onde está a galinha?; or:–"Where is the chicken?")

Já vai pusá ôvo. (Port.: Foi pôr um ovo.; or: "Went to lay an egg.")

–Qui de ôvo? (Port.:– Onde está o ovo?; or:–"Where is the egg?")

Frade já bebê. (Port.: O frade o bebeu.; or: "The friar drank it.")

–Qui de frade? (Port.:– Onde está o frade?; or:–"Where is the friar?")

Já vai dizê missa. (Port.: Foi dizer a missa.; or: "He went to say mass.")

–Qui de missa? (Port.:– Onde é a missa?; or:–"Where is the mass?")

Gato já uvi. (Port.: Onde vi o gato.; or: "Where I saw the cat.).

–Qui de gato? (Port.:– Onde está o gato?; or:–"Where is the cat?")

Já vai panhá rato. (Port.: Foi apanhar o rato.; or: "Went to catch the mouse.")

–Qui de rato? (Port.:– Onde está o rato?; or:–"Where is the mouse?")

Já intrá no buraco. (Port.: Entrou no buraco.; or: "Went into the hole.")

–Qui de buraco? (Port.:– Onde está o buraco?; or:–"Where is the hole?")

Pedrêro já tápá. (0 pedreiro o tapou.) [The stonemason sealed it.]

–Qui de pedrêro? (Port.:– Onde está o pedreiro?; or:–"Where is the stonemason?")

Já vai Cantão. (Port.: Foi para Cantão.; or: "Went to Guangzhou.")

–Qui de Cantão? (Port.:– Onde está Cantão?; or: "Where is Guangzhou?")

Fogo já quimá. (Port.: (Port.: O fogo o queimou.; or: "The fire has burnt it.")

–Qui de fogo? (Port.:– Onde está o fogo?; or:–"Where is the fire?")

Agu já pagá. (Port.: A água o apagou.; or: "Water has extinguished it.")

–Qui de águ? (Port.:– Onde está a àgua?; or:–"Where is the water?")

Mar já levá. (Port.: "0 mar a levou. "; or: "The sea has taken it.")11

Some of these ballads have been published, with musical annotations, by Marques Pereira and in all of them an attempt was made to reproduce the pronunciation of the words as accurately as possible. Nevertheless, there is something missing from these texts, something that cannot be reproduced in plain writing–that original accent, that most peculiar tone so characteristic of the Country, known only to those who have heard it here in Macao. Such a peculiar tone must have been and still is one of the most typical features of the 'old tongue'; and probably was the most original feature that has been bequeathed from one generation to the next.

Having closely compared the Language spoken by people of various ages, from the elderly to the school children, we can say that the greatest similarity to be found among them is precisely that peculiar inflection of the words. Whoever has had the opportunity of hearing it in Macao, will surely distinguish the genuine Macanese Language in the farthest corner of the World.

§11. FROM OLD CREOLE TO THE CURRENT LANGUAGE

If today's current Language is no longer the same as the one spoken in the last century, though maintaining past features, one may ask: what sort of evolution has the Dialect undergone in relation to today's speech?

First, with regard to the renewal of the Vocabulary. Secondly, in certain phonetic and morphological structure changes.

A large number of vocables have fallen into disuse, being substituted by their corresponding ones in current Portuguese. If we should ask a Macanese youngster the meaning of such words as nhonha· (Port.: rapariga solteira, senhora casada ainda jovem; or: single girl, young married lady, mademoiselle, miss), nhi· or nhim (Port.: menina; or: little girl), nhum· or nhom (Port.: mancebo, homem novo, senhor; or: youngman, master), 12 sium· (pop. Port.: patrão; or: boss - masculine gender, sir), siara· or siára (pop. Port.: patroa; senhora; or: boss - feminine gender, madam), masqui· (lit. Port.: mas que, apesar de, ainda que; and, Port. pop: embora, está bem; or: in spite, despite, agreed), lichim· or litching (Port.: eseorregadio; or: slippery), tu-tum-piám· or tutupiang (Port.: estafermo, pessoa sem préstimo; or pop.: good-for-nothing, nincompoop), cudum· or cudung (Port.: pessoa atarracada, amarrecado; or: stumpy person, hunchbacked–referring to the elderly), and others, most certain he will not know, unless he has an old granny who still uses them.

Do not think, however, that the Vocabulary of today's speech has been perfectly identified with current Portuguese. To give an idea of what it still has of the original Vocabulary, here is a small list of words heard during talks with some local people:

AMBÁ · or ambák (Port.: enganar, intrujar, abusar; or: to cheat, to abuse; to deceive, to mystify).

A friend of mine suggested that, most likely, the word came from the English: 'humbug'.

ALMIS · (Port.: almiscarado; or: smelling of musk).

BICHO-MEL · (Port.: abelha; or: bee). Normally it should be bicho do mel (lit.: honey worm) same as in current Portuguese bicho da seda (lit.: silk worm), but prepositions are deleted whenever possible.

CACOETA · (Port. expl.: good dictionaries only mention cacoete "a physical tic, such as making a wry face, to repeat words unnecessarily, etc." (Dic. Morais)).

In Macao, cacoeta means a person who has such tics or bad habits.

For example:–"Aquele é cacoeta!" (–"That fellow is 'peculiar'!").

CAPIR · or capi (Port.: prender, entalar; or: to tie, to clasp).

The word seems to be of Malay origin: kapis

For example: Capi roupa (Port.: molas de madeira; or: wooden pegs)..

CATE · (Guangdongnese: kân; or: catty).

Chinese weighing measure, corresponding to approximately half-a-kilo. These words cate, tael and pico, introduced all over the Orient by the Malay, the values of which would vary according to each Country, were used by the Portuguese Orientalist writers since the sixteenth century. Therefore, they are very old in Macao, but are still used in everyday trade. Rice, for instance, as well as almost all food products, are still sold by the cate.

One cate is equivalent to sixteen taéis, and one-hundred cates to one pico.

CHONCAR · or choncá (Guangdongnese: ch'ong; or Port: chocar, colidir; or: to bump into, to collide).

The word is a hybrid deviation of the Guangdongnese: ch'ong (that has the same sense) combined with the Portuguese suffix "ar". The "c" in chancá may have appeared with the influence of chocar, also in use.

–"Aquele dois carro falta pouco tchoncá." (Port.: Aqueles dois carros quase que chocaram; or lit.: that two car very near collide", meaning: "Those two cars near collided.").

CHUBIR · or chubi (Port.: beliscar, or: to pinch, nip with the fingers).

–"Ele sempre tchubi meu braço!" (Port.:–"Ele sempre me belisca o braço!"; or:–"He always pinches my arm!").

The word is of Malay origin: chubit.

ENTIÇAR · (Port.: incitar, provocar; or: to tempt, to entice).

For example:–"Tu entiça eu comê!" (Port.:–"Tu tentas-me a comer, t "; or:–"You tempt me [you make me] eat what I can not [do not want].").

I presume that the word comes from the English: 'entice'.

ESTRICA · (Port.: ferro de engomar; or: a pressing iron).

The word, also used in Malayan-Portuguese, or papiá cristã from Malacca, is of Malayan origin: istrika.

ESTRICAR · or estricá (Port.: engomar; or: to iron).

MOURO · or môro (Port.: marata, muçulmano; or: native of India, of Moslem religion).

With this meaning the word was commonly used by Portuguese writers of the sixteenth century, mainly by the historians of the Discoveries, but the expression is normally used in Portugal when referring to the former Arabs from Mauritania (North Africa).

TANCÁ · or tancar (Guangdongese: tán ká; or: small Chinese boat, with one or two oars, usually manned by women).

Thus the expression tancareira, rarely used in the masculine. To shelter the crew, the boat is partially covered with a tunnel-shaped canopy, thence the name it' s a two character Chinese word which means 'egg-house', or an 'egg shaped house', because this type of Chinese boat is also used as a home and the tancá, with its canopy, resembles an egg.

The name tancá, however, is also applied, in Macao, to all other types of boats and to the lodger-crew member. The tancás are, in a general way, the seamen. The expression tancar is recent and must be the result of cultivated Language, assuming it lacked the final "r".13

Even without the inclusion of many other original Chinese expressions, we could give a much longer list of examples commonly used by Macanese people today. This does not mean that there were no such expressions in the old Dialect as well, but they were not as many as in current Language. They are mainly names of fruits, vegetables, seasonings and some much appreciated Chinese dishes, or typically regional objects, names which not always have the corresponding adequate word in Portuguese. For example the word faichis, so precariously translated into Portuguese as pauzinhos (lit.: little sticks, meaning: chopsticks).

Nevertheless, there are many cases in which the Portuguese term is perfectly acceptable, and better still, is well known. In any case, the Chinese expression is more familiar and consequently used more frequently.

However, in spite of foreign vocables, Portuguese-fashioned or not, as well as one or another of the former Portuguese Language still in use, the fact is that the present day Macanese lexicon is not as specific as that of other provincial areas in the Motherland. Most of the current Vocabulary is identical to its Portuguese counterpart.

A group of some of the most distinguished Macanese intellectuals of the Forties and Fifties.

The directors, editors, colleagues and staff of one of the most important Macanese newspapers of Portuguese Language, the "Notícias de Macau".

Left to right. Back row, (standing): the writer Deolinda da Conceição (9th), the historian and sinologist, Luís Gonzaga Gomes (11 th) and the writer and the newspaper director, Herman Machado Manteiro (12th).

§12. ASPECTS OF CURRENT SPEECH–I

This is not exactly the right place in which to give a detailed and methodic explanation of what the current Language's pronunciation and Grammar in Macao may be.

We shall deal only with the most common characteristics.

The first and most evident is exactly the instability of those same characteristics, the instability peculiar to the present state of Language transition.

As far as phonetics is concerned, there is not, so to say, a 'tone', especially vocal, pronounced identically under the same circumstances, and this happens with some consonants as well.

And it does not apply only to different inflections from one individual to another, but also with an individual pronouncing different tones where one would expect to hear them over and again in the same tonality. Consequently, anyone pronouncing "dj" and "tch" in old-fashioned words, will eventually say "j" and "ch" in words such as janela (window), cheio (full), and fechar (to close). Today, the same person will say professóra (Port.: professora; or: teacher–feminine tense) and immediately after senhôra (Port.: senhora; or: lady), màrido (Port.: marido; or: husband) and Maria (Port.: Maria; or: Mary).

The most common characteristic is yet the decline of the final "r", but someone who may say that a child "é um amô " (Port.: "é um amor"; or: "is a darling") may also say right after that he cannot stand the calorr (Port.: calor; or: heat).

Special reference shall be made to the values of the letter "r". The pronunciation of the Portuguese "r" has always been an obstacle to all overseas Dialects. The normal tendency is to reduce the "r", (which we shall double "r") into a normal vibrant "r" (mild "r") or to replace either of them for an "1"–something that does not only happen in Chinese speech. In Portugal, children also have some difficulty in pronouncing the "r", using instead the "1". In Macao such difficulty was felt for a longer period of time, until and during school age, probably aggravated by the common habit of speaking Chinese during tender age. Adults, however, have no difficulty in pronouncing our "r", double or mild. The problem is how to distinguish them.

The general tendency is to often pronounce the double "r" as a mild "r", which we will formally represent by: "r". Consequently, we have the pronunciations tera (Port.: terra; or: earth), cigaro (Port.: cigarro; or: cigarette), rosa (Port. pronounc.: rrosa; or: rose), rato (Port. pronounc.: rrato; or: mouse). On the other hand, the conception that this tendency is incorrect leads to precisely the opposite tendency, the unconscious ultra-correction, that induces one to pronounce arrame (Port.: arame; or: wire), arreia (Port.: areia; or: sand), orra! (Port.: ora!; or: well!) and, as an ultimate refinement, calorr (Port.: calor; or: heat), falarr (Port.: falar; or: to talk). Definitely not an ultimate refinement, because it may very well happen that such a rule may be turned inside out by replacing the "rr" for a simple "1". Such an example was given to me, sometime ago, with the reply of a thirteen year old boy. Having noticed that he was not feeling quite well one morning, and asking him what he had eaten for breakfast, he replied with the utmost confidence:

–"Borracha!" (–"Rubber!").

Rubber? Gracious me! Pure agony! What an idea to eat rubber? My worries were over only when, after a long interrogation, I came to realize that it was: bolacha! (biscuit!).

Anyway, in spite of these indecisions, things seem to be moving towards normal pronunciation, or at least as close as possible. Certain details of the old Creole have already been completely revoked. Nobody, with the exception of the elderly, will still say velo (Port.: velho; or: old), seza (Port.: seja; or: be it), réva (Port.: raiva; or: rage), cusa (Port.: coisa; or: thing), but rather their correct Portuguese pronunciations. Likewise, and from the grammatical point of view, the conflict between old and new habits leads to constant changes, thus preventing the settling of a current Language pattern. In this context, the most consistent legacy of Dialectal past is given with the extinction of the plural in nouns and adjectives, with the disregard for grammatical genders, and the utmost simplification of verbal declension and syntactical disposition.

'Re-duplication' is no longer used to form the plural of nouns (i. e.: China-China, laia-laia, etc.); but the declension by inflection has not been perfectly assimilated yet. It is used, however, to give a clear knowledge of the sense. That is, the plural is not usually determined by the nature of the common adjective, when it can be expressed by the numeral, article or any other preceeding determinative: dois Pataca (Port.: duas Patacas – plural feminine gender; or lit.: two Pataca, meaning: two Patacas), dois cão (Port.: dois cães – plural; or lit.: two dog, meaning: two dogs). But vestidos brancos (Port.: vestidos broncos – plural; or lit.: [a] white dresses; or: white dresses), casas novo (Port.: casas novas – plural-feminine gender; or lit.: [a] new houses, meaning: new houses), etc.

The case, which had already occurred with the old Dialect, is not unusual in the contemporary Dialect of Macao. It happened with other of our Creole Dialects which had never used're-duplication', and is presently common with the popular Portuguese Language in Brazil. This is explained, as we have said, by the tendency for simplification.

This same tendency, with regard to grammatical genders, formerly led, whenever possible, to the exclusive use of the masculine gender, which has always been considered more important. Today, however, at a time when every Macanese has some sort of grammatical knowledge, everyone is familiar with the feminine genders. The question is how to use them. And so, along with expressions such as mão qui piqueno (Port.: que mão tão pequena –feminine gender; or: what a small hand), este criada bom (Port.: esta criada é boa– feminine gender; or: this servant is good), we have na olhos direita ou na olhos esquerda (Port.: é no olho da direita ou no olho da esquerda – singular, masculine gender; or: is in right eye or in left eye). We have referred to the simplification of verbal declension. Such simplification is not as evident as it is in the old Dialect, because we can eventually hear almost all forms of declension. But in this case, as in other aspects of the speech, there is no uniformity.

With regard to verbal tenses, they are all well-known and the former present and future periphrastic forms of tá and logo have already disappeared (the termsjá vai, já comê já, for the perfect tense, are still used), but the tendency to replace all tenses with the infinite or present tense is still very strong, and also to restrict the verbal persons to the third singular form. We shall give some examples:

1. "Você há pouco mesmo dizê nã qué, agora está pidi.

2. Ele nã pode vem.

3. Nóis nã qué vai.

4. Nã chora, filho!

5. Tòninho, Zézinho, vem!

6. Tem sai à força!

7. Tu acha ele há-de vir?"

(Port.: 1. "Você disse mesmo há pouco que não queria e agora está a pedir.

2. Ele não pode vir.

3. Nós não queremos ir.

4. Não chores, filho!

5. Toninho e Zézinho, venham!

6. Tem de sair [nem que seja] à força!

7. Achas que ele há-de vir?"; or:

1. "You just said you didn't want it and are now asking for it.

2. He isn't coming.

3. We doesn't want to go.

4. Don't cry, sonny!

5. Toninho, Zézinho, come!

6. It must come out [even if by force]!

7. Do you think he will come?").

Syntaxes such as these are not due to ignorance, but rather to the indomitable obstinacy to minor efforts, and to a certain laziness even in reasonably educated people. Not so long ago a young mother, proud of her fifth grade in commerce said: – "Ontém fomos todos a Coloane, dormiulá." (Port.: Ontem fomos todos a Coloane e dormimos lá." – plural-masculine gender; or: – "Yesterday we all went to Coloane, and slept there."). After saying correctly fomos (went), it would have been too much of an effort to say dormimos (slept). And if this phrase had been spoken at home, it would have probably sounded like – "Ontém foi todos Coloane, dormiu lá" (lit.: – "Yesterday all go Coloane, sleep there.").

Notice that the preposition "a" ("to") (Port.: a Coloane; or: to Coloane) would disappear, as in está a pedir (is asking). All familiar or subordinating particles, not considered as absolutely necessary to clarify the phrase, are suppressed, as shown in the above mentioned examples.

The use of tu ("you" – second person singular) is still very confusing. The old Dialect term vôs (Port.: vos – deferential; or: "you" – second person plural) was replaced by você also very common in Portugal nowadays, along or not with the more courteous expressions vossa mercê (lit.: your grace) or the popular vocemessê which is not used here. Você a form of the third grammatical person, made a perfect combination with the Dialect's verbal system, considering that vôs was also used with the verb in the third person or with the infinite.

– "Nadi ficá reva cô eu." (Port.: – "Não há-de ficar zangada comigo. "; or: "[He/she] will not be angry with me."), and – "Vós sabe que eu muito querê pra vós."(Port.: – "Você sabe que vos quero muito. "; or: – "You know that I love you much.").

We have seen that tu was absolutely in disuse and that it has been introduced in recent years. Presently, the vocable você which is the most familiar and intimate expression to address a person, as it happens in Brazil, is combined with the tu, either with the respective pronominal variants and corresponding verbal forms, or when followed by the third person, as in tu acha (Port.: tu achas – second person singular/ você acha – second person plural; or: you think – second person singular and plural, indescriminately, tu nã sabe (Port.: tu não sabes – second person singular/você não sabe – second person plural; or: you do not know–second person singular and plural, indiscriminately). As it happens with Portuguese spoken in Brazil, the two expressions to address a person are used indistinctly between the same persons, absolutely contrary to what happens in Portugal. But in Brazil, as far as we know, such combination complies only to familiar treatment, whereas in Macao it is common to hear tu ("you") or teu ("yours") in a more respectful manner: – "Ó Senhor Doutor, a tua mulher está à tua espera." (Port.: – "Senhor Doutor, a sua mulher está à sua espera. "; or: – "Doctor, your wife is waiting for you."). We have known cases of some newcomers being offended for what they take to be an abuse. We can assure, however, that the use of tu (in correct Port.: masculine gender on the direct speech) or tua (in correct Port.: feminine gender in the possessive form) is only a way to avoid the usual você.

§13. ASPECTS OF CURRENT SPEECH – II

It seems to us that the greatest difference between local and Metropolitan speech is the present syntactic aspect.

We would like to give as examples, which will be more elucidative than all considerations that have been made, some texts gathered from the very people. Nevertheless, considering that any deliberate information on current speech would be of a somewhat suspicious ingenuity, due to the fact that anyone is liable to correct his own mistakes, we shall transcribe some very revealing school work. It is obvious that such work had been prepared and do not reproduce faithfully the spoken Language, but hold to consider the innocence with which children reveal their ways of speaking, influenced by family environment, mixing some of their own correct phrases and others that they have managed to learn by heart.

Here are two compositions written by children of ages ranging from ten to twelve years:

"Nós devemos obedecer os Pais e as Mães, porque eles criuome, educoume, tratoume muito bem, etc. Havia um mandamento da lei de deus e as palavras foram assim: honrar Pai e Mãe e os legítimos superiores. Os legítimos superiores quer dizer que obedecer as pessoas velhas de ti, como as casa são os Pais, nas escolas são os professores, no Estado é o governo.

Quando os meus pais foram velhinhos precisa de cuidar e tratar muito bem."

(Port.: "Devo obedecer ao [meu] Pai e à [minha] Mãe porque eles me criaram, educaram e trataram muito bem, etc. Há um Mandamento da Lei de Deus que diz assim: honrai Pai e Mãe e os legítimos superiores. Os legítimos superiores são as pessoas mais velhas que nós, a quem devemos obedecer e que em casa são os pais, na escola são os professores e no Estado é o governo.

Quando os meus pais forem velhinhos preciso de os cuidar e tratar muito bem"; or lit.:

"We must obey our Fathers and Mothers, because they nurse me, educate me, treat me very well, etc.. There was one of God's commandments and the words said: honour Father and Mother and the rightful superiors. The rightful superiors means obey your elderly, in the home are the Parents, in the schools are the teachers, in the State is the government.

When my Parents were very old need to care and treat very well.").

(Written by a child in the Fourth Grade of Elementary School).

"Era uma vez um cego que está a pedir. E conseguiu juntar umas certas quantias, ele como tem o costume de meter moedas dentro de uma panela e enterrou-a baixo do quintal ao pé duma figueira. Todas vezes em que cego foi juntar o dinheiro, desenterrou a panela e metia dentro, um vizinho foi espreitar o cego onde metia moedas e viu. Na noite o vizinho foi roubar a panela e com os dinheiros dentro.

O ceguinho uma vez foi juntar o seu dinheiro, desenterrou e não achou nada, pôs-se a pensar muito caladinho, e achou não há outro ladrão se não for o vizinho e ele achou a conclusão e foi ter com o vizinho.

–"Ó senhor, eu já estou velhinho e não tenho herdeiro, como você era meu bom amigo eu vou retirar o meu dinheiro dentro duma panela enterrado no quintal e nalguns buracos da parede e dou para ti."

O vizinho com a ambição dos dinheiros do cego pôs outra vez a panela debaixo da terra, ao pé da figueira. No dia seguinte o cego foi lá e verificou de volta a panela com as moedas e guardou num esconderijo onde ninguém descobre. E foi ter com o vizinho outra vez:

–"Ó meu vizinho, perdi tudo, tudo."

(Port.: "Era uma vez um cego que andava a a pedir. E conseguiujuntar uma certa quantia. Ele tinha o costume de meter as moedas dentro de uma panela e de a enterrar no quintal, ao pé de uma figueira.

Todas as vezes que o cego juntava dinheiro, desenterrava a panela e metia-o lá dentro. Uma vez, o vizinho espreitou e viu o cego a meter as moedas dentro da panela e a enterrá-la. Nessa noite o vizinho foi roubar a panela com o dinheiro.

O ceguinho, mais uma vez, ia juntar o seu dinheiro: cavou mas não achou nada Pôs-se a pensar muito caladinho e chegou à conclusão que o ladrão só podia ser o vizinho e foi ter com ele.

–Ó senhor, eu já estou muito velhinho e não tenho herdeiros e como você é meu bom amigo, eu vou retirar o meudinheiro de dentro de uma panela enterrada no quintal e de alguns buracos na parede e dou-lhe.

O vizinho, com a ambição do dinheiro do cego, pôs outra vez a panela debaixo da terra, ao pé da figueira. No dia seguinte, o cego foi lá e verificou que a panela com as moedas estava de volta e guardou tudo num esconderijo que ninguém descobrisse. Efoi ter com o vizinho outra vez e disse-lhe:

–Ó meu vizinho, perdi tudo, tudo."; or lit.:

"Once upon a time a blind man is begging. And he managed to collect certain quantities, as he has the habit of putting the coins in a pot and buried it under the back yard near a fig tree. Everytime in which the blind man went to collect the money, unburied the pot and put inside, a neighbour went to peep the blind man where he put the coins and saw. In the night the neighbour went to steal the pot and with the money inside.

Once the blind man went to put his money, he unburied and found nothing, started thinking very quietly, and decided there is no other thief that it won't be the neighbour and he found the conclusion and went to see the neighbour.

–"Hei mister, I am already very old and have no heir, as you was my good friend I am going to remove my money in a pot buried in the back yard and in some holes in the wall and give to you."

The neighbour with the ambition of the blind man moneys replaced the pot under the earth, near the fig tree. The next day the blind man went there and saw the pot back with the coins and hid in a secret place where nobody discovers. And went to the neighbour once again:

–"Oh my neighbour, I lost everything, everything.").

(Written by a student in the First Grade of Secondary School). 14

We shall now reproduce some excerpts from a letter written by a thirty-four year old man to his sister, therefore not intended for publication and perfectly spontaneous:

"Porque se você pensasse melhor, ou por outra não caísse na sedução daquela Auntee, havia de pensar logo em pedir os teus irmãos para te socorrer, porque, nessas horas de desesperação não há pessoa mais leal do que os teus próprios sangue e, eu posso garantirte que eles ajudarão com todo coração.

A respeito sapato e permanente que me pediste na tua, dou-te com todo o prazer, mas não te envio dinheiro porque não estou para o figurão do teu marido ficar dono. Portanto vais ter com F. e pedes a ele levar-te comprar um par de sapato anelar o cabelo, e eu hei-de escrever a ele para fazer isso e mandar-me-ei depois a conta, okay?

Já agora desejo fazerte lembrar mais uma vez que tens ainda irmãos solteiros e se no futuro estiver em qualquer dificuldade ou precisares de qualquer auxílo é só basta escrever e dizendo a qualquer um deles e eles haverão de te ajudar ou por outra tens ainda este pobre irmão que podes contar certo que ele ajudar-te-à tudo que for do seu alcance, está bem?"15

(Port.: "Porque se pensasses melhor, ou por outra, não caísses na sedução daquela Tia, havias de pensar logo em pedir aos teus irmãos para te socorrer, porque, nessas horas de desespero, não há pessoas mais leais que os do teu próprio sangue e eu posso garantirte que eles te ajudarão com todo o coração.

A respeito dos sapatos e da permanente que me pediste, dou-tos com todo o prazer, mas não te envio o dinheiro porque não estou para que o figurão do teu marido fique dono. Portanto, vais ter com F. e pedeslhe para te levar a comprar um par de sapatos e anelar o cabelo. Eu hei-de escrever-lhe para que faça isśo e me mande depois a conta, está bem?

Já agora desejo fazer-te lembrar mais uma vez que tens ainda irmãos solteiros e se, no futuro, estiveres em qualquer dificuldade ou precisares de qualquer auxílio, basta escreveres a qualquer um e eles haverão de te ajudar ou, por outra, tens ainda este pobre irmão com quem podes contar, certa que ele te ajudará em tudo o que for do seu alcance, está bem?"; or lit:

"Because if you thought better, or else did not fall into temptation by that Aunty, you would immediately think in asking your brothers to help you, because, in those desperate hours there is no one more loyal than your owns blood and, I guarantee you that they will help with all the heart. With regards to the shoe and insistently asked me in yours, I give it to you with much pleasure, but I do not send you the money because I do not want that bigwig husband of yours to be the owner. Therefore you will see so-and-so and ask him to take you buy a pair of shoe and curl the hair, and I will write to him to do that and shall send me after the bill, okay?

Might as well remind you once again that you still have bachelor brothers and if in the future have any difficulty on you need any help is only to write and saying to any of them and they will help you or that is you still have this brother that you can count on for sure that he will help you everything that is in his possibilities, all right?"

It is in this letter, the contents of which we thought best not to repeat, that the mentioned proverb is quoted: Quem com os porcos se juntam, farelos comem (Port.: Quem com os porcos se junta, farelos come; or: If you lie down with dogs you get up with flees).

The author of this letter did his studies at Macao's Official Elementary School, followed by some years in Secondary School. He then went to work in Hong Kong, where he made his residence. The fact, however, had no direct influence with his using some English vocables such as "Auntee"(auntie) and "okay" (ok), as these expressions are common in Macao.

We have reached the final stage of these notes on the Language of Macao. The matter is far from conclusion. However, we think that we have given sufficient evidence that, in a general way, the old Dialect has improved to come as close as possible to the Metropolitan current Portuguese.

It seems that some of our readers have considered these texts as an encouragement to maintain with enthusiasm the Dialectal legacy, and encite the people of Macao to return to the Language of their ancestors. That would be absurd. A 'living' Language is something dynamic, something that will never stop improving and cannot come to a standstill when the social conditions of the people who created it have changed. The Language of Macao has to follow the closer spiritual and cultural bonds with the Motherland, in an era when distances are no longer a barrier.

Up to our days, we emphasize, the Language of the Country has moved in the right direction. What sort of path will it follow in the future, that is something rather difficult to predict, considering how it is spoken today by those who shall serve as an example within the next decades.

Most children, and even the youngsters, have great difficulty in expressing themselves in Portuguese, either spoken or written, but would not do it any easier if allowed to use the old Dialect, on the grounds that they are also unfamiliar with it. It is not against the patoá that the teachers in Elementary and Secondary Schools are struggling nowadays. They struggle–a real struggle, endless and fruitless–against the predominance of Chinese Language, much greater today than it was thirty or forty years ago and gaining ground, day by day, among us. **

Translated from the Portuguese by: Rui Pinheiro

NOTES

** Revised reprint from: AMARO, Ana Maria, Filhos da Terra, Macau, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1988.

1 Either from Macao or the Chinese mainland. The Chinese expressions mentioned here are those heard in popular Language.

2 The City Gates. The City's border 'line'.

3 We never had the opportunity to examine the preliminary notes of such Vocabulary. Based on the author's kind information, we are aware they were lost, due to negligence of the person to whom they had were lent and who never returned them. Therefore, we do not known if we are repeating the author's conclusions in our Glossário do dialecto macaense [...](Glossary of the Macanese Dialect [...]), the publication of which began with vol. XV of the "Revista Portuguesa de Filologia", Coimbra, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, Julho(July) 1973.

4 "Tai-Ssi-Yang-Kuo", Macau, (1) 1863, p. 50.

5 A contemporary of Ou-Mun Kei-Leok is the edition of Azia Sinica e Japonica by Br. José de Jesus Maria, written in Macao and thoroughly describing the Territory's life, but making no reference to the Language. See: TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Os Macaenses, Macau, Centro de Informação e Turismo Tipografia Martinho, 1965, p. 45–The author quotes another chronicher of the same period, Bp. Dom Alexandre Pedrosa, who referring to the women of Macao, simply said:

"Moreover they speak a Language that is a mixture of all idioms and Dialects, imperceptible to those who were not raised here, to be imputed to husbands and parents faults who, for two centuries did not bother to introduce the current Portuguese Language, a matter I have been working on, considering that it's the most important factor to be looked upon by all nations in their domains."

6 It is obvious that, in our considerations we do not take into account that part of the population who, due to their education or greater sociability with people 'from abroad', speak the cultivated Portuguese of the Motherland. Likewise, we make no reference to the Portuguese spoken by the Chinese, only useful, nowadays, as a very primitive means of communication with the Metropolitan people, consider the fact that the Macanese also speak Chinese.

Works quoted in this article:

TCHEONG-ü-Lam-IAN-Kuong-Iâm, GOMES, Luís Gonzaga, trans. Ou-Mun Kei-Leok: Monografia de Macau, (Edição da Quinzena de Macau [...], Lisboa) Macau, [Leal Senado] Tipografia Martinho, 1979.. BAWDEN, C. R., An Eighteenth Century Chinese Source for the Portuguese Dialect of Macao, Kyoto, Kyoto University 1954 (Reprint from Silver Jubilee Volume of the Zinbun-Kagahu-Kenkyusyo). THOMPSON, R. W., Two synchronic cross-sections in the Portuguese Dialect of Macao, in Offprint of "ORBIS – Bulletin International de Documentation Linguistique", 8 (1) 1959.

7 Examples of expressions of Indian origin, such as sambal and dodol, were given in the first edition of these articles. However, further investigation has confirmed that such words were in fact of Malay and not Indian origin.

8 The prominent historian Fr. Manuel Teixeira published, years after the first edition of these articles, a very interesting study: Os Macaenses, Macau, Centro de Informação e Turismo - Tipografia Martinho, 1965, where he precisely debates this matter. Introducing documents and testimonies that he considers authentic, he says that only the first generation of Macanese people was conceived by Indian and Malay mothers and that immediately after, the Portuguese of Macao started to marry Chinese women converted to Christianity, or mestizos of the same race, thus coming to the conclusion that the Chinese were indeed, and predominantly, the mothers of the following generations of Macanese. Not wishing to pry into one's affairs, the fact is that the evidence of the Language leads to quite different conclusions with regards to the supremacy of Chinese mothers. There is no denying that there must have been some. But then, why should we find almost twice as many Malay words in Creole texts of the last century, than those of Chinese origin? Why was not the Chinese Language still used in the nineteenth century (as it is used now that the majority of the mothers are, in fact, Chinese) for domestic appliances such as passo · (Port. expl.: tigela; or: mug), estrica · (Port.: ferro de engomar; or: pressing iron), curum · (etim.: kurong; or Port.: capoeira; or: chicken coop), sanco · (Port.: escarrador; or: spittoon) and culinary items such as cancom · (etim.: kangkong; or Guangdongnese: ong ch 'oi; or Port.: certa espécie de hortaliça; or: a sort of vegetable), trate · (etim.: teratai; or: Port.: lótus, semente de lótus; or: lotus seed), pulu rice (etim: pulut; or Port.: arroz glutinoso; or: starched rice), and others further indicated? Why did the Portuguese women of Macao dress mostly in a Malay fashion, with saraças of sarom linen and bajus · (Port.: casaquinho, blusa; or: jacket, coat, outer garnment)–Malay words–than the Chinese way, as seen in the present days? Why do the children of Macao of the less recent generations present physical characteristics more similar to Malay than Chinese?

9 "Ta-Ssi-Yang-Kuo", Macau, (1) 1863, p. 320.

10 Those who took refuge in Macao, after the Communist advance and presently scattered, more or less, over the United States and Australia.

11 PEREIRA, Marques, ed., Lenga-lenga Macaista, in "Ta-Ssi-Yang-Kuo", Macau, p. 784–Without notes. We have transcribed the 'balderdash' with the same orthography used by Marques Pereira, as we are unable to give an image of a pronunciation that we have never heard. However, we were tempted to alter some forms such as Cantão (Canton) which should sound Cantã as in 'chan' or chã, and nele, · neli or nêle (Port.: arroz descascado; or: unpeeled rice), and R. Dalgado, has registered the word néle in his Asian-Portuguese Glossary.

12 These words were used to address a person: Nhum Lorenço (Master Lourenço), Nhi Pancha (Miss Pancha), etc..

13 See: BATALHA, Graciete, Glossário do dialecto macaense: notas linguísticas etnog ráficas e folclóricas, in Offprint of "Revista Portuguesa de Filologia", Coimbra, Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, vols. 15, 16 and 17, respectively 1971, 1974 and 1977–For a better analysis of the terms registered here.

14 Former First Grade before the introduction of the Escola Preparatória do Ensino Secundário (Preparatory Secondary School). The compositions shown here were written several years ago.

We shall now transcribe two excerpts from more recent compositions,

"Then I played with them, strolled with them, and they took me inside a rocket and it flew me on the moon, and as I don't know how to drive rocket fell, I scream God, and when I woke myself I saw I fall from the bed to the floor.").

(Written by a student in the First Grade of Preparatory Secondary School, describing a dream).

(Port.: "Então brinquei com eles, passeei com eles e eles levaram-me dentro de um foguetão e voei até à Lua mas, como não sabia guiar, o foguetão caíu, berrei e, quando acordei, vi que eu tinha caído da cama para o chão"; or lit.:

(Port.: "O professor ideal precisa ter muitas qualidades. A paciência com que se deve dedicar a ensinar os alunos [...] Para mim, gostaria que o meu professor [ideal] fosse uma pessoa simpática e paciente [...]; or lit.: "The ideal teacher it's needed to have many qualities. The patience which he must dedicate the teaching of his students [...] About me, I would like my [ideal] teacher to be a nice and patient person [...].)."

(Written by a student in the Third Grade of Secondary School).

15 This letter dated 1956, was generously placed at our disposal in its original form by a friend, but concealing the author's name, something of no interest to our study, anyway. Written almost twenty years ago and already transcribed in our work entitled Estado actual do dialecto macaense (The Present State of Macanese Dialect), this composition is still a perfect image of how individuals of the same specific age and culture speak.

*M Phil. in Classical Filology by the Faculdade de Letras (Faculty of Humanities), Coimbra. Researcher of Macanese culture, especially in the field of Linguistics. Author of various publications on Macanese Dialect and on the East Asia Creole Dialect of Portuguese origins.