Lusophone
Lusophones (Portuguese: Lusófonos) are peoples that speak Portuguese as a native or as common second language and nations where Portuguese features prominently in society. Comprising an estimated 270 million people spread across 10 sovereign countries and territories, thus called Lusofonia or the Lusophone world (Portuguese: Mundo Lusófono), is the community of Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) world; these include Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Galicia, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Macau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, East Timor, Uruguay, Cochin, Azores, Madeira, Goa, Daman and Diu, Singapore and Malacca to various degrees.
The history of the Lusophone world is intrinsically linked with the history of the Portuguese Empire, although the Portuguese diaspora, the Brazilian diaspora and the Cape Verdean diaspora communities have also played a role in spreading the Portuguese language and Lusophone culture. Portuguese-speaking nations cooperate in politics, culture and the economy through the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP).
Etymology
The term Lusophone is a classical compound, wherein the combining form "Luso-" derives from the Latin term for an area roughly corresponding to modern Portugal, called Lusitania.[1] The suffix "-phone" derives from the Ancient Greek word φωνή (phōnē), meaning "voice".
History
Once the Portuguese mainland space had been established with the conquest of the Algarve, the last kings of the first dynasty dedicated themselves to organizing the national territory: they promoted settlement, agricultural exploitation, the creation of trade structures, the creation of defenses, not so much the south as east, &c. In this way, the Avis dynasty was able to engage in a new process of territorial expansion, which began in 1415 with the capture of Ceuta.
This was followed by the feat of the Discoveries, which involved the discovery of the archipelagos of Madeira and the Azores, the arrival in South America and various parts of Sub-Saharan Africa to Asia and the Pacific Ocean, such as Goa, Malacca, Macau and East Timor.
This long historical process has currently resulted in a cultural identity shared by eight countries, united by a shared past and by a language that, enriched in its diversity, is recognized as one. These countries - Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste -, (in addition to the special administrative region of Macau) with their respective nuclei of emigrants, make the Portuguese language one of the most spoken languages in the world, constituting a community of more than two hundred and forty million people. Lusofonia can also be the platform from which the peoples who speak Portuguese today will be able to approach and expand the scope and action of the CPLP.
Language and ethnicities in Portuguese-speaking areas around the world
| Continent/region | Country/territory | Languages spoken[2] | Ethnic groups[3] | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe | Portugal | Portuguese (official), Galician, Mirandese | Ancient civilizations: (Iberians, Celts, Greeks, Romans, Goths or Germans, Arabs, Jews or Sephardim, Phoenicians, Berbers and other African peoples, Guanches, Vikings, Gypsies and among others). | ||
| Andorra | Catalan 38.1% (Official), Spanish, French and Portuguese 15%. | Spanish, French and Portuguese. | |||
| Galicia (autonomous community of Spain) | Galician, Spanish (official). Portuguese | Galicians, Spaniards, Portuguese | |||
| Luxembourg | Luxembourgish (official), German, French; Portuguese is spoken by 18% of the population | Ancient Civilizations (Celts or Gauls, Romans, Goths or Germans and among others) | |||
| South America | Brazil | Portuguese (Official). Spanish, Italian, German, Guaraní and other Amerindian languages of the Amazonia. | White 39.1% (Mainly of Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and German descent), Brown 27.6%, Black 31.9%, Asian 1.1% (Mainly Chinese, Japanese, and Korean), and Amerindian 0.3%. | ||
| Argentina | Spanish (official), Portuguese other European and Amerindian languages | European Argentine (mostly Spanish and Italian descent, (including Arab) and Mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) 97.2%, Amerindian 2.4%, Black 0.4%. (See: Argentinian people) | |||
| Paraguay | Paraguayan Guaraní (official), Spanish (official), Portuguese | Mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian) 95%, Other 5% | |||
| Uruguay | Spanish (official), Uruguayan Portuguese | White (mostly from Spanish and Italian ancestries) 87.7%, Black 4.6%, Amerindian 2.4%, Yellow (East Asian descent), Other/unspecified 5.1% | |||
| Venezuela | Spanish (official), Portuguese, numerous indigenous dialects | Mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) 49,9%, White 43,6%, Black 3,5% and Amerindians 2,7% (See: Venezuelan people) | |||
| North America | Canada | English 57.2% and French 21.8% (Official). Other non-official languages 19.7%: Spanish, Portuguese 1-2%, Chinese, Vietnamese, Italian, German, Punjabi, Cree, Inuktitut, Ojibwa and Inuktitut. | 90% White (primarily of British and French descent), Mixed Race, African American, Native American, and Asian. | ||
| United States | English 78.1%, Spanish 13.5%, other Indo-European 3.7%, Asian and Pacific Islander languages 3.6%, other 1.2% (2018 census), Portuguese 0.5% (Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii). | White 79.96%, Black 12.85%, Asian 4.43%, Amerindian and Alaska Native 0.97%, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific islanders 0.18%, two or more races 1.61% (July 2007 estimate) | |||
| Caribbean Islands | ABC islands | Dutch, Papiamento (Portuguese creole), (official); English | Afro-Caribbean people, mestizos, Dutch | ||
| Africa | Angola | Portuguese (official), umbundu, kimbundu, kikongo, chokwe language, Kituba and kwanyama | Blacks and mulattoes (mestizos - Africans and Portuguese). | ||
| Cape Verde | Portuguese (official), Cape Verdean Creole | Blacks and mulattoes (mestizos - Africans and Portuguese). | |||
| Guinea Bissau | Portuguese (official), Guinea-Bissau Creole, Balanta, Fula, Mandjak, Mandinka and Papel | Blacks and mulattoes (mestizos - Africans and Portuguese). | |||
| Equatorial Guinea | Spanish, French, Portuguese (official), Fang, Bubi, bioko, Fá d'Ambô, Balengue, Ibo and Kombe | Blacks: (Fangs 85.7%, Bubis 6.5%, Mdowes 3.6%, Annobon 1.6%, Bujebas 1.1% and others 1.4%) (1994 Census) and mulattos (mestizos - Africans and Spaniards). | |||
| Mozambique | Portuguese (official), Swahili, Makhuwa, Sena, Ndau, Tswa-Ronga (Tsonga), Lomwe, Ekoti, Makonde, Chopi, Chuwabu, Ronga, Kimwani, Shona, Chichewa | Blacks and mulattoes (mestizos - Africans and Portuguese). | |||
| São Tomé and Príncipe | Portuguese (official), Forro, Angolar and Principense. | Blacks and mulattoes (mestizos - Africans and Portuguese). | |||
| Asia and Oceania | Batticaloa (Sri Lanka territory) | Sinhala language and Tamil (official). Sri Lankan Portuguese creole | Burgher people | ||
| Macau (China special administrative region) | Chinese and Portuguese (Official). | Chinese: Han, Cantonese and Hakka, Japanese and Filipino. | |||
| Malacca (Malaysia territory) | Malay and English (Official). Kristang language, a creole of Portuguese (Minority), Bahasa and Chinese. | About 2,000 Cristang (Portuguese Creoles) speakers | |||
| East Timor | Tetun and Portuguese (Official). Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, English. | Austronesian or Malays, mestizos (European-Malay) 3.6% and European Creoles of Portuguese origin respectively. |
Other areas where Portuguese is also spoken
| Continent/region | Country/territory | Languages spoken[2] | Ethnic groups[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macaronesia | Azores (Autonomous Regions of Portugal) | Portuguese (official) | Portuguese |
| Madeira (Autonomous Regions of Portugal) | Portuguese (official) | Portuguese | |
| Asia | Hong Kong (China special administrative region) | Chinese and English (Official). Portuguese | 92.0% Han Chinese, 2.5% Filipino, 2.1% Indonesian ,0.8% White ,0.5% Indian, 0.3% Nepalese, 1.6% Others |
| Nation | Population | More information | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 212,559,409 | Portuguese in Brazil | Spoken by the vast majority as a native language |
| Angola | 32,866,268 | Portuguese in Angola | Spoken by a significant majority as a native language |
| Mozambique | 31,255,435 | Portuguese in Mozambique | Spoken by a significant minority as a native language |
| Portugal | 10,305,564 | Portuguese in Portugal | Spoken by the vast majority as a native language |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1,967,998 | Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau | Spoken by a significant minority as a native language |
| Equatorial GuineaA | 1,402,985 | Portuguese in Equatorial Guinea | Spoken by a small minority as a second language |
| East Timor | 1,318,442 | Portuguese in East Timor | Spoken by a significant minority as a second language |
| MacauB | 649,342 | Portuguese in Macau | Spoken by a small minority as a native language |
| Cape Verde | 555,988 | Portuguese in Cape Verde | Spoken by the majority as a second language |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 219,161 | Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe | Spoken by the vast majority as a native language |
| Total | c. 293 million | Community of Portuguese Language Countries |
Notes
- A Equatorial Guinea adopted Portuguese as one of its official languages in 2007, being admitted to CPLP in 2014. The use of the Portuguese language in this country is limited. However, a Portuguese-based creole language, Annobonese Creole, is used, mainly on islands of Annobón and Bioko.[citation needed]
- B Macau is not a sovereign nation. It is one of the two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China (the other being Anglophone Hong Kong, a former British colony).
Further Lusophone territories
- During the Portuguese rule of Goa from 1505 to 1961, Portuguese was the official language. The Goa, Daman and Diu Official Language Act, 1987 made Konkani in the Devanagari script the sole official language of Goa.[4] Goa is thus not included here.
- 15% of Uruguay's population speaks Portuguese (in the northern regions near Brazil) as a native language, though it is not an official language. This makes Portuguese the second-most-spoken language of Uruguay.
- Linguists such as Lindley Cintra and Teixeira de Pascoaes argue that Galician, spoken in Galicia, is merely a dialect of Portuguese rather than an independent language; this would make northwestern Spain a part of the Portuguese-speaking world.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "lusophone, adj". OED Online. Oxford University Press. September 2014. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
- ^ a b "The World Factbook: Languages". CIA.gov. Retrieved 19 January 2016.[dead link]
- ^ a b "The World Factbook: Ethnicity Notes". CIA.gov. Retrieved 19 January 2016.[dead link]
- ^ . 24 July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
External links
- Words Without Borders explores Lusophone literature in translation
- Flavours of Lusophony (in Portuguese)