Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Macao Creole Portuguese, Macaense, Macanese, Maquista, Makista, 澳門土生葡語
CLASSIFICATION		Pidgin or Creole, Portuguese based
ORTHOGRAPHY		Latin scripts
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		mzs
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		derived from Kristang, the Portuguese creole of Malacca

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Information from: “personal communication on Patuá” . David Bradley (March 31, 2014)

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~ 50
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
60,000 (10,000 in Macao, China; 50,000 elsewhere)
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
around fifty fluent speakers remains in Macao, mostly females againg over 50; also some semispeakers and passive learners

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

revitalization since 2007 through cultural activities such as food, song, music, dance and sport

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Cantonese; Portuguese; Mandarin; English

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

Cantonese as the local language in Macao and Hong Kong; Mandarin and Portuguese as the official languages of Macao; English being diglossic high in Macao and Hong Kong; some ethnic immigrants in Portugal; A majority of overseas ethnic Patuá living in US and Canada.

Scripts (Writing system)

Latin scripts

More on Orthography

well-documented: two dictionaries (Senna Fernandes & Baxter 2001; Alan Baxter 2004) and some other studies; has its written literature and song lyrics since 1950

PLACES: China; Portugal; US; Canada

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: overseas ethnic Patuá in US, Canada and Portugal; native speakers found mainly in Macao (China), with a few in Hong Kong (China)

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
8,500
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from Voegelin and Voegelin (1977). Data for the ethnic population was gathered in 1985.

PLACES: China;

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
50
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,000
Native speakers worldwide

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<50
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
>10,000
OLDER ADULTS
<50

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: Now the object of folkloristic interest among the remaining community; formerly also spoken by the Catholic Portuguese creole community in Hong Kong. For centuries of Portuguese rule, there was continuous decreolisation towards Portuguese. Speakers also use Cantonese Chinese, which is the source of substantial lexical material; there is also Malay and Indian lexicon reflecting the connection with Kristang and other Portuguese Creoles further west.

PLACES: China

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Macao

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Over 10,000 members of this group, but only about 5,000 remain in Macao since its return to China in 1999.

	March 31, 2014	personal communication on Patuá							David Bradley	David Bradley. March 31, 2014. "Personal Communication on Patuá."			60,000 (10,000 in Macao, China; 50,000 elsewhere)	~ 50	10-99	around fifty fluent speakers remains in Macao, mostly females againg over 50; also some semispeakers and passive learners	all domains	Cantonese; Portuguese; Mandarin; English	Cantonese as the local language in Macao and Hong Kong; Mandarin and Portuguese as the official languages of Macao; English being diglossic high in Macao and Hong Kong; some ethnic immigrants in Portugal; A majority of overseas ethnic Patuá living in US and Canada.	all	Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	revitalization since 2007 through cultural activities such as food, song, music, dance and sport	15	15		China; Portugal; US; Canada	overseas ethnic Patuá in US, Canada and Portugal; native speakers found mainly in Macao (China), with a few in Hong Kong (China)
3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub			50	10-99						Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)								22.1632,113.5464
	2007	East and Southeast Asia	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	349-424	C. Moseley	London & New York: Routledge			David Bradley	Bradley, David. 2007. "East and Southeast Asia." In Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, edited by C. Moseley. 349-424. London & New York: Routledge.	HHOLD	<50	>10,000	<50	10-99				Now the object of folkloristic interest among the remaining community; formerly also spoken by the Catholic Portuguese creole community in Hong Kong. For centuries of Portuguese rule, there was continuous decreolisation towards Portuguese. Speakers also use Cantonese Chinese, which is the source of substantial lexical material; there is also Malay and Indian lexicon reflecting the connection with Kristang and other Portuguese Creoles further west.		Critically Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15			15	Over 10,000 members of this group, but only about 5,000 remain in Macao since its return to China in 1999.	China	Macao
		World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.				4,000	1000-9999						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		8,500	4,000	1000-9999	Data for the number of native speakers comes from Voegelin and Voegelin (1977). Data for the ethnic population was gathered in 1985.					Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						China;

Patuá

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~ 50

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<50

Discussion

Patuá

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~ 50

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<50

Discussion

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