Unserdeutsch

Unserdeutsch ("Our German"), or Rabaul Creole German, is a German-based creole language spoken primarily in Papua New Guinea and the northeast of Australia. It was formed among the New Guinean children residing in a German-run orphanage. Fewer than 100 native speakers survive today, 15 of whom live in New Britain.

Most speakers of Unserdeutsch are bilingual; speaking either Standard German, English, Tok Pisin or Kuanua. Most speakers are middle-aged or older, although younger members of the community may comprehend the language. The descendant of a pidginised form of Standard German which originated in the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain during German colonial times among the Catholic mixed-race (Vunapope) community. With increased mobility and intermarriage, it has been disappearing in the last few decades.

Unserdeutsch presumably influenced the development of its neighbour, Tok Pisin. Along with Namibian Black German in Namibia, it is one of only two German-based creoles.

Example

The Bahá\'í Short Obligatory Prayer in Unserdeutsch:

I bezeugen, O mein Gott, Du has geschaffen mi, fi erkennen du und fi beten zu du. I bezeugen in diese Moment mein Schwäche und dein Mach, mein Armut und dein Reichtum. Is ni ein anders Gott, nur Du, de Helfer in Gefahr, de Selbstbestehender.

German translation:

"Ich bezeuge, oh mein Gott, dass du mich geschaffen hast, dass ich dich erkenne und zu dir bete. Ich bezeuge in diesem Moment meine Schwäche und deine Macht, meine Armut und deinen Reichtum. Es gibt keinen anderen Gott, nur dich, den Helfer in der Gefahr, den, der von selbst besteht."

English:

"I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

Further reading

• Peter Mühlhäusler: Tracing the roots of pidgin German. In: Language and Communication , 4/(1)/1984, S. 27–57. ISSN 0271-5309
• Craig A. Volker: Rabaul Creole German Syntax. In: Working Papers in Linguistics, University of Hawaii 21/1989, S.153-189
• Craig A. Volker: The rise and decline of Rabaul Creole German, Language and Linguistics in Melanesia. In: John Lynch (ed.): Oceanic studies : proceedings of the first international conference on oceanic linguistics Australian Nat. Univ., Canberra 1996, ISBN 0-85883-440-5

External links

• Ethnologue report for Unserdeutsch
• Unserdeutsch homepage of the German Society for Endangered Languages

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