Many literary works written in the past century by European and American authors contain the word "creole". This leads many to the idea that Creoles are a vanished race of people or an unknown people in wide circles. Who are creoles really? What is the history of their origin? Does this people have their own language and signs of their Creole culture? In this article we will try to answer the question: "Who is Creole?" Let's try to reveal all the secrets of this people.
What are creoles?
According to the accepted definition, people born in a foreign country are considered creoles. In short, Creole is a stranger with external features unusual for a particular state. In order to be called a creole, a person must be born not in his native state, but in foreign lands. By the way, the descendants of the British and Portuguese, who arrived among the first on the American continent, were considered to be such at one time. In Brazil and Mexico they are also called chapetons and hapuchins.
In Alaska, it is still believed that Creole is a descendant of Russian settlers and representatives of the local population (Aleut, Eskimo, or Indian). In Latin America and Africa, they include the descendants of black slaves, as well as people born from mixed marriages of Africans and Europeans.
Creoles, the photos of which clearly show their bright appearance, from the South American and African ancestors borrowed thick wavy or even curly hair, a dark or yellowish skin tone. It is worth noting that creoles are very beautiful, flexible and mobile. Men are also not inferior to them in this.
The origin of the word "creole"
It's time to figure out where the word "creole" came from. This word, according to linguistic expertise, was borrowed by the French from the Spaniards. Criollo was originally a native, native . How did this definition begin to be used in relation to all persons who were born in one of the colonized countries from mixed marriages? After all, initially it was applied only to representatives of indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, a reliable answer to this question has not yet been found.
Creoles and culture
As such, there is no Creole culture, however, the manner of singing and performing musical works in groups consisting of creoles is very peculiar. Motives for the most part are very rhythmic and melodic. Few people want to dance, stroking the brightly dressed Creole dancers. Musicians of Creole groups prefer the style of jazz. Depending on the place of residence and origin, such groups introduce certain motives into their works: African, Oriental or Native American.
Creoles are often mentioned in literary works, where they are mostly characterized as positive or rather cunning characters. Often the main characters of such works fall in love with beauties of creole. But the most famous character is Creole Ursky from the novel “Archmage” by Alexander Rudazov, which, it should be noted, does not really belong to this nationality.
Do creoles have their own tongue?
Being born in a foreign country, Creoles easily understood the language. It is worth noting that there is a Creole language, which is recognized as the state language in Haiti, Seychelles and Vanuatu. In the third quarter of the 20th century, linguists counted about 130 Creole dialects, 35 of which are based on English, more than 20 are based on several African dialects, and about 30 are based on French and Portuguese. In addition, there are a huge number of dialects using Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese, and even Russian as the basis. This diversity is due to the fact that during the colonization, representatives of the Creole people began to adapt European and other languages for more convenient communication with the colonialists. It is noteworthy that, unlike many other languages, Creole does not contain articles, does not separate nouns by gender, but verbs by conjugations. The spelling of the Creole language is different in that there is a rule in it to write the word as you hear it.