PAPIAMENTU

By the end of the 17th century, the five basic linguistic ingredients were in place for the birth of Papiamentu: Amerindian, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, and several African languages. The first reference to the language dates back to 1704, when Father Schabel made reference to an ‘español bastardeado’ (bastardized Spanish) spoken in Curaçao. The first use of the name of the language as such appeared in 1805.