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Glite Dictionary
🌏 From Macau 🧑 A person from Macau 🗣️ A creole language
Macanese

Macanese

9.9
A Macau language that comes from Portuguese, called Patuá
  • noun
: macanés
  • Few young people today are fluent in Macanese, making efforts to preserve the language even more urgent.

Examples

  • The unique vocabulary of Macanese reflects influences from Portuguese, Cantonese, and other languages.

  • I learned some Macanese phrases during my trip to Macau.

  • Linguists recorded elders speaking Macanese to document the endangered Portuguese-based creole.

  • Can you speak Macanese fluently?

  • Linguists recorded elders speaking Macanese to document the endangered Portuguese-based creole language.

  • The unique vocabulary of Macanese reflects influences from Portuguese, Cantonese, and other languages.

  • Few young people today are fluent in Macanese, making efforts to preserve this creole language even more urgent.

Surface Forms

Macanese singular
Macaneses plural

Morphology

Macanese = Macau (transparent) = Macau + ese

The language name is formed by adding the familiar suffix '-ese' to 'Macau', a straightforward and common pattern for language/demonym names.

Etymology

Macanese also names the local spoken language of Macau, a mixed language based on Portuguese with words from Cantonese and other tongues, often called Patuá. Because this speech grew in Macau among people of mixed background, it is called Macanese, the 'Portuguese of Macau'.