Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c6.s2: Note B.—The Indo-Portuguese Patois

Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c6.s2

Language: English

Note B.—The Indo-Portuguese Patois

The phonetic changes of Indo-Portuguese are few. *F* is substituted for *p*; whilst the accent varies according to the race of the speaker.* The vocabulary varies, as regards the introduction of native Indian terms, from the same cause.

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Grammatically, this dialect is very singular:

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1. All traces of genders are lost—e.g. we find *sua povo* (Mat. i. 21); *sua nome* (Id. i. 23); *sua filho* (Id. i. 25); *sua filhos* (Id. ii. 18); *sua olhos* (Acts, ix. 8); *o dias* (Mat. ii. 1); *o rey* (Id. ii. 2); *hum voz tinha ourido* (Id. ii. 18).

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2. In the plural, *s* is rarely added; generally, the plural is the same as the singular.

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3. The genitive is expressed by *de*, which is not combined with the article—e.g. *conforme de o tempo* (Mat. ii. 16); *Depois de o morte* (Id. ii. 19).

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4. The definite article is unchanged in the plural: *como o discipulos* (Acts, ix. 19).

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5. The pronouns still preserve some inflexions: *Eu, mi*; *nos, nossotros*; *minha, nossos*, &c.; *tu, ti, vossotros*; *tua, vossos*; *Elle, ella, ellotros, elles, sua, suas, lo, la*.

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6. The verb substantive is (present) *tem*, (past) *timha*, and (subjunctive) *seja*.

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7. Verbs are conjugated by adding, for the present, *te* to the only form, viz., the infinitive, which loses its final *r*. Thus, *te falla*; *te faze*; *te vi*. The past is formed by adding *ja*—e.g. *ja falla*; *ja olha*. The future is formed by adding *ser*. To express the infinitive, *per* is added to the Portuguese infinitive deprived of its *r*.

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∗ Unfortunately, the translators of the Indo-Portuguese New Testament have, as much as possible, preserved the Portuguese orthography.