Macanese Portuguese - Patua

[zhaoyun]

Patua is a Portuguese pidgin dialect formed in Macau and mostly spoken by the small Macanese community, descendents of Chinese-Portuguese admixture and or the local Cantonese associated with the Portuguese administration of Macau. It is a dying language but there are still some hardcore adherents to it. It is a major part of Macau's identity.

Here are some videos in Patua. I wonder how if the Portuguese speaking members here can understand it.

[Bell Beaker]

lol it's a funny dialect. But it's strange as fuck. Don't consider it Portuguese.

[zhaoyun]

lol it's a funny dialect. But it's strange as fuck. Don't consider it Portuguese.

I recognize some Cantonese words mixed in, but most of it is Portuguese. Can you understand most of it?

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

It is somewhat understandable. At least more understandable to me than Cape-Verdean creole. I think any Portuguese could have a basic conversation with them and understand each other but something more detailed or complex than that would be a struggle.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

I recognize some Cantonese words mixed in, but most of it is Portuguese. Can you understand most of it?

On the song I can understand 60% of it I would say and some parts where you don't fully understand some words you can make some sense out of it anyway.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Patua is definitely more Portuguese influenced than Cantonese nevertheless from what I've heard in those two videos. A Cantonese speaker will probably understand less of it than a Portuguese speaker.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau, Não Há Outra Mais Leal

City of the Name of God of Macau, There Is No Other More Loyal

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Interestingly I was reading that it also uses Malay and Sinhalese words.

[zhaoyun]

Interestingly I was reading that it also uses Malay and Sinhalese words.

Probably for the names of certain foods or items that were traded.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Probably for the names of certain foods or items that were traded.

From what I understood the influence came mostly from Portuguese Indian and Malayan colonies travelers that went to Macau.