Macau | Report concludes survival of Patuá critically endangered

Macau (MNA) – Local creole language Patuá is considered to be ‘critically endangered’ in a study titled ‘Contact languages around the world and their levels of endangerment,’ authored by linguist Nala H. Lee of the National University of Singapore.

‘Critically endangered’ applies to those languages ‘only spoken among a limited subset of people from the grandparents’ generation or older,’ and is the state prior to ‘dormant’ or extinct.

In terms of number of speakers, the report reveals that there are around 50 patuá speakers and that the language is ranked as ‘severely endangered,’ being in a level 4 out of 5 on a scale of risks to the survival of the language and applicable to those under a hundred speakers.

Patuá is also considered ‘critically endangered’ regarding its evolution, with the evaluation considering that a ‘small percentage of the community speaks the language, and speaker numbers are decreasing very rapidly’.

The language is also ranked as ‘critically endangered’ regarding its domains of use,menaing that the language is ‘used in very few specific domains such as in ceremonies, songs, prayers and in limited domestic activities’.

The study’s certainty of its assessment of the current situation of Patuá in the list ranking is described as being 100 per cent certain of the language’s condition.