Many literary works written in the last century by European and American authors contain the word "Creole". This leads many to believe that the Creoles are an extinct race of people or an unknown people in wide circles. Who are the Creoles really? What is the history of their origin? Does this people have their own language and signs of their own, Creole, culture? In this article we will try to answer the question: "Creole - who is this?" Let's try to reveal all the secrets of this people.
Who are Creoles?
According to the accepted definition, Creoles are people born in a foreign country. In a word, a Creole is a foreigner who has external features unusual for a particular state. In order to be called a Creole, a person must be born not in his native state, but in foreign lands. By the way, the descendants of the British and Portuguese, who were among the first to arrive on the American continent, were considered to be such at one time. In Brazil and Mexico they are also called chapetons and gapuchins.
In Alaska, it is still believed that the Creole is a descendant of Russian settlers and representatives of the localpopulation (Aleut, Eskimo or Indian). In Latin America and Africa, they include the descendants of black slaves, as well as people born from mixed marriages of Africans and Europeans.
Creoles, whose photos clearly testify to their bright appearance, borrowed thick wavy or completely curly hair, swarthy or yellowish skin tone from South American and African ancestors. It is worth noting that Creoles are very beautiful, flexible and mobile. Men are also not inferior to them in this.
The origin of the word "Creole"
It's time to figure out where the word "Creole" came from. This word, according to linguistic expertise, was borrowed by the French from the Spaniards. Criollo originally meant native, native. How did this definition come to be used in relation to all persons who were born in one of the colonized countries from mixed marriages? After all, initially it was applied only to representatives of indigenous peoples. Unfortunately, no reliable answer to this question has yet been found.
Creoles and culture
There is no Creole culture as such, however, the manner of singing and performing musical works in groups consisting of Creoles is very peculiar. Most of the motives are very rhythmic and melodic. Few people don't want to dance while stroking the brightly dressed Creole dancers. Creole musicians prefer the jazz style. Depending on the place of residence and origin, such groups contribute to their workscertain motifs: African, Oriental or Indian.
Creoles are quite often mentioned in literary works, where they are mostly characterized as positive or rather cunning characters. Often the main characters of such works fall in love with Creole beauties. But the most famous character is the Ursky Creole from Alexander Rudazov's novel "The Archmage", which, it should be noted, does not actually belong to this nationality.
Do Creoles have their own language?
Being born in a foreign country, the Creoles quite easily perceived the language. It should be noted that there is a Creole language, which is recognized as the state language in Haiti, Seychelles and Vanuatu. In the third quarter of the 20th century, linguists counted about 130 dialects of the Creole language, 35 of which were formed on the basis of English, more than 20 - on the basis of several African dialects, about 30 - on the basis of French and Portuguese. In addition, there are a huge number of dialects using Italian, Spanish, German, Japanese and even Russian as the basis. This diversity is due to the fact that during the colonization, representatives of the Creole people began to adapt European and other languages for more convenient communication with the colonizers. It is noteworthy that, unlike many other languages, Creole does not contain articles, does not separate nouns by gender, but verbs by conjugation. The spelling of the Creole language is different in that it hasthere is a rule to write the word as you hear it.
