Javindo

Javindo
RegionJava, Indonesia
Native speakers
10–99 (2007)
Dutch Creole
  • Javindo
Language codes
ISO 639-3jvd
jvd
Glottologjavi1237
ELPJavindo

Javindo, also known by the pejorative name Krontjong, is a Dutch-based creole language spoken on Java, Indonesia, such as Semarang. The name Javindo is a portmanteau of Java and Indo, the Dutch word for a person of mixed Indonesian and Dutch descent. This contact language developed from communication between Javanese-speaking mothers and Dutch-speaking fathers in Indo families. Its main speakers were Indo-Eurasian people. Its grammar was based on Javanese, and its vocabulary was based on the Dutch lexicon but pronounced in a Javanese manner. It shows simplification of morphological verb system from Javanese grammar such as merging verb class, disappearance of verbal subcategories.

It should not be confused with Petjo, a different Dutch- and Malay-based creole also spoken by Indo-Eurasians. With the loss of the generation that lived in the Dutch East Indies era, that language has almost died out, but it become identity for Indo descent. In contrast, the colonial society saw the creole languages as a corrupted Dutch which should be corrected as quickly as possible.

Comparison between Javindo and Petjo
Javindo Petjo
Actor vs non-actor strong preference for non-actor-oriented sentences
Lexifier language Dutch
Origin of the Speakers Semarang Batavia
Substrate language Javanese Batavian Malay
Speaker as actor indicator taq, tak, ta` ku-
Hearer as actor koq kau- / absent
Affixation by suffix lack of