Ceylon Dutch creole

This article is translated from the corresponding article at Dutch Wikipedia.

Ceylon Dutch was a Dutch-based creole language that is almost extinct. It was spoken on the island of Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka, which from 1658–1796 was a Dutch colony.

History

When the Dutch conquered Ceylon from the Portuguese, Portuguese was a recognised language on the island. It was however, a Portuguese Creole because it intermixed with native languages. When the Dutch language was introduced, it also mingled with Portuguese, indigenous and English influences. Although this language is no longer spoken, there are Dutch influences found in the Sinhalese and Tamil languages. There is also a portion of the Sri Lankan population with Dutch surnames, often people of mixed Dutch and Ceylonese heritage, who are known as Burghers.