Fogo Creole is the name given to the variant of Cape Verdean Creole spoken mainly in the Fogo

Fogo, Cape Verde

Fogo is an island in the Sotavento group of Cape Verde. It is the most prominent of the group, rising to nearly 3,000 m above sea level at Pico do Fogo.-Geography:...

 of Cape Verde

Cape Verde

The Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...

. It has around 50,000 speakers or nearly 5% of Cape Verdean Creole speakers including the diaspora's second language speakers. It belongs to the Sotavento Creoles

Sotavento Creoles

Sotavento Creoles is the name given to the group of Cape Verdean Creoles spoken in the Sotavento Islands of Cape Verdean Islands.Some characteristics of Sotavento Creoles:...

 branch. The rankings of this form of Cape Verdean Creole is fourth after Santo Antão and ahead of Sal

Sal, Cape Verde

Sal is an island in Cape Verde. It belongs to the northern group of islands, called Barlavento. The island is composed by a single administrative division, the Sal municipality. The island is home to Amílcar Cabral International Airport, the main airport of Cape Verde.- Geography :The island is...

.

Characteristics

Besides the main characteristics of Sotavento Creoles

Sotavento Creoles

Sotavento Creoles is the name given to the group of Cape Verdean Creoles spoken in the Sotavento Islands of Cape Verdean Islands.Some characteristics of Sotavento Creoles:...

the Fogo Creole has also the following ones:

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting stâ before the verbs: stâ + V.
• The sound that originates from Portuguese /ɐ̃w/ (written ão) is represented by /ɐ̃/ instead of /õ/. Ex. coraçã /koɾɐˈsɐ̃/ instead of coraçõ /koɾɐˈsõ/ “heart”, mã /mɐ̃/ instead of mõ /mõ/ “hand”, razã /ʀɐˈzɐ̃/ instead of razõ /ʀɐˈzõ/ “reason”.
• The sound /l/ switches to /ɾ/ when it is at the end of syllables. Ex. ártu /ˈaɾtu/ instead of áltu /ˈaltu/ “tall”, curpâ /kuɾˈpɐ/ instead of culpâ /kulˈpɐ/ “to blame”, burcã /buɾˈkɐ̃/ instead of vulcõ /vulˈkõ/ “volcano”.
• The sound /ɾ/ disappears when it is at the end of words. Ex.: lugá’ /luˈɡa/ instead of lugár /luˈɡaɾ/ “place”, midjô’ /miˈdʒo/ instead of midjôr /miˈdʒoɾ/ “better”, mudjê’ /muˈdʒe/ instead of mudjêr /muˈdʒeɾ/ “woman”.
• The diphthongs (oral or nasal) are in general pronounced as vowels. Ex.: mã’ /mɒ̃/ instead of mãi /mɐ̃j/ “mother”, nã’ /nɐ̃/ instead of nãu /nɐ̃w/ “no”, pá’ /pɒ/ instead of pái /paj/ “father”, rê’ /re/ instead of rêi /rej/ “king”, tchapê’ /tʃɐˈpe/ instead of tchapêu /tʃɐˈpew/ “hat”.
• The pre-tonic sound /a/ is velarized near labial or velar consonants. Ex.: badjâ “to dance” pronounced [bɒˈdʒɐ], cabêlu “hair” pronounced [kɒˈbelu], catchô’ “dog” pronounced [kɒˈtʃo].