[Wikipedia-l] Request for creation of ... the surinamese thread

[Wouter Steenbeek]

>>No, it is NOT an acceptable name to use because other languages are
>>also spoken widely in Surinam such as
>>
> >Saramaccan,
>Is an inland language not commonly used outside the jungle areas that 
>Saramaccaners live in. Not a nationally widely spoken language
>
> >Aukan,
>Aucaners same situation as Saramacaners.
>
> >Guyanese,
>Definately not spoken in most of Surinam and as the name suggest it is not 
>a Surinamese language.
>
>>Javanese,
>>
>Only spoken by people of Indonesian background and as the name suggest it 
>is not a Surinamese language.
>
>>Chinese,
>>
>Only spoken by people of  Chinese background and as the name suggest it is 
>not a Surinamese language.
>
>>and Native American languages.
>>
>There are about 10.000 of those, they are not even acknowledged in the 
>Surinamese flag with its five points which stand for the five most 
>important  ethniticities.
>
>>These are just as much "Surinamese" as Sranan.
>>
>No they are not. Sranan is what binds most of the population together with 
>Dutch .... so what is next you are going to call  Moroccan a Dutch language 
>because people in the Netherlands speak Moroccan? Or Dutch a Thai language 
>because there are Dutch people in Thailand? All of these languages are not 
>Surinamese. They happen to be spoken in the country of Surinam yes. There 
>is but one Surinamese and that is Sranan Tongo.
>
>>So while "Sranan" does indeed mean "Surinamese", the name "Sranan" is also 
>>used in English to distinguish it from other languages of Surinam.
>>
>>
>Well I am not a native Oxford-English or American-English or whatever 
>English speaker but I still have my doubts about that.
>
I must say Walter is right in saying all of these languages do not qualify 
for the name "surinamese", and Sranan may. There is one other language that 
might, namely Sarnami (also meaning "Surinamese"), but that's an abbrevation 
of "Sarnami Hindi". However, we could better be as cautious as not to call 
Sranantongo Surinamese, for it could insult speakers of other languages. 
Just like "Filipino" or "Indonesian".

Wouter

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