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Sarnámi Hindustáni (Sarnami Hindustani, Surinamese Hindustani, Sarnami, Hindustani, Hindoestaans) is an Indo-Aryan koiné language and the Surinamese variety of Caribbean Hindustani. The language originated from a mixture of the various languages ​​and dialects spoken by British Indian indentured labourers, mainly Bihari and Eastern Hindi languages, specifically Bhojpuri, Awadhi, and to a lesser degree Magahi. It also contains Influence and vocabulary taken from Dutch, English, and to a lesser extent Portuguese and loanwords from other Surinamese languages like Sranan Tongo.

Sarnami is considered to be the mother tongue of the Indo-Surinamese people and is mainly spoken in the Nickerie and Saramacca districts of Suriname, and due to migration in the Netherlands, French Guiana and eastern Guyana.

Origins

The word Sarnami literally means Surinamese. The name Sarnami Hindustani was first used in 1961 by Jnan Hansdev Adhin.

The language emerged mainly through the mixing of different dialects or language variants from Northern India and Nepal, the areas from which the approximately 34,000 indentured labourers were brought to Suriname between 1873 and 1916 by the Dutch colonial government, to replace the African slaves who had been freed.

Usage

Sarnami is the third-most spoken language in Suriname and the mother tongue of approximately 500,000 of the Surinamese diaspora. Sarnami is also spoken by many immigrants in the Netherlands. Outside Suriname, other variants of Caribbean Hindustani are also spoken by Indo-Caribbean people in other Caribbean countries.

Hindustani (Standard Hindi-Standard Urdu) has also influenced the language and is seperately considered a prestige language within Suriname, Sarnami is generally seen as a vernacular.

The difference with Standard Hindustani is mainly in the grammar. Sarnami, does not have the two cases of Hindi. An influence from Dutch on Sarnami grammar is, that the stem of the verb and the imperative mood are the same, meaning the syntax of the two languages ​​is almost the same.

Literature

The first major Indo-Surinamese intellectual was Munshi Rahman Khan, with other major ones including Jit Narain, Rabin Baldewsingh, Chitra Gajadin, Cándani, Bhai, Raj Mohan and more.

Music

Baithak Gana is the primary form of music where Sarnami is used. It is also used for other forms of music including folk music, classical music, bhajans and qawwali's.

See also

• Indo-Surinamese people
• Caribbean Hindustani
• Fiji Hindi

Footnotes

1. Bhojpuri is descended from Magadhi Prakrit and Awadhi is descended from Ardhamagadhi Prakrit
2. Bhojpuri is descended from Magadhan Apabhraṃśa and Awadhi is descended from Ardhamagadhi Apabhraṃśa
3. Only Bhojpuri is descended from Abahattha, not Awadhi. Awadhi comes straight from Ardhamagadhi Apabhraṃśa
4. Nastaliq calligraphic hand, Urdu alphabet

References

1. "Script".
2. DBNL. "Sarnami, De talen van Suriname, Eddy Charry, Geert Koefoed, Pieter Muysken". DBNL (in Dutch). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
3. Suriname. "Suriname - Paramaribo". suriname.nu (in Dutch). Retrieved 2025-01-11.
4. "De geschiedenis van de Surinaamse Baithak Gana - OHM". www.ohmnet.nl. Retrieved 2025-01-11.

• Indian diaspora
• Indo-Caribbean culture
• Fusional languages
• Bihari languages
• Bhojpuri-language culture
• Languages of Suriname
• Central Indo-Aryan languages
• Awadhi language
• Languages written in Devanagari
• Languages of the Indian diaspora