National Languages of São Tomé and Príncipe and Unified Spelling

Main Article Content

Ana Lívia dos Santos Agostinho
Manuele Bandeira

Keywords

creole, spelling, ALUSTP, national languages, Sao Tome e Principe

Abstract

In São Tomé and Príncipe (STP), three native languages are spoken (Santome, Lung'Ie and Angolar) in addition to Portuguese, the official language since 1975. In this multilingual environment, however, there were no official attempts to standardize orthographically these languages until the early 2000s. In 2010, the government approved the Unified Alphabet for Native Languages of São Tomé and Príncipe (ALUSTP) in order to represent alphabetically the languages Santome, Angolar and Lung'Ie. Also, due mainly to the incentive of Príncipe's Regional Government for the diffusion of culture of Príncipe Island, schools in Príncipe have been teaching Lung'Ie since 2009. Therefore, this chapter aims at discussing the two linguistic practices mentioned, considering both are part of an important stage for the implementation of political actions in multilingual settings. Besides, we will consider the Creole languages of STP from the historical and linguistic perspectives along with their unified orthography.

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