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Forro Creole
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== History == São Tomé is an island of the Gulf of Guinea, discovered by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] in the 15th century. It was uninhabited at the time, but Portuguese settlers used the island as a center of the [[slavery|slave]] trade, and there was a need for slaves on the island. It has been theorised that since both parties needed to communicate, a [[pidgin]] was formed. The [[substrate languages]] were from the [[Bantu language|Bantu]] and [[Kwa language|Kwa]] groups. It is believed that this pidgin then became fixed ([[creole language|creolized]]) as it became the [[mother language]] of children born from Portuguese men and African women slaves. Mixed marriages were then encouraged by the [[Portuguese crown|Portuguese Crown]], for the sake of settlement. Later, because of [[Netherlands|Dutch]] and [[France|French]] pressure to gain the island, many Portuguese settlers left. Children of Portuguese and black women were, eventually, not considered African or slaves; some were considered full right [[Portugal|Portuguese]] citizens. Those mixed-race people that did not have the status of Portuguese citizens, those with darker skin, often gained a "forro" designation, because their Portuguese fathers did not want to enslave their children. The São Tomean Creole is mostly known as "Forro", the language of the freed slaves or Crioulo Santomense, not to be confused with [[São Tomean Portuguese]] (a variety and dialect of Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe). Portuguese is the main language for children until their early 20s, when they relearn Forro Creole. The rich São Tomean culture also preserves a unique mixture of Portuguese and African cultures. European Portuguese is mostly spoken in formal situations, in the media, business, education, judicial system and legislature, while Forro and Sao Tomean Portuguese are preferred for informal situations as a [[vernacular language]] in day-to-day life and daily activities, and [[code switching]] even occurs between Forro, standard European Portuguese, and São Tomean Portuguese in informal speech.
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