Race Is on to Record Last German Creole LanguageBY GUMMI FRIDRIKSSON

German creole

Linguists are racing to document the world’s only German creole, which is spoken by only a few families living in Australia. 

Unserdeutsch

The language, called Unserdeutsch, originated in the eastern and northern parts of Papua New Guinea, which Germans took control of in the mid-1880s. 

Unserdeutsch

The Germans set up a colony there, and nuns soon followed to establish an orphanage for mixed-race children of Germans and others. 

Unserdeutsch

While the children, who were socially isolated, were taught proper German, they developed their own simplified version in the dormitories. The language, which evolved into Unserdeutsch, survived for 100 years.

Unserdeutsch

After PNG’s independence 40 years ago, most Unserdeutsch speakers moved to Australia, and now about 100 people who speak it fluently live throughout the continent. 

Linguists recently brought together several Unserdeutsch speakers, who sang old German songs and talked about their childhoods. 

While linguists note that the language, which shares features with PNG pidgin, German, and English, is dying, they are recording it so that future generations can better understand its unique heritage.