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local Friday 15 december 2023

Papiamento words and phrases you may want to know!

(Oranjestad)—Aruba is a potting melt of dif- and is pronounced with a rounder “o” sounds, the shortened “tardi” is used to keep the
ferent nationalities, cultures and languages. like in the English word “cone”. “Ta bay” refers rhythm on the phrase. And the same could
Primarily for this reason, the average Aruban to how you are doing. be said for our last greeting of the day.
can understand and speak Dutch, English and 3. Bon nochi. You guessed it, “bon nochi”
Spanish relatively well. However, as much as When we say goodbye, we use the word “ayo” means “good night”. Just like “tardi”, “no-
we pride ourselves in being able to communi- (not like the Ayo Rock Formation, but also…kin- chi” is actually the shortened version of the
cate with almost everyone, we cherish our na- da?). We may also use “te oro”, which means word “anochi”.
tive tongue Papiamento above all else. Want to “see you later”.
learn some common words in our language? Yes…no…maybe?
Here are a few basic words and phrases that Greetings during the day The affirmative and negative expression is very
can get you a hat tip from an Aruban. Most, if not all, languages have different ways simple in Papiamento. Just like Spanish, our yes-
to greet according to the time of day, and Pa- es are “si” and our no’s are “no”. Pretty easy
When you arrive at the airport in Aruba, one of piamento is no different. Since Papiamento is right? If you want to gain some extra points from
the first words in Papiamento you may encoun- heavily influences from Portuguese and Span- younger locals, you can also say “se”, which is
ter is “Bon bini.” Bon bini in Papiamento means ish, some of these phrases may look very famil- a more casual affirmative used mostly by the
welcome, and is probably the most famous Pa- iar. younger generation. However, do note: some
piamento word for tourists. older generations may find this improper and
1. Bon dia is used in the morning, up to about not respectful, so keep that in mind.
Hi! Bye! noon. Bon dia essentially means good morn-
To be fair, there is no unique way to say “hello” ing. The word “bon” means “good”, and Thanks man…
in Papiamento. At least, not officially. We often while “dia” does not directly mean “morn- Lastly, a word that we can also say more often
just use the English “hello” or “hey”, or Dutch ing” in English, it is used often to refer to the is “danki”, which means literally “thank you”.
“hallo” to greet someone. We do however, morning time. “Danki” is derived from the Dutch word “be-
always follow it up with “con bay?” or “con 2. Bon tardi. In the afternoon to early evening dankt”. Though we don’t really have a transla-
ta?” Con bay is a shortened version of “con ta hours, we use “bon tardi” to greet people, tion for “I appreciate it” in English, we do use
bay?”, which essentially means “how are you?” which means “good afternoon”. “Tardi” ac- “masha danki” to convey the message. “Ma-
tually comes from the word “atardi”, which sha” means “a lot” or “very”, so “masha danki”
The word “con” in Papiamento means “how?” directly translates to “afternoon”. However, means “thank you very much”.q

Visit the natural bridges of Aruba!

(Oranjestad)—After you’ve many years. ral bridge in the Caribbean spite this, this site remained entrance.
visited the Alto Vista Church, at the time. For many years, a tourist attraction, with
the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ru- The bridge was formed dur- this site was also a frequently many visitors walking along While the natural bridge no
ins and the mini natural pool ing thousands of years, cut visited beach, as the bridge the coral cliffs of the bridge longer is functional, there is
that is located right next to and crafted by the wild had a small opening through to see the spectacular view now a smaller natural bridge
it, you’re next up around the waves that crash into the which the water would flow of the northern coastline and very close. This bridge is often
northern coast line must be coral stone walls of the into the tiny beach. the Caribbean Sea. Visitors called the “Baby Bridge” or
the Natural Bridge. Once the coast. Before its collapse, this can also still visit the souvenir “Daughter Bridge”. q
largest natural bridge in the bridge measured 30 meters in Unfortunately in 2005, the shop on the left of the bridge
Caribbean, this bridge has length and 7 meters in height, bridge collapsed, and the
been a tourist attraction for making it the biggest natu- little beach dried up. De-