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local Thursday 26 OcTOber 2023

Papiamento words and phrases you may want to know!

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

Birds of Aruba

ORANJESTAD — On May 11th, 2010, the Aruba The Great Egret Cabochon
Birdlife Conservation was founded with the aim Serenity in Aruba’s National Park, a Great Egret In its living form of so much more value than
of protecting the biodiversity in general and flying in peace. When it is peaceful and quite, any gemstone. Aruba’s smallest and most mas-
birds in and around Aruba in particular. beautiful things start happening in nature. ter of flight. A top pollinator. A hovering Blenchi
inspecting the human who just entered his ter-
Among other things, the foundation will focus ritory.
on increasing the survival chances of species of Canadian in the house
wild birds by promoting their preservation and The breeding season is over and it’s getting
conservation. The foundation publishes the most pretty cold in North America. Shore birds have English: Blue-tailed Emerald (male) Dutch: Blau-
beautiful pictures of local birds on their social started moving southwards as early as July. This wstaartsmaragdkolibrie (mannetje).
media that show us the beauty of Aruba’s birds wetland beauty wants to keep its toes warm.
and nature in general. Aruba Today gives you Our Canadian friends know exactly where they Aruba’s to enjoy. Aruba’s to protect.q
a little peek with the following pictures and de- can do so best. A Greater Yellowlegs rediscov-
scriptions from the foundations Facebook page. ering Aruba’s Bubali Wetlands.