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local Tuesday 19 March 2024

Papiamento words and phrases you may want to know!

(Oranjestad)—Aruba is a melting
pot of different nationalities, cul-
tures and languages. Primarily for
this reason, the average Aruban
can understand and speak Dutch,
English and Spanish relatively well.
However, as much as we pride
ourselves in being able to com-
municate with almost everyone,
we cherish our native tongue Pa-
piamento above all else. Want to
learn some common words in our
language? Here are a few basic
words and phrases that can get
you a hat tip from an Aruban.

When you arrive at the airport in
Aruba, one of the first words in Pa-
piamento you may encounter is
“Bon bini.” Bon bini in Papiamento
means welcome, and is probably
the most famous Papiamento
word for tourists.

Hi! Bye!
To be fair, there is no unique way
to say “hello” in Papiamento. At
least, not officially. We often just Greetings during the day noon”. “Tardi” actually comes cals, you can also say “se”, which
use the English “hello” or “hey”, or Most, if not all, languages have dif- from the word “atardi”, which is a more casual affirmative used
Dutch “hallo” to greet someone. ferent ways to greet according to directly translates to “after- mostly by the younger generation.
We do however, always follow it up the time of day, and Papiamento noon”. However, the short- However, do note: some older
with “con bay?” or “con ta?” Con is no different. Since Papiamento is ened “tardi” is used to keep generations may find this improper
bay is a shortened version of “con heavily influences from Portuguese the rhythm on the phrase. And and not respectful, so keep that in
ta bay?”, which essentially means and Spanish, some of these phras- the same could be said for our mind.
“how are you?” es may look very familiar. last greeting of the day.
3. Bon nochi. You guessed it, “bon Thanks man…
The word “con” in Papiamento 1. Bon dia is used in the morning, nochi” means “good night”. Lastly, a word that we can also
means “how?” and is pronounced up to about noon. Bon dia es- Just like “tardi”, “nochi” is ac- say more often is “danki”, which
with a rounder “o” sounds, like in sentially means good morn- tually the shortened version of means literally “thank you”. “Dan-
the English word “cone”. “Ta bay” ing. The word “bon” means the word “anochi”. ki” is derived from the Dutch word
refers to how you are doing. “good”, and while “dia” does “bedankt”. Though we don’t really
not directly mean “morning” in Yes…no…maybe? have a translation for “I appreci-
When we say goodbye, we use English, it is used often to refer The affirmative and negative ex- ate it” in English, we do use “masha
the word “ayo” (not like the Ayo to the morning time. pression is very simple in Papia- danki” to convey the message.
Rock Formation, but also…kinda?). 2. Bon tardi. In the afternoon to mento. Just like Spanish, our yeses “Masha” means “a lot” or “very”,
We may also use “te oro”, which early evening hours, we use are “si” and our no’s are “no”. Pret- so “masha danki” means “thank
means “see you later”. “bon tardi” to greet people, ty easy right? If you want to gain you very much”. q
which means “good after- some extra points from younger lo-

Prohibited by law: leaving the island with seashells, white sand or corals

(Oranjestad)—Often times, the cus- to pay before leaving. This is surely not
toms department at the airport inter- a pleasant experience for the tourist.
cepts many tourists leaving the island This also leads to a negative reaction
with seashells, white sand and/or cor- which can put our tourism in a nega-
als as souvenirs. tive light.
Though we love to accommodate our
Conforming to the international trea- visitors, let’s all give nature the respect
ty of CITES and our local law which it deserves by protecting our environ-
protects our Flora & Fauna, it is abso- ment. Stop collecting seashells, white
lutely prohibited to take any seashell, sand and corals from our shores and
sand and coral outside of Aruba. This stop buying or accepting these from
is to protect our environment. The local sellers or companies.
high number of seashells, coral and
amount of sand confiscated is very We want our future generations and
strange and it is suspected that our visitors to enjoy the beauty of our
own locals are the ones selling these beaches, shells and corals in a sus-
to the tourists, which is unacceptable. tainable way, without destroying or
Upon confiscation at the airport, you disrupting the Aruban ecosystem.
can also face a fine that they have Help us protect what is ours!q