Kristang language

Papia Kristang or Kristang is a creole language spoken by the Kristang, a community of people of mixed Portuguese and indigenous Malay ancestry, chiefly in Malacca, Malaysia, Singapore and Perth, Australia.

In Malacca, the language is also called Cristão, Portugues di Melaka ("Malacca Portuguese"), Linggu Mai ("Mother Tongue") or simply Papia ("speak"). In Singapore, it is generally known as Kristang, where it is undergoing sustained revitalisation.

In Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010; formerly the Red Book of Endangered Languages) published by UNESCO, Kristang is classified as a "severely endangered" language, with only about 2,000 speakers. Up to 2014, linguists concerned with Kristang have generally accepted a combined speaker population of about 1,000 individuals or less. The language has about 750 speakers in Malacca and another 100 in Singapore. A small number of speakers also live in other Portuguese Eurasian communities in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and in diaspora communities in Perth (Western Australia), Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.