man

A man no ben man taki.


spun

Spun no de.


brada

→ Dutch: brada


oso

→ Dutch: osso

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH-?
Proto-Indo-European *-s?
Proto-Germanic *hūsą
Proto-West Germanic *hūs
Old English hūs
Middle English hous
English houseder.
Sranan Tongo oso
From earlier hoso, from English house.


gitara

Borrowed from Dutch gitaar or from English guitar.


boda

Probably borrowed from Spanish boda or less likely from Portuguese boda.


soso

Possibly from Igbo sọ̀ọsọ̀ and Yoruba ṣooṣo.


asema

Possibly from Fon azema (“vampire”), equivalent to ase + -man. Cf. Saramaccan azéma.

A vampire who has the appearance of an elderly person during the day and hides his or her skin at night when out for blood.


sensi

(numismatics) cent (a subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency, such as the former Surinamese guilder and the current Surinamese dollar)


paisa

From Caribbean Hindustani paisa, from Hindi पैसा (paisā) / Urdu پَیسَہ (paisa).


skoro

→ Dutch: skorro

→ Wayana: sikoro


skowtu

Aukan: sikowtu

Saramaccan: sikooútu

→ Caribbean Hindustani: skoutu, skotu

→ Dutch: skotoe

→ Trió: sikoutu


switismeri

From switi (tasty, pleasant) + smeri (smell).


kerkisma

(Christianity) believer (religious person)


ambeyri

From Dutch handbijl (hand= hand + bijl= axe).


lanti

Kwinti: lanti

Saramaccan: lánti

→ Caribbean Javanese: lanti

→ Trió: ranti

From Dutch land (“territory, territorial (colonial) government”).


sisa

From English sister or from Dutch zuster.


dala

(numismatics) a coin or banknote worth 250 cents; a rix-dollar


Anansi

From anansi, from Akan ananse (“spider”).

(mythology) Anansi (trickster spider in West African and Caribbean folklore)


buba

Aukan: buba

Saramaccan: búba

Compare Yoruba bùbá (“outer garment”), Baoule bui (“bark (skin)”), Kongo búuba (“outfit; small piece of cloth worn by a woman”), Mandinka bubá (“blouse”), Wolof buba (“garments”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Niger-Congo *-kwuba (“skin (bark, husk)”).

Pieri me na boeba, fo na ningre

1855 April 23, “De slavernij en hare gruwelen in Suriname [Slavery and its horrors in Suriname]”, in Algemeen Handelsblad, Amsterdam, page 4:


bangi

From English bank or borrowed from Dutch bank.

Tra sani di temreman ben e meki, na sani soleki tafra, sturu, bangi, nanga kisi pe sma ben poti sani na ini, èn sosrefi sani soleki doro, fensre, udu sroto, nanga postu fu poti na a plafon.

2008, “Yu ben sabi a sani disi?”, in Jehovah's Witnesses:

Other things that the carpenter used to make were things such as tables, chairs, benches, and boxes where people put things into, as well as such items as doors, windows, wooden locks, and beams to put on the ceiling.


agida

Probably from Ewe adzidá (“drum”), Fon àgiɖá (“drumstick”).

(music) agida (a conical bass drum two to three metres long and 40-50 centimetres in diameter, the sound of which resonates in the ground and is used in the Afro-Surinamese Winti religion to communicate with snake gods; it is played with both hands, with the player using a drumstick in one hand)


poku

→ Dutch: pokoe


duku

→ Caribbean Javanese: duku

→ Dutch: doekoe


beiri

Borrowed from Dutch bijl, from Middle Dutch bile.


kantoro

Aukan: kantoo

Saramaccan: kantoo

→ Caribbean Hindustani: kantoro

→ Wayana: kantolo


kukru

Aukan: kukuu

From English cook room. The final nasal is absent in Sranan due to lack of stress (compare uma, lusumbe, kakumbe).


Anitri

Borrowed from German Herrnhuter or Dutch hernhutter.

(Christianity) Moravian (adherent of the Moravian Brotherhood)


Dyu

Jew (adherent to Judaism; one who belongs to a Jewish (sub)culture)


srudati

→ Aukan: suudati


bereman

From bere (“womb, belly”) + -man (person suffix).


grebi

Aukan: geebi

Ef mi ben sab pe joe grebi de, / mi gran afo, di krodong tjari / kon na Sranan, / so farawe fjoe eegi doti, / biten tédei, Manspasidei / psa hondro jari di keti koti, / mi ben sa saka libi foto, / mi ben sa pari mi eegi boto / f'kon saka kiendie na joe sei.

1974 June 29, Fred W. Omskirk Sr., “Manspasi”, in Vrije Stem: onafhankelijk weekblad voor Suriname, page 1:

If I knew where your grave was, my grand ancestor, whom forced labour / brought to Suriname / so far away from your own native soil, / early today, Emancipation Day / hundred years after the chains were broken, / I would have left the city, / I would have paddled my own boat / to come and kneel by your side.

Den gorogoro de leki wan opo grebi, èn den tongo e taki soso lei. Den mofobuba e kiri yu leki te wan takru sneki beti yu.

2002, Nyun, Suriname: Wycliffe Bible Translators, Roma [Romans] 3:13:

Their throat is like an open grave, and their tongues speak only lies. Their lips kill you like when an evil snake bites you.


golu

(historical, numismatics) The Surinamese guilder (currency unit, abolished in 2004)

(historical, numismatics) The Dutch guilder (currency unit, abolished in 2002)


libimakandra

Calque of Dutch samenleving, equivalent to libi + makandra.

in libimakandra / d'e pré kibridóeman, / den ipokrit! / ma ten sa kon / te kibri-sí-man-kandra / sa leti.

1977, Henri Frans de Ziel, Ala poewema foe Trefossa [All poems by Trefossa], Paramaribo: Bureau Volkslectuur, page 80:

In society / they act as manipulators in the shadows, / the hypocrites! / but the time will come / when the candle of the people who see hidden things / will ignite.


Wiwirikampufesa

Calque of Dutch Loofhuttenfeest, itself a calque of Hebrew חג הסוכות (ḥaḡ has-sukkōṯ). Equivalent to wiwirikampu (“hut made of foliage”) + fesa (“feast”).


tibri

(historical, numismatics) stiver; a former pre-decimalization Surinamese coin worth eight doits


sren

Likely from Dutch schelling (“shilling”).

(historical, numismatics) A former pre-decimalization coin worth 5 Surinamese stivers


drisren

Compound of dri (“three”) + sren (“shilling; the amount of money equal to 8 cents”).

com

Mi sa gi joe aiti drisren nanga vijfi tiensensi.

1913, Jac. van Ginneken, Handboek der Nederlandsche taal. Deel 1. De sociologische structuur der Nederlandsche taal [Handbook of the Dutch language. Part 1. The sociological structure of the Dutch language], Nijmegen: L.C.G. Malmberg, page 269:

I'll give you eight quarters and five dimes.

(archaic, informal, numismatics) quarter (a coin worth 25 cents)


tinsensi

Compound of tin (“ten”) + sensi (“cent”).

(numismatics) dime (a coin worth 10 cents)


legre

Di a kon sabi taki Elisa ben de na ini a foto Dotan, a seni a legre fu Siria fu go teki en.

(Can we date this quote?), “Wan bigi legre di de leki faya”, in Jehovah's Witnesses:

He found out that Elisha was in the city of Dothan, and he sent the Syrian army there to capture him..


kownusturu

Compound of kownu (“king”) + sturu (“chair”).

com+

Na ini a fisyun disi wi e si taki a kownusturu fu Yehovah de na tapusei fu den kerub-engel.

(Can we date this quote?), “„Mi kisi wan fisyun fu Gado””, in Jehovah's Witnesses:

In this vision we see that Jehovah's throne is above the cherubs.


koranti

Aukan: kolanti

→ Caribbean Hindustani: koraanti

→ Caribbean Javanese: kranti

Borrowed from Dutch courant, an archaic form of krant (“newspaper”). Compare Afrikaans koerant and Indonesian koran.


ketre

→ Saramaccan: ketè


broki

Aukan: booki

Saramaccan: boóki

→ Caribbean Javanese: broki

→ Caribbean Hindustani: broki

dock (a structure attached to shore for loading and unloading vessels)


apteiki

Aukan: aputeiki


lontu-oso

Compound of lontu (“to confine”) + oso (“house”).


skowtu-oso

Compound of skowtu (“police”) + oso (“house”).


berpe

Aukan: belipe