Linguists are racing to document the world’s only German creole, which is spoken by only a few families living in Australia.

1. Race Is on to Record
Last German Creole
Language
BY GUMMI FRIDRIKSSON

2. German creole
Linguists are racing to document
the world’s only German creole,
which is spoken by only a few
families living in Australia.

3. Unserdeutsch
The language, called
Unserdeutsch, originated
in the eastern and
northern parts of Papua
New Guinea, which
Germans took control of in
the mid-1880s.

4. Unserdeutsch
The Germans set up a
colony there, and nuns
soon followed to establish
an orphanage for mixed-
race children of Germans
and others.

5. Unserdeutsch
While the children, who were
socially isolated, were taught
proper German, they
developed their own simplified
version in the dormitories. The
language, which evolved into
Unserdeutsch, survived for 100
years.

6. Unserdeutsch
After PNG’s independence 40
years ago, most Unserdeutsch
speakers moved to Australia,
and now about 100 people
who speak it fluently live
throughout the continent.

7. Linguists recently brought
together several Unserdeutsch
speakers, who sang old German
songs and talked about their
childhoods.

8. While linguists note that the
language, which shares features
with PNG pidgin, German, and
English, is dying, they are
recording it so that future
generations can better
understand its unique heritage.