Macanese fowk

The **Macanese fowk** (; , "native-born Portuguese fowk") or semply the **Macanese fowk** refers tae an ethnic group whilk oreeginatit in Macau syne the 16t century, consistin maistly o fowk wi some Portuguese ancestry.

## Cultur
Historically, mony ethnic Macanese spake Patuá, whilk is a Portuguese-based creole leid an nou virtually extinct.  Mony are fluent in baith Portuguese an Cantonese. The Macanese haes preservit a distinctive Macanese cuisine.

## History
### The Portuguese Period
Portuguese cultur dominates the Macanese, but Cheenese cultural patterns is significant an aw. The commonty actit as the interface atween rulin colonial govrenment - Portuguese frae Portugal wha kent few things anent Cheenese - an the Cheenese feck o the population (95%) wha equals-aquals kent few things anent the Portuguese. Maist Macanese haed paternal Portuguese heritage till 1974. Some wis Portuguese men stationed in Macau as pairt o thair militar service. Mony steyed in Macau efter thair militar service's ish, mairryin Macanese weemen.

Antrin whiles did Chinese weemen mairy Portuguese initially, maistly weemen frae Goa, Siam, Indo Cheenae, or Malay, wis brides o the Portuguese men in Macau. Mony Cheenese became Macanese een bi convertin tae Catholicism, an haed nae forefowk frae the Portuguese, haein assimilatit intae the Macanese fowk syne thay wur rejected bi nan Christian Cheenese. The feck o mairriages atween Portuguese an natives wis atween Portuguese men an weemen o Tanka oreegin, wha wis conseedert the laichest cless o fowk in Cheenae an haed relations wi Portuguese sattlers an tarry-breeks, or laich cless Cheenese weemen. Wastren men lik the Portuguese wis refuised bi heich cless Cheenese weemen, who did no mairy foreigners. Leeterature in Macau wis written aboot luve affairs an marriage atween the Tanka weemen an Portuguese men, lik "A-Chan, A Tancareira", bi Henrique de Senna Fernandes.

Durin the late-nineteent century, an increasingly durin Salazar's fascist Estado Novo regime, the upbringin o maist Macanese fell alang the lines o the continental Portuguese - the onwaitin o Portuguese schuils, the pairticipatin in mandatory militar service (some focht in Africae) an practisin the Catholic faith. Sae racent as the 1980s, maist Macanese haednae receivit formal Cheenese schuilin an, hence, coud speak but no read or write Cheenese.  Spaken Cantonese wis lairgely familiar, an some spake the leid wi a regional accent (鄉下話) - acquired lairgely frae thair mithers or amahs.

Syne Portuguese dounset in Macau - datin frae 1557 - includit a strang Catholic presence, a nummer o Cheenese convertit tae Catholicism. A lairge nummer o Macanese can trace thair ruits tae thir New Christians.  Mony o thir Cheenese wis assimilate intae the Macanese commonty, drappin thair Cheenese surnames an adoptin Portuguese surnames.  In the collective Macanese fowk memory, thare is a little ditty aboot the parish o St. Lazarus Parish, cried 進教圍, whare thir Cheenese converts livit: 進教圍, 割辮仔, 唔係姓念珠 (Rosário)　就係姓玫瑰 (Rosa).  Hence, it is surmisit that mony Macanese wi surnames o Rosario or Rosa probably wur o Cheenese ancestry. Acause o this, thare is mony Eurasies cairryin Portuguese surnames Rosario, Rosa, an ithers that isnae Portuguese-bluidit mey be mistaen bi ithers as Portuguese-bloodit. A veesit tae the St Michael the Archangel Cemetery (Cemitério São Miguel Arcanjo), the main Catholic cemetery naur the St. Lazarus Parish, wad reveal gravestanes wi a hale spectrum o Cheenese an Portuguese heritage: Cheenese wi Portuguese baptised names wi or athoot Portuguese surnames, Portuguese mairit wi Cheenese Catholics, an sae on.

The mid-twintiet century, wi the ootbreak o the Seicont Warld War in the Paceefic an the Republic o Cheenae's place o haud in Taiwan, saw the Macanese population surge throu the re-integration o twa disparate Macanese commonties: the Hong Kong Macanese an the Shanghai Macanese. Wi the Japanese invasion o Hong Kong in 1941, the Macanese population, joukin the occupation, makkit its wey tae Macau as refugees. Thir Macanese, includin mony skeeled wirkers an ceevil servants, wis fluent in Inglis an Portuguese an brocht valuable commercial an technical skills tae the colony. Anither distinct group athin the Macanese commonty is the 上海葡僑; the descendants o Portuguese settlers frae Shanghai that actit as middlemen atween ither foreigners an the Cheenese in the "Paris o the Orient". Thay emigratit frae Shanghai tae Macau in 1949 wi the comin o the Reid Guard. Mony spoke but a bittock Portuguese an wis several generations remuivit frae Portugal, speakin primarily Inglis an Shanghainese, an/or Mandarin.  The Shanghai Macanese carvit a niche bi teachin Inglis in Macau. Durin Warld War II, Carnation Revolution, an afore an efter Macau's return tae Cheenae, Macanese ance again migratit tae Portuguese African colonies an Brazil, ither Laitin American kintras, Canadae, Unitit States, an Australie. Thaim wha returned tae Macau aften speak Inglis, Portuguese, Cheenese, Macanese, an African leids.

### The Cheenese Period
Beginnin wi the ither Portuguese colonies' post-1974 unthirldom an heistit bi Macau's backgiein tae Cheenae, the Macanese community began tae loss its Portuguese heritage. Mony Portuguese, Eurasians an Chinese wha wis leal tae the Portuguese left efter its return tae Cheenae. Amang thaim that sat on, mony bairns - includin thaim o jist Chinese strynd - switched frae Portuguese- tae Inglis-medium heich schuil eddication, parteecularly as mony o parents recognised the diminishin value o Portuguese schuilin. At the same time, Macanese o jist Portuguese strynd is forby learnin Cantonese an Mandarin fur tae can communicate tae non-Portuguese speakin Cheenese. Nouadays, maist Macanese - gif thay are still young eneuch - wad gang back tae study tae read an write Cheenese. Mony see a niche role for fluent speakers o Portuguese, Cantonese an Mandarin. In the 1980s Macanese or Portuguese weemen began tae mairy men wha identified thairsels as Cheenese.

## Macanese identity dispute
Thare is some dispute anent the exact meanin o "Macanese".  An essay bi Marreiros offers a braid spectrum o "Macanese types", rangin frae Chinese Christian converts wha bides amang the Portuguese tae the descendants o auld-established faimilies o Portuguese lineage; aw groups is integrate intae this historically legitimated group. As a general rule, it isnae a pynt o reference, housomiver for ethnic Chinese bidin an raised in Macau; thay eften identify thairsels as Cheenese or Cheenese frae Macau; "Macanese" is applee'd tae thae fowk wha haes been acculturated throu Western eddication an religion an is recognised bi the Macanese community as bein Macanese.

Tradeetionally, the basis for Macanese ethnic affiliation haes been the uiss o the Portuguese language at hame or some alliances wi Portuguese cultural patterns an nae solely determined alang hereditary lines.  Pina-Cabral an Lourenço suggests that this goal is reakit "namely through the Portuguese-language school-system". Eften, due tae the close proximity tae the Portuguese, the Macanese closely identify thairsels wi Portuguese nationals as opposned tae Chinese in the bi-cultural an bi-racial equation. In practice, houiver, bein Macanese is left up tae hou individuals categorize thairsels. Syne the re-integration o Macau wi the Fowk's Republic o Cheenae in late 1999, the traditional defineetions is in a state o re-formulation. Gien the shifting poleetical climate o Macau, some Macanese is comin tae recognise an identifee closer wi a Cheenese heritage.

This ambiguity micht be reduced bi the further adjective criuolo.

## Prominent Macanese

## Notes

## Bibliography
* Amaro, Ana Maria (1989). *O Traje da Mulher Macaense, Da Saraca ao Do das Nhonhonha de Macau*.  Macau: Instituto Cultural de Macau.
* Amaro, Ana Maria (1993).  *Filhos da Terra*.  Macau:  Instituto Cultural de Macau.
* Dicks, Anthony R. (1984).  "Macao: Legal Fiction and Gunboat Diplomacy" in *Leadership on the China Coast*, Goran Aijmer (editor), Lunnon: Curzon Press, pp.&nbsp;101–102.
* Guedes, João (1991).  *As seitas: histôrias do crime e da política em Macau*. Macau: Livros dae Oriente.
* Marreiros, Carlos (1994).  "Alliances for the Future" in *Review of Culture* No. 20 Julie/September (Inglis Edition), 162-172.
* Pina Cabral, João de (2002).  *Between China and Europe: Person, Culture and Emotion in Macao*.  New York an Lunnon:  Berg (Continuum Beuks) - Lunnon School Monographs in Social Antrhropology 74.
* Pina Cabral, João de, an Nelson Lourenço (1993).  *Em Terra de Tufões: Dinâmicas da Etnicidade Macaense*. Macau:  Instituto Cultural de Macau.
* Porter, Jonathan (1996). *Macau, the imaginary city: culture and society, 1557 to the present*.  Boulder: Westview Press.
* Teixeira, Manuel (1965).  *Os Macaenses*.  Macau: Imprensa Nacional.
* Watts, Ian (1997). "Neither Meat nor Fish: Three Macanse Women in the Transition" in *Macau and Its Neighbors toward the 21st Century*.  Macau:  Varsity o Macau.

## See an aw
*Eurasian (mixed ancestry)
*Kristang fowk

## Freemit airtins
* An article on Macanese on Asia Week 
*Macao: Mediterranean life in the East