Portuguese-based creole languages meaning "in" and/or "on", which would come from the Portuguese contraction "na" meaning "in the" (feminine singular). The Portuguese word for "creole" is "crioulo", which derives from the verb "criar" ("to raise", "to bring up") and a suffix "-oulo" of debated origin. Originally the word was used to distinguish the members of any ethnic group who were born and raised in the colonies from those who were born in their homeland. In Africa it was often applied to locally born people of (wholly or partly) Portuguese descent, as opposed to those born in Portugal; whereas in Brazil it was also
Museum of the Portuguese Language the table is transformed into a screen that runs an animation about the origin and meaning of the given word. This was designed by Marcelo Tas with the support of etymologist Mário Viaro. This interactive display shows the various dialects throughout Brazil. Visitors can navigate the map and access audio clips from speakers in various states of the Federation. In this space there are triangular multimedia totems dedicated to the languages that formed and influenced Brazilian Portuguese, including two totems for African languages, two for South American languages, one for Spanish, one for English and French, one for immigrant languages