Bahamian Creole
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| Bahamas Dialect English | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in |  Bahamas
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| Total speakers | 400,000 | |
| Language family | Creole language
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1 | None | |
| ISO 639-2 | none | |
| ISO 639-3 | bah | |
Bahamian (simply known by its users as dialect) is spoken by approximately 400,000 people in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Variations exist between the creole spoken on various islands, villages or communities on islands. Bahamian is spoken by both white and black Bahamians, although in slightly different forms. Bahamian also tends to be more prevalent in certain areas of the Bahamas, such as the Family Islands, among Bahamians with limited education, and in situations of heightened emotion.[citation needed]
Bahamian also shares similar features with other Caribbean English creoles, such as Jamaican Creole, Bajan, Trinidadian Creole and Virgin Islands Creole. There is also a very significant link between Bahamian and the Gullah language of South Carolina, as many Bahamians are descendants of slaves brought to the islands from the Gullah region after the American revolution.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Grammar
Pronouns in Bahamian are generally the same as in Standard English. However, the second person plural can take one of three forms:
- yinna,
- y'all or
- all a ya
Possessive pronouns in Bahamian often differ from Standard English with:
- your becoming you or ya
- his or hers becoming he or she
- our becoming we; and
- their becoming dey.
For example, das ya book? means 'is that your book?'
In addition, the possessive pronouns differ from Standard English:[citation needed]
| English | Bahamian |
|---|---|
| mine | mines |
| yours | yorns (s.) |
| yinnas (pl.) | |
| his | he own |
| hers | she own |
| ours | we own |
| theirs | dey own/des |
When describing actions done alone or by a single group, only..one is used, as in only me one sing ('I'm the only one who sang') and only Mary one gern Nassau ('Mary was the only one who went to Nassau')
[edit] Verbs
Verb usage in the Bahamian differs significantly from that of Standard English. There is also variation amongst speakers. For example, the word go:
1) I'm going to Freeport:
- I goin ta Freeport
- I gern ta Freeport
- I gun go Freeport
- I gin go Nassau
- I gwine George Town
2) I am going to cook
- I ga cook
- I goin cook
- I gern cook
- I gern go cook
- I gwine cook
Similarly, verb "to do" has numerous variations depending on tense and context:
- I dis eat conch erry day ('I eat conch everyday')
- Wot you does do? ('what kind of work do you do?')
- "he gone down so" (used while pointing in a direction,means that is where the person went).
In the present tense, the verb "to be" is usually conjugated "is" regardless of the grammatical person:
- I am – I is
- You are – you is
- We are – we is
- They are – dey is
The negative form of "to be" usually takes the form "een" I een gern ('I am not goin')
While context is often used to indicate tense (e.g. I drink plenny rum las night ('I drank a lot of rum last night'), the past tense can also be formed by combining "did", "done", "gone", or "been" with the verb:
- She tell him already (She already told him)
- I done told you
- He gone tell her she was fat ('he told her she was fat')
- Why you gone do dat? ('why did you do that?')
- I been Eleuthera last week ('I was in Eleuthera last week')
[edit] Pronunciation
There are many lexical items that come from English, and although many sounds remain the same, there are a few important details about Bahamian pronunciation. Most notably, there are no dental fricatives and English loanwords are usually pronounced with /d/ or /t/ as in dis ('this') and tink ('think').
[edit] Selected words and phrases
- asue or asue draw: a form of lottery traced to a Yoruba custom; similar schemes are common in other Caribbean countries, eg. the susu in Barbados.
- Conchy Joe: a white Bahamian with connotations of poverty.
- chal: a form of address used almost exclusively by women. From English child.
- dat ain no tru or dine no tru: that is not true
- cut eye: to glare at someone and look away swiftly, blinking the eyes firmly.
- God spare life: similar to 'God willing'.
- jungaliss: derogatory term someone uncouth.
- mudda sick (dred) or muddos: an expression of disbelief, or after a mistake has occurred.
- buhy or bey: an occasional form of address. From English boy.
[edit] Diffrences with English
| Standard British English | Bahamian Creole | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| must be | musse | She musse vex
(She must be mad) |
| going | gern | I gern ta da store
(I am going to the store) |
| child | chile | |
| you all | yinna | Yinnas bedda stop
(You all better stop) |
| Thuersday | Tursdee | She comin home Turdee
(She is coming home Thusrday |
| thiry | tirty | Dats tirty apple
(Thats thirty apples) |
| his | he own | Dats he own
(That's his) |
| ghost | jumbey | Don't tink bout da jumbey
(Don't think about the ghost) |
| bottom | boonggy | She get big boonggy
(Her bottom is hudge) |
| argue | argie | She like ta argie ay
(She likes to argue a lot) |
| bold | biggety | She biggety ay
(She is very bold) |
| caucasian | conchy joe | Shes a conchy joe ay
(She is white!!!) |
[edit] Bahamian Proverbs
- "Hog know where ta rub he skin":
- A biggedy (bossy) person who knows exactly who they can and cannot bully.
- "Fattening frog for snake":
- Taking care of a woman only for a next man to enjoy her
- "Where you catch your cold you blow your nose":
- Where ever you get in problems go back there.
- "Fisherman don’t smell he own basket":
- You could never see your own wrong doings.
- "Ya ca give a man a fish,ya feed him for a day: but if ya teach a man ta fish ya feed him for a lifetime"
- When someone does'nt know how to do something, show them how to do it.
[edit] Further reading
- Holm, John A. and Alison Watt Shilling Dictionary of Bahamian English (Lexik House: Cold Spring, New York: 1982) ISBN 0936368039
[edit] See also
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