Bajan

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Barbadian Creole / Bajan
Spoken in Barbados
Total speakers —
Language family Creole language
  • English Creole
    • Atlantic
      • Eastern
        • Southern
          • Patois
            • Barbadian Creole / Bajan
Language codes
ISO 639-1 None
ISO 639-2 –
ISO 639-3 bjs
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Bajan (occasionally called Barbadian Creole[1] Bajan Patois[2]) or Barbadian Dialect[3], is an English-based creole language spoken on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Bajan uses a mixture of West African idioms and expressions along with British English to produce a unique Barbadian/Caribbean vocabulary and speech pattern. Bajan is similar and distinguishable from the dialects of neighbouring Caribbean islands, as many of the other Caribbean islands are based on Irish- or Scottish-based English pronunciation such as Jamaican Patois.

Bajan uses a mixture of British English and West African syntax, with much of the pronunciation of words sharing similarities with the lilt of the West Country dialects of England.[4] though it is becoming more American than British.[5] Due to emigration to Province of Carolina, Bajan has also influenced American English[6][7] and the Gullah language spoken in the Carolinas.[8] Regionally Bajan has ties to Belizean and Guyanese Creoles. Bajan was first created when captive West Africans were forcibly transported to the island, enslaved and forced to speak English, with an existing West African understanding of language semantics. Bajan later became a means of communicating without always being understood by the slave holders. Standard English is the proper grammar and proper English used by Bajans. Unlike other Caribbean creoles, Bajan is rhotic. Bajan has a strong tendency to realize word-final /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ]. Thus the Bajan pronunciation of start, [stɑːɹʔ], contrasts sharply with the pronunciation of other Caribbean speakers, [staːt] or [stɑːt] or [staːɹt].

The structure of Bajan is such that it can be spoken very quickly. In Bajan an entire sentence can be said in a shortened statement compared to standard English. For example, In Standard English the statement referring to a women standing close by could be said as "Look, she is standing over there." In Bajan one could simply say "Look/looka she dey." Sounds in standard English which slow down an individual in Bajan are usually rounded to allow it to be said quickly. Such as "tek" for take, "brek" for break, "choppa" for chopper, or "buss" for burst. Additionally just by slowing down the dialect can allow someone to hear the parts of speech more clearly.[citation needed]

The word Bajan is a Bajan contraction of the word Barbadian ("Bar-bayyd-ian"); however with the Bajan accent the word sounded more like Bar-bajan ("Bar-bayy-junn"), and eventually it was just shortened to Bajan (compare "Injun" for "Indian" and "Cajun" for Acadian). For a short time before and after independence from Britain, Bajan was a somewhat negative term used to mean an uneducated or illiterate Barbadian, but the term is no longer seen as such. Unlike Jamaica, Guyana or Trinidad, Barbados was the destination of few African-born slaves after 1800.[9] Thus African blacks became "Bajanized" relatively early on in the island's history. This tended to make them less resistant to local culture, with its Anglicised language, religion and customs.[9]

Today, Bajan is a more popular regional term for nationals of Barbados, in addition to the official name, which is Barbadian. In general, the people of Barbados speak standard British English on TV and radio, in courthouses, in government, and in day to day business, while the more relaxed accent of Bajan is reserved for less formal situations, in music, or in social commentary. Standard English is a secondary native tongue of all Barbadians, and is usually used when talking informally. Barbadians may opt to speak Bajan amongst themselves or when in a very relaxed setting. Bajan is a spoken dialect, without much of a standardised written form and it varies throughout the island. Written, spelling will vary widely from person to person. Bajan words and sentences presented below are largely spelt as they are pronounced.

Contents

[edit] Pronunciation

Like most Caribbean dialects and creoles, the th sound tends not to exist in Bajan and is replaced by d so that the = de; that = dat or dah; them = dem. Where th falls at the end of a word it is pronounced as an f as in teef or the cardinal directions of norf for north and souf for south. The word for you (plural) is wunna. Compare to Jamaican patois unnu / unna or Bahamian yinna).
Bajans tend to drop conjugated forms of the verb to be from sentences so that I am hungry becomes I hungry.

Questions are usually pronounced as a statement with a raised intonation; usually on the last word; to indicate that it is a question e.g. "Did you (plural) win the cricket match?" becomes Wunna win de cricket? or "Is that yours?" becomes dah is yours?

Habitual actions are usually indicated by the word does so that the following statement in standard British English "I go to church on Sundays" becomes I does guh church punna Sunduh/Sundie in Bajan dialect. It is quite common for this to be shortened to I's guh church pun Sunduh.

Past tense in Bajan is usually indicated by the verb plus a marker word eg. I eat all de food yestuhday = "I ate all of the food yesterday", where the word yesterday indicates that the action happened in the past.

The word gine (as in "going to") is usually used to mark the future tense e.g. I gine and eat = "I am going to eat".

Ain't (frequently shortened to ain') is used as a negative marker e.g. "I didn't do that" becomes I ain' do dat/dah. It is not uncommon for the I and the ain' to be pronounced in the often rapidly spoken Bajan dialect "Ah'n" i.e "Ah'n do dah" or "Ah'n able".Words are expressively and rawly pronounced. bajan Dialect is pronounced similarly to Jamaican. Below are a few ways in which some language blends are fused or changed completely.

  • "TH" as in 'Them' is pronounced "D", thus: 'Dem'
  • "TH" as in 'Think' is pronounced "T", thus: 'Tink'
  • "WN" as in 'Down' is pronounced "NG", thus: 'Dung'
  • In some words they do not pronounce the h sound
  • Sometimes an ending "T" is left off and words such as 'Best' sound like 'Bess'. Expect sounds like 'Expeck'; and 'Left' sounds like 'Leff'.

Examples of Bajan:

British Standard English Bajan word Variations Usage in a sentence
Give gih gi Gih dat to muh.
(Give that to me.)
Give me Gih me gimme, gimmuh Gimmuh dah dey so now!.
(Give me that now!)Referring to something which may be close by.
Give him gih he gi 'e Gih 'e de blaklead.
(Give him the pencil.)
Give her gih she gi she Gih she back she book.
(Give her back her notebook.)
Going Gine guh, gun, 'gin I 'gine watch muh progrum now nuh .
(I am going to watch my favourite television show right now.)
Me muh * gih muh back me blaklead.
(give me back my pencil.)

Don't even let yuh wind brush 'pun muh.
(When you pass don't brush against me.)
Make mek * I 'gine mek sum peas and rice.
(I am going to make some peas and rice.)
"Do you follow/understand?",
"stop-it!".		 nuh * Look nuh!
(Do you understand me?/ Behave yourself!)Depends completely on the context.


Nuh shares some similarities with the Canadian "eh" or Australian "ay". In Bajan, it can also mean "You better stop it right now!" or Can pertain to someone showing you something.
Break brek mash it up, mash up, brek up Cheese-don bread! Who mash up meh Playstaion tree!
(Oh man! who is it that broke/destroyed my Playstation 3!)
Take tek teif way, tek way, tek up, Don't teef my cyar! You hear wuh I tell u?
(Don't take my car anywhere! You understand me?)
Tek yuh hands off muh bag Tek yuh hand off of muh bag before I brek it! unrest ya hand, leave dat, put down dat, leff dat dey so. try an' tek yuh han' off muh bag befo I brek it/um!.
(You better take your hands off my bag before I break it for you.)
To eat (greedily) nyam licrish, yamm, yamm-it, yamm-it up, yamm-down, eat-off Ryan come long and nyam-off all de food 'bout hay bo (here).
(Ryan came by and scuffed down *all* of the food we had here.)

I gin yammmm' um dung bo.
(I am soo hungry I feel like I'm going to eat that whole thing now.)
Jook juk poke, jab, jook muh, stab I went ta de heartman anna get a juk pon muh arm.
(When I went to the doctor and he gave me an injection.)
It, it is um * Um, does be pon de fus Sunduh of de monf (month).
(It happens/is on the first Sunday of the month.)



Look um' dey.
(Look, it is right over there.)
Ghost/spirit Duppy
 Doan go in de canefield punna night or de duppy gine get u tail.
(Don't go into the canefields at night or the evil spirits will get you.)
On, Upon pun pon, 'pun, 'pun top De remote fuh/fi de TV 'pun top it or pon de night-stand.
(The Remote control for the television is on top of the TV or on the night-stand.)
Cannot, Can't cyann could-cyann, cyann do, cyann done, cyann do so, cyann get 'um done All dis time I hay so fussin' wid de jar and me cyann get 'um open atall.
(I was here struggling to open the jar all of this time and I really can't open it.)
Can, Could cud cudda, cud do so, get 'um do I fix de computer ready, it did real easy denn, to get 'um do.
(I already fixed the computer and actually it was real easy for me to get it done.)
Underneath, Under on-neet unduhneef, look under, down bottom, effin you wan eat now, get yuhself a placemat from on-neet the otha one inna de corna.
(If you want some food to eat now, get a placemat from underneath the other ones in the corner.)
Something sumting sumting, sumfin, suh'in, sa'in If yuh ain' belief wat she sayin correct, why yuh nah' say sumting, nuh? chaaa
(If you didn't believe that she was telling you the truth, why didn't you confront her then?)
Who is it/that? Who de body is? who dah?, who's dah?, who's you? Who's dah? She looking real sweet ya!
(Who is that?! She is looking really attractive.)

Wait, I never see he before, who is da body?
(Hold on, I never saw that person before, who is that?)
Whose? Who one da is? who? Who bag dis pon de tabler?
(Whose bag is this on the table?)

You see da cute dog? Who one da is? (Whose dog is that that we saw?)
Work, Working wuk, wukkin * I juss come from wuk so I gine' de gym.
(I just finished at work, so I'm getting ready to go to the gym.)
Nothing nuffin or nuttin nain ain' nuffin hey fi yuh.
(There is not a thing here for you.)
Oh wow!, WOW! wuh loss wuh-lord, wuh-lawd, woi, wah, oh lordy Wuh loss, de rain fallin real hard!
(Oh wow! It is really raining hard!)
You (plural) Wunna wanna, y'all one ah wunna (One of you's/yall's)
(you and the other people with you).
Am Not Ain't I ain' gine' nuh-way!
(I am not going anywhere.)

[edit] Proverbs

Bajan is peppered with a number of colourful proverbs and sayings that have been passed down through the generations. These are just a few examples below:

Proverbs Meaning
De higha de monkey climb tree, de more 'e show 'e tail. The more you show off the more you show your faults.
The more successful someone becomes the more they will show their true colours.
Gol' (gold) teet (teeth) doan suit hog mout (mouth). Fancy things don't suit those that aren't accustomed to them.
Cat luck ain' dog luck. What one person may get away with may cause problems for another.
Wuh ain' see you, ain' pass you. Just because you got away with something so far does not mean that it won't catch up with you later.
Ef greedy wait hot wud (would) cool. Patience will be rewarded.

[edit] African words in Bajan

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According to Ethnologue.com Bajan has "fewer than 20 lexical items that are traceable to an African origin".[5]

  • wunna - You all from the Igbo word unu, which means You (Plural)
  • Cou-Cou - Part of the local national dish, but comes from "Fou Fou" in Africa.
  • nyam- (Pronounced "ng-yam") or "Yamm--") which means to eat ravenously or greedily, as in, "Don't yamm- the food like that boy!" - In Manjaku (west-African language spoken in Guinea-Bissau) and in Pullar (the language spoken in many countries in Africa) it means to chew.

[edit] Body expression

Like many of the other English-based dialects around the Caribbean region, Bajans can be expressive by using their bodies when communicating. The lips, hands, feet, tilt of the head, or other gestures can explain a situation almost as straightforwardly as the dialect. For example in local custom, if someone sucks air through their teeth in a short but loud burst (called a "stupse" "stupes", a "schupse", or "chupsin one's teeth" locally), and it is directed at someone or something, that is the sign of annoyance or the equivalent of saying that someone is a fool, or what they saying is mere foolish talk. This can also be done by the rolling of the eyes away from someone while in communication or flinging a hand at them in a shooing manner.

Bajans can also tend to be expressive with their hands when in discussion. For example, there can be a tendency when in an intense discussion to punctuate a sentences or points by someone slapping the back of ones hand in the other hand to forcefully carry across a point.

[edit] Further reading

  • A~Z of Barbados Heritage, by Sean Carrington, Macmillan Caribbean - Macmillan Publishers Limited Press, 2007, paperback, ISBN 0-333-92068-6.
  • Notes for: A Glossary of Words and Phrases of Barbadian Dialect, by Frank A. Collymore, Second Edition - Advocate Co. Limited Press, 1957, paperback.
  • From Bajan To Standard English, by Jerome Davis [10]
  • Barbadian Dialect Poetry, by Kathleen Catford[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "ISO code EN". Ethnologue. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_iso639.asp?code=en. Retrieved 2008-07-21. 
  2. ^ "MARKET VENDOR: A brief guide to Bajan patois". Nation Newspaper. http://www.nationnews.com/story/market-vendor-june-10-copy-for-web. Retrieved 2009-06-11. 
  3. ^ "What is the official language of Barbados?" The Barbados Ministry of Tourism
  4. ^ Surf Nation, Alex Wade, Simon and Schuster, 2008: The Bajan accent is a curious mix of Geordie and West Country sounds
  5. ^ a b ethnologue.com - "Barbadian Creole English"
  6. ^ Barbados Tourism Enclopaedia
  7. ^ New York Times - The Buried History of America's Largest Slave Rebellion and the Man Who Led It
  8. ^ Carrington, Sean (2007). A~Z of Barbados Heritage. Macmillan Caribbean Publishers Limited. pp. 113, 114. ISBN 0-333-92068-6. 
  9. ^ a b Radula-Scott, Caroline, ed. (2000-02-25) [1986] "Features: All o' we is Bajan" Insight Guide BarbadosInsight Guide (3rd ed.)APA Publications Pte. Ltd.p. Pg. 58ISBN 9812340671 
  10. ^ Website of author Jerome Davis, former Barbadian Consul to Canada
  11. ^ COMMON SENSE & EVIDENCE: The art of Bajan dialect, Nation Newspaper

[edit] External links

[edit] Learn Bajan

[edit] Audio

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Caribbean English-based creole languages
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