Bajan Creole

Barbadian Creole / Bajan /Bajan Patois
Native to	Barbados
Language family	Creole language and Patois English Creole Atlantic Eastern Southern patois based notice=nonotice Barbadian Creole / Bajan /Bajan Patois
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bjs

Bajan (occasionally called Barbadian Creole or Bajan Patois) or Barbadian Dialect, is an English-based creole language spoken by persons on the West Indian island of Barbados. Bajan uses a mixture of West African idioms and expressions along with British English to produce a unique Barbadian/West Indian 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. though it is becoming more American than British. Due to emigration to Province of Carolina, Bajan has also influenced American English and the Gullah language spoken in the Carolinas. Regionally Bajan has ties to Belizean, jamaican patois and Guyanese Creoles. Bajan was first created when West African slaves were brought to the island 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 masters. 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 patois 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. 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.

The word Bajan is merely a Bajan pronunciation of the word Barbadian ("Bar-bayyd-ian"); however, through the process of palatalisation characterizing the older accents which once prevailed in Barbados, the word sounded more like Barbajan ("Bar-bayy-junn") (much like "Injun" for "Indian" and "Cajun" for Acadian), and eventually it was just shortened to Bajan. For a short time before and after independence from Britain, Bajan was a somewhat negative term used to mean an uneducated Barbadian, but the term is no longer seen as such.

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 dialect of Bajan is reserved for less formal situations, in music, or in social commentary. Standard English is the native tongue of all Barbadians, and is usually used when talking formally or to tourists. 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. When written, spelling will vary widely from person to person. Bajan words and sentences presented below are largely spelt as they are pronounced.

Pronunciation

Like most West Indian dialects and creoles,patois, 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 pun Sundays in Bajan dialect. It is quite common for this to be shortened to I's guh church pun Sundays.

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 eat de food = "I will eat the food".

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".

Examples of Bajan or Bajan Patois

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	Gimme dah dey so now!. (Give me that which is there now!)
Give him	gih he	gi 'e	Gih 'e de blaklead. (Give him the pencil.)
Give her	gih she	gi she	Gih she back she notebook. (Give her back her notebook.)
Going	Gine	guh, gun, 'gin,gwan	I 'gine watch muh program nuh or(now). (I am going to watch my favourite television show right now.)
Me	muh	*	gih muh back muh blaklead. (give me back my pencil.) Don't even let yuh wind brush 'pun muh. (When you are moving pass me don't even let a light breeze from off of you come and 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 follow what I'm trying to convey to you?) Nuh shares some similarities with the Canadian "eh" or Austalian "ay". In Bajan, it can also mean "You better stop it right now!"
Break	brek	mash it up, mash up, brek up	Cheese-on bread! Who brek/mash up meh Playstation 3 or tree!. (Oh man! who is it that broke/destroyed my Playstation 3!.)
Take	tek	teif way, tek way, tek up,	Don't tek up muh car. (Don't take my car anywhere.)
Tek yuh hands off muh bag	Take you 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	Ryan come and nyam-off all de food 'bout hay (here). (Ryan came by and ate/polished off *all* of the food here.) I guh' ya-mmmm' um. (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 de hospital and muh' get a juk pon muh arm. (When I went to hospital they gave me an injection.)
It, it is, them, they	um	*	Um, does be pon de fus Sunday of de monf (month). (It happens/is on the first Sunday of the month.) Um is down by de Fish fry. (They are down at the Fish Fry event.) Look um' dey. (Look, it is right over there.)
Ghost/spirit	Duppy	jumbie, moko jumbie, backoo, soucouyant, ol hag, de devil, a deads	Don't go in dah canefield at night or de duppy gon' get ya tail. (Don't go into those canefiels at night or the evil spirits out there will get you.)
On, Upon	pun	pon, 'pun, 'pun top	De remote control for de Television is 'pun top de TV or on de night-stand. (The Remote control for the television is pon de top de 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 fussin' wid da jar and I cyann get 'um open. (I was here struggling to open de jar all of this time and I really can't get it open..)
Can, Could	cud	cudda, cud do so, get 'um do	I fix de computer already, it was real easy 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 de bottom,	ef yuh want ta nyam(eat) now, get yuhself or youself a placemat frum on-neet the otha one in de corna. (If you want me to fix you some food to eat now, get your placemat from underneath the other ones in the corner there.)
Something	sumting	sumting, sumfin, suh'in, sa'in	ef yuh ain' belief wat she sayin correct , why yuh ain' say sumting, nuh? (If you didn't believe what she was telling you was the truth, why didn't you confront the whole situation then?)
Who is it/that?	Who de body is?	who one da is?, who dah?, who's dah?, who's you?	Who's dah? She looking real sweet ! (Who is that?! She is looking really attractive.) Wait, but I don't recognise dat other kid, who one dah is? (Hold on, I don't recognise that other kid there, who's child is that?)
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 anything here for you.)
Oh wow!, WOW!	woi	wuh-lord, wuh-lawd, oh lordy	Woi, de rain fallin tough (Oh wow! It is really raining hard!)
Wunna	I ain't playin wid all a wunna!	one ah ya (One of you's/yall's)	I am not playing with everyone of you all. (.)
Am Not	Ain't I ain't gine nuh way!or i haffi sleep so i aint gwan nuh way I am not going any where or have to go to sleep so im not going anyplace No Man-Na Man or no na mon Don't come back- Nah mek meh see yuh back here/Nah mas come back What's wrong with you? - Wha rong wit yuh? Come here - Come hay nuh, come hay nuh mon leave from here - Gwhan from here Whats going on- wah gwan? 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. Cyat luck ain' dog luck. What one person may get away with may cause problems for another Ef greedy wait hot wud (would) cool. Patience will be rewarded African words in Bajan According to Ethnologue.com Bajan has "fewer than 20 lexical items that are traceable to an African origin". wunna - You all from the Igbo word unu, which means You (Plural) Cou-Cou - a local dish which comes from "Fou Fou" in Africa nyam- (Pronounced "ng-yam") which also means eat (or to chew) in Manjaku(west-african language spoken in guinea-bissau) and in pulaar(language spoken in many countries in Africa) 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 "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. References 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. See also Queen's English British English English-based creole languages Barbadian culture Music of Barbados From Bajan To Standard English by E. Jerome Davis External links Communicating with Bajans African language influences in Barbados - Trevor Marshall FunBarbados.com - Island Jargon Barbados dialect Language of Barbados Wiwords A cross-referencing dictionary of West Indian words with a large number of Barbadian terms bajanfuhlife-taking you into the life of all things bajan Bajan at Ethnologue 50 Frequenty Asked Questions on Caribbean Language by the Society for Caribbean Linguistics from the Society of International Education journal, discusses the origins of Bajan language The History of Creoles and the French Language Learn Bajan Caribbean Poetry-Barbados Two Words: A look at the dynamics of Bajan and how it differs from British (Standard) English. http://www.barbadosdialect.page.tl : Introduces the book "From Bajan To Standard English".Highlights Bajan Dialect. See 50 common Bajan expressions. Audio The daily Bajan radio Comedian known as "De Market Vendor" - In Real Audio format