Guyanese Creole
| Guyanese Creole | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Guyana Overseas communities: Guyanese British Guyanese Canadians Guyanese Americans |
Native speakers | Over 1 million |
Creole language
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | gyn |
Guyanese Creole this to is also known as guyanese patois (Creolese by its speakers; also called Guyanese English or simply Guyanese) is a creole language spoken by more than seven hundred thousand people in Guyana.
Guyanese English is based on, and strongly influenced by the English language. It is similar to other West Indian dialects, but distinctly different from Jamaican and Trinidadian Creole. It is related to Paramaccan and Aluku.
There are many sub-dialects of Guyanese Creole based on the race of the speakers and their geographical location within Guyana. For example, along the Rupununi River where the population is largely Amerindian, a distinct form of Guyanese Creole exists.
As in any language, words and phrases are elastic and can be made up, change and evolve within a very short time period. They can also be used within a very small group, until picked up by a larger community.
Different Ethnic groups of the country are also known to alter or include words from their own backgrounds. For example, the East Indian communities words may be similar to words from Indian languages with the same meaning.
A socially stratified creole speech continuum also exists between Guyanese English and English. A phrase like "I told him" may be pronounced in various parts of the continuum:
| Utterance | Represents the speech of |
|---|---|
| [ai tɔuld hɪm] | acrolect speech of upper-class speakers |
| [ai toːld hɪm] | mesolect varieties of speech of middle-class speakers |
| [ai toːl ɪm] | mesolect varieties of lower-middle and urban class speakers |
| [ai tɛl ɪm] | |
| [a tɛl ɪm] | |
| [ai tɛl ɪ] | |
| [a tɛl i] | |
| [mi tɛl i] | rural working class |
| [mi tɛl am] | basilect speech of illiterate rural laborers. |
English Taught in Guyanese Schools
English taught in the schools of Guyana is based on British English.
Guyanese people speak English/Guyanese Creole while learning the English system of writing and reading in schools. It is a slightly different system of communication from the standard forms.
Grammar
It is common in Guyanese Creole to repeat adjectives for emphasis (as if saying, very or extremely). For example, "Dis wata de col col" translates into "This water is very cold". "Come now now" translates into "come right now"
Example phrases
- Girl - Gyal
- Boy - Bai (pronounced bye)
- I am on the phone - Meh deh pon a/de fone
- Who is she? - Ah who she?
- What is that? - Dah ah wha? / Ah wah ah Dah?
- I don't know - Meh nah know
- What do you want? - Wuh yuh want
- What is happening? (An every day greeting similar to What's up?) -Wappenin?
- How are you? - How yuh do?
- What are you doing?- aWa ya do?
- We are going to cook - Abee a guh cook
- No Man-Na Man
- Don't come back- Nah mek meh see yuh back here/Nah mas come back
- What's wrong with you? - Wha rong wit yuh?
- Do you understand what I am saying? - Yah understand wah meh ah seh?
- Come here - Come hay, nuh man?
- Move over - Dress down.
- Go home - Ayuh catch home
- Gone from here - Gwhan from here
- Whats going on- wah gwan?
- You trying to disrespect me?-yuh tek yuh eyes an pass meh?
- Go shower-guh bathe
- Go to sleep-pee and catch yuh bed