Bahamian Creole

Bahamian Creole
Native to The Bahamas
Native speakers
 400,000 (2017)[1]
English Creole
  • Atlantic
    • Eastern
      • Northern (Bahamian–Gullah)
        • Bahamian Creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bah
Glottolog baha1260[2]
Linguasphere 52-ABB-an–ao

Bahamian Creole, known locally as Bahamian dialect, is an English-based creole language spoken mainly in The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

In comparison to many of the English-based broken speech of the Caribbean region, limited research has been conducted on what is known as Bahamian dialect. This lack of research on Bahamian dialect is perhaps because for many years, Bahamians have assumed that this language is simply a variety of English. However, academic research shows that this is not the case.

Pronunciation

There is a tendency for speakers to drop /h/ or, in a hypercorrection, to add it to words without it so harm and arm are pronounced the same. The merger occurs most often in the speech of Abaco and north Eleuthera.[3]

Some speakers have merged /v/ and /w/ into a single phoneme and pronounce words with [v] or [w] depending on context (the latter appearing in word-initial position and the former appearing elsewhere).[4] Outside of white acrolectal speech, speakers have no dental fricatives and English cognate words are usually pronounced with [d] or [t] as in dis ('this') and tink ('think').[3] Other characteristics of Bahamian Dialect in comparison to English include:[3]

  • Merger of the vowels of fair and fear into [ɛə]
  • Free variation of the "happy" vowel between [ɪ] and [i].
  • The vowel of first merges with that of fuss (into [ʌ]) among some and with the vowel of foist (into [ʌɪ]) in others.
  • As the dialect is non-rhotic; /r/ is not pronounced unless it is before a vowel.
  • Final clusters are often simplified, especially when they share voicing (gold > gol, but not milk > *mil).
  • The pin–pen merger occurs.

Grammar

Pronouns in Bahamian Dialect 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 Dialect often differ from Standard English with:

  • your becoming or ya
  • his or hers becoming he or she

and

  • their becoming dey.

For example, das ya book? means 'is that your book?'

In addition, the possessive pronouns differ from Standard English:

English Bahamian
mine mines
yours yawnz (s.) or yawz (s.)
yinnas (pl.)
his he own
hers har own
ours ah own
theirs dey own/ders

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')

Verbs

Verb usage in the Bahamian Dialect 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

2) I am going to cook

  • I ga cook
  • I goin cook
  • I gern cook
  • I gern go cook

3) Similarly, verb "to do" has numerous variations depending on tense and context:

  • I does eat conch erry day ('I eat conch every day')
  • Wa you does do? ('what kind of work do you do?')
  • "he gone dat way" (used while pointing in a direction,means that is where the person went).

4) In the present tense, the verb "to be" is usually conjugated "is" regardless of the grammatical person:

  • I am – I is or "Ise” (pronounced "eyes")
  • You are – You is or "You's", pronounced "use"
  • We are – We is or "We's", pronounced "weez"
  • They are – Dey is or "Dey's"

5) The negative form of "to be" usually takes the form "een" I een gern ('I am not goin')

6) Bahamians commonly merge the negative "een" to the subject/person being used, turning "I een" to "Ine (sometimes spelled I'n)".

  • I am not - "Ine" or "I'n"
  • You are not - "Youne" or "You'n"
  • He/She is not - "Hene/ Shene" or "He'n/ She'n"
  • We are not - "Wene" or "We'n"
  • They are not - "Deyne" or "Dey'n"
  • That is not - "Dine" ( the 't' in "that" is usually left off, and the vowels in 'dat' + 'een' are often blended together, forming an /I/ sound)

7) 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 dun (done) tell you
  • He tell her she was fat ('he told her she was fat')
  • Why you do dat? ('why did you do that?')
  • I bin (been) Eleuthera last week ('I went to Eleuthera last week')

8) "Carry" is commonly substituted for "take"

  • Ine ga carry da ting ta John ('I am not going to take this thing to John')

Lexicon

Holm & Shilling (1982) features over 5,500 words and phrases not found in Standard English, with the authors attempting to link them to other English-based creoles, like Gullah.[5] Words may derive from English, as well as some African languages.

Examples

  • asue: a cooperative savings system traced to a Yoruba custom of éèsú or èsúsú;[6] similar schemes are common in other Caribbean countries, e.g. the susu in Barbados.
  • benny: sesame seed, grown locally and used in the popular treat benny cake[7] found in various forms throughout the African Diaspora.
  • Conchy Joe or Conky Joe: a white Bahamian.[8]
  • jook, juck or juke: to stab or poke, possibly from the West African word of the same meaning.[9] This word is found in many Caribbean creole languages.
  • Obeah: Witchcraft.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bahamian Creole at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bahamian Gullah". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. 1 2 3 Holm & Shilling (1982:viii)
  4. ↑ Wells (1982:589)
  5. ↑ Reaser (2010:161)
  6. ↑ Holm & Shilling (1982:5–6)
  7. ↑ Holm & Shilling (1982:16)
  8. 1 2 Holm & Shilling (1982:49)
  9. ↑ Holm & Shilling (1982:115)

Bibliography

  • Holm, John A.; Shilling, Alison Watt (1982), Dictionary of Bahamian English, Cold Spring, New York: Lexik House, ISBN 978-0-936368-03-0
  • Reaser, Jeffrey (2010), "Bahamian English", in Schreier, Daniel; Trudgill, Peter; Schneider, Edgar W.; Williams, Jeffrey, The Lesser Known Varieties of English: An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 158–170
  • Wells, John Christopher (1982), Accents of English: Beyond the British Isles, 3, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

English - Bahamas Creole English Glosbe dictionary

Bahamas Creole english - english Glosbe dictionary

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