lingvo.wikisort.org - Language

Guyanese English Creole (Creolese by its speakers or simply Guyanese) is an English-based creole language spoken by people in Guyana. Linguistically, it is similar to other English dialects of the Caribbean region, based on 19th-century English and has loan words from African, Indian, Arawakan, and older Dutch languages.[3]

Guyanese Creole
Creolese
Native to	Guyana
Native speakers	(undated figure of 650,000 in Guyana)[1] 50,000 in Suriname (1986)[2]
Language family	English Creole Atlantic Eastern Southern Guyanese Creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gyn
Glottolog	creo1235
Linguasphere	52-ABB-av
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Part of a series on the
English language
Topics
English-speaking world As a second language History
Advanced topics
English as a lingua franca European language Modern English Loanwords Linguistic purism
Phonology
Phonology (History)
Dialects
English American Anguillian Antiguan Australian Bahamian Bajan Bay Islands Belizean Bermudian Brunei Burmese Cameroonian Canadian Caribbean Falkland Islands Fijian Gambian Guyanese Ghanaian Indian Irish Jamaican Kenyan Liberian Malawian Malaysian Manx Myanmar Namibian Nepali New Zealand Nigerian Pakistani Philippine San Andrés–Providencia Scottish Singapore South African South Atlantic Sri Lankan Trinidadian and Tobagonian Ugandan Welsh Zimbabwean see also: List of dialects of English
Teaching
Teaching English as a second language Category:English words and phrases Higher category: Language
v t e

Varieties and influences

There are many sub-dialects of Guyanese Creole based on geographical location, urban - rural location, and race of the speakers. For example, along the Rupununi River, where the population is largely Amerindian, a distinct form of Guyanese Creole exists. The Georgetown (capital city) urban area has a distinct accent, while within a forty-five-minute drive away from this area the dialect/accent changes again, especially if following the coast where rural villages are located.

As with other Caribbean languages, words and phrases are very elastic, and new ones can be made up, changed or evolve within a short period. They can also be used within a very small group, until picked up by a larger community. Ethnic groups are also known to alter or include words from their own backgrounds.

A socially stratified creole speech continuum also exists between Guyanese English and Standard / British English. Speech by members of the upper classes is phonetically closest to British and American English, whereas speech by members of the lower classes most closely resembles other Caribbean English dialects. A phrase such as "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

Grammar

It is common in Guyanese Creole to repeat adjectives and adverbs for emphasis (the equivalent of adding "very" or "extremely" in standard British and American English). For example, "Dis wata de col col" translates into "This water is very cold". "Come now now" translates into "Come right now."

Phonology

There are several phonological markers that are present in Guyanese Creole:[3]

• Guyanese Creole is isomorphic with the Jamaican phoneme system
• TH stopping
• Cluster reduction
• Avoidance of [ʃ], [ʒ], [f], [v] phonemes
• H dropping
• Semivowels
• Non-rhoticity among older speakers

Sample words and phrases

The following phrases are written as they are pronounced:

• ah go do it - Meaning: "I will do it"[4]
• dem ah waan sting yuh waan bil - Literally: "they want to sting your one bill" - Meaning: "they usually want to take money from you"[5]
• evri day me a run a raisfil - Literally: "Every day I run the ricefield" - Meaning: "Every day I take care of the ricefield"[5]
• ee bin get gun - Literally: "He been get gun" - "he had the gun"[6]
• ee wuda tek awi lil time but awi bin go come out safe - Literally: "it would have taken us a little time but we would have come out safely"[7]
• me a wuk abak - Meaning: "I'm working further inland"[6]
• suurin - a form of courtship (from suitoring," itself the result of adapting the noun "suitor" for use as a verb and then applying standard patterns to generate a gerund form)[8]

See also

• Nation language
• Jamaican patois
• Sranan Tongo
• Creole language
• Spanglish

References

External links

• Phonology and speech examples
• Guyana based detective stories written in East Bank Demerara Creole. Includes glossary of Creole Words and Guyanese Proverbs.

На других языках

---

- [en] Guyanese Creole

---

[es] Criollo guyanés

El criollo guyanés (Creolese, según lo escrito por sus hablantes, o simplemente Guyanese) es una lengua criolla basada en el idioma inglés hablada en Guyana. Lingüísticamente, es similar a otros dialectos ingleses de la región del Caribe, pero tiene más influencias de los idiomas africanos y algunas palabras prestadas del neerlandés, lenguas arawak y de los idiomas de India.

---

[it] Creolo della Guyana

Il creolo della Guyana è una lingua creola inglese parlata in Guyana. Linguisticamente, è simile ad altri dialetti inglesi della regione dei Caraibi, basato sull'inglese del XIX secolo, e ha parole in prestito da lingue africane, indiane orientali, arawakane e olandesi precedenti.

---

---