Bajan

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008)

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.

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:

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:

African words in Bajan

Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2008)

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.

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.

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]

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

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

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 Caribbean 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