Creolese 101

Eh wam de bannaz (hello, how are you my fine upstanding friend)!?

It’s now been a year since I’ve been in Guyana, you know “the only English speaking country in South/Latin America.” If I haven’t made it clear in my blog as yet, that there’s multiple things off with that "Peace Corps phrase.” Like how I serve in the Caribbean rather than South/Latin America (saying I serve in South America conjures up a whole different idea of what Guyana is like), or how this is an English speaking country. Guyana is definitely NOT an English speaking country. Besides all the indigenous languages spoken in the interior (though no one I interact with speaks any of these languages, but other PCV’s do), English is definitely not spoken; it’s Creolese. Yes the same Latin alphabet is used, and even many of the same words, but with totally different meanings. Here in Guyana we do not speak English but instead a different language altogether. I’ve put together a little compilation of videos/songs and local news articles to give you a taste of what language is like here in country.

Here’s a medley by a Guyanese group The Tradewinds. It’s three folk songs: “In Guyana,” “Lilly Gyal,” and “Bamboo Fyah” with a nice montage of pictures from all over the country. This kind of old folk music isn’t really played very often but listening to the songs is a good representation of how you could expect people to sound when you come to Guyana.

In a local paper, the “Kaieteur News,” they have a column entitled “dem boys seh.” In this daily newspaper the writers comment on local/national news stories in Creolese. It’s best if you read it out loud at first to hear yourself if you’re trying to understand what the articles are about. These are a great way to see how people talk here in Guyana. Here’s the link to find the column online http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/category/features-columnists/dem-boys-seh/ pick any story, they're all just as good as the next.

Another song by The Tradewinds that I listened to in training called “The West Indian Alphabet.” They go through all the letters in the alphabet matching them with local meanings.

I hope this gives you a better understanding of what language is like here in Guyana. PS please let me know what else you’re interested in me covering in upcoming blog posts.