Saint Kitts Creole

Infobox Language
name=Saint Kitts Creole
states=Saint Kitts and Nevis
speakers=<100,000
familycolor=Creole
fam1=Creole language
fam2=English Creole
fam3=Atlantic
fam4=Eastern
fam5=Southern
iso2="none"
iso3=aig
notice=nonotice

Saint Kitts Creole is a Creole language spoken in Saint Kitts and Nevis by under 100,000 people. Saint Kitts Creole does not have the status of an official language.

Saint Kitts Creole has much the same history as other English Caribbean creoles. Its origin lies in 17th century West African slaves, who, when brought to the islands to work on sugar plantations, were forced to quickly learn British English because their labour required it. Their English was mixed with some West African words and, in some cases, West African language structure. The French, who occupied the island from 1625 to 1713, had only a small impact on the creole spoken today, unlike in the formerly French islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia, which speak a French-based rather than English-based creole.

Saint Kitts Creole today is spoken on the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis (although Nevisians refer to the language as 'Nevisian' or 'Nevis creole'), mainly in rural areas, and is spoken especially heavily in Capesterre, Christ Church Nicola Town, Cayon, and Nevis. Today's use of the creole involves a higher proportion of standard English, possibly due to access to foreign media. Usually, only residents in rural areas and Nevis are strong creole users. Many residents in Basseterre would find themselves almost as perplexed as a foreigner if speaking to a rural person who is a strong user.

Popular Jamaican culture and music have also played a role, as Jamaican idioms are being used more and more in the Saint Kitts creole, as well as throughout the region.

Saint Kitts pronunciation is similar to the pronunciation on neighbouring islands of Antigua and Montserrat, but with slight differences that are mostly noticeable only to residents of the Leeward Islands.

Pronunciation

Saint Kitts Creole is pronounced similarly to the creoles of neighbouring islands, namely Antigua and Montserrat. Usually only long time residents in the islands can mark the slight differences. In rural areas and in Nevis, IPA|/au/ (as in "house") is usually pronounced IPA| [ou] (as in "hose").

Grammar

In Saint Kitts creole, words are rarely pluralized by adding an ending to the word. The word is usually followed by the word 'dem' to indicate the pluralization. e.g. de gyul dem - "the girls." Note that if the standard English form of the word is not pluralized with an 's', e.g. "children", the plural form of the word in Saint Kitts creole will be the standard English plural form followed by 'dem', e.g. "children dem."

Questions ending in "is it" have the "is it" replaced with "y be" (i bee); e.g. who is it? - who y be?, what is it? - wha y be?

Words used to intensify adjectives, such as "very" and "extremely", are rarely used. To replace "very", the adjective in question is repeated. E.g: "de gyul look bad bad" - the girl looks very ugly. To replace "extremely" the word "so tail" is used. "So tail" is placed at the end of the adjective. e.g: "de gyul look bad so tail" - the girl looks extremely ugly. The use of "so tail" indicates a very strong emphasis or intensification.

A unique aspect of Saint Kitts Creole is to end certain sentences in the speech with the words "burdee", "poopa" or "daady buh". The meaning of the phrase varies with context, but they tend to be used to emphasise the sentence they attach to. e.g.: "Tall poopa" - not at all(extreme). "Hush buhdee" - hush buddy (used when extremely annoyed).

Example Sentences

"Ahwee a go dung by e fiel by d house go pik nuts." - We are going down to the field by the house to pick peanuts.

"Is dey dem pikni does wash dem skin." - There is where the children bathe (their skin).

"Unno kno who e tis u a play wit u kno.." - You do not know with whom you are messing.

Example words

Some words in Saint Kitts creole are listed below. Some are unique, but others are commonly used in or originated from neighbouring islands.

*Crismus worm- millipede
*Jumbie- an undead spirit/ ghost
*Jumbie fyah - a fire which goes down and rises up again due to "jumbie" spirits
*Jumbie press - the instance in which someone feels that they cannot move while in bed
*Yampi - mucus in the eye

ee also

*Bajan
*Bermudian English
*Jamaican Creole
*Virgin Islands Creole