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Introduction to island-speak
WTDN Jan09
Muddo sick! What it is?
Introduction to island-speak
Vell muddo sick dred! Dat boy ain’ gat no broughtupcy! That’s actually English, or at least a Bahamian version of it.
The way Bahamians speak to each other—which may be different from the way they speak to visitors—is a mixture of African and European speech patterns, touched up with words, expressions and sayings that have evolved locally over generations.
Bahamian-speak can sound as strange to a foreigner as Dzongkha, the official language of Bhutan. But, as with any language, there are correct and incorrect ways to express yourself. Author Patricia Glinton-Meicholas points this out in her book More Talkin’ Bahamian (Guanima Press, 1995, $12.50), available at bookshops throughout the islands.
Glinton-Meicholas has written several books on Bahamian life, history and folklore, as well as the novel A Shift in The Light. In More Talkin’, she says she wanted to give linguists an accurate look at Bahamian dialect “and a good belly laugh to the less erudite.”
If you’re looking for more information along this line, incidentally, check out The Lil’ways– Concise Bahamian Dialectionary at wodensway.com. This site provides not only unusual words and their definitions but advice on how to properly use them.
One tense for all
One thing about Bahamian-speak is its simplicity. Verbs are always used in the present tense, even when describing past actions. For example, you might say, “I sleep today.” Describing action in the present or future, add the word does—“I does skip lunch Tuesdays.” To emphasize the future tense, use the word guh or gern: “I guh (or gern) miss lunch today.”
Words beginning with the letter A will be pronounced with an H, so “at” becomes “hat” and “aunt” can be “haunt.” There is considerable variation in Bahamian-ese from island to island; someone from Inagua might have difficulty understanding someone from Grand Bahama.
The letters V and W are often transposed, so well becomes vell, and “wedding vows” becomes, hilariously, “vedding wows.” Similarly, a Bahamian might say vimmen for women, walue for value and wibe for vibe.
While a Bahamian has no trouble pronouncing mask or cask as any English speaker would, the word ask is invariably rendered as axe, even by some academics and public speakers.
In asking ordinary questions in daily parlance, a Bahamian puts some form of the verb to be at the end of the sentence, as in: “What time it is?” and “Where you is?”
While visitors can guess the meanings of many Bahamian words, others defy explanation. For example, Wantsman is charisma, grabalishus is greedy, broke-down is a big fight and boonggy is Bahamian for, well, a large and well-shaped gluteus maximus.
Berl is a word with two meanings. As a noun it is what people call the painful swelling that occurs when one is stung by a wasp or bee. As a verb, Bahamians berl water to make tea. It rhymes with erl, which is what you put in a motor to keep it running smoothly.
Here are a few words you might overhear around straw markets or on the streets whenever Bahamians revert to broad dialect, along with their definitions, courtesy of Glinton-Meicholas.
With them, you should be able to figure out the meaning of the first sentence in this article. It means, roughly: “Good grief! That boy is very ill-mannered!”
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