Guyanese-Creole

[Preya_M]

I recently received a request to talk about my native language - Guyanese-Creole. I personally don't find the language very intriguing (it might be because I'm very used to it) but it’s pretty much a branch of English; although, there are few hints of other languages within itself.

Guyana is a small country located in South America; known for its waterfalls and vast green lands, the country is home to the world’s highest wooden structure known as the St. George’s Cathedral. Guyana itself is an under-developed country that is continuing to grow daily and as a result, thousands are living with poverty. This small country is the home of my ancestors; not only that, it is also rich with history.

Guyanese-Creole can be described as a language that is combined with various other languages such as: English, Jamaican and Hindi. The inhabitants of the country refer to the language with the name Guyanese-Creole, but I’m not exactly sure what others claim it is. Why the language is like this is a good question; I can only think of the most logical explanation – multiculturalism.

It must have been between the late 16th century and the early 17th century when the European countries came across the lands of Guyana. They of course conquered the lands and claimed it as their own. The settlers at the time were the natives. Over a course of a few years, the Europeans reigned in power and soon enough they brought in the African Slaves. These slaves were worked hard and lacked in education because it wasn’t provided to them; they also communicated in their own language (hence the broken English part of my language). Eventually the Indians were brought over to the country as slaves as well and the Europeans forced the English language upon them; they were not allowed to speak in their native tongue but it still carried over (hence the Hindi part of the language). There is so much more to the history of the language and I can probably keep going but then I’d probably bore you.

Basically, the language is a mix of cultures. I am a descendant from the Indians and so my views on the language may differ from another because I have those roots in me.

Note that this is my interpretation of the language in hope to describe what it is. Hope this answers the question that was posed upon me. 

[Meera]

Hello Preya! I love Guyana. I have two freinds from Guyana and we actually talk in Hindi a lot, I don't know how they learned but yeah. There is a huge Guyanese community where I live so I work with Guyanese people a lot and go to resturanst owned by Guyanese people. We also have a Guyanese radio that broadcasts here, they play mostly old Hindi songs but the station is owned by Guyanese. The only word I have picked up from them is Ras 

But Guyana is such a beautiful country and the people are so freindly!

[Preya_M]

Hello Preya! I love Guyana. I have two freinds from Guyana and we actually talk in Hindi a lot, I don't know how they learned but yeah. There is a huge Guyanese community where I live so I work with Guyanese people a lot and go to resturanst owned by Guyanese people. We also have a Guyanese radio that broadcasts here, they play mostly old Hindi songs but the station is owned by Guyanese. The only word I have picked up from them is Ras 

But Guyana is such a beautiful country and the people are so freindly!

It's pretty rare now to find anyone from Guyana who can speak Hindi, they're lucky to have learned though. Yes, we enjoy our old Hindi songs (I do as well). It's pretty funny how out of all the words for you to pick up on, you pick one of the words that we consider bad. The country is indeed beautiful; the waterfalls are breathtaking.

[BWL]

I am always fascinated by Creole languages. How is  is different from mainstream British / American English?

Does it use a lot of Hindi and African words? Is it a common street language in Guyana, and would it be allowed to be used say, in schools? In some countries, schools only teach "proper" English or French, and any Creole-speaking students would be severely punished! Unjust and unfair but that was (and probably still is) how things are done in some places.

[Preya_M]

I am always fascinated by Creole languages. How is  is different from mainstream British / American English?

Does it use a lot of Hindi and African words? Is it a common street language in Guyana, and would it be allowed to be used say, in schools? In some countries, schools only teach "proper" English or French, and any Creole-speaking students would be severely punished! Unjust and unfair but that was (and probably still is) how things are done in some places.

I can't speak for all Creole languages, but I can speak for Guyanese-Creole. It is different from mainstream British/American because of the mix from the other cultures. I'm Indian-Guyanese, but yes, we specifically use a lot of Hindi words such as:

• Bhaiya - Brother
  
• Didi - Sister
  
• Nana - Maternal Grandpa
  
• Nani - Maternal Grandma
  

It is indeed a mainstream language there and no you won't be punished while using it in class, unless asked otherwise to say something in perfect English. I agree that the way they punish the children is unjust.

[linguaholic]

Thank you very much for sharing this Preya! It certainly sounds very plausible what you are saying! I am really happy that I know something about Guyanese-Creole now. I did not have a clue about it before your introduction. There are so many things one can learn about languages and I just love to hear and learn about languages. The history and "development" of Creole languages is certainly something really interesting!

[Rosa]

Guyanese Creole was derived in similar way to my native language, Jamaican Creole. My language doesn't appear as intriguing to most Jamaicans either but the fact that others have found it to be, does make me proud to be associated with the language. They sometimes ask me to repeat a statement or teach them how to say certain words, something i'm always happy to do.