Bajan creole Presentation

1. Bajan Accent: An
Attribute that connects Barbadian people to
their African and English Heritage.
Estefania Acevedo
ESL Program

2. BAJAN CREOLE
• What is a Creole?
• Language Characteristics (origin, African
heritage)
• Bajan proverbs and their Meaning
• Bajan speech

3. CREOLE
 -Is a stable natural language developed from a mixture of
different languages.
 “Créole” “Criollo”
 Difference with “Pidgin”
 Native Language

4. LANGUAGE CHARACTERISTICS
 ORIGIN
 AFRICAN HERITAGE

5. Origin
 Slaves forced to speak English
 Connection with English and African Heritage
 Barbadian // Barbajan // Bajan
 Fast rate

6. African Heritage
 Wunna You all from the Igbo word unu, which means You
(plural).
 Obeah From Igbo Obia, 'doctoring, mysticism, or oracle'.
 Bim From Igbo bé mụ́ , 'my place, people, kindred', common
nickname for Barbados
 Deh From Igbo dị̀, 'present in
 Eye-watercalque from ányá mmírí (eye + water), tears
 Hard-head From ísí íké (head + hard, strength), 'obstinate

7. PROVERBS
 “De higha de monkey climb, de more he show he tai”
 “Gol' (gold) teet (teeth) doan suit hog mout (mouth)”
 “Cat luck ain' dog luck”
 “Wuh ain' see you, ain' pass you”
 “Ef greedy wait hot wud (would) cool”

8. BAJAN SPEECH

9. REFERENCES
 http://www.barbadospocketguide.com/our-island-
barbados/about-barbados/bajan-dialect.html#Bjanphrases
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajan_Creole
 Christopher Charles and Devon Greaves