Antigua and Barbuda Languages
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Description
English is the official language in Antiqua and Barbuda. Spanish is spoken by around 10,000 inhabitants. [1]
- The Barbudan accent is slightly different from the Antiguan.
- In the years before Antigua and Barbuda's independence, Standard English was widely spoken in preference to Antiguan Creole.
- Generally, the upper and middle classes shun Antiguan Creole.
- The educational system dissuades the use of Antiguan Creole and instruction is done in Standard (British) English.
- Many of the words used in the Antiguan dialect are derived from British as well as African languages.
- Common island proverbs can often be traced to Africa.
Word List(s)
Antigua And Barbuda Creole English (Leeward Caribbean English Creole)
- pickney: child
- pickanyegah: children
- ahyue: collective address in the manner of "you all" or "y'all"
- ah wah mek: why
- smaddy: somebody
- likkle: little
- 'ooman: woman
- nyam: eat
- sudden/subben/leff dee 'ooman sudden/leff dee 'ooman subben: can refer to an object or thing/ leave her things alone
- cassy/cassie: a thorn, such as from a rosebush
- t'all: no, not me, not at all
- ah wah dee/da joke yah tarl/ah wah me ah see ya tarl: what in the world is going on?
- leh meh lone: leave me alone
- ah good/tek dat/ah baay/inna ya battum ho'al: that's good for you/take that
- tap lie: stop lying
- tap ya chupitniss: stop being silly
- ah true/choo: it's the truth
- ahnna true/choo: it's not true
- look yah: look here
- look day: look there
- kum ya: come here
- a fu you: Is it yours?
- move from dey: get away from there
- ah wat a gwaan/ wa gwaan: what's going on?
- luk day: look there!
- a fu you ee fah?: is it yours?
- dadday: that
- day'ya: there
- me nuh eeben know way dadday day: I don't know where it is.
- gyal: girl
- yaad: (my, her, his) house (She ah go day'ya she yaad; She's going home.)
- min: used to indicate the past tense of a verb (example: me min nyam; I ate | Ya min cook; Did you cook? | She min day'ya sleep, She slept.)
- dun: strictly used to tell that something has finished (E dun?; Is it finished? | Ya dun?; Are you finished?)
- siddung: sit down
- git up: get up
- tun rung: turn around
- tun um ahn: Switch it on (Example: Tun de light ahn; Switch on the lights)
- tun um ahf: Switch it off
- gwaan/gwaan head: go ahead
- innaddy: in (de sudden innaddy bax; it's in the box)
- cunchee: countryside (he libba cunchree; He lives in the countryside)
- tung: town or city (usually referring to the country's capital; Example: Me ah go tung/Me a go'ah tung; In going into the city)
- see you: see you later
- bruk: to break, broke (E bruk?; Did it break? | Muh bruk; I'm broke | She bruk um/She min bruk um; She broke it)
- muh nuh nuh: I don't know
- muh nuh; muh dun nuh: I know; I already know, I knew that already
Spanish
Alphabet and Pronunciation
Antigua And Barbuda Creole English (Leeward Caribbean English Creole)
- Leeward Caribbean English Creole Pronunciation (Wikipedia)
- Leeward Caribbean English Creole Pronunciation (Wikipedia)
Spanish
Language Aids and Dictionaries
Antigua And Barbuda Creole English (Leeward Caribbean English Creole)
Spanish
- Spanish Letter Writing Guide
- Spanish Handwriting Clarified
- Spanish to English Dictionary (Glosbe)
- Spanish Records Extraction Manual
- The Spanish Documents Script Tutorial (BYU.EDU)
- BYU Spanish Script Tutorial (BYU.EDU)
Additional Resources
References
- ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Antigua and Barbuda," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antigua_and_Barbuda#Languages, accessed 21 Jul 2021.