Variation in Guyanese Creole

One of the realities of the language situation in Guyana is that there are different ways in which
the same idea or message could be said. For example, we can say Me nah know or Me en know
or Ah en know or Ah doan know or I don’t know.

Each of these variations has its accepted level of use within the Guyanese society and all are
therefore acceptable in linguistics. As a teacher, you would want your students to be able to
speak and write the versions that are closer to English whenever this is appropriate. On the other
hand, you would also want them not to lose the other variations since these are important for
them to function in the Guyanese society.

As we discussed in the previous section, linguists have shown that these variations can be
arranged into a scale ranging from those which are close to English to those which are quite
different and other variations fall somewhere in between these extremes. Richard Allsopp was
one of the first to notice this in the 1950’s, but David De Camp in 1971 was the first to introduce
the notion of a creole continuum to describe this scale of varieties.

It must be noted that the creole continuum is a theoretical framework used to depict the language
situation. Nevertheless, there are certain linguistic features which can be recognized in the three
broad areas of Guyanese on the creole continuum: the basilect, the mesolect, and the acrolect.

The basilect, on one extreme, is considered as the purest form of the creole language. An
example of a basilectal construction is:

mii bin a go maakit wen mii faal dong.

The mesolect is the mid-way mark between the two extremes. Examples of a mesolect
construction are:

mii di goin maakit wen mii faal dong.

And a sentence in between the mesolect and acrolect can be:

ah di goin to di maakit wen ah fall dong.

The acrolect is the variety closest to, but not entirely, Standard English. An example of an
acrolectal construction is:
 ah was goin to de market when ah fall dong.

The varieties of Guyanese are not as simple as they might appear on a chart: there are several
other intermediate varieties between the labels.

Linguists such as John Rickford and Derek Bickerton have questioned the original concept of the
creole continuum, pointing out that it is “uni-dimensional” meaning that it treats the language as
having only a single level of usage and does not reflect the fact that each section can contain
many levels of variation.

Bickerton (1973) introduced the idea of a Bi-Dimensional Creole Continuum, and other linguists
have proposed a “multi-dimensional” continuum. These models simply state that varieties should
not limited to particular labels or lects, but should be seen as varieties that exist within those
communities themselves. For example, there can be an “acrolectal” variety within a mesolectal
community; or according to Bickerton, there is “Sweet Talk” and “Broad Talk” of one variety.

For example, a speaker at the basilect level is not limited to one way of speaking. Among his
friends, he may say “Fe wha mek mih ga fa guh?” To his wife, he may say “Wha mek mih ga a
guh?” To a visitor, he may say “Wha mek mih mus guh?”

Some Creole features of Guyanese

Past Tense–verbs are used without a past tense marker, or bin is the past tense marker in
Guyanese. When sentences are closer to the acrolect, bin is dropped and di is used.

Future tense – guh is used both basilect and mesolect

The continuous marker in Guyanese is a, so when someone says me bin a waak, s/he is saying
in English “I was walking”.

The completive marker is don as in: Ah don eat (“I have eaten”). Sometimes, don may be
omitted: Me eat (“I have eaten”).
Pronouns – In the basilect, there is no differentiation for subject and object pronouns. For
example, compare the underlined pronouns in: dem seh we fool dem(“they said that we fooled
them”) and, he seh we fool he(“he said that we fooled him”). In the mesolect, pronouns that
more closely resemble English pronouns are used, such as Ah (I), dey (they), and we also see
different subject and object pronouns being used: dey seh we fool dem.

Plurality – In the basilect, nouns are not marked to show plurality. The word dem is used
instead, as in de book dem (“the books). Even plural nouns may be marked this way, as in: De
chirren dem(the children).

Adapted from: CYRIL POTTER COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS (Associate Degree Module)