Bajan (occasionally called Barbadian Creole Bajan Patois) or Barbadian Dialect, is an English-based creole language spoken on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Bajan uses a mixture of West African idioms and expressions along with British English to produce a unique Barbadian/Caribbean vocabulary and speech pattern.

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  • Bajan (occasionally called Barbadian Creole Bajan Patois) or Barbadian Dialect, is an English-based creole language spoken on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Bajan uses a mixture of West African idioms and expressions along with British English to produce a unique Barbadian/Caribbean vocabulary and speech pattern. Bajan is similar and distinguishable from the dialects of neighbouring Caribbean islands, as many of the other Caribbean islands are based on Irish- or Scottish-based English pronunciation such as Jamaican Patois. Bajan uses a mixture of British English and West African syntax, with much of the pronunciation of words sharing similarities with the lilt of the West Country dialects of England. though it is becoming more American than British. Due to emigration to Province of Carolina, Bajan has also influenced American English and the Gullah language spoken in the Carolinas. Regionally Bajan has ties to Belizean and Guyanese Creoles. Bajan was first created when captive West Africans were forcibly transported to the island, enslaved and forced to speak English, with an existing West African understanding of language semantics. Bajan later became a means of communicating without always being understood by the slave holders. Standard English is the proper grammar and proper English used by Bajans. Unlike other Caribbean creoles, Bajan is rhotic. Bajan has a strong tendency to realize word-final /t/ as a glottal stop [ʔ]. Thus the Bajan pronunciation of start, [stɑːɹʔ], contrasts sharply with the pronunciation of other Caribbean speakers, [staːt] or [stɑːt] or [staːɹt]. The structure of Bajan is such that it can be spoken very quickly. In Bajan an entire sentence can be said in a shortened statement compared to standard English. For example, In Standard English the statement referring to a women standing close by could be said as "Look, she is standing over there. " In Bajan one could simply say "Look/looka she dey. " Sounds in standard English which slow down an individual in Bajan are usually rounded to allow it to be said quickly. Such as "tek" for take, "brek" for break, "choppa" for chopper, or "buss" for burst. Additionally just by slowing down the dialect can allow someone to hear the parts of speech more clearly. The word Bajan is a Bajan contraction of the word Barbadian ("Bar-bayyd-ian"); however with the Bajan accent the word sounded more like Bar-bajan ("Bar-bayy-junn"), and eventually it was just shortened to Bajan (compare "Injun" for "Indian" and "Cajun" for Acadian). For a short time before and after independence from Britain, Bajan was a somewhat negative term used to mean an uneducated or illiterate Barbadian, but the term is no longer seen as such. Unlike Jamaica, Guyana or Trinidad, Barbados was the destination of few African-born slaves after 1800. Thus African blacks became "Bajanized" relatively early on in the island's history. This tended to make them less resistant to local culture, with its Anglicised language, religion and customs. Today, Bajan is a more popular regional term for nationals of Barbados, in addition to the official name, which is Barbadian. In general, the people of Barbados speak standard British English on TV and radio, in courthouses, in government, and in day to day business, while the more relaxed accent of Bajan is reserved for less formal situations, in music, or in social commentary. Standard English is a secondary native tongue of all Barbadians, and is usually used when talking informally. Barbadians may opt to speak Bajan amongst themselves or when in a very relaxed setting. Bajan is a spoken dialect, without much of a standardised written form and it varies throughout the island. Written, spelling will vary widely from person to person. Bajan words and sentences presented below are largely spelt as they are pronounced.
  • Il bajan è un creolo usato nell' isola caraibica di Barbados, detto infatti anche creolo di Barbados. In gran parte basato sull'inglese, con l'aggiunta di elementi africani. Alcune espressioni idiomatiche derivano dal patois e dalla lingua twi. La sintassi del Bajan si basa sia su elementi delle lingue africane occidentali che sull'inglese. Le strutture grammaticali di questo creolo sono molto semplici rispetto a quelle di altri creoli caraibici, con vari elementi comuni al creolo giamaicano. Questo idioma presenta diverse caratteristiche della pronuncia dei dialetti inglesi del gruppo scouse come quello di Liverpool. A differenza di altri creoli dei Caraibi, l'accento delle parole non è rotico; si registra inoltre una forte tendenza a pronunciare la /t/ finale con il cosiddetto colpo di glottide [ʔ]: questo vuol dire ad esempio che la pronuncia della parola inglese start, [stɑːɹʔ], è in opposizione chiarissima rispetto alla pronuncia in uso su altre isole, più vicina all'inglese standard [staːt]. Rispetto ai creoli usati nelle isole vicine, il bajan prevede pochi elementi basati sullo scozzese e sull'irlandese. Come accennato, la nascita di questo idioma è legata alla tratta degli schiavi, che obbligati a parlare inglese, hanno mantenuto parte delle strutture delle loro lingue native. Col tempo, gli sviluppi di questo idioma hanno portato alla formazione di un codice che veniva usato dagli schiavi senza che i padroni potessero capirlo sempre. La parola Bajan non è altro che lo sviluppo fonologico del termine Barbadian: in seguito ai mutamenti fonologici, la parola si è contratta. Ai tempi della dominazione britannica, il termine aveva anche una connotazione negativa e indicava una persona del posto soprattutto se veniva considerata come ignorante. Con il tempo, il connotato è sparito ed il suo uso è stato esteso a tutti i contesti. Oggi il termine è di uso comune e viene alternato a quello di Barbadian. Sull'isola, gli abitanti del posto parlano inglese standard in situazioni formali (radio, tv, lingua ufficiale e commerciale), mentre il creolo è riservato ai contesti meno formali. Anche se gli abitanti dell'isola possono considerare l'inglese come una lingua materna, la maggior dei parlanti isolani sceglie di usare il Bajan quando si trovano tra di loro in una conversazione molto spontanea. Oggi vi sono piccole comunità di bajan in Canada, in particolare a Toronto, e nel Regno Unito, in particolare a Liverpool. Si ricordano alcuni esempi: Inglese: The girls (le ragazze) Bajan: De girls/Dem girls Inglese: There are a lot of men here (Ci sono molti uomini qui) Bajan: Bajan: Duh got bare men in hay/real men inside hay boy/nuff men in de place/In hay is a malebox ya
  • Bajan of Barbadian English is een Creoolse taal die is gebaseerd op het Engels en wordt gesproken op Barbados. De taal is een vorm van Pidgin English of gebroken Engels, met het verschil dat het moedertaal-sprekers heeft. Verwante talen zijn het Jamaicaanse Patois, het Surinaamse Sranantongo, het Sierra Leoonse Krio en West-Afrikaans Pidgin Engels. Er zijn duidelijke verschillen met het Jamaicaanse Patois en in mindere mate met andere Antillen. Het Bajan werd in 1995 door ongeveer 259,000 mensen gesproken. De taal ontstond onder Afrikaanse slaven tijdens de slavernij. Afrikaanse talen hebben veel invloed gehad op de grammatica en gedeeltelijk ook de woordenschat. Net als op het Sranantongo, Krio en Patois heeft het Twi/Akan bijvoorbeeld een grote invloed gehad.
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  • Creole
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  • Barbadian Creole / Bajan
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  • Barbados
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  • Bajan (occasionally called Barbadian Creole Bajan Patois) or Barbadian Dialect, is an English-based creole language spoken on the Caribbean island of Barbados. Bajan uses a mixture of West African idioms and expressions along with British English to produce a unique Barbadian/Caribbean vocabulary and speech pattern.
  • Il bajan è un creolo usato nell' isola caraibica di Barbados, detto infatti anche creolo di Barbados. In gran parte basato sull'inglese, con l'aggiunta di elementi africani. Alcune espressioni idiomatiche derivano dal patois e dalla lingua twi. La sintassi del Bajan si basa sia su elementi delle lingue africane occidentali che sull'inglese. Le strutture grammaticali di questo creolo sono molto semplici rispetto a quelle di altri creoli caraibici, con vari elementi comuni al creolo giamaicano.
  • Bajan of Barbadian English is een Creoolse taal die is gebaseerd op het Engels en wordt gesproken op Barbados. De taal is een vorm van Pidgin English of gebroken Engels, met het verschil dat het moedertaal-sprekers heeft. Verwante talen zijn het Jamaicaanse Patois, het Surinaamse Sranantongo, het Sierra Leoonse Krio en West-Afrikaans Pidgin Engels. Er zijn duidelijke verschillen met het Jamaicaanse Patois en in mindere mate met andere Antillen.
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  • Bajan
  • Bajan
  • Bajan (taal)
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  • Barbadian Creole / Bajan
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