Belizean Kriol language
Most Kriol conjunctions are very similar to English and employed in the same way. The main difference is that Belizean Creole allows double negation, so that some conjunctions are used differently. Some examples for Belizean conjunctions are: "an" (and), "but" (but), "if" (if), "o:" (or) etc.
Questions usually take the same form in Belizean Creole as they do in Standard English: question word + subject + verb. The "do-support" does not occur here either. The rising intonation at the end of the sentence may increase even more if no question word is necessary. Thus, most declarative sentences can become interrogative with the right intonation. "Which" has various translations in Belizean Creole. If the speaker means "which", he uses |witʂ|, but he can also use |witʂ wan| for "which one".
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Examples
- My name is...: (mesolect) /Mai neim da...// or (basilect) /Ai neim...//
- What time is it? /Hau moch yu claak?// or / (Da) Weh taim nau?//
- I don’t know: /Ai noh noa or Mii noh noa//
- What is it?: /(Da) weh dis?//
- Where am I?: /(Da) weh ai deh?//
- I don't understand : /Ai noh andastaan or Mii noh andastaan//
- Where's the bathroom?: /Weh di batruum deh?//
- What is your name?: (mesolect) /Waat da yu neim?//;(basilect) /Hau yu neim?//; /Weh yu neim?//
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See also
- Miskito Coastal Creole
- Jamaican Patois
- San Andrés-Providencia Creole
- Bocas del Toro Creole
- Colón Creole
- Rio Abajo Creole
- Limón Coastal Creole
- Guyanese Creole
- Languages of Belize
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References
- ^ Gibson (1988:199)
- ^ Mufwene (1984:218) cited in Gibson (1988:200)
- ^ Winford (1985:589)
- ^ Bailey (1966:32)
- ^ Patrick (1995:244)
- ^ Lawton (1984:126)
- ^ Lawton (1984:125)
- ^ Irvine (2004:43-44)
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External links
- National Kriol Council of Belize
- Belizean Journeys, online magazine on Belize
- Belize Kriol English on ethnologue.com
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