Turks and Caicos Creole
Turks and Caicos Creole is an English-based creole spoken in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a West Indian British overseas territory in the Lucayan Archipelago.
| Turks and Caicos Creole | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Turks and Caicos Islands |
Native speakers | 34,000 (2019)[1] |
English Creole
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tch |
| Glottolog | turk1310 |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-ao |
The Turks and Caicos Island Creole variety has not been thoroughly studied but may be directly related to Bahamian Creole as one of its dialects as the two are reportedly highly mutually intelligible. As of 1995, the number of speakers of Turks and Caicos Islands Creole is around 10,700,[2] although decreasing and endangered. It seems to be shifting to a variety form of Caribbean English. Turks and Caicos Islands Creole does not have an official status.
Phrases
| Word/phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| switcha/switcher | Lemonade/limeade (combination of soft drink and lime/lemon juice) |
| gal/gyal | Girl |
| chile/chilen | child/children |
| chile | Used to represent emphasis on a sentence (well chile he een tell me nuttin bout that) |
| een | aren't (They een goin today) or isn't (That een right) or don't (I een no nuttin bout that) |
| vel | well (usually the 'W' and 'V' are exchanged with each other, e.g. vednesday: Wednesday, weil: veil) |
| axe | ask |
| musse | must be |
| scorch | scratch |
| jumbee | spirit or ghost. Compare zombie |
References
- Turks and Caicos Creole at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Ethnologue report for Turks and Caicos Creole English
- Cutler, Cecilia (2003). "English in the Turks and Caicos Islands: A look at Grand Turk". Contact Englishes of the Eastern Caribbean (Varieties of English Around the World) G30, Edited by Michael Aceto, Jeffrey Payne Williams. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN 9789027248909.
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