Ghanaian Pidgin English

Last updated

Ghanaian Pidgin English
kru brofo (Akan)
kulu blofo (Ga)
Native to Ghana
Native speakers
5 million (2011) [1]
(not clear if this number includes L2 speakers)
English Creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3 gpe
Glottolog ghan1244
Linguasphere 52-ABB-be
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Faisal Ali speaking in Ghanaian Pidgin about the language's Wikipedia project

Ghanaian Pidgin English (GhaPE) [2] is a Ghanaian English-lexifier pidgin also known as Pidgin, Broken English, and Kru English (kroo brofo in Akan). GhaPE is a regional variety of West African Pidgin English [3] spoken in Ghana, predominantly in the southern capital, Accra, and surrounding towns. [4] It has strong influence from Received Pronunciation, as well as Ga and Akan, two languages indigenous to the Greater Accra region.

Contents

Compared to other West African creoles and particularly other West African Pidgin English varieties such as Nigerian Pidgin English, GhaPE is more restricted in social usage and seems to be more stigmatized. A contributing factor may be the relative importance and usage of other languages such as Standard Ghanaian English (SGE), Hausa, and Akan (particularly the Twi dialect) [5] [6] as lingua francas. [7] Other researchers posit long-lasting language ideologies about prestige dialects as a reason for this difference. [8] While GhaPE is generally intelligible with other varieties of West African Pidgin English, there are some significant lexical distinctions, particularly involving vocabulary coming from substrate languages, for instance, the words "biz" (which stands for "ask"), "kai" (which means "remember") and "gbeketii", meaning "in the evening", in the Standard Ghanaian English.[ citation needed ]

GhaPE can be divided into two basilectal and mesolectal varieties, which academically are referred to as "Town" and "Student" pidgin in newer literature, with "Student" pidgin first emerging as a term in 2002 [7] . They may also be referred to as "uneducated" or "non-institutionalized" pidgin and "educated" or "institutionalized" pidgin respectively. The basilectal Town pidgin is predominantly associated with casual conversation and lower/working class speakers. [9]

Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, male students in boarding and secondary schools began using GhaPE as a form of rebellion against strict educational language ideologies, as educators have attempted to ban the use of pidgin in schools several times. [10] Additionally, these students used GhaPE to express solidarity and camaraderie [5] [7] and establish social groups, with female students and those seen as lacking proficiency in GhaPE being excluded from conversation. [11] For many students, particularly those born outside of major cities like Accra or Tema, this was their first exposure to any form of GhaPE. [11]

This usage of pidgin eventually morphed into the lexically distinct Student pidgin. [11] Student pidgin is often acquired and used in institutions such as boarding schools and universities [12] and are influenced by Standard Ghanaian English. [5] [13] While originally limited to educated male students, Student Pidgin has been increasingly picked up by young women and uneducated young adults, as well as even asserting influence on speakers of Town pidgin due to its association with wealth and education. [14]

Women have been historically less likely to use GhaPE in public or professional settings to avoid the social stigma of illiteracy associated with GhaPE. [13] [9] Use of GhaPE has generally been limited to same-gender groups of similarly aged speakers, [10] [13] though increasingly the boundaries of what is an is not acceptable as speech are blurring. As early as 2008, GhaPE was observed in use in romantic contexts between men and women, and children of middle class families may acquire GhaPE from their fathers even before attending school. [9] However, GhaPE is generally considered unacceptable in formal or traditional contexts, even by speakers who would otherwise use it socially with the same individuals. [9] [14]

Contemporary GhaPE, with influences from both Student and Town pidgin, is spoken by 20% of the population with 5 million speakers. [15] Some of the settings in which GhaPE is commonly used include "educational institutions, work places, airports, seaports, drinking places, markets, on the radio, popular songs, and on political platforms" [5] , as well as in military or police forces [9] and in casual, social settings. Over the years, some young Ghanaian writers have taken to writing literary pieces such as short stories in GhaPE as an act of protest. [16] GhaPE has also seen expression in songs and movies and in advertisements.

Also, young educated men who were raised outside Accra and Tema very often do not know it until they come into contact with others who do at boarding-school in secondary school or at university. [11] But that might be changing, as Accra-born students go to cities such as Ghana's second city Kumasi to study at university and so could help gain the language new diverse speakers.[ citation needed ]

History

The first European contact on the Gold Coast in West Africa was by Portuguese settlers in 1471 (15th century). [17] [18] [19] A Portuguese pidgin was used in parts of Africa throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. [20] This pidgin first developed when native speakers of West African languages were taken to Portugal in order to learn Portuguese for translating purposes during voyages. [18] It is speculated that the Portuguese settlement on the Gold Coast may have been reason for the pidgin's continuation in West Africa. [18] This Portuguese pidgin was used for 300 years along the Gold Coast "but probably never (developed) far beyond the jargon stage". [17]

Nearly two-hundred years later the following their independence the Dutch "took over all of Portugal's possessions in West Africa by 1642" in the 17th century, however "few linguistic remnants" remained in West African Languages, dialects, or varieties. [18] This could be because the Dutch did not settle amongst the West Africans they traded with. [18]

The British colonized the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) in the 19th and 20th centuries from 1844 to 1957. [21] The British had greater linguistic impact in West Africa as they were in greater contact with the indigenous people. GhaPE developed as masters required communication with their workers and was initially spoken by police corporals, watchmen, labourers, and domestic staff who were trying to keep pace with fast-paced English speakers. [18]

Northern Ghanaians were some of the first to become pidgin speakers as they were late in accessing formal education and were employed by masters. [18] "Migration of West Africans to and through Ghana in search of work" [22] have impacted GhaPE development greatly in the last century. Migrant workers came to Ghana in the 1920s, and during a Nigerian oil boom that brought Ghanaian workers to Nigeria. [18] Usage of GhaPE peaked in the 1980s as foreigners, including Ghanaians, were expelled from Nigeria. [18] Nigerian settler influence has played a major role in the development and use of the language. [18]

Geographic distribution

Official status

Dialects and varieties

GhaPE is a variety of West African Pidgin English, signifying relationship with other regional pidgin varieties such as Nigerian Pidgin English. [23] Though some word formations are regional in GhaPE, words are also sometimes borrowed from other regional varieties. GhaPE most commonly borrows "abi", "dey", and "ein" from Nigerian but uses its own word, "commot" frequently as well.[ citation needed ] Because of Nollywood influence, it is fairly common for Ghanaians to understand Nigerian Pidgin. Furthermore, unlike Nigerian pidgin, the use of Ghanaian pidgin is gendered.[ citation needed ]

Student Pidgin originated in prestigious Ghanaian all-male secondary schools in the 1960s–1970s, [7] and there has been an ever-increasing number of female students now also using SP.

A particularly basic variety used by illiterate speakers is sometimes called "'Minimal Pidgin', (which was) sometimes used between Europeans and servants". [24]

Phonology

Phonology reflects the L1 of the speaker, in the case of GhaPE this includes Ghanaian languages from the Kwa language group. [25]

For example, L1 speakers of Akan or Hausa replace /v/ with /b/ or /f/. Therefore, "seven" would be pronounced /sɛbɛn/. [21]

Grammar

Morphology

GhaPE has no standardized orthography, research into morphology, syntax and phonology is limited. [26]

Derivation

Morphological processes of reduplication can derivate words in GhaPE. This process "affects verbs, nouns, attributive adjectives, time and manner adverbials, adverbs, and numerals". [27] Reduplication can also show inflection by showing plurality of action amongst verbs. [27]

Inflection

GhaPE nouns can also show plurality similar to substrate Ghanaian languages by adding the suffix -s. [27]

Articles

  • Definite article: dɛ [27]
  • Indefinite article: sɔm [27]

Sometimes with singular nouns, the GhaPE indefinite article sɔm varies with the SGE "a" (/ɛ/), or is replaced with the Nigerian Pidgin English wan. [27]

Pronouns

Ghanaian Pidgin English (GhPE) uses simplified, gender-neutral pronouns that function across subject, object, and possessive roles, often utilizing "am" for him/her/it and "dem" for plural subjects/objects. Key pronouns include I (I/me), you (you), e (he/she/it), wi (we), wona (you plural), and dem (they/them).

  • Subject

1st Person Singular: I (e.g., I no know - I don't know)

2nd Person Singular: You

3rd Person Singular: E or I (used for he, she, or it; e.g., E dey - He/she/it is there)

1st Person Plural: Wi

3rd Person Plural: Dem (e.g., Dem see am - They saw him/her)

  • Object

Object (1st person): Me

Object (3rd Person): Am is used for both singular him/her/it.

  • Reflexive pronouns

Reflexive: Formed by adding "-sef" (self) to the pronoun:

1sg: masef (myself)

2sg: jɔ̀sef (yourself)

3sg: einsef (himself/herself/itself)

1pl: wonasef (ourselves)

2pl: jɔ̀sef (yourselves)/ you menes (lit. you guys)

3pl: demasef (themselves).

  • Possessive pronouns

1sg: ma

2sg: yuh/jɔ̀

3sg: ein

1pl: wona

3pl: dema

Tense, Aspect, and Mood

Grammatical distinctions related to tense, aspect, and mood are expressed through preverbal particles, which constitute a central component of GSPE morphology.

  • Aspect Markers*

dey – progressive or habitual aspect

she dey read (“she is reading”)

don – perfective or completive aspect

we don finish (“we have finished”)

  • Tense Markers*

go – future or irrealis

I go come tomorrow (“I will come tomorrow”)

  • Modal Markers*

fi(t) – ability or possibility

he fi(t) do am (“he can do it”)

These particles may occur in combination, though ordering is constrained by usage conventions.

  • Negation*

Negation in GSPE is analytic and typically expressed using the preverbal particle no or the negative perfect marker neva.

    • Examples:*

I no know (“I do not know”)

she neva come (“she has not come”)

Negation does not require auxiliary verbs or inflectional changes to the main verb.

  • Adjectives and Adverbs*

Adjectives and adverbs do not inflect for degree. Comparative and superlative meanings are expressed periphrastically using particles such as:

pass – comparative

this one good pass that one (“this one is better than that one”)

Intensity may be expressed using adverbs such as too much or through reduplication.

R*eduplication*

Reduplication is a productive morphological strategy in GSPE and serves several semantic functions, including emphasis, intensity, repetition, and continuity.

Examples:

small small (“gradually”)

quick quick (“quickly, hurriedly”)

talk talk (“excessive talking”)

This feature reflects substrate influence from Ghanaian languages, many of which employ reduplication extensively.

Syntax

Sentence Structure

The following example shows the declarative sentence structure SV(O). [28]

A

I

sabi

know

buk.

book

A sabi buk.

I know book

"I am literate."

Lexis

Amoako (2011) finds that most of the GhaPE lexis and some of its syntax comes from English, [26] however it has likely been re-lexified by the more current Ghanaian English. [29]

Examples

Writing system

GhaPE is primarily spoken and, like many pidgins, is rarely written and has no standardized orthography. [26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ghanaian Pidgin English at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Huber (1999), p. 2.
  3. ↑ McArthur, Tom (23 April 1998). The English Languages (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9780511621048.008. ISBN   978-0-521-48130-4.
  4. ↑ Huber (1999), p. 3.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Amoako, Joe K.Y.B. (1992). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: In Search of Synchronic, Diachronic, and Sociolinguistic Evidence" (Ph.D. Dissertation). University of Florida at Gainesville.
  6. ↑ Yakpo, Kofi (1 January 2016). ""The only language we speak really well": the English creoles of Equatorial Guinea and West Africa at the intersection of language ideologies and language policies" . International Journal of the Sociology of Language (239). doi:10.1515/ijsl-2016-0010. ISSN   0165-2516. S2CID   147057342.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Dako, Kari (24 February 2004). "Student Pidgin (SP): the Language of the Educated Male Elite". Research Review of the Institute of African Studies. 18 (2): 53–62. doi:10.4314/rrias.v18i2.22862. ISSN   0855-4412. S2CID   146536980.
  8. ↑ Simo Bobda, A. (2000). The uniqueness of Ghanaian English pronunciation in West Africa. 
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Huber, Magnus (10 December 2008), Mesthrie, Rajend; Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.), "Ghanaian Pidgin English: phonology", 4 Africa, South and Southeast Asia, De Gruyter Mouton, pp. 93–101, doi:10.1515/9783110208429.1.93, ISBN   978-3-11-020842-9 , retrieved 17 January 2026{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  10. 1 2 Huber (1999), p. 150.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Suglo, Ignatius. (2012). Language Attitudes towards Ghanaian Pidgin English among Students in Ghana.
  12. ↑ Huber (1999), pp. 139–42.
  13. 1 2 3 Ewusi, Kelly Jo Trennepohl (2015). "Communicational Strategies in Ghanaian Pidgin English: Turn-Taking, Overlap and Repair" (Ph.D. Dissertation). Indiana University.
  14. 1 2 Yakpo, Kofi (2024). "The indigenization of Ghanaian Pidgin English". World Englishes. 43 (1): 182–202. doi:10.1111/weng.12635. ISSN   1467-971X.
  15. ↑ Michaelis, Susanne; Philippe Maurer; Martin Haspelmath; Magnus Huber, eds. (2013). The atlas of Pidgin and Creole language structures. [Oxford], United Kingdom: APiCS Consortium. ISBN   978-0-19-969139-5. OCLC   839396764.
  16. ↑ flashfictiongh (8 April 2016). "'Ebi Time' by Fui Can-Tamakloe". Flash Fiction GHANA. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  17. 1 2 Huber, Magnus (1 January 1995). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: An Overview" . English World-Wide. 16 (2): 215–249. doi:10.1075/eww.16.2.04hub. ISSN   0172-8865.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Amoako, Joe K.Y.B. (1992). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: In Search of Synchronic, Diachronic, and Sociolinguistic Evidence" (Ph.D. Dissertation). University of Florida at Gainesville.
  19. ↑ McArthur, Tom (23 April 1998). The English Languages (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9780511621048.008. ISBN   978-0-521-48130-4.
  20. ↑ Naro, Anthony (1978). "A Study on the Origins of Pidginization". Language. 54 (2): 314–347. doi:10.2307/412950. JSTOR   412950.
  21. 1 2 Huber, Magnus (2008). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: Phonology". In Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Reference Tool. Vol. 1. Berlin, Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 866–873. doi:10.1515/9783110197181-053. S2CID   243085546.
  22. ↑ Ewusi, Kelly Jo Trennepohl (2015). "Communicational Strategies in Ghanaian Pidgin English: Turn-Taking, Overlap and Repair" (Ph.D. Dissertation). Indiana University.
  23. ↑ McArthur, Tom (1998). The English Languages. p. 164.
  24. ↑ Criper, Lindsay (1971). "A Classification of Types of English in Ghana". Journal of African Languages. 10: 6–17.
  25. ↑ Amoako, Joe K.Y.B. (1992). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: In Search of Synchronic, Diachronic, and Sociolinguistic Evidence" (Ph.D. Dissertation). University of Florida at Gainesville.
  26. 1 2 3 Amoako, Joe K.Y.B. (1992). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: In Search of Synchronic, Diachronic, and Sociolinguistic Evidence" (Ph.D. Dissertation). University of Florida at Gainesville.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Huber, Magnus (19 December 2008). "Ghanaian Pidgin English: Morphology and Syntax". In Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Reference Tool. Vol. 2. Berlin, Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 866–878. doi:10.1515/9783110197181-123. ISBN   978-3-11-019718-1. S2CID   241854285.
  28. ↑ Huber (1999), p. 176.
  29. ↑ Ewusi, Kelly Jo Trennepohl (2015). "Communicational Strategies in Ghanaian Pidgin English: Turn-Taking, Overlap and Repair" (Ph.D. Dissertation). Indiana University.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.