The vocabulary of Trinidad English Creole stems from its influences with languages such as Amerindian (Arawak and Carib), Spanish, French, West African, and Bhojpuri/Hindi. Words from Amerindian languages range from different flora and fauna (cachibou plant) (Michaelis et al 67), to names of different locations on the island such as Arima, meaning water. (Anthony). Examples of Spanish influenced words include mamaguy meaning to tease someone or deceive. It originates from the Spanish phrase “mamar el gallo” meaning to tease or mock. “As a result of the diverse lexical influences Trinidadians often have a choice of terms of different origin for the same referent, for example eggplant (English), aubergine (French), melongene (French, possibly also from Spanish berenjena) or baigan (Bhojpuri) all denote the cultivated plant Solanum melongena in Trinidad English Creole” (Michaelis et al, 67).

Trinidadian Creole English uses subject verb object word order. For example “Sita eat di mango” meaning Sita ate the mango. Like it’s lexifier, the order of possessor-possession is possessor-possession: Meri haus means Mary’s house. The order of adjectives and nouns is also similar to English as well with the adjective coming before the noun. An example of this would be “dem big dogs” meaning the big dogs.

One phonological feature of Trinidadian English Creole that separates it from other creoles is that it is non-rhotic (Michaelis et al, 63). This essentially means that the /r/ is not pronounced after vowels with the exception of borrowed words or names from other languages, also known as “r dropping.” Donald Winford has previously studied and separated the creole’s vowel system by using the following five categories: prestige norm, urban vernacular, younger Indians and Africans, older Indians and Africans, and old Indians. Based on his study he found the greatest variations between older Indians and Africans and old Indians. According to Winford, the Received Pronunciation of words like dog is an “open mid back” vowel in categories one through four. Among the “old Indians” it is an “open front central” vowel. Length of vowels have been considered one of the most unstable features of Trinidadian speech whereas consonants are less variable (Michaelis et al, 63).

Works Cited

Anthony, M. (2009). Towns and villages of Trinidad and Tobago. Fernandes Compound: Zenith Print. Services.
“Atlas of Pidgin and Creole Language Structures Online.” APiCS Online – Survey chapter: Trinidad English Creole, apics-online.info/surveys/6.
Michaelis, Susanne Maria. The survey of pidgin and creole languages. English-Based and Dutch-Based languages. Oxford University Press, 2013.