Kriol – Inglish Dikshineri English – Kriol Dictionary Compiled and edited by Yvette Herrera Myrna Manzanares Silvana Woods Cynthia Crosbie Ken Decker Editor-in-Chief Paul Crosbie Belize Kriol Project Cover design: Adapted from Yasser Musa Cover photo: Courtesy Robert Spain at 2008 Crooked Tree Cashew Fest Illustrations in the Introduction are from The Art of Reading, SIL International Literacy Department SIL International provided linguistic consultancy to this publication of the Belize Kriol Project. The Belize Kriol Project is the language development arm of The National Kriol Council. www.sil.org The National Kriol Council House of Culture, Regent Street P.O. Box 2447 Belize City Belize www.kriol.org.bz Belize Kriol Project P.O. Box 2120 Office: 33 Central American Blvd. Belize City, Belize The first printing of this dictionary was in 2007 and was funded by The Ministry of Education and The National Institute of Culture and History House of Culture, Regent Street Belize City, Belize First Edition Copyright © 2007 Belize Kriol Project Second Printing 2009 ISBN # 978-976-95165-1-9 Printed by Print Belize Belmopan, Belize CONTENTS List of Abbreviations .......................................... iv Foreword by Sir Colville Young.............................v Preface ..................................................................... ix Acknowledgements.............................................. xi Introduction.............................................................1 Guide to Using the Dictionary...........................3 The Kriol Writing System........................... 10 Grammar Notes....................................................16 KRIOL tu INGLISH .........................................19 ENGLISH to KRIOL ..................................... 381 References.............................................................465 List of Abbreviations adj. adjective obj. object adv. adverb phr. phrase Afr. African pl. plural Am. American Port. Portuguese art. article poss. possessive BK Belize Kriol prep. preposition conj. conjunction pro. pronoun Eng. English pro.adj. pronominal foc. focus marker adjective Fr. French ref. reference ono. onomatopoeia sal. salutation int. interjection sg. singular n. noun sp. specific neg. negative Sp. Spanish NKC National subj. subject Kriol Council v. verb Misk. Miskito var: variant num. number < originating from (etymological reference) iv Foreword By Sir Colville Young GCMG, Ph.D A language, like a people, can be marginalized — by which I mean, it can be treated as insignificant or even unworthy of being called a language, or of scholarly interest. The creole and pidgin languages of the world have especially suffered in this regard. As the noted creolist Dell Hymes1 put it in 1971, “The languages called pidgins and creoles have long been a stepchild, so far as serious attention, either public or scientific, is concerned.” He added, significantly, “The stepchild may prove to be a Cinderella.” Most people now accept that it is most unreasonable to ignore or denigrate the daily speech (and in many cases the only speech) of millions of people. One reason for the slow acceptance of pidgins and creoles as “real” languages was the fact that they “lacked a dictionary or grammar.” Of course, all languages at one time lacked dictionaries, or formal, codified exposition of their grammatical systems. As far as Belize Kriol grammar is concerned, a scholarly grammar has long been made available in my doctoral thesis “Belize Creole: a study of the Creolized English spoken in (Belize).”2 All that was needed to silence the nay-sayers completely was a dictionary, and with this publication that need is met at last. I believe Belize Kriol to be the most widely used of all the many languages spoken in Belize. If for no other reason, it deserves a published list of its words, with their meanings and variety of usages as well as (if space permits) etymologies 1 Preface to Pidginization and Creolization of Languages, ed. Dell Hymes. Cambridge 1971. 2 Unpublished York University thesis, 1973. v where these can be determined, and examples of the words correctly used in sentences. Professor Richard Allsopp describes a dictionary as “a reliable inventory of one’s environment, small or large.”3 The words which form that inventory of our Kriol are from a variety of sources, reflecting the language’s long existence and development, and exposure to a variety of influences. There are words from African languages that date from the days of slavery, for example juk, nyam and guzu. The first, juk, is so widely used that foreign nurses and doctors have to include “nail- juk” (not “nail-puncture”) in their vocabulary when they come to work in Belize. Nyam (“eat”) is for most urban Belizeans rather archaic if not obsolete — but is alive and well in most rural communities, especially the villages of the Belize River valley. Guzu (“bad luck; something that brings bad luck”) is least heard of the three examples I have given of African survivals. An African survival I find fascinating is Krofi, which is actually a mispronunciation of Kofi, an African day-name. (The correct original form of the name is seen in Kofi Anan, the former U. N. Secretary-General.) Then there are words of Spanish origin, three being goma (“hangover”), tableta (“a coconut confection”) and the quite ubiquitous bali/balidor (“friend”) from Mexican –Spanish valedor of similar meaning. Faced with the flora and fauna of a new environment, the early settlers (whether British or African) often used a word familiar from their home usage. A good example is the berry Cocoloba uvifera called “grape” in Belize because its colour, size and shape resemble the grape the early settlers knew from Britain. 3 Allsopp: Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Oxford University Press 1996. vi Then there are the numerous Miskito words borrowed from the speech of the Miskito “Indians” who worked in the timber industry in slavery and post-slavery days. Whatever the origins, the words which make up the vocabulary of our Kriol have at last been adequately recognized and I am sure I speak for all Belize in congratulating the editors of the dictionary and the Kriol Council whose hard work has now borne fruit. As the Summer Institute of Linguistics puts it, “Groups which have lived on the fringes of more dominant cultures are now finding more of a place for their own unique identity and a viability of their own language in the wider culture.”4 Even as we are grateful to have as our official language English, the most widely spoken (and therefore most useful) language on our planet, we are proud to keep alive our national cultures, and the languages through which those cultures find their fullest expression – and that must include the Kriol language. BELIZE HOUSE BELIZE, C.A. 4 A Service to People in a Changing World: The Summer Institute of Linguistics (undated) Dallas, TX. vii viii Preface The compilers of this dictionary subscribe to the words of the following creed: “As the most uniquely human characteristic a person has, a person’s language is associated with his self-image. Interest in and appreciation of a person’s language is tantamount to interest in and appreciation of the person himself. All languages are worthy of preservation in written form by means of grammars, dictionaries, and written texts. This should be done as part of the heritage of the human race.”5 Therefore, the purpose of this dictionary is to provide an authoritative, affordable reference guide to Kriol – the language spoken by the majority of Belizeans. It is a bilingual dictionary, with the second part in English – the official language of Belize. Myrna Manzanares and Silvana Woods played key roles in the development of this dictionary. Because of a deep love and respect for the Belizean culture and language, they have been long-time advocates of the preservation and development of Kriol. They are among the founding members of the Belize Kriol Project, the language arm of the National Kriol Council. Ms. Manzanares is currently the president of the NKC. She is a writer and educator, and is at present working with the Belize Family Life Association. Silvana Woods, popularly known as Kriol Gyal, serves as secretary and public relations officer for the NKC. She is a lecturer at the University of Belize and is currently working on her doctorate, researching the use of Kriol in education. Yvette Herrera wrote many of the definitions and sample sentences, and helped with the final editing. She is the head translator for the Belize Kriol Project, and has participated in cooperative efforts with other Kriol projects in the Caribbean region. Paul and Cynthia Crosbie, linguists from SIL International, have been working with the Belize Kriol Project since 2001. Paul Crosbie did the major work of compiling, researching and editing each of the entries in the dictionary. Cynthia helped with editing and did the computer lay-out in preparation for publication. The Crosbies were 5 The Linguistic Creed (authored by Dr. Benjamin Elson) was taken from the SIL web site: www.sil.org. ix members of the language project which completed a translation of the New Testament and a bilingual dictionary in the French Creole of St. Lucia. In Belize they continue the work begun by Ken and Sandy Decker, also of SIL. The Deckers came to Belize in 1993 in response to a request from Dr. Colville Young and a number of other Belizeans who shared a desire for Kriol language development. SIL International is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to facilitate language-based development through linguistic research, Scripture translation and literacy. Our hope is that the Belizean public will use this dictionary as they learn to read and write and appreciate Kriol. We trust that it will help teachers as they educate our children, and that it will also benefit foreigners who want to learn Kriol. And we are glad to be able to add to the study of Creoles throughout the Caribbean region. Everyone on the dictionary team has enjoyed working with our beautiful Kriol language, and we believe that each of you will enjoy reading and using this publication.