"as pidgin is generally considered a language for deviants"
"as pidgin is generally considered a language for deviants"
Osei 10 years ago
CHARLE, THE WAY YOU WRITE THIS PIECE SHOW SAY PIDGIN AFFECT THE WAY YOU DEY WRITE. YOUR ENGLISH GET PLENTY TROUBLE. I THINK SAY YOU FOR STOP SPEAKING PIDGIN.
CHARLE, THE WAY YOU WRITE THIS PIECE SHOW SAY PIDGIN AFFECT THE WAY YOU DEY WRITE. YOUR ENGLISH GET PLENTY TROUBLE. I THINK SAY YOU FOR STOP SPEAKING PIDGIN.
Nyansasem 10 years ago
omoghana. we dey talk about pidgin self and here you dey talk about grammar, ibi grammar you go chop. make you commot yourself from there.
omoghana. we dey talk about pidgin self and here you dey talk about grammar, ibi grammar you go chop. make you commot yourself from there.
Osei 10 years ago
OMO GHANA NO KNOW TALK. COMMON dork-torh OMO GHANA SAY docta. COMMON ee-ah-porrt (AIRPORT), OMO GHANA say erport.
OMO GHANA NO KNOW TALK. COMMON dork-torh OMO GHANA SAY docta. COMMON ee-ah-porrt (AIRPORT), OMO GHANA say erport.
GHFUO, LOVE/DOR YOURSELF! 10 years ago
U ARE TOO UPPITY. WAT IS UR PROBLEM. IVE NEVER MET U IN PERSON, BUT U SEEM LIKE A BOIL OR WATER FILLED BALLOON. READY TO POP!
PIDGIN, PATOIS, EBONICS, ETC ARE ALL STREET, HOOD TALK. JUST BCOS SOMEONE SPEAKS THESE DONT THE ... read full comment
U ARE TOO UPPITY. WAT IS UR PROBLEM. IVE NEVER MET U IN PERSON, BUT U SEEM LIKE A BOIL OR WATER FILLED BALLOON. READY TO POP!
PIDGIN, PATOIS, EBONICS, ETC ARE ALL STREET, HOOD TALK. JUST BCOS SOMEONE SPEAKS THESE DONT THE PERSON IS A ILLITERATE OR A DEVIANT. ITS SIMPLY A FORM OF EXPRESSION. DONT ALLOW YOURSELF TO BE FOOLED BY THE OBRONI , ESPECIALLY IN THIS INTERNET AGE.
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
The author says those who speak pidgin write good/better English and he speaks pidgin too, therefore, writes good/better English. Our point is that his premise may be right, but his conclusions, based on his own ability to wr ... read full comment
The author says those who speak pidgin write good/better English and he speaks pidgin too, therefore, writes good/better English. Our point is that his premise may be right, but his conclusions, based on his own ability to write good/better English is in doubt! This is what some of us are saying!No one is criminalizing pidgin, patois, ebonics, etc.
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
"There is no proof that School Pidgin affects the linguistic/academic competencies of the speakers. If you would not say your wedding vows in pidgin (not even in Nigeria), why write pidgin items in WAEC exams? Ghanaian educat ... read full comment
"There is no proof that School Pidgin affects the linguistic/academic competencies of the speakers. If you would not say your wedding vows in pidgin (not even in Nigeria), why write pidgin items in WAEC exams? Ghanaian educationists should ask why in Nigeria, where everybody speaks pidgin, (even the unlettered), they have not found it to be affecting their exam results. Our DCE may have a point, but the big point about our education cannot be explained away on pidgin."
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
"The pidgin community lived well with the SU students with no suspicions at all. What remained suspicious was the real intention of the English masters when they needlessly expressed fears about the potential of pidgin to cor ... read full comment
"The pidgin community lived well with the SU students with no suspicions at all. What remained suspicious was the real intention of the English masters when they needlessly expressed fears about the potential of pidgin to corrupt our formal English application, or indeed, affect our performance in examinations. The Akatsi-North DCE’s recent comments on pidgin (see Pidgin English accounting for poor results-MCE, myjoyonline.com, June 10, 2013), sit well with popular official position on the matter. The setting was very appropriate for the intervention, even though he did not say exactly how Pidgin English dey make students bomb for Exams. The average pidgin speaker would find the DCE’s remarks ‘some way’ or ‘confing.’ They might also question why people dey dey dema top so. In the end, they would decide not to beez dem (ignore them) or lef dem (let them be/desert). As a sociolet, pidgin speakers share linguistic traits that set them apart from non speakers. That means the language is not for everybody, except where it is the lingua franca. The speakers see themselves as a community, so they know their folks and would not do business with anybody outside the community in a language that is unintelligible to them. They know how to codeswitch (change language for setting and context) to identify with situation or occasion. After all, pidgin is made up of a substrate that is familiar to many in a language community, and a superstrate that is also common. We get a pidgin language when we borrow from the two ‘strates’ (pidginisation) to form a medium of communication. Our pidgin (what we speak in our schools is School Pidgin) is a harmless mixture of English and our vernacular."
CHARCOAL SELLER. 10 years ago
,some of you reactionary academicians sicken my stomach, "Pidgin English is the language of deviants", "The queen's English", neither of which is correct, simply because they are both misnomers.
There is no such thing as ... read full comment
,some of you reactionary academicians sicken my stomach, "Pidgin English is the language of deviants", "The queen's English", neither of which is correct, simply because they are both misnomers.
There is no such thing as the "queen's English", in reference to Britian's queen, because the English language was imposed on the British in the same way that the British imposed it on many other English speaking countries, through invasions and colonization.
Pidgin English, has no clear definition, it can not, any attempt to define the term: "Pidgin English", would first have to define: "Pidgin".
Africans are not "Pidgin" speakers, Africans had structured languages centuries before the first European spoke, or had a language that was structured, African languages are still structured, and we stand ready to present and defend the integrity of African speech patterns, because of it's importance to the mental stability of our people.
Some confused academicians even say "broken English" without explaining what broke the English, I usually pose the question to the linguistic overlords: what broke the English? Was it a stick? Stone? Or brick? They then look at me as though I had just arrived from a visit with Zues or Apollo, (Ethiopian Gods worshipped in Greece and Rome).
Whenever an indigenous speaker speaks a foreign language, there will be obstructions in the person's thought process' as they transition from one "language/linguistic structure" to another, some people refer to it as speaking with an accent, others say it's linguistic interference modification, etc.
Bottom line, African intellectuals ought to step up and stop being carbon copies of an archaic colonial system of mis education. President Kwame Nkrumah outlined in the introduction in his book: "consciencism," the problems that the young intellectuals coming from colonial backgrounds, face when they travel to their colonial masters countries, and enter their universities, mentally disadvantaged, and in far too many cases they leave these institutions totally confused, but highly certified, some of them with honors, mind you.
African speech patterns are linked to the language structures of our mother tongue, it's more legitimate than any foreign language imposed or otherwise, there is nothing pidgin about African speech patterns.
Progressive African scholars in the US, have brilliantly defined African speech patterns as: "EBONICS," which combines the words: Ebony/Black, and Fonics/Sound. Ebonics = Black Sounds.
Bourgeois intellectuals need to get a grip on themselves before it's too late.
Akadu Mensema 10 years ago
By deviants the author means the underclass of uneducated people! That is pidgin for you! There you have it!
By deviants the author means the underclass of uneducated people! That is pidgin for you! There you have it!
CHARCOAL SELLER. 10 years ago
Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many Pidgin languages derived from English.
Before responding the first time, I took the time to read the definitation of Pidgin English in order to avoid b ... read full comment
Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many Pidgin languages derived from English.
Before responding the first time, I took the time to read the definitation of Pidgin English in order to avoid being semantical or confused about the insulting and racist subject matter.
After reading that Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to .....languages derived from English, Being an Nkrumahist, I knew that Africa is not an extension of Europe, I knew that Africans were speaking their indigenous languages before the English language was created by the Romans, Germans and French, from the first thru fifteenth century. Therefore, the definition does not apply to us.
Part of this confusion stems from the fact that the author of this article is an English major, who doesn't seem to know the history of the very subject in which he is majoring.
Education is supposed to prepare one to live among one's people, from whence they came, and where their formal education began. However, bourgeoise education creates class cleavages where the petty bourgeoise academicians align themselves with the colonial ruling class' ideology, and heaps insults and denigration on their people as a result.
To Sister Akadu Mensema, I respect you and some of your view points, however, there is no way that I could accept the fallacy that African intelligence is predicated on their ability to mimic European speech patterns, or any other form of European mimicry.
All praises to the Almighty African masses, for keeping Africa's Mother Tongues alive, despite the unwarranted attacks by the colonialists and their petty bourgeoise academicians who see fit to label us as their masters do.
Finally, to my dear Sister Akadu, who accused me of being semantical in my initial response, I'd like to respectfully respond in two words: "PROVE IT".
Nyansasem 10 years ago
Na tru you dey talk. E no be tru say pidgin english dey spoil your grammar. If you no sabi proper english self, you no go fit speak proper pidgin.
Oh, how I dey wish our mommies, poppies and old ladies sabi pidgin english. ... read full comment
Na tru you dey talk. E no be tru say pidgin english dey spoil your grammar. If you no sabi proper english self, you no go fit speak proper pidgin.
Oh, how I dey wish our mommies, poppies and old ladies sabi pidgin english. old people from omo Niger who no dey go for school self, no dey have problem in abroad; they express themselves well, well in their pidgin language for oyibo to understand them.
Osei 10 years ago
CHARLE, OYIBO NO DAY UNDERSTAND NAIJA PIDGIN OO. ME SELF WEY I BE GHANAIAN, I NO DEY UNDERSTAND NAIJA ENGLISH ALL THE TIME.
CHARLE, OYIBO NO DAY UNDERSTAND NAIJA PIDGIN OO. ME SELF WEY I BE GHANAIAN, I NO DEY UNDERSTAND NAIJA ENGLISH ALL THE TIME.
Nyansasem 10 years ago
me self, sometimes i no dey understand them but de problem no bi english, ibi accent you dey talk.
me self, sometimes i no dey understand them but de problem no bi english, ibi accent you dey talk.
No be everi person wey Naija dey speak better pidgin. Some place dey, like de Delta area, where everi person, iven de wan wey no go school, de speak pidgin. Some old people in some Yoruba villages no sabe pidgin. Na so so in ... read full comment
No be everi person wey Naija dey speak better pidgin. Some place dey, like de Delta area, where everi person, iven de wan wey no go school, de speak pidgin. Some old people in some Yoruba villages no sabe pidgin. Na so so in de deep North.
It's only in Ghana that pidgin English is for the rough and the "guys". When I lived in the English speaking side of Cameroon many years ago, I attended mass only once and it was Easter and the entire service was in pidgin English. Our Father and Hail Mary were said in pidgin English, the passion story was read entirely in pidgin English and the priest read his sermon in pidgin English. It was sooooo beautiful...
Nyansasem 10 years ago
I sabi dat. but more older people in niger sabi express themselves in oyibo land than ghana people. people wey de no go for high school (secondary) no dey speak english atall.
I sabi dat. but more older people in niger sabi express themselves in oyibo land than ghana people. people wey de no go for high school (secondary) no dey speak english atall.
BOY ALINKO 10 years ago
DIS PIDGIN WAY NA FUCKED UP WAY ABI ..IBE THE TIN WEY OYIBO GO GET STIFF NECK FOR TOP.
THE SKOOL FEES UNA PAPA NA MAMA PAY ALL QUENCH QUATAA NI.
DIS PIDGIN WAY NA FUCKED UP WAY ABI ..IBE THE TIN WEY OYIBO GO GET STIFF NECK FOR TOP.
THE SKOOL FEES UNA PAPA NA MAMA PAY ALL QUENCH QUATAA NI.
Jonas 10 years ago
The Nigerians laugh at our pidgin. If you're a Ghanaian who has lived in Nigeria and Cameroon and you hear the Ghanaian pidgin, it sounds funny paa. And the pidgin spoken in Cameroon is even purer than the one in Nigeria beca ... read full comment
The Nigerians laugh at our pidgin. If you're a Ghanaian who has lived in Nigeria and Cameroon and you hear the Ghanaian pidgin, it sounds funny paa. And the pidgin spoken in Cameroon is even purer than the one in Nigeria because the Cameroonians don't put many of their local words in it. As for what is spoken in Liberia and Sierra Leone, it's not pidgin but Kru (Creole). Even the Nigerians don't understand them all.
But for us "Ghananians" we no dey fit speak pidgin. Even all the naija movies so many Ghanaians watch have not improved our pidgin.
Osei 10 years ago
AMERICANS LAUGHA T BEITISH ACCENT, BRITISH LAUGHA AT AMERICAN ACCENT TOO.
THE NAIJA ACCENT IS TO STRONG FOR ME.
KPOR-SHOO for PURSUE, NOORS for NURSE. IT IS JUST CRAZY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HEAR IT IN EUROPE OR AMERICA. IT I ... read full comment
AMERICANS LAUGHA T BEITISH ACCENT, BRITISH LAUGHA AT AMERICAN ACCENT TOO.
THE NAIJA ACCENT IS TO STRONG FOR ME.
KPOR-SHOO for PURSUE, NOORS for NURSE. IT IS JUST CRAZY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HEAR IT IN EUROPE OR AMERICA. IT IS BETTER FOR OTHER TO UNDRRSTAND GHANAIANS.
Jonas 10 years ago
Ghanaians laugh at Nigerians when they speak "grammar" because of their strong pronunciation. But no Ghanaian will laugh at Nigerian Pidgin from a position of knowing better. Pidgin is pidgin including the peculiar way Nigeri ... read full comment
Ghanaians laugh at Nigerians when they speak "grammar" because of their strong pronunciation. But no Ghanaian will laugh at Nigerian Pidgin from a position of knowing better. Pidgin is pidgin including the peculiar way Nigerians pronounce the words. No Ghanaian can better them in that. They speak better pidgin that we do.
Osei 10 years ago
Ghanaians laugh at Nigerians when they speak "grammar" because of their strong pronunciation.
WHEN NIGERIANS LIEAVE NIGERIA AND GO TO OTHER ENGLISH SPEKAING COUNTRIES, THEN THEY KNOW THYE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR nooR-S ... read full comment
Ghanaians laugh at Nigerians when they speak "grammar" because of their strong pronunciation.
WHEN NIGERIANS LIEAVE NIGERIA AND GO TO OTHER ENGLISH SPEKAING COUNTRIES, THEN THEY KNOW THYE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR nooR-S (NURSE)AND KPOR-sHOO (puruse). NO ONE UNDERSTANDS THEM.
But no Ghanaian will laugh at Nigerian Pidgin from a position of knowing better.
WE ALL LAUGH AT EACH OTHER. UNTIL THE ADVENT OF NIGERIAN MOVIES, GHNAIANS USED TO LAUGH AT NIGERIAN PIDGIN. TODAY, WE ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH IT.
we have heard it over and over. YES, WE USED TO LAUGH AT NIGERIAN PIDGIN. WE SAW IT AS COARSE, LOUD AND HARSH. ONE OF MY FRIEND USED TO JOKE THAT WHEN U SAY I LOVE YOU IN NIGERIAN PIDGIN, IT SOUNDS LIKE A FIGHT.
Pidgin is pidgin including the peculiar way Nigerians pronounce the words. No Ghanaian can better them in that. They speak better pidgin that we do.
NIGERIANS CANNOT BETTER LIBERIANS AT THE WAY LIBERIANS SPEAK LIBERIAN PIDGIN. NIGERIANS CANNOT BETTER GHANAIANS THE WAY WE SPEAK OUR PIIDGIN. NIGERIAN PIDGIN IS THEIRS, IT IS NOT BETTER THAN LIBERIAN PIDGIN OR JAMAICAN (PIDGIN).
PIDGIN IS YOUR OWN LANGUAGE MANGLED WITH ENGLISH. THERE IS NO STANDARD.
metoo 10 years ago
Nigerians may say Noor-s, but Ghanaians say Ne-ss. Naijas say kpor-shoo.....but Ghanaians say peys-you.
Neither actually say nurse or pursue......so I don't get the issue.
People have accents....yes even non Africans.
Nigerians may say Noor-s, but Ghanaians say Ne-ss. Naijas say kpor-shoo.....but Ghanaians say peys-you.
Neither actually say nurse or pursue......so I don't get the issue.
People have accents....yes even non Africans.
Keith Schmidt 10 years ago
Pidgin is just mangling another language because you cannot speak it well. Thats it ! If you can speak the language well then there would be no pidgin. So it is speaking a language badly. Is the better pidgin the one that is ... read full comment
Pidgin is just mangling another language because you cannot speak it well. Thats it ! If you can speak the language well then there would be no pidgin. So it is speaking a language badly. Is the better pidgin the one that is worse than the others?
Or the done that is further from the mother language than the others?
No pidgin better than another. They are all the adulteration of another language.
metoo 10 years ago
Naija pidgin is better to my ears O!. Beacsue it is always evolving and describes a situation to the crux better than the queen's English can. There are always new phrases and words to describe things or situations.
It has ... read full comment
Naija pidgin is better to my ears O!. Beacsue it is always evolving and describes a situation to the crux better than the queen's English can. There are always new phrases and words to describe things or situations.
It has nothing to do with being able to speak your language, it has to do with relating to all including those who do not speak the same language as you.
The educated in Naija dey speak pidgin when with their personal persons now. Omo Dem no dey form.
How u go dey talk stiff stiff English wit ur paddy?
Na exam we dey sit?
It is not seen as the same as an Ghana where you relate it with social class or educational standing.
Even in Naija, as a musician......if you don't add pidgin or a traditional language, small.....your music no go follow at all and will not be accepted by Nigerians warmly. We no like phonee, when we dey relate and relax o.
All pidgin is good, but I have a soft spot for Naija own. E geti swag wellu wellu....lol
metoo 10 years ago
You are describing an accent, of which every person has.
Pidgin is how you say phrases, not words, or giving words a different meaning in a particular context.
Nigeria has many kinds of pidgin, depending on the region.
... read full comment
You are describing an accent, of which every person has.
Pidgin is how you say phrases, not words, or giving words a different meaning in a particular context.
Nigeria has many kinds of pidgin, depending on the region.
Waffi (warri) pidgin, is different to the pidgin of a northerner. Or the pidgin of a lagosian or aba man/woman.
Many other Nigerians can not understand it.
I love hearing Naija pidgin and men and woman young and old, of all social status's can speak in pidgin without being looked down upon or judged.
It is useful for us, as we have many languages but still need to talk to one another.
Even on the radio news they will have broadcasts in pidgin. Our adverts, we pidginize it o!
Also we don't tend to look towards what Europeans or Americans will think, because when they came to Africa they made no attempt to learn our way of speaking, but forced us to learn their English.
We are who we are and proud of it, even in our music, we for add pidgin na....!
Osei 10 years ago
We are who we are and proud of it, even in our music
SAME IN GHANA AND OTHER WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES. GHANAIANS LOVE THEIR PIDGIN TOO. WHEN GHANAIANS WENT TO NIGERIA, NIGERIANS WOULD LAUGH AT THE WAY WE SPOKE. OF COURSE WE ... read full comment
We are who we are and proud of it, even in our music
SAME IN GHANA AND OTHER WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES. GHANAIANS LOVE THEIR PIDGIN TOO. WHEN GHANAIANS WENT TO NIGERIA, NIGERIANS WOULD LAUGH AT THE WAY WE SPOKE. OF COURSE WE ALSO LAUGHED AT THE WAY NIGERIANS SPOKE.
THE ACCENT IS PART OF THE PIDGIN, IT IS WHAT GIVES IT DISTINCTION.
PIDGIN IS PIDGIN, ONE PIDGIN IS NOT BETTER THAN THE OTHER.
I love hearing Naija pidgin and men and woman young and old, of all social status's can speak in pidgin without being looked down upon or judged.
THERE IS ALWAYS JUDGEMENT. SO GOOD , PIDGIN IS A MEANS FOR ALL TO COMMUNICATE, BUT THE JUDGEMENT IS ALWAYS THERE. BEING JUDGED AND LOOKED DOWN UPON IS ALWAYS THERE.
metoo 10 years ago
Nope....not for Naija. People do not get looked down upon for speaking pidgin, because people who you know fully well are educated and speak English very well.......you will still speak in pidgin in the right setting.
Peop ... read full comment
Nope....not for Naija. People do not get looked down upon for speaking pidgin, because people who you know fully well are educated and speak English very well.......you will still speak in pidgin in the right setting.
People switch between the two all the time.
macshild 10 years ago
herr charley I feel your article pass...it check like you school for ga eerh....ibi soo...you nany go fit speak better pidgin if you no dey bab better ble(English)...naija pidgin dey bore me pass...dema pidgin be unrefined w ... read full comment
herr charley I feel your article pass...it check like you school for ga eerh....ibi soo...you nany go fit speak better pidgin if you no dey bab better ble(English)...naija pidgin dey bore me pass...dema pidgin be unrefined wey w)nna pidgin be the mordenized one, sake of the words we dey use sef kraa plenty dey the dictionary inside whey them classify them as secondary meaning to primary words...example in better pidgin instead of saying STOP you say shun..you dey bab.?...high school pidgin dey bee keke ....lol
Osei 10 years ago
Dis article b gy3. On point
Dis article b gy3. On point
Paa Kwesi Mintah 10 years ago
Kwesi, you're so wrong. What you and your school mates spoke is not pidgin English at all. It's rather a mix of native colloquialism and teenage jargon mimicking the real pidgin.
If you want to study and research pidgin En ... read full comment
Kwesi, you're so wrong. What you and your school mates spoke is not pidgin English at all. It's rather a mix of native colloquialism and teenage jargon mimicking the real pidgin.
If you want to study and research pidgin English, then go to Papua New Guinea or next door Nigeria.
Pidgin is distinct and has its own grammatical structure, style and diction. It doesn't borrow from native colloquialism such as you write-"I dey tap". In Nigeria, "I dey tap" will draw a different meaning, such as drawing a liquid, while among your school buddies it means "You're here and well".
You want to speak pidgin, listen to Nigerian or Papua New Guinean. Though the Pidgin is parallel to standard English, it does not corrupt any proficiency in standard grammar. It'll be like saying speaking Twi corrupts the ability to speak standard English.
The DCE may have a point when it comes to those Ghanaians who can neither speak proper Pidgin or standard English. Remember English is a second language to Ghanaians and it takes a lot of effort to acquire speaking proficiency in it, as evidenced by the SC judges.
In the context of real pidgin speakers like Nigerians or Papua New Guineans, the DCE is wrong.
There are gradations of pidgin English as spoken in West Africa. I had to perk my ears to understand two elderly Sierra Leonians gabbing nonchalantly about the proper way to register a package at the post office. Their young charge who spoke standard English revealed to me they were Africans from Sierra Leone. Imagine my surprise. Then there's the Liberian type of pidgin which is more understandable but spoken in a unique accent and diction that follows their native language.
You no dey speak pidgin. Una people dey speak something like pidgin. I be I dey lie?
Jonas 10 years ago
The pidgin in Papua New Guinea is even thicker than the Nigerian one and, perhaps purer. It is a real language, nothing like what Ghanaians call pidgin which Ben is mangling here. I don't even understand what Ben is saying h ... read full comment
The pidgin in Papua New Guinea is even thicker than the Nigerian one and, perhaps purer. It is a real language, nothing like what Ghanaians call pidgin which Ben is mangling here. I don't even understand what Ben is saying here as pidgin probably because I am of an older generation than his.
As for what is spoken in Liberia in Sierra Leone it is the first and only language of many people - a mother tongue. A real language where you can praise some people as being very good in just as you can praise some elderly people for being extremely good in Twi - deep Twi.
When Ben says he speaks pidgin, he means that youth thing in Ghana spoken in secondary schools and not a really a language. Ghanaians have no experience of real pidgin English.
Osei 10 years ago
IN GHANA, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND OTHER WORKING CLASS PEOPLE SPEAK PIDGIN. THE KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL JUST ADJUST THEIR THE PIDGIN TO BOND. EVEN BEFORE INDEPENDENCE, OUR PEOPLE SPOKE PIDGIN BECUASE ONLY FEW COULD SPEAK THE QUEE ... read full comment
IN GHANA, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND OTHER WORKING CLASS PEOPLE SPEAK PIDGIN. THE KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL JUST ADJUST THEIR THE PIDGIN TO BOND. EVEN BEFORE INDEPENDENCE, OUR PEOPLE SPOKE PIDGIN BECUASE ONLY FEW COULD SPEAK THE QUEEN'S LANGUAGE.
AT THE LOWER LEVEL IN OUR POLICE FORCE AND MILITARY, GHANAIAN PIDGE IS THE MEANS OF COMMUNICATION.
LIBERIAN PIDGIN, SIERRA LEONEAN PIDGIN, GHANAIAN PIDGIN AND NIGERIAN PIDGIN ALL COME FROM THE SAME SOURCE- ENGLISH. OF COURSE, THE LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF THOSE WHO SPEAK THE PIDGIN AFFECTS HOW HEAVY OR LIGHT IT IS.
HOW HEAVY IT IS DOES NOT MAKE IT BETTER PIDGIN. PIDGIN IS PIDGIN IS PIDGIN.
Jonas 10 years ago
Your article is about pidgin as Ghanaians speak it, not pidgin English in general. It's only in Ghana that pidgin English is considered as being for deviants. There's some truth in that. But in other countries pidgin English ... read full comment
Your article is about pidgin as Ghanaians speak it, not pidgin English in general. It's only in Ghana that pidgin English is considered as being for deviants. There's some truth in that. But in other countries pidgin English is serious business. In some parts of Nigeria and Cameroon, nobody will say pidgin English is for deviants. If you go to a church service in an orthodox Christian denomination and all the prayers, hymns and the sermon are in pidgin English, you won't say that is a language for deviants!
Don't compare the Ghanaian pidgin with the Naija one. They are two different things. Ghanaians speak pidgin English lite - like in Akadu's poems.
HON AGYAPONG 10 years ago
MR DCE KINDLY TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO SPEAK AND WRITE PIDGING ALONE.PLEASE DO NOT
MR DCE KINDLY TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO SPEAK AND WRITE PIDGING ALONE.PLEASE DO NOT
Kukurudu 10 years ago
It is true that those who messed around with pidgin while at school cannot write proper English, including this author who has confessed.
It is true that those who messed around with pidgin while at school cannot write proper English, including this author who has confessed.
WW 10 years ago
Mr. Tawiah, I've been reading your write-ups from your German to current Canadaian days with sense of appreciation. Those articles made a lot of sense and were thought provoking on the various subject matters treated. On the ... read full comment
Mr. Tawiah, I've been reading your write-ups from your German to current Canadaian days with sense of appreciation. Those articles made a lot of sense and were thought provoking on the various subject matters treated. On the contrary, however, you have failed to carry the same precision of being a scholarly writer in both your thoughts and judgement on the "pigin english" stuff. Acculturation or assimilation in "pigin english" no matter what affects many students in their final examination outputs and thereafter. There may be some exceptions, but the percentage rate is what matters. Please continue with your scholarly and thought provoking article and stop defending the indefensible. You are a good writer, I admire you a lot, but not on your "pigin english" produce. Thank you.
John Amponsah 10 years ago
Kwesi, I have enjoyed your article, thanks for writing it
Kwesi, I have enjoyed your article, thanks for writing it
"as pidgin is generally considered a language for deviants"
CHARLE, THE WAY YOU WRITE THIS PIECE SHOW SAY PIDGIN AFFECT THE WAY YOU DEY WRITE. YOUR ENGLISH GET PLENTY TROUBLE. I THINK SAY YOU FOR STOP SPEAKING PIDGIN.
omoghana. we dey talk about pidgin self and here you dey talk about grammar, ibi grammar you go chop. make you commot yourself from there.
OMO GHANA NO KNOW TALK. COMMON dork-torh OMO GHANA SAY docta. COMMON ee-ah-porrt (AIRPORT), OMO GHANA say erport.
U ARE TOO UPPITY. WAT IS UR PROBLEM. IVE NEVER MET U IN PERSON, BUT U SEEM LIKE A BOIL OR WATER FILLED BALLOON. READY TO POP!
PIDGIN, PATOIS, EBONICS, ETC ARE ALL STREET, HOOD TALK. JUST BCOS SOMEONE SPEAKS THESE DONT THE ...
read full comment
The author says those who speak pidgin write good/better English and he speaks pidgin too, therefore, writes good/better English. Our point is that his premise may be right, but his conclusions, based on his own ability to wr ...
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"There is no proof that School Pidgin affects the linguistic/academic competencies of the speakers. If you would not say your wedding vows in pidgin (not even in Nigeria), why write pidgin items in WAEC exams? Ghanaian educat ...
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"The pidgin community lived well with the SU students with no suspicions at all. What remained suspicious was the real intention of the English masters when they needlessly expressed fears about the potential of pidgin to cor ...
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,some of you reactionary academicians sicken my stomach, "Pidgin English is the language of deviants", "The queen's English", neither of which is correct, simply because they are both misnomers.
There is no such thing as ...
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By deviants the author means the underclass of uneducated people! That is pidgin for you! There you have it!
Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many Pidgin languages derived from English.
Before responding the first time, I took the time to read the definitation of Pidgin English in order to avoid b ...
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Na tru you dey talk. E no be tru say pidgin english dey spoil your grammar. If you no sabi proper english self, you no go fit speak proper pidgin.
Oh, how I dey wish our mommies, poppies and old ladies sabi pidgin english. ...
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CHARLE, OYIBO NO DAY UNDERSTAND NAIJA PIDGIN OO. ME SELF WEY I BE GHANAIAN, I NO DEY UNDERSTAND NAIJA ENGLISH ALL THE TIME.
me self, sometimes i no dey understand them but de problem no bi english, ibi accent you dey talk.
noors------------nurse
ee-ah-porrt------airport
dork-torh---------doctor
kporh-shoo----------pursue
kpor-chase-----------purchase
accormo-da-shorng------accomodation
Bread=bled for GH?
pastor=pasta for GH?
No be everi person wey Naija dey speak better pidgin. Some place dey, like de Delta area, where everi person, iven de wan wey no go school, de speak pidgin. Some old people in some Yoruba villages no sabe pidgin. Na so so in ...
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I sabi dat. but more older people in niger sabi express themselves in oyibo land than ghana people. people wey de no go for high school (secondary) no dey speak english atall.
DIS PIDGIN WAY NA FUCKED UP WAY ABI ..IBE THE TIN WEY OYIBO GO GET STIFF NECK FOR TOP.
THE SKOOL FEES UNA PAPA NA MAMA PAY ALL QUENCH QUATAA NI.
The Nigerians laugh at our pidgin. If you're a Ghanaian who has lived in Nigeria and Cameroon and you hear the Ghanaian pidgin, it sounds funny paa. And the pidgin spoken in Cameroon is even purer than the one in Nigeria beca ...
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AMERICANS LAUGHA T BEITISH ACCENT, BRITISH LAUGHA AT AMERICAN ACCENT TOO.
THE NAIJA ACCENT IS TO STRONG FOR ME.
KPOR-SHOO for PURSUE, NOORS for NURSE. IT IS JUST CRAZY, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HEAR IT IN EUROPE OR AMERICA. IT I ...
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Ghanaians laugh at Nigerians when they speak "grammar" because of their strong pronunciation. But no Ghanaian will laugh at Nigerian Pidgin from a position of knowing better. Pidgin is pidgin including the peculiar way Nigeri ...
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Ghanaians laugh at Nigerians when they speak "grammar" because of their strong pronunciation.
WHEN NIGERIANS LIEAVE NIGERIA AND GO TO OTHER ENGLISH SPEKAING COUNTRIES, THEN THEY KNOW THYE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEIR nooR-S ...
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Nigerians may say Noor-s, but Ghanaians say Ne-ss. Naijas say kpor-shoo.....but Ghanaians say peys-you.
Neither actually say nurse or pursue......so I don't get the issue.
People have accents....yes even non Africans.
Pidgin is just mangling another language because you cannot speak it well. Thats it ! If you can speak the language well then there would be no pidgin. So it is speaking a language badly. Is the better pidgin the one that is ...
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Naija pidgin is better to my ears O!. Beacsue it is always evolving and describes a situation to the crux better than the queen's English can. There are always new phrases and words to describe things or situations.
It has ...
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You are describing an accent, of which every person has.
Pidgin is how you say phrases, not words, or giving words a different meaning in a particular context.
Nigeria has many kinds of pidgin, depending on the region.
...
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We are who we are and proud of it, even in our music
SAME IN GHANA AND OTHER WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES. GHANAIANS LOVE THEIR PIDGIN TOO. WHEN GHANAIANS WENT TO NIGERIA, NIGERIANS WOULD LAUGH AT THE WAY WE SPOKE. OF COURSE WE ...
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Nope....not for Naija. People do not get looked down upon for speaking pidgin, because people who you know fully well are educated and speak English very well.......you will still speak in pidgin in the right setting.
Peop ...
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herr charley I feel your article pass...it check like you school for ga eerh....ibi soo...you nany go fit speak better pidgin if you no dey bab better ble(English)...naija pidgin dey bore me pass...dema pidgin be unrefined w ...
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Dis article b gy3. On point
Kwesi, you're so wrong. What you and your school mates spoke is not pidgin English at all. It's rather a mix of native colloquialism and teenage jargon mimicking the real pidgin.
If you want to study and research pidgin En ...
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The pidgin in Papua New Guinea is even thicker than the Nigerian one and, perhaps purer. It is a real language, nothing like what Ghanaians call pidgin which Ben is mangling here. I don't even understand what Ben is saying h ...
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IN GHANA, CONSTRUCTION WORKERS AND OTHER WORKING CLASS PEOPLE SPEAK PIDGIN. THE KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL JUST ADJUST THEIR THE PIDGIN TO BOND. EVEN BEFORE INDEPENDENCE, OUR PEOPLE SPOKE PIDGIN BECUASE ONLY FEW COULD SPEAK THE QUEE ...
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Your article is about pidgin as Ghanaians speak it, not pidgin English in general. It's only in Ghana that pidgin English is considered as being for deviants. There's some truth in that. But in other countries pidgin English ...
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MR DCE KINDLY TEACH YOUR CHILDREN TO SPEAK AND WRITE PIDGING ALONE.PLEASE DO NOT
It is true that those who messed around with pidgin while at school cannot write proper English, including this author who has confessed.
Mr. Tawiah, I've been reading your write-ups from your German to current Canadaian days with sense of appreciation. Those articles made a lot of sense and were thought provoking on the various subject matters treated. On the ...
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Kwesi, I have enjoyed your article, thanks for writing it