* Trinbagonians speak a flowing, musical
language all their own, the result of a history of invasion, subjugation
and slavery that threw together African slaves, East Indian indentures
and native Amerindians with colonizing settlers from England,
France and Spain, along with immigrants from the Middle East and
China.
* Trini-speak is not a "dialect",
and it's one of the most fascinating languages on earth. It's
base is English, with words, phrases and syntax borrowed unchanged
from African, East Indian, Amerindian, French, Spanish, Portuguese,
Arabic and other languages. (See the Trini
Dictionary for a short list of Trini terms. A fairly comprehensive
Trini dictionary titled Cote ce Cote la (pronounced Co-tay-see
Co-tay-lah) by John Mendes is available in Trini bookstores and
Piarco airport gift shops for about $20.00 U.S.)
* Conversations in Trinidad can be both
well-informed and fascinating; I spoke to a six year old Trini
who brought up the I.M.F., which he correctly identified as the
International Monetary Fund. When I got back to the states I asked
several "Yankee" adults what the I.M.F. is; most common
answer: "Impossible Missions Force".
* Trinis, like most Caribbean people, speak
at a faster rate than most Yankees can cope with. You are likely
to understand about half of what two Trinis say to each other,
although they will usually slow down when speaking to foreign
retards. Studying the Trini dictionary and listening to tapes
of Trini music and poetry before your trip will raise your level
of understanding of what is going on around you higher than 50%,
which should increase your enjoyment of the vacation. (You'll
get tired of saying "Huh? Whadusay?")
* Part of the Trini national character involves
love of the uses of language; puns and double entendres fill both
local music lyrics and conversation. What can confuse a visitor
is that a Trini term is often the base of the pun (A "town
man" is a city dweller, but "town" is pretty close
to the Trini pronunciation of the word tongue, making it a double
entendre for a man good at oral relations). Until you know the
language you won't get most of the nuances in the conversations
around you or the calypsos in a carnival tent..
* "Picong" or "fatigue"
is the Trini version of playing the "Dozens", except
it's not play; clever insults are part of the Trini national character.
If you can imagine a whole country playing the Dozens at once,
all day every day, you're beginning to get the idea. Things will
be said in front of you, or to you, that would be an insult in
the U.S.; don't get mad, you will only make it worse. Laugh with
the joke until the topic changes, or if you feel comfortable enough,
join in and give back as good as you got. But remember, the idea
is to be witty, not just plain insulting.
* Extempo is an extraordinary form of calypso
where the lyrics, often the insults of picong, are made up on
the spot by two singers whose competition weaves a clever verbal
tapestry of musical insults. (Where did you think the idea for
the rap battles celebrated in "Eight Mile" came from?
Whole sections of Trini culture have been lifted wholesale by
rap and hip hop artists for videos and movies.)
* Paul Keenes Douglas is Trinidad's foremost cultural icon / poet / linguist / comedian / griot. He has many audio tapes and CDs on sale which give an excellent flavor of life in the Caribbean in general and Trinidad in particular. Listening to him will bring to life the Trini Dictionary which follows.
© 2004 Afrique Publications
E-mail: webmail@afriqueonline.com . . . Web: http://www.afriqueonline.com