Nigerian pidgin english translator driver#

However direct translations of sentences from the local dialets into English without regards to tenses contributes to a lot of the confusing words in Pidgin English. Many English words are used differently in Pidgin English and more research would be needed to find out why. The three major Nigerian languages namely Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa feature prominently in Pidgin English in general, however with Lagos being historically a Yoruba city 'Lagos Pidgin' consists of a disproportionately high number of Yoruba words. In this compilation I have limited myself to what I would call 'Lagos Pidgin' as this is what I am familiar with. With Nigeria having about 250 tribes in all, one finds a lot of variation in the type of Pidgin English spoken by the different ethnic groups. It is a language made up of elements of the Queen's English and the local dialects. Pidgin English is spoken widely across Nigeria. This is an expression of surprise, similar to ‘wow’. The ending ‘oh’ is a type of conversational tick that is added to many words and phrases for emphasis.Next Page Babawilly's Dictionary of Pidgin English Words and Phrases. To reinforce the point (when trying to get rid of someone), you can add an abeg (before) and / or jaré (after) to reinforce the effect and say: abeg commot jaré! Vamoose, the least common variant, is another derivation of Portuguese. Commot / VamooseĬommot is an ellise of the words that come and go, and is used to mean ‘leave’ or ‘get lost’, again depending on the context. This one means “problem”, similar to the way the word bacchanal is used in the Caribbean. It can also refer to stress.

Nigerian Pidgin (Identified) In the video on this page, one of the women says go find work no dey talk anyhow And. This means ‘please’ and is sometimes used with na as in abeg na. ABEG , can also be used to express disbelief. For example, if you were involved in a good old bargain session and the dealer gives you a ridiculous price, you can let them know how ridiculous you find the price by exclaiming: ah beg! Wahala Found the internet 1 pidgin > english question. There is no direct English translation. It works as a call to action and, depending on the context, it can mean ‘come’ or ‘hurry up’, similar to we go in Spanish or schnell in German. It can also be used to persuade “ oya na” can mean something like ‘please reconsider’. This is another common word and means ‘you’ or ‘yours’, depending on the context (but always the plural). For example, shey Una dey go school?, means ‘Are you going to school?’. It can also mean “are you going to school?” and would be used to treat two or more children. To expand the sentence above, am in Pidgin means ‘it’. Sabi means “to know” or “to understand”, depending on the context. For example, ‘ Shey you sabi pidgin?’, it would be someone asking if you understand pidgin, to which you can answer: ‘ Yes, I sabi am’ . ‘ You are not listening’. You can hear this in the middle of negotiation or other exchange and it indicates frustration on the part of the speaker. This would be a good point to take a break and change course SabiĬorruption of the Portuguese verb saber. Some Latin words come from contact with Portuguese slave traders who were active on the West African coast long before the British arrived. The name of the largest and best-known city in Nigeria, Lagos, is another legacy of early contact with the Portuguese. It simply means “What is it?”. Experiment when shopping in a market if you come across an unknown object.

Nigerian pidgin english translator driver#

What’s happening?’ This is another highly informal greeting – one to try with a taxi driver or market vendor, for example. If anything, it is even more informal than that. It can also be used aggressively in the sense of “what is your problem?” Dropping the dey and asking someone wétin is just a good way to tell them to back off. A marker of camaraderie among Nigerians, it is a simple, informal greeting that is best used with people you know well, or in casual situations. The verb at the end is usually discarded, so be careful: if someone asks you How far, they are not referring to your journey to meet them. This common greeting means “How is everything?”. Na and dey are the verbs ‘to be’ and wétin means ‘what’. It is as simple as that, but you will find them a lot How Far? Three words that occur frequently in pidgin are: ‘na, dey, and wétin.