Ghana memoirs - local English

As most of you will know, English is spoken right across the world in diverse local flavours. In India, given its many local languages, people think in their mother tongue first, then speak in English, giving rise to the phrase “vernacular English”. Ditto for the Vietnamese and Chinese. I guess their languages do not accommodate the concept of space, time and direction with the result that it takes some time for outsiders to figure out the exact meaning of what they say.

One can write many hilarious pieces based on this use of English across the world, but that is for another time. This piece is about how English is spoken on the African continent – more specifically Ghana. I began to understand the local accent towards the later part of my stay in Accra.

The following list will give you some idea of English as it is spoken almost all across the African continent : (I must confess I took the help of a local web-site to compile this, before I could begin to chat with them like old pals….…)

Bad - you sleep on it in the bad-room

Beds – creatures associated with flying and cholesterol-free meat – hawks, crows, sparrows, doves, etc.

Beg - container, as in shopping-beg, hand-beg

Chetz - where worshippers go on Sundays to pray

Detty - opposite of clean

Driva - holds the steering wheel of a teksi

Duck – It was very duck at night

Ebbon - Urban

Erriors – Areas (Like - Ebbon erriors are safe in Ghana even when it is duck.)

Ewways - Airways

Eth – Earth

Fest - the one before second and third

Guddin - where you grow kebbijees

Hair – female pronoun - as opposed to hiss

Heppi – Happy – I'm so heppi – it’s Freiday

Hiss – male pronoun – masculine form of hair

Itch – Each – as in “itch and avairy pesson goes to chetz on Sunday.”

Jems - little bugs that make you sick

Kah - what you drive around in

Kebbijees - vegetable

Len - to acquire knowledge

Pee pull – Give powa to da pee pull….

Pesson - one of pee pull

Shex - houses in squatter camps

Shit of peppa - something to write on

Spitch - speech

Sweamas – pee-pull in a sweaming pul

Teksi – kah for hiah

Thest – Thirst

Wek – Work – You goin’ to wek now ?

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