A language study edition
English ↔ Antiguan Creole
A Dream Within a Dream · A Antigua and Barbuda Creole English language study edition
Study edition · draft rendering built from documented features, not yet reviewed by an Antiguan or Barbudan speaker
Antiguan and Barbudan Creole is the everyday speech of Antigua and Barbuda and of the neighbouring Leeward Islands. It grew in the plantation era from contact between English and West African languages, especially the Kwa languages, and is spoken today along a scale from very local to near-standard English. North Antiguan, the variety of most speakers, is treated as the standard. This edition teaches its sounds and grammar and records every creole form our sources give for the poem's words.
Part one / The poem
The poem, line by line
Each line of Poe's poem beside a full rendering. Select a numbered line to see the dictionary words behind it.
| Line | English · source | Antiguan Creole · draft rendering |
|---|---|---|
| Take this kiss upon the brow! | Tek dis kiss pon yu brow! | |
| And, in parting from you now, | An', now me a lef yu, | |
| Thus much let me avow — | mek mi tell yu dis wan ting — | |
| You are not wrong, who deem | Yu na wrang, wen yu tink | |
| That my days have been a dream; | dat fumi day dem min a dream; | |
| Yet if hope has flown away | still, if hope dun fly gaan | |
| In a night, or in a day, | inna wan night, or inna wan day, | |
| In a vision, or in none, | inna wan vision, or inna nutin, | |
| Is it therefore the less gone? | dat mek um gaan less? | |
| All that we see or seem | Ebriting aawi see or seem | |
| Is but a dream within a dream. | a jus wan dream inna wan dream. | |
| I stand amid the roar | Mi a stan inna de roar | |
| Of a surf-tormented shore, | ah wan biesaid wey de wave dem a beat, | |
| And I hold within my hand | an' mi a hold inna fumi han' | |
| Grains of the golden sand — | grain dem ah de gold sand — | |
| How few! yet how they creep | Ow few! Still, ow dem a creep | |
| Through my fingers to the deep, | chuu fumi finga dem go dung a de deep, | |
| While I weep — while I weep! | while mi a cry — while mi a cry! | |
| O God! Can I not grasp | Oh Gad! Mi na able fi grip | |
| Them with a tighter clasp? | dem tighter inna fumi han'? | |
| O God! can I not save | Oh Gad! Mi na able fi save | |
| One from the pitiless wave? | wan from de wave wey na hab no mercy? | |
| Is all that we see or seem | A ebriting aawi see or seem | |
| But a dream within a dream? | jus wan dream inna wan dream? |
Part two / Learn the language
Meet Antiguan Creole.
How it is written, how it sounds, how its sentences work, and where it has been.
How English words change in the creole
The creole is mostly written with English letters. What changes is how words sound. These are the regular changes our sources describe, with the variety noted where it differs.
| Change | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| h dropped | silent h | hair, head: the h is not said |
| h added | h-insertion, South Antiguan only | ask → hax |
| tr → ch | /tɹ/ → tʃ | true → chuu |
| dr → j | /dɹ/ → dʒ | drink → jingk |
| ky, gy | palatal k, g | cash → kyash, car → kyaar, girl → gyal |
| v and b | v ↔ b | vex → bex, to be upset |
| th → d | ð → d | this → dis, that → dat |
| nasal endings | optional nasalization | did → min', and → an' |
The language has twenty-two consonants and ten vowels in Wikipedia's count. The varieties differ most in pronouns: North Antiguan uses hi and shi, South Antiguan om and i.
A continuum
Speakers slide from the most local speech to near-standard English depending on the setting; English is used for school and official business.
North and south
South Antiguan, spoken around Saint Mary and Swetes, is only partly intelligible with the other varieties and is mostly kept by older speakers.
Barbuda
Barbudan grew apart in near isolation after 1685 and is closer to Montserrat's creole than to Antigua's.
How sentences work
Pronouns
One form serves as subject and object.
- miI, me
- aawiwe, us
- aayuyou all
- demthey, them
Owning with fu-
Possessives add fu- to the pronoun.
- fumimy
- fuyuyour
- fudemtheir
- a fuyu daag dat?is that your dog?
Time words before the verb
Small words before the verb carry time; the bare verb is present or habitual.
- mi min nyamI ate
- mi go nyamI will eat
- mi a nyamI am eating
- mi dun nyamI have eaten
Saying no
Na negates.
- a nait's not
- nah hab no righthas no right (from a proverb)
Articles
Wan is “a”, de or di is “the”.
- wana, one
- de, dithe
Pointing words
This and that can take a place word.
- disyathis here
- datdeythat there
- demyathese here
Everyday words
A short history
- 1632
First confirmed English settlement in Antigua and Barbuda.
- 1674
The first sugar plantation is set up in Antigua.
- 1680s
Antigua becomes majority African; the creole likely takes shape.
- 1685
Slavery begins in Barbuda, whose isolation leads to Barbudan Creole.
- 1834
Emancipation; village creoles develop.
- 1844
Antigua and the Antiguans prints a sample of the Saint Kitts variety.
- 1960s
Island-wide dialects emerge as people commute to St John's.
- 1981
Antigua and Barbuda becomes independent.
Practice with every word
Every word of the poem
All 85 different words in Poe's poem, in the order they first appear. Each card shows the Antigua and Barbuda Creole English form a published source gives, a note on how the language handles the word, or an honest blank where no source has it yet.
Which words
28 of 85 words have a published Antigua and Barbuda Creole English form here, and 2 more have a grammar note. The rest are open for a speaker to fill in.
- Read the English word and try to recall the Antigua and Barbuda Creole English form.
- Reveal it and say it slowly, letter by letter, using the alphabet above.
- Find the word in the poem and look at its line's study note.
- Ask a speaker or the language program about the words still open.
See the full word list (85 words)
| Take | tek | take: tek dat, take that · FamilySearch Research Wiki word list |
| this | dis; disya | this; this here · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| kiss | Not yet in our sources. | |
| upon | Not yet in our sources. | |
| the | de, di | the · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| brow | Not yet in our sources. | |
| And | an' | and · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| in | Not yet in our sources. | |
| parting | leff | leave: leff dee 'ooman sudden, leave her things alone · FamilySearch Research Wiki word list |
| from | Not yet in our sources. | |
| you | yu | you · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| now | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Thus | Not yet in our sources. | |
| much | Not yet in our sources. | |
| let | Not yet in our sources. | |
| me | mi | I, me · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| avow | Not yet in our sources. | |
| are | The verb “to be” is often left out, or appears as a before what is pointed out. | |
| not | na, nah | not: a na, it's not · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| wrong | Not yet in our sources. | |
| who | Not yet in our sources. | |
| deem | Not yet in our sources. | |
| That | dat; datdey | that; that there · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| my | fumi | my · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| days | Not yet in our sources. | |
| have | hab | have: nah hab no right · Antigua and Barbudan Sayings, Government of Antigua and Barbuda |
| been | min | past marker: mi min nyam, I ate · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| a | wan | a, one · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| dream | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Yet | Not yet in our sources. | |
| if | Not yet in our sources. | |
| hope | Not yet in our sources. | |
| has | hab | has: nah hab no right · Antigua and Barbudan Sayings, Government of Antigua and Barbuda |
| flown | Not yet in our sources. | |
| away | Not yet in our sources. | |
| night | Not yet in our sources. | |
| or | Not yet in our sources. | |
| day | Not yet in our sources. | |
| vision | Not yet in our sources. | |
| none | nutin; kranana | nothing · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| Is | a | it is: a chuu, it's true · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| it | um, am, om | it · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| therefore | Not yet in our sources. | |
| less | Not yet in our sources. | |
| gone | Not yet in our sources. | |
| All | ebriting | everything (the nearest form) · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| we | aawi | we, us · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| see | see | see: ah wah me ah see ya, what am I seeing here · FamilySearch Research Wiki word list |
| seem | Not yet in our sources. | |
| but | Not yet in our sources. | |
| within | Not yet in our sources. | |
| I | mi | I, me · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| stand | Not yet in our sources. | |
| amid | Not yet in our sources. | |
| roar | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Of | Not yet in our sources. | |
| surf-tormented | Not yet in our sources. | |
| shore | Not yet in our sources. | |
| hold | Not yet in our sources. | |
| hand | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Grains | Not yet in our sources. | |
| golden | Not yet in our sources. | |
| sand | Not yet in our sources. | |
| How | Not yet in our sources. | |
| few | likkle | little (the nearest form) · FamilySearch Research Wiki word list |
| they | dem | they, them · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| creep | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Through | Our sources give no form, but tr regularly becomes ch, as in true → chuu. | |
| fingers | Not yet in our sources. | |
| to | Not yet in our sources. | |
| deep | Not yet in our sources. | |
| While | Not yet in our sources. | |
| weep | Not yet in our sources. | |
| O | Not yet in our sources. | |
| God | God | God: When you play Warri with God, you get no seed · Antigua and Barbudan Sayings, Government of Antigua and Barbuda |
| Can | carn | can't: wey you body carn pass · Antigua and Barbudan Sayings, Government of Antigua and Barbuda |
| grasp | Not yet in our sources. | |
| Them | dem | they, them; also marks plural · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| with | wid | with: hi lib wid mi, he lives with me · Wikipedia, Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| tighter | Not yet in our sources. | |
| clasp | Not yet in our sources. | |
| save | Not yet in our sources. | |
| One | wan | one: Come see me a wan ting · Antigua and Barbudan Sayings, Government of Antigua and Barbuda |
| pitiless | Not yet in our sources. | |
| wave | Not yet in our sources. | |
Antiguan Creole draws most of its words from English, so many of the poem's words are shared with it and differ only in sound. This page lists only forms a source records, spelled as that source writes them; spellings vary by writer and village. Words still open are ones none of our sources spell out.
Sources
Pages consulted
- Antiguan and Barbudan Creole, Wikipedia
- Varieties of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole, Wikipedia
- North Antiguan Creole, Wikipedia
- Languages of Antigua and Barbuda, Wikipedia
- Antigua and Barbuda Languages, FamilySearch Research Wiki
- Antigua and Barbudan Sayings, Government of Antigua and Barbuda (cpoise.gov.ag)