A language study edition

English ↔ Virgin Islands Creole

A Dream Within a Dream · A Virgin Islands Creole language study edition

Study edition · words from published sources

Virgin Islands Creole is the everyday speech of the Virgin Islands and the nearby Dutch and French islands. Its speakers mostly call it dialect. It grew from the speech of enslaved Africans on English-run plantations, replaced the Dutch-based creole on St Thomas and St John during the 19th century, and is spoken today along a scale from very local to near-standard English. This edition teaches the sounds and grammar and records every creole form our sources give for the poem's words.

Read the poem ↓ Explore the language ↓

76,000speakers, the figure Wikipedia cites for 1980–2011

1784Moravians on St Croix translate the Bible into an English creole

7island varieties, from Crucian to Saban

1987the last speaker of the older Dutch creole dies

Part one / The poem

The poem, line by line

Each line of Poe's poem, with the words a published source gives for it, so a reader can see which parts of Poe's vocabulary have a match. Select a numbered line for its study note.

Line	English · source	Virgin Islands Creole · words from sources
	Take this kiss upon the brow!	this disthe de
	And, in parting from you now,	And anyou yo, yoh, yuh, younow now
	Thus much let me avow —	me me, meh
	You are not wrong, who deem	You yo, yoh, yuh, youare often left outnot ainwho who
	That my days have been a dream;	That datmy ma, me, meh, myhave gehbeen bina a
	Yet if hope has flown away	has gehaway away
	In a night, or in a day,	a a
	In a vision, or in none,	a anone nuttin
	Is it therefore the less gone?	Is isthe de
	All that we see or seem	All allthat datwe we, ahwe, allawe
	Is but a dream within a dream.	Is isa a
	I stand amid the roar	I ah, I, me, mehthe de
	Of a surf-tormented shore,	Of aha a
	And I hold within my hand	And anI ah, I, me, mehhold holdmy ma, me, meh, myhand han
	Grains of the golden sand —	of ahthe de
	How few! yet how they creep	they deh, dey, dem
	Through my fingers to the deep,	my ma, me, meh, myto toh, fohthe de
	While I weep — while I weep!	I ah, I, me, meh
	O God! Can I not grasp	Can cyan, caan'I ah, I, me, mehnot ain
	Them with a tighter clasp?	Them demwith wi, wida a
	O God! can I not save	can cyan, caan'I ah, I, me, mehnot ain
	One from the pitiless wave?	the de
	Is all that we see or seem	Is isall allthat datwe we, ahwe, allawe
	But a dream within a dream?	a a

Part two / Learn the language

Meet Virgin Islands Creole.

How it is written, how it sounds, how its sentences work, and where it has been.

How English words change in the creole

There is no separate alphabet: writers spell the creole with English letters. What changes is how words sound. These are the regular changes described for the Virgin Islands, with the island noted where it differs.

Change	Sound	Example
th → t	θ → t	thing → ting, three → tree, think → tink
th → d	ð → d	this → dis, that → dat, they → dey
-ther → -duh	ðər → də	mother → muddah, other → uddah
r after a vowel	non-rhotic	water → watah, computer → computah
ky, gy	palatal k, g	car → cyar (St Croix), girl → gyul
bw	labial b	boy → bwoy
v and b	v, b → β	vex → bex
final t, d dropped	cluster reduction	left hand → lef han
oi → long i	ɔɪ → aɪ	join → jine
swapped sounds	metathesis	ask → aks, film → flim

The islands differ most in vowels and in a few words: “come here” is come ya on St Croix and come heh on St Thomas, St John and in the BVI. Tone and rhythm carry more meaning than in standard English.

A continuum

Speakers slide from the most local speech to near-standard English depending on who they are talking to; the most local forms are mainly kept by older islanders.

Crucian

The St Croix variety is the most distinct, with many Spanish-derived words and close ties to the creoles of Belize and Panama.

Many sources

Words come from African languages (buckra, jumbie, kallaloo), Dutch creole, Taíno (hammock, hurricane), French and Spanish.

How sentences work

Plural with dem

Plural can be marked by dem after the noun instead of -s.

ma eye demmy eyes
sista demsisters

Fewer pronoun forms

One form often serves as subject and object.

Ah gi'e it toh sheI gave it to her

“Is” can drop out

The verb “to be” is often left out, or appears as is or bin.

ah hungryI'm hungry
bin hotwas hot

Time and aspect words

Small words before the verb carry time.

gon, goinfuture: ain gon foget, won't forget
doeshabit: You does eat saltfish? Do you eat saltfish?
donefinished: I done tell people already

Saying no

Negatives use ain, no and short forms.

Me ain knowI don't know
cyan holdcan't hold

Questions keep statement order

Wa time it is?What time is it?

Everyday words

Hail uphellosafealright, okaycome ya / come hehcome herejumbieghost, spiritpickneechildkallalooa soup of greensTru dat!That's true!

A short history

1672
England takes Tortola and Jost Van Dyke; Danes settle St Thomas.
1774
A Moravian missionary mentions a “Negro-English” spoken on St Croix.
1784
Moravians on St Croix translate the Bible into an English creole.
1848
Emancipation in the Danish West Indies.
1917
Denmark transfers its islands to the United States.
1981
Lito Valls publishes What a Pistarckle!, a dictionary of the creole.
1987
Alice Stevens, the last known speaker of the Dutch-based creole, dies.
2008
Robin Sterns publishes Say It in Crucian! and the online Crucian Dictionary.

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 Virgin Islands Creole form a published source gives, a note on how the language handles the word, or an honest blank where no source has it yet.

English → Virgin Islands Creole

Which words

29 of 85 words have a published Virgin Islands Creole form here, and 1 more have a grammar note. The rest are open for a speaker to fill in.

Read the English word and try to recall the Virgin Islands Creole 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	Not yet in our sources.
this	dis	this · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
kiss	Not yet in our sources.
upon	Not yet in our sources.
the	de	the: all de mango, all the mangoes · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
brow	Not yet in our sources.
And	an	and: an dem, and the others · Smollett, word list (2011)
in	Not yet in our sources.
parting	Not yet in our sources.
from	Not yet in our sources.
you	yo, yoh, yuh, you	you · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
now	now	now: now it's steak me a nyam, now I'm eating steak · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
Thus	Not yet in our sources.
much	Not yet in our sources.
let	Not yet in our sources.
me	me, meh	me · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
avow	Not yet in our sources.
are	often left out	are: dropped, as in ah hungry · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
not	ain; no; nuh	not: Me ain know, I don't know · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
wrong	Not yet in our sources.
who	who	who: Who da be? Who is that? · Sterns, Say It in Crucian! (2008), via the Crucian Dictionary
deem	Not yet in our sources.
That	dat	that · Sterns, Say It in Crucian! (2008), via the Crucian Dictionary
my	ma, me, meh, my	my: ma eye dem, my eyes · Wikipedia, Virgin Islands Creole
days	Not yet in our sources.
have	geh; done	have, own: I geh two ah dem; done before a verb for “have done” · Valls, What a Pistarckle! (1981), via the Crucian Dictionary
been	bin	been, was: bin hot, was hot · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
a	a	a: a police, one policeman · Smollett, word list (2011)
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	geh; done	has, owns; done before a verb for “has done” · Valls, What a Pistarckle! (1981), via the Crucian Dictionary
flown	Not yet in our sources.
away	away	away: dey goin take me away · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
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	nuttin	nothing (the nearest form): I ain do nuttin · Sterns, Say It in Crucian! (2008), via the Crucian Dictionary
Is	is; often left out	is: I is a WAPA man; ah hungry, I'm hungry · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
it	Our sources give no separate creole form for “it”; it appears as it: it had, “there was”.
therefore	Not yet in our sources.
less	Not yet in our sources.
gone	Not yet in our sources.
All	all	all: all de mango · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
we	we, ahwe, allawe	we · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
see	Not yet in our sources.
seem	Not yet in our sources.
but	Not yet in our sources.
within	Not yet in our sources.
I	ah, I, me, meh	I · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
stand	Not yet in our sources.
amid	Not yet in our sources.
roar	Not yet in our sources.
Of	ah	of: I geh two ah dem, I have two of them · Valls, What a Pistarckle! (1981), via the Crucian Dictionary
surf-tormented	Not yet in our sources.
shore	Not yet in our sources.
hold	hold	hold: cyan hold, can't hold · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
hand	han	hand: lef han, left hand · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
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	Not yet in our sources.
they	deh, dey, dem	they · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
creep	Not yet in our sources.
Through	Not yet in our sources.
fingers	Not yet in our sources.
to	toh, foh	to: Ah gi'e it toh she; Yoh mean foh tell meh · Wikipedia, Virgin Islands Creole
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	Not yet in our sources.
Can	cyan, caan'	can't: Ah caan' dwit, I cannot do it · Valls, What a Pistarckle! (1981), via the Crucian Dictionary
grasp	Not yet in our sources.
Them	dem	them, those; also marks plural · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
with	wi, wid	with: Wa me go do wi dem? What am I going to do with them? · Smollett, Virgin Islands Creoles (2011)
tighter	Not yet in our sources.
clasp	Not yet in our sources.
save	Not yet in our sources.
One	Not yet in our sources.
pitiless	Not yet in our sources.
wave	Not yet in our sources.

Virgin Islands 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, with spellings as that source writes them; spellings vary by writer and island. Words still open are ones none of our sources spell out. A reading in your own island's voice would be welcome.

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