PART XVII
Oceania, continued:
New Zealand:
How to speak British beyond England (continued), course 309
Africa and the Atlantic, continued
- South Atlantic; Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands have a large non-native born population, mainly from Britain, but also from Saint Helena [an extinct volcano, South Atlantic British Protectorate Island, named after Helena, mother of Constantine I]. In rural areas, the Falkland accent tends to be stronger. The accent has resemblances to both Australia, New Zealand English, and that of Norfolk in England. It contains a number of Spanish loanwords.
Examples of the Falkland Island accent: [Falkland Islander] a bite=about; eight=out; Falklanders often use the singular form of a noun after a numeral or a quantifier; e.g. “In about two year ago,”, seventy pound, twelve month, and there wasn’t many house; hisself=himself; other examples are “they covered in concrete” and “she sing real good.” I ate=I have eaten; they sometimes use double modals, e.g. “He might should come=“It is possible that he will have to come”; “She is in the store”= “She is at the store.”
Given the proximity to South America, Spanish borrowings are particularly numerous, especially dominant in the local horse-related terminology. E.g., the Islanders use alizan, colorao, negro, blanco, gotiao, picasso, sarco, rabincana etc. for certain horse colors and looks, or bosal, cabresta, bastos, cinch, conjinilla, meletas, tientas, manares etc. for various items of horse gear.
The Saint Helena accent/Saint Helena Speak has a variety of different influences. To out-siders, the accent tends to resemble accents of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Examples of Hellean are: [Hellean] bite=[BrE] spicy; us=we; done=to generate a past tense, e.g. “I done gorn fishing.”=I have been fishing.” Jorb=job; porket=pocket; beare(like beer)=bare; “H” is usually omitted from a “th” word, e.g. ting=thing; tank=thank you. “Yes” is pronounced more like the eirce in pierce; orff=off; fewnel=funeral. The letters “v” and “w” are often pronounced interchangeably with each other. E.g. the locals refer to one of their two volcanoes as either “Head O’ Wain or “Head O’ Vain” which can be werryconfusing for outsiders.
“Ts” are omitted at the end of a word, e.g., projec=project; contemp=contempt; O’ gus=August; fishenin’=fishing; Jew lie=July; booey=buoy; couple is a vague word; in BrE it means two always; in Hellean, however it can mean two or many, e.g. if someone tells you that the job will take “couple of days”, do not expect it to be done in the foreseeable future. Words are often shortened; you=your; us is goin’ home=we are going home; I had up late=I got up late; us has bin out=we have been out.
Often, the Saint word is a simple—but not always obvious—contraction of the English: mussie=must be; most=almost; nuff=enough; bitta=a bit of; chirren=children; aten=pretend; miggies now=lit. make haste now/hurry. When “see” is appended to a sentence, it is an interrogative confirming understanding. E.g., “Us has five cows, see?” Incidentally, the correct response is “eeirce”, but you already knew that.
The article “a” is not used and is replaced by “one”. E.g. “Us has got one complaint.”=“We have a complaint.”; “It will be one five minutes.”=It will be five minutes (more than a couple). “Where you stay? (similar to the “Where ya’ll stays at?” as they say in the South side of Dallas.
The standard greeting for a friend or relative (almost any resident, if you live on St. Helens) is lurvie=lit. “luvvy”, the common English term of endearment. Festered=infested, as in Us is festered with red ants. “What his name is?”=what’s your name?; spare/scatterings=children fathered outside a well-established relationship; diddlidite=lit. “don’t eat it.”, the local phrase for deadly nightshade; “How you is?”=How are you?; “Who you belong to?”=equal to “Who’s your dad?” in the Western United States; swing around=a dance. In Saint Helens one does not say “put the fox in charge of the henhouse or put Dracula in charge of the blood bank; there are neither foxes, nor vampires on the island; instead, the locals say “Put the goat in charge of the vegetable patch.” Who’s she goin’ be sick by?”=who is the father of her baby/who made her pregnant. And finally, flush down The Run, is a common term for curry.
