Languages in Guyana

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Guyana, officially known as the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is an independent country located on the northern mainland of South America. It is also integrated into the Caribbean area as a result of its rich historical, cultural, and political affiliations with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The Atlantic Ocean borders Guyana to the north. It is bordered by Brazil to the south and south-west, to the east by Suriname, and to the west by Venezuela. Guyana covers a total of 215,000 square kilometres making it the fourth smallest nation in South America after Uruguay, Suriname, and French Guiana.

The current population of Guyana is ethnically and racially diverse. Some of the ethnic groups originate from Africa, China, India and Europe. There are also indigenous groups such as the Arawak, Wai Wai, Arecuna, Warrau, Carib, Macushi, Akawaio, Patamona, and Wapishana. Due to the diverse culture in Guyana, it is expected for the citizens to speak different languages. Some of the languages spoken by the natives are Warao, Atorada, Wai Wai, Hindustani, Portuguese, Wapishana, Macushi, Arawak, Patamona, Mauayana, Saint Lucian Creole French, Pemon, Chinese, Creole Dutch, Urdu, Mapidian, Akawaio, and Tamil. Despite the different groups and their diverse cultures and languages, all groups share two main languages: English and Guyanese Creole. Some of these languages will be discussed in brief below.

English in Guyana

Children studying, SourceThis is the country’s official and national language. It is mostly used for government, education, media, and services. It is important to note that the English language taught in schools is on British basics.

Guyanese Creole

This is an English founded Creole dialect that is spoken by the citizens of Guyana. It is alike to the English tongues spoken in the Caribbean region. It, however, has a lot of influences of African and some borrowed words from Indian (East Indian) dialects, Arawakan dialects, and Dutch.

Guyanese Creole has a number of sub-dialects which are founded on urban-rural location, geographical location, and the race of the speaker. For instance, along the Rupununi River, the inhabitants there are mostly Amerindian and they speak a different form of Guyanese Creole. In Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city, there is also a different accent, and a 45-minute drive from this region, the accent is also different, especially if going to the coast where rural settlements are situated.

Like other Caribbean dialects, phrases and words in Guyanese Creole are extremely flexible. This means that new words can be created, altered or evolve in a short time. These words can also be used by a small group of people until they are adopted by the whole community. Ethnic communities also integrate words and phrases from their backgrounds.

In Guyanese Creole, it is common to repeat adverbs and adjectives for emphasis. This is equivalent to adding “extremely” or “very” in standard American and British English. An example of this is “Dis wata de col col” which translate to “This Water is very cold”. Older speakers also tend to replace “-er” with its matching sound “-a”; for instance “river” becomes “riva” and “computer” becomes “computa”. A number of actions and items have been given names that slightly look like or mirror altered forms of their names in English.

Macushi Language

This language is the most common language in all the Cariban dialects and it is used by about 30,000 people in Guyana and Brazil. Macushi can be referred to as Teweya (Teueia), and it can also be spelled as Macussi, Makushi, Makuxi, Makusi, and Macusi.

Kapóng Language

A sign in French Guyana, SourceThis is a Cariban language that is spoken in lowland tropical South America especially in Guyana, Venezuela, and Brazil. In Guyana, the language is spoken in the Mazaruni River Basin region. In Brazil, Kapóng speakers are located in the Roraima indigenous Terra Raposa and the number of speakers is about 10,000. In Venezuela, the speakers of this language are located in the states of Monagas and Bolivar.

It is worth noting that most Kapóng speakers in Guyana do not live in villages. There are, however, some population centers especially in Kako, Kamarang, Waramadong, and Jawalla.

Kapóng language can also be referred by its Macushi name Ingarikó and it has two main dialects: Patamona and Akawaio.

WaiWai Language

Waiwai, also referred to as Ouayeone, Uaiuai, or Uaieue is a Cariban dialect spoken in the northern region of Brazil. There are also a few hundred speakers located on the border of southern Guyana.

Arawak Language

This language is also referred to as Lokono, Arowak or Aruák. It is an Arawak dialect that is spoken by the Lokono community of South America located in Guyana, eastern Venezuela, French Guiana and Suriname.

Caribbean Hindustani Language

Caribbean Hindustani is also referred to as Hindustani Sarnami. It is a dialect of Bhojpuri and it is spoken in Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname, and also the rest of the Caribbean area that has a lot of Indian influence. The Caribbean Hindustani spoken in Guyana is known as Aili Gaili and it is used by elderly members in a community of about 300,000 Indo-Guyanese.

Warao Language

A road safety sign in Guyana, SourceWarao is the local dialect of the Warao people. It is as times referred to as Warrau, Guarao, or Guarauno and it is a language isolate that is used by roughly 28,000 people mostly in Guyana, northern Venezuela, and Suriname. It has a very unusual word order; object-subject-verb, which makes it very famous.

Pemon Language

Pemon is a local American language found in the Cariban language family and is it spoken by a small group of people in Guyana, Brazil especially in the state of Roraima, and in the south-east region of Venezuela especially in the Canaima National Park. Pemon can also be referred to as Arekuna and it has two main dialects:

Arecuna and Taurepan

The speakers of these two dialects understand one another very easily. Two other languages, Ingariko and Camaracoto, are also said to be Pemon dialects. These two are, however, very different and hard for Arecuna and Taurepan speakers to comprehend.

Skepi Creole Dutch Language

This is a Dutch founded Creole language that is spoken by a few people in Guyana in the Essequibo region. The language has been listed as extinct since 1998 and it was not mutually comprehensible with Berbice Creole Dutch which was also used in Guyana.

Mapidian Language

Mapidian language also spelt as Maopidyán is a moribund Arawakan dialect spoken in Guyana. It is at times known as Mawayana which can also be spelt as Mahuayana. It is mostly spoken by elderly people not only in Guyana but also in Brazil. Mapidian has a very strong connection to the Wapishana language, and it is believed to be a dialect of the language.

Chinese Language

This language is spoken by the Chinese population in the country. These are the descendants of the Chinese community that migrated into the country between 1853 and 1879 from Hong Kong to provide labour in the sugar plantations. This group of people abandoned their customs and adopted those of the land and even played a very major role in the country especially when it supplied the independent country with its first president, Arthur Chung, who was in power from 1970 to 1980. Currently, their total population stands at 2,722.

Urdu Language

Urdu is a very common language that was formulated in the Indian sub-continent due to the linguistic and cultural combination. It is the Muslims from South East Asia who brought the language to Guyana. The language came up after the Mughal invasion of India, and the combination of Turkic, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Persian languages, which developed into this ‘camp’ language, Urdu. The term Urdu or “Ordu” is of Turkish origin and it means ‘camp’ and is most of the times connected with an army camp.

In present day Guyana, Urdu is very common among the Ingo-Guyanese who listen to music and watch movies from the film industry in Bombay. The language also plays a major role in enhancing Muslim culture in South Asia through poetry and secular literature which is founded on Persian models. The language is, however, taking a backstage in the country and this is because of the domination of the English language and the Muslim orthodox movement which focuses more on Arabic.

The country has only one Islamic association, the United Sadˈr Islamic Anjuman. This is also the oldest existing Islamic association in the country. The organization offers Urdu in its instructional program to teach the qasida. These are songs of praise that sing praises to God and to the Prophet. The organization also organizes qasida competitions in the whole country and gives gifts to encourage more people to participate. The qasida is a section of the ‘Indo-Iranian’ heritage and it is an effort by the Anjuman organization to safeguard the unique heritage of the Muslims in Guyana.

As mentioned earlier, there are many languages spoken in Guyana but the most common ones are English and Guyanese Creole. This, therefore, means that a foreigner can communicate with the locals with no difficulty at all times.