Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE), also known as Kamtok, is an English-lexified Atlantic expanded pidgin/creole. It is spoken in some form by an estimated 50% of Cameroon’s population, primarily in the anglophone west regions, but also in urban centres throughout the country. Primarily a spoken language, CPE enjoys a vigorous oral presence in Cameroon. The linguistic examples illustrating this description are drawn from a spoken corpus consisting of a range of text types, including oral narratives, radio broadcasts and spontaneous conversation.
The terms "Cameroonian Pidgin", "Cameroonian Pidgin English", "Cameroonian Creole", and "Kamtok" are synonyms for what Cameroonians call Cameroon Pidgin English. Several speakers of Cameroonian pidgin refer to Standard English as "Grammar", and recognize the difference between the two.
CPE is a variety of West African English Pidgins spoken along the coast from Ghana to Cameroon. It is a vehicular language that has been in active use in the country for over 200 years. It came into being in the Slave Trade Years (1440 to early 1800s). It preceded English in Cameroon: the first Baptist missionaries who arrived in Cameroon in 1845 and introduced formal education in English, had to learn Pidgin.
A few decades later during the German annexation period (1884-1914), pidgin resisted a German ban. It took flight when it became a makeshift language used in German plantations and undertakings by forced labourers who were drawn from the hinterland and who spoke different indigenous languages. With time it passed into use in the market place, and was adopted by Baptist missionaries as the language of their evangelical crusade.
Read also: Cameroonian Basketball Star: Nkwain Kennedy
Map of Cameroon showing regions where Cameroon Pidgin English is spoken.
Historical Context
The history of Cameroon Pidgin English dates back to 1472, when Portuguese explorers visited the coastal region. However, its more established presence began during the slave trade era. The language further developed through colonial administration and evangelization.
In July 1884, Cameroon became a German protectorate. After World War I, the territory was divided, with four-fifths mandated to France and one-fifth to Britain. This division led to the development of two distinguishable, but mutually intelligible variants of Cameroon Pidgin English.
Following reunification in 1961, the country was named “République du Cameroun”. Later, it became the “République Féderale du Cameroun” in October 1961. Despite the official languages being French and English, Cameroon Pidgin English maintained its importance and continues to be a lingua franca in the country. Indeed, it is finding new uses.
Today, Cameroon Pidgin English is more widely used than was the case even twenty years ago. As Asheri Kilo shows in her Ph.D. plays of creators such as Kenjo Jumbam, John T. and Peter Tangyi.
Read also: History of Cameroon Soccer
Phonology
Like most West African languages, Kamtok has seven vowels, with two mid vowels: open and closed (Schneider 1966:14-17). Schneider spells the mid vowels as closed ey and ow vs. open e and o but Todd spells them as closed e and o vs.
The palatal approximate /j/ is written y, the palatal affricates /t͡ʃ/ and /d͡ʒ/ are written ch and j, and the palatal and velar nasals /ɲ/ and /ŋ/ are written ny and ng (Schneider 1966:12-14).
The question of whether Cameroon Pidgin English is a tone language or not remains unresolved. Some minimal pairs suggest tonal distinctions, such as /bábà/ ‘barber’ vs. /bàbá/ ‘father’ and /pópò/ ‘proper’ vs. However, conventions are inconsistent.
Here are some examples of minimal pairs:
- /ai/: /bai/ ‘buy’ vs. /ba/ ‘bar’
- /au/: /kau/ ‘cow’ vs.
- /ɔi/: /nɔis/ ‘noise’ vs. /bi/ ‘bee’
Grammar
In Cameroon Pidgin English, nouns are invariable, i.e. they do not inflect for number or gender. Gender can be specified by adding man ‘male’ or wuman ‘female’ to a noun: man got ‘billy goat’ vs. wuman got ‘nanny goat’ or wuman pikin ‘girl’ vs. man pikin ‘boy’.
Read also: A Look at Cameroon's Qualifying History
Plurality may also be marked through preceding numerals as in wan buk ‘a/one book’ vs. It can also be indicated by adding dem after the noun, e.g. man ‘man’ vs. man dem ‘men’. Speakers may also possibly even use the Standard English plural marker -s.
There is a definite article di, e.g. di haus ‘the house’. There is also an indefinite article, which is identical to the numeral ‘one’: wan pikin ‘one/a child’.
For demonstratives, there is a proximal-distal contrast: dis man ‘this man’ vs. dat man ‘that man’.
Pronouns
The basic pronoun system of Kamtok distinguishes three persons and two numbers. In most cases, the shape of the pronoun does not change to show grammatical function. Two exceptions involve the first person singular, where a serves as a subject clitic on verbs, as in mi, a mos go 'I must go', and ma is the possessive pronoun, as in ma bele 'my stomach'. The other major exception is -am in place of i or dem as an object suffix on verbs, except when the referent is human, as in a go was-am 'I'll wash it'. (Schneider 1966:64-68).
The full paradigm of the adnominal possessives is given in Table 3.
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ma | wi |
| 2nd person | yu | una |
| 3rd person | i | dem |
Here’s an example of possessive use: Na Joseph i haus. ‘It is Joseph’s house.’ (lit. ‘It is Joseph’s house.’)
Verbs
Verbs are not inflected to show grammatical tense, aspect, modality, or negation.
Tiri pipo go di kam.
Ma masa bin tutu wok.
Dem neva cam?
Yu no fit bi ma klak.
Aspect markers, such as bin for past tense, di for continuous aspect, and go for future tense, are used to indicate time reference.
Examples:
- The Pipo go go small time.
- The Pastor di soso tok.
- Ah no wan look dat kain ting.
- If yu torcham, e go chuk yu.
Syntax
Word order in Cameroon Pidgin English is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO). The subject and the object are morphologically unmarked. Ditransitive verbs often use prepositional coding.
Questions do not differ from declarative sentences except in intonation.
Examples:
- Wetin yu laik? ‘What do you like?’
- Wetin kain chop yu laik? ‘What kind of food do you like?’
Imperatives
Imperative sentences are formed using the bare verb.
Examples:
- Stanap! ‘Stand up!’
- Stanap una! ‘Stand up! (pl.)’
Relative clauses are typically formed using wey (which, who, whom), always followed by a resumptive pronoun.
Example: Dat na di boy wey wi bin tok to las month. ‘That’s the boy whom we spoke to last month.’
Complex sentences can be formed using say (that). Example: Ma papa tok say i bin vex. ‘My father says that he’s angry.’
Understanding Cameroonian Pidgin English
Reduplication
Reduplication is another means of forming complex sentences in Cameroon Pidgin English. It is used to express emphasis, continuation, or the idea of distributiveness or one-to-one mapping.
Examples of Cameroon Pidgin English
Here are some examples of Cameroon Pidgin English with translations:
Original: The boy who came yesterday was annoyed that he was not accepted. After a quarrel with me, he went off sorry for himself. We were later told that he told our boss that he was rejected because I hated him. The boss later called me to his office and questioned me about the reasons I refused to take in the boy in question and I told him the truth.
Cameroon Pidgin English: The boy whe cam yesterday be vex say them no gri yi. After whe yi quarrel with me, e comot go, sorry sorry. After them be tell we say e go tell wah boss say we no take yi because i hate yi. Wa boss bin call me for yi office, and question me for know the reason why i no take the boy. I tell yi the truth.
Note: In pidgin unlike in English, -s is not used at the end of nouns to mark their plural state.
Cameroon Pidgin English continues to evolve, playing a crucial role in communication and cultural identity within Cameroon.
Understanding Pidgin Languages: A unique form of communication.
Popular articles:
tags: #Cameroon
