1. Since the time of
These contact languages have been formed as a result of the modifications
in the languages that have been brought into contact.
In a great majority of contacts the groups have constituted distinct
linguistic as well as ethnic or cultural communities.
Such contact thus entails bilingualism as well as biculturism
(participation in two cultures).
As two or more languages are involved in contact situations it would be
expedient to restrict the term `dominant' to those languages which have a higher
social status (it would then be synonymous with prestige), reserving the term
`lower' for the other language(s).
This terminology accords with
It seems likely then that pidgins and Creoles develop only in
multilingual areas. Where the
contact is between two languages only, one or both groups acquire the other
language, either keeping or relinquishing their own, in the process.
But in a multilingual area, a lingua franca, accessible to all groups, is
essential if viable and mutual communication is to occur.
Once even the most rudimentary form of language develops, it will be used
by sailors, traders and settlers to the natives with whom they are in contact.
1.1.
If the contact is with the French, the French-based pidgin will emerge;
if with the Dutch, the pidgin will be Dutch-based.
In
I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr. S.K. Verma, for his many valuable suggestions.
Evidence
for such a continuum is to be found in the
The useful term applied to the spectrum that can exist between a creole
and a standard form of English is `post-creole continuum'.
If one takes the Jamaican situation to represent such a continuum one
finds that the end points of the Jamaican continuum are mutually unintelligible,
but there is no clear cut-off point where the creole ends and the standard
begins.
At one end of the continuum is the speech of the highly educated Jamaican
leaders, many of whom claim to be speaking standard British, but who are
actually using that seems to be evolving into a standard Jamaican English; it is
mutually intelligible without undeniably different from standard British.
At the other end is the so-called `broad creole' or `broken language'
spoken by the market women; the variety which so far has received the most
attention from linguists.
This variation can be explained within the general framework of
differential acculturation among
1.2
With
reference to the Indian situation, the continuum is called the Cline of
Bilingualism (Kachru 1969, p.636)1.
It comprises three measuring points: the zero point, the cetral point and
the ambilingual points. The zero
point is the bottom point on the
axis, but it is not the end point at the bottom.
As in Jamaica, English-knowing bilinguals can be ranked on the basis of their competence in different modes of English; the highly educated speaking standard Indian English at the one and the uneducated speaking non-standard English at the other.
At the ambilingual point,
English is used by a community of people and institutions in
At the zero point the users are i) guides showing foreign visitors around, ii) market women selling wares to foreigners frequenting Indian markets, iii) the domestic staff of hotels catering to tourists and upper-class Indians, iv) the domestic staff of prestigious clubs and other recreation centers and v) the generally uneducated domestic staff employed in racially mixed households or in westernized Indian households.
The Indian situation is represented in diagrammatic form as below.
2.
The scope of this paper has been limited to the consideration of the
English used by domestic staff listed at the zero point, specifically those
listed under iii), iv) and v). I
believe that their speech has the characteristics of a `true' Pidgin.
It is termed Butler English because the head of the domestic staff of a
European household in
Hobson-Jobson reports that Butler English is "the broken English
spoken by native servants in the Madras Presidency, which is not very much
better than the Pidgeon English of China . . . . The oddest
characteristic about the jargon is (or was) that masters used it in speaking to
their servants as well as servants to their masters".
(Yule and Burnell 1968, pp. 133-134)
According to The Times, 11 April 19882, p.80) the English of the
Schuchardt
affirms that the
In The Anglo-Indian Tongue (1877, 542 ff) we read: "In Madras
the native domestics speak English of a purity and idiom which rival in
eccentricity the famous `pidgin' English of the treaty ports in China,
and the masters mechanically adopt the language of their servants".
2.1
Originally, by very definition, all pidgins are restricted with regard to
user and use.
Butler English then is spoken in a very restricted set of domaine
mainly for communication on limited matters between master and servant.
It functions as a link language in domestic situations3.
It is this restricted link language which has the marked features of a
pidgin4.
2.2.
In addition
pidgins are known as trade languages5.
They
are used by traders and tend to die out as soon as the contact which gave rise
to them is withdrawn.
A good example of this type of pidgin is Korean Bamboo English, a very
restricted form of English which gained a limited currency between Koreans and
Americans during the Korean war.
In Europe Rossenorsk, a pidgin now almost extinct arose from the contact
of two Indo-European languages, Russian and Norwegian, as a means of
facilitating communication between Russian and Norwegian fishermen.
3.
Two samples of Butler English from newspapers of 100 years old are given,
followed by samples of this variety, from my data, as it is spoken today.
3.1
According to
The Times (
1.
"Discovery has been made of a butler stealing large quantities of
his master's milk and purchasing the silence of the subordinate servants by
giving them a share of the loot; and this is how the ayah (nurse) explains the
transaction.
Butler's every day taking one ollock for own-self, and giving servants
all half half ollock; when I am telling that shame for him, he is telling
Master's strictly order all servants for the little milk give it what can I
say, mam, I por ayah woman.
This is pure idiomatic Madrasee boy's English; the chances are that an
English-speaking servant in
(The butler takes some milk for himself everyday, and gives all the
servants half the milk; when I tell him that it is a shame, he tells me that
Master has issued strict orders that all the servants should be given a little
milk. What can I say madam? I am a
poor ayah).
2)
The following are a handful of sentences in Madras English which are
sprinkled throughout the text of Gup = (Indo-English Gossip) (1868):
"I all right now ma'am. Missus
want amah for the baby? (p.34)
Master not believe she give `garley'.
Master not believe she throw knives! Master now see what that missus
doing. (p.45)
Yes ma'am, I speaking English same as missus.
(p.55)
How I telling? English people very clever; can do everything".
(p.169)
(I am all right now ma'am. Does
Madam want an ayah for the baby?
Master does not believe that she uses abusive language.
Master does not believe that she throws knives! Master will see now what
madam is doing.
Yes ma'am, I speak English, in the same way as madam does.
How can I tell you? English people are very clever; they can do everything).
3.2.
The following
are some excerpts from my data:
1)
Raji, an old
man of 65, blind in one eye as the result of a shooting accident, describes his
work at the Secunderabad Club.
"What do you do at the swimming-pool?"
"Swimming-pool because is the Sahibs coming, want some clothes, and
shorts, and clothes and towels. Then
give it give some money and purse. And
keep in my almirah. Then I bring
when they will finish their swim then gave back again.
Swimming pool because the Sahibs come they want some clothes and
shors and clothes and towels. Then
they give some money and their purse. And
I keep it in my almirah. Then I
bring it when they have finished their swim and then give it back
again).
(S 54)
2)
When Ramanujam
was asked what work he did for the English Sahib, his answer was:
"There is clean room and dirty making bed, and serving the breakfast
and dinner".
(There I had to clean the room, if the bed was dirty make it: and
serve the breakfast and dinner).
(S 20)
3)
Pentiah,
another bearer in the Secunderabad Club gives an account of his 24
year-long-service.
"So you've been working in the Club?
"Yes ma'am".
"24 years"
"Yes ma'am. Small the
boy is coming here that Tennis boy. Start
is the Tennis boy. Tennis boy to the
Bar boy Bar boy to that Coffee-Room boy Coffee-Room boy to Plate Matey
Plate Matey to Silver Matey that working.
That talking the bearers. That
bearer duty is that 16 years yeas thats all".
(Yes ma'am. I was a small boy
when I came here as a Tennis boy. I
started as a Tennis boy. Tennis boy
to Bar boy Bar boy to that Coffee-Room boy Coffee-Room boy to Plate
Matey Plate Matey to Silver Matey that is how I have been working.
From that to the bearer's that bearer's duty is from 16 years
yes, tha's all).
(S 11)
4.
Vijaychander, a lovable and garrulous waiter at Rock Castle Hotel
expresses his love of foreigners.
"Acha, and what do the foreigners do?"
"Foreigners give only one time.
Bearer's want tea. Bus.
Is good tea, no good he don't tell back.
Thank me, he's going out. This
is in Indian people who kya miya shakar nahi isme.
Eh kya miya thanda hai pani hai".
"I see, How much do they give you here money?"
"Payment madam. May be
200 is giving. But money give tip
also 10 15. Is giving only 200
tip gip is. But there is my Percy
Hotel from one day Rs.500. For me,
daily 500. All foreigners people,
English people there is".
Foreigners give an order only once. Bearer
I want tea. That's all.
It is good tea, not good he doesn't say.
He thanks me when he's leaving. This
is in Indian people What there is no sugar in this.
Eh what, this is cold, it is like water.
Payment madam. May be 200
they give. But many give a tip also
10-15. they give only 200,
including tips. But there is my
Percy's Hotel in one day I got Rs.500/-.
For me, daily 50. All
Foreigners, English people there are).
(S 53, 54)
5)
When the same
waiter was asked how he would make tea, he said:
"What madam first eh put some hot milk one side and hot water take
and the tea put, mix then close, then bringing.
And
this you know special tea? Put some milk and tea, and sugar and boil.
Then bring it".
(What madam? First eh put
some hot milk on one side. And take
not water and put the tea. Mix, then
close, then bring. And this do
you know special tea? Put some milk, and tea, and sugar and boil it.
Then bring it).
(S 39)
6)
Malooh has this
to say about making dal.
"First
to boiling dal; after some time putting chilly; all this, this all mixing.
After that one this eh . . . "
"What
haldi?"
"No
haldi I put first. After that dal is
tech . . ."
"Boiling?"
"Boiling
. . . that mixing all. After I put
pepper and some oil. Put t the oil,
something chillies, Jeera, all this thing is baghara".
(First
I boil dal, after sometime I put chilly; all this all this I mix.
After that one this eh . . .
No.
Haldi I put first. After that dal is
tech. . . .
Boiling.
I mix all that. After that I put
pepper and some oil. Put the oil, something chillies, jeera all these
things are steamed).
7)
And Arjuna
gives the recipe of an English pudding.
"How
do you make this chocolate soufflι?"
"Then?
How do you make it?"
"Make
for first one make custard. After
for mix it up in gelatine, keep some 5 minute, 10 minute on the fridge after
white eggs for beating mix it up (H) again put it in the beer frigidaire
that thing setting all right".
(Chocolate
soufflι . . . Take 4 eggs and milk, sugar and eh gelatine.
And cream also. Make a soufflι.
Make
first make custard. After that
mix it up with gelatine. Keep it for
some 5 minutes or 10 minutes in the fridge after beating the white of eggs
mix it up. Then add the beer and
keep it back in the frigidaire the thing sets all right).
(S 42, 43)
8)
Muthu who is adept at mixing drinks, is not so adept at describing the
process.
"Acha, what do you do?"
"Put the before us lime cordial now whisky put eh before and
again put eh lime cordial.
(First
put the lime cordial. Not put eh
whiskey and again put eh lime cordial. That
is
(S 34)
3.3.
The samples illustrate the retention of content words and the deletion of
function words like articles and prepositions.
Connectives those devices by which a text hangs together, are also
deleted. These devices have been
listed as text-hanging devices. What
is interesting here is that in spite of the deletion of these devices, these
texts function effectively as a system of communication.
The other features that occur in this variety of English are analyzed in
Section 5.
3.4.
It was in 1891 that Schuchardt wrote: "In vain I have tried to
obtain from
The samples from newspapers and the excerpts from my data though
separated by a century have many features in common.
Butler English has been relatively stable enough to allow it to be
described linguistically.
The intense contact situation however, which gave rise to this variety
has gradually ceased to influence it, eversince
4.
When we attempt a definition of `pidgin' we begin with the useful myth
that short neat definitions can be given for the terms `pidgin' and `creole'.
But the many faceted nature of human languages is unlikely to be
encapsulated in a few sentences.
Some definitions, however, may be accepted as a reasonable compromise.
4.1.
"A pidgin is a marginal language which arises to fulfill certain
restricted communication needs among people who have no common language".
(Todd 1974, p.1)
4.2. "For a language to be a true pidgin two conditions must be met. Its grammatical structure and its vocabulary must be sharply reduced and the resultant language must be native to none (of those who use it)".
(Hall 1955, p.20)
4.3. Does Butler English fit these definitions?
When an European master and a native servant are first brought together with their respective languages mutually unintelligible, they do indeed in a few hours or days discover the clues to unimpeded intercourse.
The samples listed are a simplified and reduced form of English. (ss pp. 7-11).
The children of domestics never learn Butler English from their parents who speak it in the work situation only, the Indian language(s) being served for use at home.
5. Some syntactic and lexico-semantic features of this variety of English are listed below.
5.1 Phonology
Although phonology is not being discussed it may be of interest to note some of the striking features of the pronunciation of my butlers:
1) cap > kyāp (also kēp)
holiday > ālīdē
office > hāfis āfīs
oil > hoil
bag > byāg bāg
ever > yever
2)
In many cases,
consonant clusters were simplified:
rejmat
< regiment
(j
is pronounced as in English)
or
the cluster is dissolved by the insertion of a vowel:
turup
<
troop
or
it is shared up by an inserted initial vowel:
isk
-
isp
-
so
-
sp
-
school
ispecial <
school special
3)
Names of foods
were frequently mispronounced
maastat
mustard
mainaz
mayonnaise
5.2.
Classes of words and morphology
5.2.1
Nouns
Plural
marker Deletion
In many European languages, plurality is marked in the article, the
adjective and the noun, as well as occasionally by a numeral.
French
Les deux grands journaux
(4 markers of plurality)
English
The two big newspapers
(2 markers of plurality)
Many pidgins indicate plurality by the numeral only, eliminating
redundancy.
Neo-Melanesian
Tupela bikpela pepa
(1 marker of plurality)
Butler
English
1)
The two
big newspaper
(1
marker of plurality)
2)
I know five language
3)
Three
sister
4)
Keep some five
minute, ten minute on the fridge
5)
I am driving
one month, two month
6)
One piece make four
slice like this
Possessive
marker Deletion
1)
- that that eh master
friends also like for my food.
2)
.. this bearer
work is not very good
3)
I started there
butler work.
4)
Your father name
is . . . .
5)
I living Kumar Mulchandani
house
Concord
Deletion
There is sometime no concordial agreement between subject and predicate.
1)
Master like
it
2)
Wife stay
here
3)
He take
the one tine is mango juice
4)
He come
5)
That get
all right
6)
Anybody want
mixed tea
Explicit
Subject/Object/Verb Deletion
1)
. . . . is own
laundry
(. . . It is my own
laundry)
2)
No, is in the
home madam
(No,
she is in the house madam)
3)
Father no madam
(I
have no father madam)
4)
She ate and
gave to Adam
(.
. . she ate it and gave it to Adam)
The first excerpt from my data also illustrates this type of deletion .
(See pp. 7 8) (Raji).
Gender
In nouns natural gender can be marked by the use of man/meri in
Neo-Melanesian, and man/woman in
English
Neo-Mel
hen
paul meri
woman fawn
(fowl + meri)
(woman + fowl)
cock
paul man
man fawu
(fowl + man)
(man + fowl)
girl
pikinini meri
woman pikin
boy
pikinini man
man pikin
(Todd 1974, p. 17)
Gender distinctions in some nouns are made by the same process in Butler
English.
English
dughter
girl baby
son
boy baby
5.2.2.
Pronouns
In
pidgins and Creoles gender distinction in pronouns are reduced or eliminated.
(Todd 1974, p. 17)
Examples
from
1)
But the Devil
being envious came in the form of Satan and tempted Eve to eat the fruit.
So he listened --- took a fruit.
2)
My mother
is working British-cook ayah. His
name is Teresa.
3)
He
is working and Mirchandani Kumar house. (The
reference is to the daughter).
5.3.3.
Verbs
The verb phrase, in particular, in Butler English is much simpler than in
the standard variety.
Present
Participle : A Tense Carrier
According to Schuchardt, (1891, p.49) the most characteristic feature of
Butler English is the use of the present participle (or gerund) for the present
(and probably only secondarily for the future).
This can be explained as having a universal origin: the durative present
replacing the simple present in the Cape Verde Portugese Creole,
Sino-Portuguese, and Tagalo-Spanish.
Hobson-Jobson reports:
"It: (Butler English) is a singular dialect, the present participle
for example being used for the future indicative . . . Thus: I telling = (I will
tell)."
(Yule and Burnell 1968, pp. 133-134)
This
feature was the most prominent in the speech of my butlers.
1)
I always reading
Bible bed-time
(I
always read the Bible at bed-time)
2)
Malesh also not
speaking English)
3)
I telling
memsahib)
(I
will tell memsahib)
4)
Yeh call me.
I coming
(Yeh
call me. I will come)
5)
I waiting
for Jesus Christ to come . . . .
(I
am waiting for Jesus Christ to come . . . .)
6)
I say I not
coming
(I
said I am not coming)
7)
They working
(they
were working)
8)
Yes, I speaking
boy only English and Tamil
(Yes,
as a boy I spoke only English and Tamil)
9)
I working
there's eh ten years now
(I
have been working here eh for ten years now)
The examples illustrate that
though the present participle is used for the present (see also p.10) (Malesh)
and the future it is used also for many of the other tenses in English.
It functions as a tense carrier, several tense forms being reduced to
one.
Distinctions regarding to time
and continuity of action are either understood from the context or are indicated
by adverbials.
Copula
Deletion
He states that in pairs of clauses differing by presence and absence of a
copula in a given language, speakers will generally rate the one without the
copula as simpler and easier to understand.
(1971, p.146).
It will, therefore, tend to be omitted in simplified registers such as
baby talk and foreigner talk.
Going a step further he suggests that a pidgin language whose lexical
source is a Type A language (that is a language which has a copula in all normal
neutrale equational clauses), would tend to omit the copula.
Examples from
(whose lexical source is Standard English)
1)
My mother only
alive
(Only
my mother is alive
2)
My children
here
(My
children are here)
3)
Indira also
good
(Indira
also is good)
4)
. . . .
villages they nice
(.
. . in the villages they are nice)
5)
. . . . but
they also very poor
(.
. . but they were also very poor)
6)
I poor boy
(I
am a poor boy)
7)
Everything
ready
(Everything
is ready)
8)
So after that
nobody there
(So
after that nobody was there)
Both Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages have copulative verbs, but in
equational sentences which identify one NP with another, it is common in
Dravidian languages to have no copula.
Tamil
avar
enga
appā
he
our
father
= he is our father
Such sentences normally have a copula in India-Aryan languages.
Hindi
Vo
hamāre pitāji
hγi
He
our
father is
=
he is our father
All butlers in my corpus tend to delete the copula, regardless of the
languages they speak. This feature
then seems to have its source in a universal pattern of linguistic behaviour
appropriate to contact situations.
This is further corroborated by the fact that neither French nor
English-based pidgins or Creoles have a copula in identifying sentences, though
both the metropolitian varieties do.
1)
Standard
French
il/
elle est beu / belle
Haitian
Creole
li
bel
2)
Standard
English
he/she/itr
is handsome/fine
Camereon
Pidgin
I
fain
This trait has also received great attention with regard to Black
English.
Serial
Verb Structures
Serial verb structures occur more widely in pidginized language than in
ther non-pidginized relations.
1)
Yes sare, all done,
gone finished whole
2)
I think I thought
I'm thinking
I
finished next year . . . .
3)
One lady been
took me to
Preterite
Indicative formed by Done
Another characteristic feature of Butler English the preterito
indicative being formed by `done' (quoted in Hobson-Jobson from where the
examples are taken) seems to have died out.
I done tell
=
(I have told)
Done come
=
(actually arrived)
Not a single instance of its use has been recorded.
5.3.
Syntax
5.3.1
Sentence
Negators
Like the negators in English-based pidgins, the negator in Butler English
follows the subject and precedes the verb phrase;
1)
I no
read some picture books
(I
don't read any picture books)
2)
I not go
there
(I
did not go there)
3)
No, she not
work
(No,
she did not work)
or it initiates a negative imperative sentence.
1) No water add. No oil
also, not necessary
(Don't ad any water. Don't add any oil also it is
necessary).
In
very reduced utterances we get:
1)
Not
like that picture. Not like picture
madam
(I
do not like pictures. I do
not like pictures madam)
2)
. . . not
not taking children
(I
do not not talk to the children)
3)
No, no
I only speaking the Telugu. Not eh
speak the other . . .
(No.
no. I only speak Telugu. I do
not eh speak the other .
Double negation was noted.
No. I didn't got no son
(No. I haven't got any sons)
5.3.2.
Question
formation
Interrogation is usually signaled by intonation alone, whereas in the
related standard, there is normally a change in word order.
1)
Then what you
are doing?
(Then
what are you doing?)
2)
What I can tell
ma: another story?
(What
can I tell ma'am: another story?)
3)
What parent
I've got?)
(What
parents have I got?)
Haitian Creole and Cameroon Pidgin signal intonation in the same way.
1)
Standard
French
Est
il beau?
Est
elle belle?
Haitian
Creole
li
bel?
2)
Standard
English
Is
he/she/it hadsome/fine?
Cameroon
Pidgin
I
fain?
In another cases where a dummy `do' is obligatory in Standard English, it
is deleted in Butler English.
1)
Which you want
to learn?
(What
do you want to learn?)
2)
What I want to
say?
(What
do I want to say?)
3)
Indian what is
give madam?
(Indians
what do they give madam?
4)
You know
hostel?
(Do
you know the hostel?)
5)
You know Adam
Evals?
(Do
you know Adam and Eve)
Question
Tags
Standard English has a complex system of rules to generate question-tags.
Butler English has reduced this complex system to one simple rule: i.e.
suffixation of `no'.
1)
You sending
books also no?
(You
are sending me books also, aren't you?)
2)
I told you no?
(I
told you didn't I?
`No'
is sometimes the semantic equivalence of `you know'.
1)
. . . some is
barmen no madam
(.
. . some are barmen you know madam)
2)
That is no
. . . 4 years
(He
was you know - - - 4 years old)
5.3.3.
Ponominal
Emphatic Marker
Worthy of mention is the iteration of the subject by an anaphoric or
cataphoric pronoun.
I means people they ask masala omelette
My master Mangalorkar he know
Then mother and father they sitting that cart
Put it the oil
. . . and another one I saw it Don
Just eh when it's come put it tomato
5.4.
Lexicon
5.4.1
Scanty
vocabulary
Butler English, like other pidgins referred to, has a smaller vocabulary
than the language to which it is related, a vocabulary which aims at maximum
utility in a corntact situation.
An example of this is the use of `come' for `become'
"fry until this chicken's comes little brown. . .
then with bacon's comes very brown then you put onion when
onion is comes very that is brown . . ."
(-- fry until the chicken becomes a little brown . . .
then
when the bacon becomes very brown you put - -
put the onion onion when onion becomes very that is brown . .
. )
5.4.2.Neologistic
creations
To extend the pidgin's vocabulary new words may be coined (enjoysome =
enjoyable, on the analogy of `trouble-some') or words compounded together.
5.4.3.
Word
Compounding
This
is of 3 types:
Both
lexical items are from English
= (English Compounds)
Both
lexical items are from Indian Languages
+ (Indian Compounds)
One
lexical item is from English and the other from Indian languages
=
(Hybrid Compounds)
English Compounds
1)
Dining bearer
2)
Table boy
3)
Second boy
4)
Running boy
5)
Tennis boy
6)
Dressing boy
7)
Bar boy
8)
Coffee-room boy
Schuchardt notes that the Indo-English word `boy' is modelled on
Portugese moo = (boy/servant) and has come to mean in
Indian Compounds
1)
Dal curry
< Hindi/Urdu
Dal
= pulses + Tamil curry = soup
2)
Monda coolie <
Monda = the name of a market in
Hybrid
Compounds
1)
brandy pawnee<
brandy + Hindi/Urdu pani = water
2)
masala omelette<
Hindi/Urdu masala = spices + omelette
3)
punkah boy
< Hindi/Urdu
punkah = fan + boy
4)
haldi power
< Hindi/Urdu
haldi = turmeric + power
5)
meat curry
< meat +
Tamil curry = soup
6)
angry wallah <
angry + Hindi/Urdu wallah = man/person
7)
baby ayah
< baby +
Portuguese aya = nanny/female
servant
8)
chokra job
< Hindi/Urdu
chokra = office boy + job
9)
plate matey
< plate +
(?) māty = washer
10)
silver matey <
silver + (?) māty = washer
The Little
5.4.4.
(Reduplication)
Reduplicated
forms occur in all the English-based pidgins and Creoles.
In Butler English they are used mainly as intensives.
A
servant is giving her mistress instructions for making pickle:
"I
can tell. Cut nicely brinjal, little little piece.
Ginger, garlic, chilly, red chilly, mustard and jeera all wanted.
Grind it in the vinegar. No
water. After put the oil.
Then put it all the masala little little, slowly slowly, fry it nice
nice. Smells coming, then you
can put the brinjal not less oil. Then
after it cooking in the oil make it cold. Put
it in the bottle." (I can tell you. Cut
the brinjal nicely into very little pieces.
You need ginger, garlic, chilly red chilly, mustard and jeera.
Grind them with vinegar. Don't
add water. Afterwards put the oil
then put all the masala, gradually. Fry
it very slowly, very nicely. When
you get a nice aroma, you can add the brinjal.
Put enough oil. Then after it
has cooked in the oil, make it cold. Put
it in the bottle).
Standard
European languages also emplpy iteration but only marginally, for purposes of
intensification, and the iteration is of a different type.
Most
standard English iteratives are of the albaut type (ding- dong) or the rhyming
type (razzle-dazzle; hoity-toity), which are quite rare in pidgin.
The common pidgin type is total iteration which is represented in
standard English by only a few combination like the choo-choo train and the
go-go girl.
5.4.5.
Terms of
Address
Certain
lexical items were used as terms of address.
The
master of the house was generally designated `Sahib', while the mistress was
addressed as `ma', or `missy'.
I
told ma
Why
you not marrying missy
`Ma'am',
`madam' and `memsahib' were other common appellations used.
The
children were referred to as `baba lok', `baba' being reserved for the boy and
`baby' for the girl.
6.
Admixture
6.1
Loan
Words
These
were frequently the names of ingredients used in cooking:
1)
ghee =
clarified butter
2)
masala
=
spices
3)
dal
=
pulses
(Also
see p.10) (Malesh)
or
the names of vessels in which the food was cooked.
Deckshi = saucepan without a handle.
6.2.
Code-mixing
Sometimes, Indian words were used in an otherwise English sentence.
1)
Half loan
giving, half taking half māf
(She
gives half loan, takes half, and does not take half = half is forgiven)
2)
And idoo
Pineapple juice?
(And
this Pineapple juice?)
3)
All right.
Acha. Allright
(All
right. Allright.
All right
4)
Only for the
English khānā I cooked very well.
Because
that desi I don't know.
(Only
English food I cooked very well. Because
that Indian I don't know).
5)
Only that
meat curry and dāl curry. Bus
(Only
that meat curry and dal curry. Tha's all)Code switching
6.3.
Code
switching
At
times the switch from one language to another was complete.
1)
Why? Acha.
Acha. Thīk hƐ
(Why?
All right. All right.
It's all right)
2)
Indian
master . . . . thodā ādmi achā hƐ
Some
sahibs angry-wāllāh hƐ
(Indian masters . . . . some men
are good . . . some sahibs are angry men = short-tempered).
(Also see p.9)
(Viayachander)
These Indian elements were tolerated in Butler English, because the
colonial master himself picked up a smattering of the Indian vocabulary.
6.4
As English and Indian language(s) are in contact, we can assume a
carry-over of Indian syntactic patterns into Butler English and possible vice
versa. Many sentences have an SOV
word order (a feature of Indian languages) rather than the corresponding SVO
order of standard English. As more
than one Indian language is involved, though, it is difficult to say with any
certainty, which language influence the syntax. (See pp 9, 10 Vijayachander).
6.5
We can now assert that the structure of Butler English is simplified and
reduced, and betrays the confluence of different linguistic traditions.
This does not mean that it is a simple language, but that it seems
simplified in comparison to its model. When
studied as a language in its own right, it is a net work of complexities.
Inspite of the fact it is a restricted language, it is a language and,
therefore, it is a rule-governed system with certain marked features which have
already been listed (See section 5).
In order to reinforce the point I would like to give some examples from
Melanesian Pidgin English, described by Hall in Hands off Pidgin English
(1955).
1)
The Pronominal
suffix fela is added to first and second person pronouns to indicate plural
number
mi
= I/me
mifela
=
we/us
ju
= you
jufela
= you (plural)
2)
The objective
suffix im is added to the verb when it is followed by a direct object.
Ju
fajtim
pig
(you
keep striking the pig)
givim
kaj
kaj
(give
food)
3)
The preposition
bIl indicates possession :
skru
bIl
arm =
elbow
skru
bIl
leg
=
knee
gras
bIl
hed =
hair
gras
bIl
maus =
beard
7.
Conclusion
:
The study of pidgins and Creoles offers new insights into human
languages.
Linguistic history, as traditionally presented by philologists, normally
focuses attention on standard forms exemplified in written texts; and the
resulting impression is of a smooth organic development to be understood and
documented with scant reference to any interplay of social forces.
Pidgins and Creoles, on the other hand, emerge in conditions of social
and ethnic turbulence, in situations of sharp cultural and linguistic
confrontation, and without benefit of literacy.
They are communicative tools forged and shaped under stress, whether in
slave plantation, trading post, polyglot city
or army camp.
The very nature of their structure and lexical resources compels
attention to the social and cultural circumstances of their origin, transmission
and persistence.
The question arises as to whether we may have over-looked similar
conditions and consequences at certain stages in the history of many of the
languages of the world.
Finally the study of these linguistic poor relations of the great
language families, bred in harsh and limiting conditions may yet have much to
tell us about the nature of human interaction through language and about man's innate
communicative competence.
NOTES
:
1.
The term was originally used by Halliday and Catford, in 1964.
2.
According to The Anglo-Indian Tongue 1877 541ff).
"Who can ever bring himself to allow that the greasy half-caste
menial in cotton jacket a fortnight removed from cleanness, whom Bombay
housekeepers designate butler, has anything in common with the dignified
domestic in black coat and spotless neck cloth who superintends our family means
in England?" (Anyone who has read P.G. Wodehouse will know what is meant.
"Is it not more appropriate to call him khansamah like his
3.
Some have labeled the variety Kitchen English.
4.
In Indo-English
(1891) Schuchardt discusses the English of natives and Eurasians in
a)
b)
Pidgin English
of
c)
Boxwallah
English of
d)
Chee chee (chee-chee,
chi-chi) English spoken every where by Eurasians.
e)
Baboo (Babu)
English spoken in
5.
The Oxford
English Dictionary (OED) defines Pidgin as a Chinese corruption of English
"business" used widely for any action, occupation or affair'.
/bizniz/
/pidzin/
Trade varieties of English were equated with parrot-like repetitions.
The spelling for the bird and the language were interchangeable.
6.
Each sample of
Butler English has been translated into its corresponding standard English
equivalent, the translation not being too idiomatic as features characteristic
of this variety would be lost. The
procedure brings out similarities as well as differences and provides better
insight into communication processes. It
can, of course, lay no claim to reconstructing exactly what is meant.
7.
The analysis is
based on corpus of 70 full-scap typed pages of text (though I have 300 pages in
all) tape-recorded in natural settings during a three-month period.
The informants were seventy-five domestics (some of them indeed very
important like the Nizam's butler, Sir Mirza Ismail's dressing-boy and Maharajah
of Mysore's cook), comprising both sexes, ranging from the ages of 20 to 70
some totally uneducated, others semi-educated.
The
questionnaire used elicits information on the butler's general family
background, his tradition of domestic service etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1.
"Absence
of copula and the notion of simplicity: a study of normal speech, baby talk,
foreigner talk and pidgins". In
D. Hymes (Ed.) Pidginization and creolization of languages. 1971. pp
141-150.
2.
Hall, R.A.
Hands of Pidgin English Sydney, Pacific Publications Pvt. Ltd.,
1955.
3.
Hosali, P.
(Unpublished
Ph.D dissertation)
4.
Kachru, B.B.
"English
in
Current
trends in linguistics. 1969.
5. pp. 627-678.
5.
Schuchardt, H.
"Indo-English". In H.
Schuchardt (Ed.) Pidgin and/creole languages. 1980. pp. 38 64.
6.
Spencer, J. The
English language in
7.
Todd, L. Pidgins
and Creoles.
Routledge
and Kegan Paul. 1974.
8.
Verma, S.K. Swadeshi
English: form and function. Paper read at the 10th congree
of anthropological and ethnological sciences,
9.
Yule H. and A.C.
Burnell. Hobson-Jobson: A glossary of colloquial Anglo-Indian words and
phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological, historical, geographical and
discoursive.