Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Primary Research

INTERVIEW

SUBJECTS: MY DAD, MY UNCLE

QUESTIONS
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1)Does the dialect have a specific name?

Dad: Patois (pat-twa)
Uncle Anthony: It does not really have a specific dialect because of all of the different cultures.
Friend 1: Patois
Friend 2:Basically Patois based upon older people of 50 years ago, but not part of dialect anymore because it has adavanced
2)Where did the dialect come from?

Dad:Mixture of French, Portuguese, Spanish, African & East Indian
Uncle Anthony:It came from came along from the many different languages as the changed over time.
Friend 1:Broken from spanish heritage & african(from slave trade)
Friend 2:It is a mix of carribean and african after slavery to communicate with carribeans and africans

3)Do you still use it and when?

Dad: All the time
Uncle Anthony:I never really use it beacause i don't speak it
Friend 1:When at home
Friend 2:Yes with friends
4)What are some examples of Trinidadian dialect/slang Example: stupid or Where are you?

Dad: "Dotish" is stupid & "Whey you" is where are you
Uncle Anthony:Wey yuh went(where where you) How you going(how are you doing)
Friend 1: (not answered)
Friend 2: Dotish means stupid
5)Is it hard to learn or understand the meaning of some slang terms when you were growing up?

Dad: no not really
Uncle Anthony: It would be rarely
Friend 1:Yes
Friend 2:No because you were growing into when you were young
6)Do you think your dialect is easily understood by others?

Dad:If spoken slowly people who do not know the dialect
Uncle Anthony:No
Friend 1:Yes
Friend 2:No
7)How often do you hear this dialect being used & by whom?

Dad: My Carribean friends and radio
Uncle Anthony:Barely
Friend 1: Smaller group of older people
Friend 2:Not often & by friends
8)What other dialects are similiar to this one?

Dad:Most of the Carribean island
Uncle Anthony:Any where in the world
Friend 1: Guyanese
Friend 2:(Every island has their own dialect)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Sources

My sources are:

http://latino.si.edu/rainbow/education/sotheysay.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_English

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Secondary Reasearch

The article I read talked about Trinidadian phrases or slang my father being from Trinidad I have learned some of these things for example "lime" means to hang out with friends and usually when you "lime" you tend to "ole talk" which is empty chatter. After you "lime" you free up which is relaxing. Some words/phrases that I don't know are these; "sock eye" -too easy for words and "langniappe" -a little extra. I have still not found what West Indian or specifically Trinidadain dialect called.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

My Research Goals

My Research Goals are to learn more about Trinidadian Slang than I already know

My Research Questions

My research questions are: 

What is Trinidadian Dialect called?

What are examples of Trinidadian Slang/Dialect? 

Monday, October 6, 2008

My Language Beliefs

my current beliefs about language: language or dialects are fine to use as long as you also know "PROPER ENGLISH GRAMMAR".

The reason why I believe is because this example: 
You are a Scottish person living in America and you want a job for corporate America, so you go and you apply for the job but you are skeptical because you think that the way you speak will diminish your chances of getting the job.