Boa Vista Creole

Characteristics

• The progressive aspect of the present is formed by putting tâ tâ before the verbs: tâ + tâ + V.
• In the verbs that end by ~a, that sound is replaced by when the verb is conjugated with the first person of the singular pronoun. Ex.: panhó-m’ instead of panhâ-m’ “to catch me”, levó-m’ instead of levâ-m’ “to take me”, coçó-m’ instead of coçâ-m’ “to scratch me”.
• The stressed e is always open. Ex.: bucé instead of bocê “you, drét’ instead of drêt’ “right”, tchobé instead of tchovê “to rain”. The stressed o is always open. Ex.: bó instead of bô “you”, compó instead of compô “to fix”, tórrt’ instead of tôrt’ “crooked”.
• The sound at the end of syllables is pronounced. Ex.: furrtâ instead of furtâ “to steal”, m’djérr instead of m’djêr “woman”, pórrt’ instead of pôrt’ “harbor”.
• A originating from the junction of and is replaced by. Ex.: cárr instead of cás “which ones”, érr instead of ês “they”, quérr instead of quês “those”.
• A Portuguese is partially replaced by. Ex. jantâ instead of djantâ “to dine”, jôg’ instead of djôgu “game”, but in words like djâ “already” and Djõ “John”, the sound remains.

  Vocabulary

Grammar

Phonology

Alphabet