Krio language thread

[kokoroko]

Bubudi,

I'm new on this site & i would like to learn krio.I hear it spoken at the market in town & a past friend of mind encourage me to learn krio so now is my chance.

[Hilde]

It is a bit similar to the broken English they speak in Nigeria. I am familiar with that, but I cannot speak it myself. I find many similar words in the list you posted here. Cool.

[kokoroko]

Bubudi,

I will be going on vacation today& returning Sept.Here are some sentences i would like translated:


1I'm going to the market to buy plantain.

2 I will go to the market to buy plantain.I was going to the market to buy plantain.

3 I bought plantain at the market.

4 The fair skin woman in beautiful.

5 She is my sweetheart.

6He's tall,fat & ugly.

7The banana is rotten(singular) The bananas are ripe(plural).

8The man stomache is big.

9Evertime he go to a party,he likes to fight.She bend down low when she dance.

10It's dangerious walking in kenema at night.

11My car is smaller than his.

12.She is much taller than me.I stand & you sit.

13.my parents are from freetown,but i was born in Baltimore.

14I like okra in my casava.

15Can u take me to school, before u go to work?

16 blue,white,black,green,brown,red,albino,monster

17 good,bad,beautiful,ugly,fat,tall,skinny,short

18 happy,sad,angry,hungry,tired,dumb,crazy,handicapped,intelligent,peace,blind

19 house,school,hospital,bus,car,motorcycle,bicycle,jail

20 shirt,pants,tie,shoes,jacket,skirt,underwear,panties,hat

21 head,arms,legs,buttocks,hair,stomache,noise,ears,eyes

22 give birth,die,pain,cry,danger,fear,tired,twins,sick(disease),naked,poison

23 apple,orange,guava,lemon,pineapple,watermelon,coconut

24 potato,greens,onion,cuccumber,lettuce,milk,juice

25 fish,cow,goat,monkey,pig,snake,cat,dog,snail

[bubudi]

hilde, 'broken english' is a derogatory description used mainly by non natives. there are krios in nigeria, but they are called saro as is the language there. saro is very much the same as krio with some stylistic differences and a little more use of words derived from yoruba.

[bubudi]

kokoroko: kaboh! (welcome!) a gladi fo go tich yu (i'd be happy to teach you)

yu de na salon? a jelohs o. na fo go boku makiht lek big makiht, kru tong, bo...
yu gi mi boku wod foh tan na inglis o a trai fo help yu smol. yu geht fambul na salon?

[kokoroko]

Kaboh,

Bubudi i want u to translate the bottom sentence for me & if u don't mind the bottom sentences.I wanted to see how sentences can be use in the present,past & future in krio.Also, how singular & plurals are use.

I'm not from Salone or have family in salone,but i know some salon.I hope the sentences aren't too much.I mention to u that i will be on vacation & not returning until Sept 11.What ever you can teach me i appreciate.Can u write krio as approaching it in general coversation would be helpful.Talk to u later.

[kokoroko]

What is the meaning of bamboat(bambote)?

[bubudi]

koko, i asked if you're in sierra leone right now? i'm jealous! and that you should go to the different markets like big market, kru town, bo, etc (big market is an arts/crafts market). then i said you asked me to translate quite a lot, but i'll try and help you a bit. then i asked if you have any family in sierra leone.

i think it's better that i write in krio as much as possible. you will need to say it out loud to be able to understand. remember that it's written phonetically. i will give you the translations.

krio na plenti izi langwej fo lan. we yu rich salone posin go gi yu salon nem. we yu lan fo tok lek krioman an get salon nem, yu go makit, dem no pull ol yu moni o (krio is a very easy language to learn. when you reach sierra leone people will give you a salone name. if you learn how to talk like a krio man and get a salone name, people won't take all your money when you go to the market!)

a go = i go
a de go = i am going
a bin go = i went

man, man dem = man, men
plurals are only important when it comes to the correct pronoun. otherwise the singular form is used.

[Hilde]

hilde, 'broken english' is a derogatory description used mainly by non natives. there are krios in nigeria, but they are called saro as is the language there. saro is very much the same as krio with some stylistic differences and a little more use of words derived from yoruba.

The Nigerians I know call their english "broken". I guess the correct term is saro? They mix it with igbo as well as yoruba.

[bubudi]

hilde, you are right, i have also heard sierra leonians call krio 'broken english' a couple of times but only when talking to a non-krio speaker about krio. as for saro, the saros have the same origins as the krios. the saro language is quite mutually intelligible with krio, and has words that aren't in yoruba or igbo or english. however, there are some words in saro that are not familiar to krio speakers, and vice versa. naija pidgin (nigeria's unofficial lingua franca) is different again.

[kokoroko]

If i say -a de go fo makit fo bai plenti banana would be the same as saying :I will go to the market to buy bananas & pekin de boku wahala-That girl is too much problems?


What is the meaning of bamboat?

[kokoroko]

bubudi,

What about conjunctions & prepostion in krio?


1)I want to take the bus with u to school.

2)Me and you or You and them

3)I want to go,but it was late.

4)What is the krio word for white man?

[bubudi]

koko, i have already covered prepositions in page 1 of this thread. the main conjunctions are en (and), ba (but) and o (or).

white man in krio is "weht man"
your sentences are coming together! a few notes:
pikin does not mean girl, it means child. if you want to say 'that girl is too much trouble' you would say: titi dande boku wahala.
a de go makit means i am going to the market. it is present progressive, meaning just like in english it can be that you are going right now, or that you are going some time (as in: i'm going to sierra leone next year). time is not as important in krio as it is in english, so you can get away with using 'a de go' for both present and future. if you specifically want future tense there are 2 of them, but you should get more familiar with the three basic tenses i just gave you first, and with your general sentence construction and vocabulary.

bambot is what players do. you meet someone who is interested in you but someone warns you: i wan fo bambot (he/she just wants to mess around). remember krio is phonetic so spelling it bamboat would suggest the wrong pronunciation. there is a popular song by k-man with the lyrics: ustem yu go lef bambot, ustem yu go sidon na os.

[kokoroko]

oke,


Let me go back to the sentences again to get familiar with krio.Further, i wanted to ask the word sabi means to know something,but can it be use when referring to knowing an aquaintance or person?I was thinking Porta referred to white man,but now i know.Also, what is khalifat in krio.Next time i will try to attempt to write in krio.Translate the k-man lyrics please?

[kokoroko]

bubudi,

Sorry, the word isn't khalifat,but kondofat-"No ca rub kondofat pae me' Also, Cro Cro what does that mean?