Tây Bồi Pidgin French
Tây Bồi (Vietnamese: tiếng Tây bồi),[3] or Vietnamese Pidgin French, was a pidgin spoken by non-French-educated Vietnamese, typically those who worked as servants in French households or milieux during the colonial era. Literally, it means "French (Tây) [of- or spoken by] male servants (Bồi)". During the French colonisation period, the majority of household servants for the French were male. The term is used by Vietnamese themselves to indicate that the spoken French language is poor, incorrect and ungrammatical.
| Tây Bồi | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Vietnam |
| Extinct | by 1980[1] |
French Pidgin
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tas |
| Glottolog | tayb1240[2] |
"Bồi" is the Vietnamese phonetic spelling of the English word "boy", which referred to male household servants.[4]
The French government/colonisers or protectors opened French public schools (from pre-kindergarten through the Baccalaureat II) staffed by all native French speakers to take care of their compatriots/expatriates' children's education. Vietnamese children were admitted as well if they could pass the entrance examination tailored to their age and grade level. The Vietnamese elite class spoke French, and those with French Baccalaureat diplomas could attend French universities in France and in its colonies. After France's withdrawal from Indochina in 1954, Tây Bồi ceased to be used as a common language as standard French was used and is believed to have become extinct around the 1980s. Today standard French continues to be taught at schools and universities in Vietnam as a second language.
Examples
| Tây Bồi | Standard French | Literal English | Standard English |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moi faim | J'ai faim | Me hunger | I am hungry |
| Moi tasse | Ma tasse | Me cup | My cup |
| Lui avoir permission repos | Il a la permission de se reposer | He have permission rest [noun] | He has permission to rest |
| Demain moi retour campagne | Demain, je retourne à la campagne | Tomorrow me return [noun] countryside | Tomorrow, I return to the countryside |
| Vous pas argent moi stop travail | Si vous ne me payez pas, j'arrêterai de travailler | You no money, Me stop work | If you don't pay me, I'll stop working |
| Monsieur content aller danser | Monsieur est content d'aller danser | Mister happy to go to dance | The gentleman is happy to go dance |
| Lui la frapper | Il la frappe | Him to hit her | He hits her |
| Bon pas aller | Bon, n'y va pas | Good, not to go | Good, don't go |
| Pas travail | Je ne travaillerai pas | No work | I won't work |
| Assez, pas connaître | Assez, je n'en sais rien | Enough, not to know | Enough, I don't know |
| Moi compris toi parler | J'ai compris ce que tu as dit | Me understood you speaking | I've understood what you've said |
References
- Tây Bồi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Tay Boi". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Trần, Khải (23 May 2012). "Ông Hồ viết tiếng Tây". Việt Báo Online. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
- John E. Reinecke. Pidginization and Creolization of Languages. Oxford University Press. p. 47.