I asked Nyango how to say “hi” in Cameroonian Pidgin English. Here’s what she wrote:
Most people will greet you in pidgin with "How na?" which is actually "How now?" and actually means: "How are you?" "What’s up?". A lot more will say: "Good morning" or what ever the time of day is. Most people do go around saying "Hi" and "Hello" these days even if they speak only Pidgin English. By the way, the response to "How na?" is "Ah fine" or "Ah dey" which is I am well, or I am okay. They will probably tell you if they are not well if they are familiar with you.
"Hi" is becoming a common greeting due to the influence of American television programs and Nollywood (Nigerian) movies.
I also asked Nyango if Cameroonian Pidgin English is called Kamtok (which I read online). Here’s what she replied:
If there is something like "Kamtok" then it is a new coinage. "Kam tok" is pidgin English for "Come and Talk" or "come and say it", come and tell (us, me, etc).
Thanks for sharing Nyango!
Nyango M. Nambangi works with the Minnesota African Women’s Association. She’s kindly sent us many songs from Cameroon to share on Mama Lisa’s World.
This article was posted on Thursday, July 21st, 2011 at 2:49 pm and is filed under Cameroon, Cameroonian Pidgin English, Countries & Cultures, Customs and Traditions, Greeting Customs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
8 Responses to “Greetings in Cameroonian Pidgin English”
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May 4th, 2013 at 12:21 am
Kamtok is short for “Cameroon talk”. The name has been around for a very long time but not all people are aware of it, as the conversation with your friend shows. There are sevrral varieties of Kamtok. Much of it sounds like the pidgin spoken in Nigeria (minus lots of words and phrases that are unique to each). The structure of both pidgins is very similar. I found a website that has some good info: http://kamtok4740.blogspot.com.au/?m=1
July 17th, 2015 at 5:35 pm
Kamtok is, strangely speaking, a term coined by linguists to refer to Cameroon Pidgin English. It dates back to the 1970s and especially to Loreto Todd’s initial work on Cameroon.
No speaker of Pidgin in Cameroon would identify with it. I am often shocked to see Cameroonian linguists (all of whom speak Pidgin excellently) use the ghost name “Kamtok” in their research.
Linguists should not take the arrogance to name languages the way they want … that privilege belongs to the speaker of the language.
October 22nd, 2015 at 8:01 pm
Pidgin Boy has said it all. The arrogance of naming a language spoken by another group of people has “colonial master” undertones to it. In all decency, those using the term Kamtok should always be honest enough to point out that it is not what the speakers call it and Cameroonian linguists should know when to exercise ownership and not perpetrate a falsehood in the name of academic research. Pidgin English, West African Pidgin, etc. is what we Cameroonians call it. I actually put the question out on Facebook today and no Cameroonian respondent recognizes nor relates with the term “Kamtok”.
October 22nd, 2015 at 8:51 pm
Nyango asked many of her friends in Cameroon who speak Cameroonian Pidgin English. They all agreed that people in Cameroon call the language Pidgin English.
July 31st, 2018 at 2:15 am
i want to translate a sentence of cameroon pidgen english to english. where can i do that?
October 10th, 2018 at 5:45 pm
Hi, my sisters and brothers, how wuna dey? I be de read wati de for top and i agree say i no no wati kamtok de be and e surprise me when i find say nah way they de call pidgin english. I wan say no man know am as kamtok. And it no be wrong when they sey kam tok means come and talk or lets talk for english.
June 28th, 2019 at 8:45 am
How do you say grandmother in Cameroon?
October 9th, 2019 at 10:56 pm
I think Kamtok requires more academic research from past works because it has been around for a while. However, most pidgin speakers in Cameroon don’t know such a coinnage existed.
Trena Says, grandmother is big mami (grand = big and mother = mami)