Cameroon Pidgin English (Kamtok) Dictionary & Phrasebook

how are you?; what's up?

Literally:

how now

I am fine (a reply to how na?)

I am okay (a reply to how na?)

sorry

where is the bathroom?

I want to go to the market

I am hungry

I am hungry

I am hungry

can I have some water, please?

the food is delicious; I like it

how much is this?

it is too expensive

Note:

Also e over dear.

you are beautiful

let's go grab a drink

I am finished; it is very funny

too good

the price is way over the top

Note:

Said about a price.

Mamma Mia

I

Note:

Wikipedia calls it a subject clitic on verbs.

me

my

ma bele
my stomach

you, your (singular)

he, she, it

Note:

APiCS also lists (y)i for the object and possessive.

him, her, it (the object form)

Note:

APiCS also lists -im.

A no laik-am.
I don't like it.

we, us, our

you (plural)

Note:

Wikipedia's table writes it (w)una.

they, them; also placed after a noun to make it plural

Note:

APiCS also shows an associative plural: Eric dem go fo Yaoundé (Eric and associates went to town).

man dem
men

added to a pronoun to make a reflexive form

Note:

Forms listed: misef, yusef, isef, wisef, wunasef, demsef.

misef
myself

marks the past

Note:

Wikipedia also lists bi.

Ma masa bin tutu wok.
My boss worked very hard.

marks a past habitual action

Note:

APiCS gives bin di for Anglophone speakers and bin bi(n) for Francophone speakers.

marks the future

Tiri pipo go di kam.
Three people will be coming.

marks an ongoing or habitual action (imperfective)

The boy dem di cam
The boys are coming.

marks a completed action (perfect)

Note:

Wikipedia also lists dong.

Which man don tif ma book(s) dem?
Who has stolen my books?

not yet; the negative of the perfect

Note:

APiCS writes it neba.

Dem neva cam?
They haven't come yet?

not; marks negation

No man no laik mi no smol.
Nobody likes me even a little.

a linking word, like is, am or are

Dis cat na ma on.
This cat is mine.

can, to be able to

Yu no fit bi ma klak.
You cannot be my clerk.

to want

Ah no wan look dat kain ting.
I don't want to watch that kind of thing.

to have

Wi get plenti de go learnam komot dem.
We have much to learn from them.

to be (seen in ah dey and wusai toilet dey?)

Note:

These sources give it only inside phrases and do not describe its grammar. APiCS writes the ongoing marker as di.

to eat; also food

Note:

Also written tchop.

to walk; to function properly

to know

Origin:

from Portuguese

to steal

to agree

to come

Note:

Written kom, kam, come and cam in different sources.

to pass; to surpass

child

Origin:

from Portuguese

friend

Origin:

from a Cameroonian language

boss

people

nurse

Note:

Also sista.

divisional officer

Origin:

from French

a savings group in which members pay in regularly and take turns receiving the pot

Origin:

from Cameroonian languages; Echu says Basaa or Duala

Note:

Also written njangui. Francophones say tontine. Members play njangi, and the member who receives the money is said to chop njangi.

motor vehicle

Note:

Also written motor. Compounds include moto bus, moto bike and motorboy, which Echu glosses as a lorry driver's assistant.

hair, beard

skin

Origin:

from a Cameroonian language

snake

Origin:

from a Cameroonian language

cake

Origin:

from French

gift

Origin:

from Portuguese

much, many

Origin:

from French

much, plenty

kind, sort

thing

continually

The Pastor di soso tok.
The pastor was continually talking.

soon

The Pipo go go small time.
The people will go soon.

small; a person or thing of little value or importance

Note:

Echu lists it, also written gnama gnama, among words that Cameroonian French took from Pidgin.

annoyed