Tây Bồi (), or Vietnamese Pidgin French, is an extinct pidgin once spoken by non-French-educated Vietnamese, typically those who worked as servants in French households or milieux during the colonial era. Literally, it means . During the French Indochina period, the majority of household servants for the French were male. The term is used by Vietnamese themselves to indicate that their spoken French language is poor, or grammatically incorrect. The French government 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; Tây Bồi is believed to have become extinct around the 1980s.
Etymology is the Vietnamese phonetic spelling of the French word (from the English word), which refers to male household servants. It also means as a verb in Vietnamese, which incidentally refers to how this pidgin worked.
History Tây Bồi developed in the 1860s around Saigon as French colonial officials in Vietnam began interacting with the local population. Those who could afford to learn French did if they interacted with the French often. Some were too poor to afford an education, and were therefore unable to learn French. To communicate with the French, a pidgin developed. Most of these poor people were servants, low-level administrators, soldiers or others from the working class.
The language began to decline after the French withdrawal from Vietnam after the First Indochina War. After this lack of use, warfare decreased the amount of speakers further. The last evidence of Tây Bồi's use was documented between 1975 and 1980. Before it went extinct, Tây Bồi was viewed as irrelevant by the French. Speakers were also hesitant to speak about it after the French withdrawal; it is therefore poorly attested in surviving research.
Phonology +ConsonantsBilabialLabio-DentalDentalAlveolarPostalveolarVelarUvular PlosiveVoicelesspt̪ (ṭ)tkVoicedbd̪g FricativesVoicelessfθʃχVoicedvðʒɣ Lateralsl Trillsrʀ Nasalsmnnŋ Semivowelswɥ +Vowels Front Central BackUnroundedRoundedCloseiuMide̞əɤo̞Open MidɛɔNear-openɐOpena
Tones Tây Bồi contains the same five tones as the Southern dialects of Vietnamese: high-level, high rising, low-level, mid-rising, and low-rising tones.
Features Like Vietnamese, Tây Bồi had an SVO word order. Verbs were used in the infinitive with tense implied mostly through context. Its grammar and syntax are in general the same as Vietnamese grammar and syntax.
Lexicon In Tây Bồi was a French lexifier pidgin with minimal influences from Vietnamese, Chinese Pidgin English, Japanese and a Portuguese creole (which one, specifically, is not specified). Tây Bồi also sees a significantly reduced amount of words with many copulas being removed and words gaining several closely related meanings.
Examples Tây Bồi Standard French Literal English Standard English Me hunger I am hungry Me cup My cup Him have permission rest [noun] He has permission to rest Tomorrow me return [noun] countryside Tomorrow, I return to the countryside You not money, me stop work [noun] If you don't pay me, I'll stop working Mister happy to go to dance The gentleman is happy to go dance Him her to hit He hits her Good, not to go Good, don't go Not work [noun] I won't work Enough, not to know Enough, I don't know Me understood you to speak I've understood what you've said (Bickerton 1995: 163)
See also French Indochina French language Vietnamese language Vietglish Butler English, a similar phenomenon in colonized India
References