Guinea-Bissau Kriyol

Introduction

Guinea-Bissau Creole, also known as Kiriol, is a creole language whose lexicon derives mostly from Portuguese. It is spoken in Guinea Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia. It is also called by its native speakers as guinensi, kriyol, or portuguis.

The Guinea-Bissau Kriyol Verb

The Guinea-Bissau Kriyol particles are markers placed before or after verbs to indicate tense, mood and aspect.

• na: The preverbal marker na indicates progressive aspect or an imminent future.
• ta: The preverbal marker ta indicates habitual aspect or a less imminent future.
• ba: The postverbal marker ba indicates anterior tense, i.e. a time before that in focus. It shows that the action of the verb occurred before another action that was in the past when it follows a non-stative verb and is combined with dja.

These verbal markers can be combined to signal a variety of tenses and aspects. The unmarked verb can be used alone; it usually indicates the present of stative verbs, the past of non-stative verbs, or the imperative mood.