compiled and edited by Kumar Mahabir

additional entries contributed byVisham Bhimull & Rajan Seemungal

It is without doubt that Hindi in Trinidad and Guyana has contributed scores of loan words to mainstream Caribbean English. Today, Hindi/Indic lexical items are being used regularly by calypso and chutney singers, writers, journalists, broadcasters and politicians. Linguists refer to the variety of Hindi commonly spoken in Trinidad as “Trinidad Bhojpuri,” “broken Hindi” or “gaa-nw bo-lee” [village speech]. The majority of people refer to Standard Hindi as “Good Hindi” or “Proper Hindi.” Trinidad Bhojpuri is now a dying language used mainly by very old, usually rural Indians. This illustrated dictionary represents a record and inventory of 1,864 words and calques used in everyday speech by younger Indians and older non-Indians in multi-ethnic Trinidad.

Kumar Mahabir

is a full-time anthropologist at the University of Guyana (UG) and Fellow of The Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library (2022-23). He is a former Assistant Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida (UF). As a doctoral student, he won a Florida Caribbean Institute Award, an A. Curtis Wilgus Grant, and an Organization of American States (OAS) Fellowship.
Mahabir received a National Award (Hummingbird Silver Medal) for his contribution to education in his country in 2011. He was among 50 recipients who received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the UWI Alumni Association.
Mahabir is the author of 12 books to date.

A Dictionary of Common Trinidad Hindi

compiled and edited by Kumar Mahabir

additional entries contributed byVisham Bhimull & Rajan Seemungal

Book Info