Language
Throughout Guyana, English is the main language, and it is the only English speaking country of South America, although it is primarily spoken with a Caribbean dialect. Although Guyanese speak English, the Latin influence and words remain. For example "Chico" is gum in Guyana also referred to a boy. "bailar" is a common phrase used when people are about to dance. The Spanish/Portuguese languages are used very little now in Guyana because of the British influence, but the Hispanic culture still appears in certain words, particularly surnames, as well as the sounds of Musical instruments used
Read more about this topic: Culture Of Guyana
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“I suggested to them also the great desirability of a general knowledge on the Island of the English language. They are under an English speaking government and are a part of the territory of an English speaking nation.... While I appreciated the desirability of maintaining their grasp on the Spanish language, the beauty of that language and the richness of its literature, that as a practical matter for them it was quite necessary to have a good comprehension of English.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“The world does not speak. Only we do. The world can, once we have programmed ourselves with a language, cause us to hold beliefs. But it cannot propose a language for us to speak. Only other human beings can do that.”
—Richard Rorty (b. 1931)
“Now stamp the Lord’s Prayer on a grain of rice,
A Bible-leaved of all the written woods
Strip to this tree: a rocking alphabet,
Genesis in the root, the scarecrow word,
And one light’s language in the book of trees.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)