Food and the Market in Saint Lucian Kwéyòl
Fruit, vegetables, seasonings and everyday foods in Saint Lucian Kwéyòl, the words you need at the market, with tips for remembering them.
A trip to the market is one of the best places to hear Kwéyòl spoken: people selling fruit, weighing sugar, or buying peppers and salt. Learn these words and you will understand a lot of what you hear at a Saturday market.
Fruit
Look carefully at two words that trip up learners: in Saint Lucian Kwéyòl fig means banana, while bannann means plantain. Mixing them up at the market could get you the wrong thing for your green fig and salt fish!
| Kwéyòl | English |
|---|---|
| fig | banana |
| bannann | plantain |
| koko | coconut |
| mango | mango |
| zabòka | avocado |
| zowanj | orange |
| sitwon | lime |
| lim | lemon |
| moulon | watermelon |
| chatany | breadnut |
Vegetables and seasoning
Saint Lucian cooking is built on fresh seasoning. These words cover the vegetables and flavours you would pick up for a pot of food.
| Kwéyòl | English |
|---|---|
| jòmou | pumpkin |
| tanmadòz | tomato |
| kalalou | callaloo |
| piman | pepper |
| lay | garlic |
| lonyon | onion |
| jenjanm | ginger |
| pistach | peanut |
In the kitchen and at the table
Finally, some everyday foods and drinks, including one tied to a season: lozèy is sorrel, the drink of the Christmas season in Saint Lucia.
| Kwéyòl | English |
|---|---|
| pen | bread |
| kafé | coffee |
| sik | sugar |
| lozèy | sorrel |
| hawansò | smoked herring |
| toloman | arrowroot |
Patterns to notice as you learn
As you start reading and hearing Saint Lucian Kwéyòl, a few patterns come up again and again. Knowing them makes new sentences much easier to follow:
- "The" comes after the word. Where English puts the in front of a noun, Kwéyòl adds a short word after it, joined with a hyphen, such as -la, -a or -an. When you see one of these endings, think the.
- The ending changes with the sound before it. Which of those endings appears depends on how the word ends, so let your ear guide you rather than trying to memorise a rule on day one.
- Plurals often use sé. When a sentence talks about several things, look for sé in front of the noun, with the ending still after it.
You do not need to master grammar to start. Hearing and reading the words in real sentences, in the games and in everyday life, is how these patterns become natural.
Practise these words
Reading a list is a start; recalling the words is what makes them stick. Try:
- Match the Word: match foods to their pictures
- Jumble: unscramble food words letter by letter
- Fill in the Blank: complete real Kwéyòl sentences