Tanti at de Oval

“Tanti at the Oval” tell us about Aunty Merle first visit to the Queen’s Park Oval to view a cricket match between Trinidad and the Combined Islands. It is a great example of Caribbean lifestyle before and after we gained Independence which shows how cricket assisted in the integration of the Caribbean regions. One must be aware “the game of cricket therefore in a real sense mirrored life in general in West Indian societies.” There were different issues such as the language spoken by Aunty Merle and her nephew, segregation between the small islanders and the big islanders, gender ideology, generation gap, and cricket bringing together all the islands.

The dialect language was spoken mainly throughout the entire video; this type of language tells the history of the survival, resistance, exile and endurance of our Caribbean people. In the Caribbean we have adopted from other parts of the world with local variations of standard terms as well as with our own words, expressions and forms which helped modified our language. We are very good, at creating and modifying words and expressions that so aptly and clearly describe our environment, thoughts and feelings. The accents and the natural tongue of our West Indian people also contribute to a vibrant and colourful language.Dialect can be expressive so that it captures the essence of the context that it is difficult to convey exactly the same meaning with a standard term. A term used by Aunty Merle such as “we goh buss dey tail” meaning Combined Islands will beat Trinidad in the cricket match is one example of dialect. Another which was used is “whey yuh come from” this phrase was misunderstood by Aunty Merle which inspired her to tell the two men where she originated in St. Vincent. This was a misunderstanding in the languages between aunty and the younger generation, they used it mainly in a sarcastic manner. There are common threads among the English-speaking Caribbean countries; there are differences between some of...