Lesson 1
Hello, new student! Welcome to this introductory course on Nuuko-Torontonian Creole. I’m sure you’ve been trying to find resources to learn this rare and certainly fascinating language. You’ve come to the right place! These lessons will attempt to teach you how to speak NTC like a real Greenlander!
Let’s begin as you would in any other language course. When you arrive on the shores of our icy home for the first time, what is the first thing you should know how to say? "Hello" of course! Well, the basic greeting in NTC is [ɪnʊɟʊˈdʑʌq], which, if you speak English (as you presumably do!) is pronounced a bit like "in nudge a JUG".
Greetings/Farewells:
Hello - [ɪnʊɟʊˈdʑʌq]
Good morning - [ɪtɛɻlʊʔæˈɻɪt]
How are you? - [təˈtʌdə kənˈdɪʂən ˈʂʌmə]
Goodbye - [ædʑʊnɟɪnɪˈʔæɻnə] (short-term departure)
Goodbye - [ɪnʊlʊʔəˈɻɪnə] (long-term departure)
Goodnight - [sɪnɪlʊʔæˈɻɪt] (as a bedtime greeting)
Cheers! - [cæˈsʊtə] (used when drinking)
Bon appetit - [nɛɻɪlʊʔæɻɪˈsɪ]
Bon voyage - [ænɟæləlʊʔæˈɻɪnə]
[ɪnʊɟʊˈdʑʌq]
[təˈtʌdə kənˈdɪʂən ˈʂʌmə]?
Useful Phrases:
Please - [ɪcɪnɟʊtɪnɛɻsʊˈmɪc]
Thank you - [qʊˈdʑæn] (Intimate)
Thank you - [qʊdʑænæɻsʊ'ʔæq] (Formal)
Sorry/Excuse me - [ʊtəqætəsɪsʊtɪˈɟæʔə]
Love - [æsæwæˈcɪt] (used in the context on the English phrase “I love you” or “I love it!”)
Excellent - [həˈhæw]
Good - [hæw]
Bad - [næˈhæw]
Okay/Alright -[əˈkɛ]
Also - [hæm]
Now that you know how to say hello, how shall you go about telling the person you’re talking to who you are? You can use this construction:
[ɻənəˈhʌ mæn mʌˈnænət _______ əpɛlədʊˈʔʊt], whereby _____ is filled with your name. This literally means “people call me as _______”. For example, if your name is Olga, you can say [ɻənəˈhʌ mæn mʌˈnænət ˈʌlɟə əpɛlədʊˈʔʊt]
Conversely, to ask someone what their name is, you can say:
[ɻənəˈhʌ təˈtʌ mʌˈnænət ˈʂʌmə əpɛlədʊˈʔʊt]? — Which literally means “people call you what?”
(The ending of the sentence is raised, questions are marked by intonation)
Useful Phrases:
Where do you come from? - [təˈtʌdə ɻəˈdɪnə ˈʂʌmə]?
How are you? - [təˈtʌdə kənˈdɪʂən ˈʂʌmə]?
How old are you? - [təˈtʌdə sɛn ˈʂʌmə]?
What do you do (for a living)? - [təˈtʌdə æɻˈbɛdə ˈʂʌmə]?
Don’t worry about the components of those sentences for now. Later you will learn about pronouns, nouns, and more - but for the moment, just treat the whole phrase as one unit and memorize it.
Let’s enrich your vocabulary so that you can answer that first question, where do you come from? These are the names of some countries and cities in NTC:
Where are you from?
To answer the question “where are you from?”, use this construction:
[ˈmændə ɻəˈdɪnə ________], where ____ is the place you are from.
For instance, if you are from Minsk, you should say:
[ˈmændə ɻəˈdɪnə ˈmɪnsəc]
As we wrap up this first lesson, go back and study the phrases. We will conclude with a short conversation between two people on a date.