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Tay Boi

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Tây Bồi, is a term used for a type of verbal communication which consists of French words mixed with Vietnamese words spoken by non French-educated Vietnamese, usually those who worked as servants in French households or milieux. Literally, it means French (Tây) [of- or spoken by] male servants (Bồi). During the French colonization period, French people had male household servants, due probably to the fact that no Vietnamese would ever think of letting their daughters/sisters/wives work for foreigners. The term is used by Vietnamese themselves to indicate that the French language spoken is very poor, incorrect, and ungrammatical. Tây Bồi is perhaps the Vietnamese equivalent of the term Français petit nègre (little negro French, literally) which refers to the same rudimentary broken French spoken by uneducated natives or hired help or servants in French African colonies. Bồi is not the Vietnamese phonetisation of the English word boy, as customarily accredited to the word. It originated from the Sino-Vietnamese word Bồi (陪) which means to serve or servant. As Tây (西) meant West. Therefore the compound Tây Bồi is a pure Sino-Vietnamese word (陪西-French servant) and not a mix of French and Vietnamese. One should note that the French government/colonizers or protectors opened French public schools [from pre-kindergarten through the Baccalaureat II] to take care of their compatriots/expatriates' children's education. The staff was all French. Vietnamese children were admitted also, if they could pass an entrance examination, tailored to their age and grade level. The Vietnamese elite class spoke French well, and those with French Baccalaureat diplomas could attend French universities in France and in its colonies. Today, in Vietnam, standard (Picard) French is taught in some schools as a second language. Tây Bồi is remarkably close to the stereotypical broken French spoken by foreign characters, such as in comics.
Source : DBpedia

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This page is providing structured data for the language Tay Boi.
Following BCP 47 the recommended tag for this language is tas.

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