Base English

Base English (Iradi: beyz tili, "base talk") is the body of English loanwords that entered Iradi from Talas Air Base and the territorial years (1992–2006). It is used mainly by Iradis over 35 in Talas and Semiz and by base workers.^[1]

Vocabulary

Common words include pikap (pickup truck), peydey (payday, and any wage day), okey-dok, beyz (the base; beyz jumush, "a base job", means any well-paid job), kontraktor, ayditi (identity card), chek (a bill or receipt), ofis, taym-ofu (time off) and broke (penniless; broke boldum, "I'm broke").^[1] The working pidgin spoken at the base gates in the 1990s ("you tomorrow me come, okey-dok") died out after 2006.

Attitudes

Younger Iradis mock Base English as "dad talk", and the Talas Herald's language column has campaigned against it since 2016. In Nurzhan, Russian speakers treat it as the mark of an amerikan kuchugu ("American puppy").^[2]

References

1. ^ Department of Iradi Philology, Talas State University (2014). Payday and Pikap: English Loanwords in Talas Iradi. Talas State University Press.
2. ^ Talas Herald (2016). 'Say it in Iradi: why "peydey" has to go.' Talas.