Is there such thing as Ugandan English? #2: Lexicogrammar

Last week I wrote about some of the phonological features of Ugandan English as I have observed it over the past 6 weeks or so. This week I've put together some of the lexicogrammatical features that differ from other varieties of English (particularly Australian English, of which I'm a native speaker).

What appears to be a different meaning of the expression 'relieve yourself'...

Lexicogrammatical features include words, morphemes (parts of words that have meaning of their own), and grammar. Most of what I have picked up on are either words that are used in a different sense from their use in Australian English or expressions that are not generally used in Australian English (e.g. 'we pray from such and such a church'). Some of these could probably be dealt with at the level of semantics but I thought it would be more straightforward to treat them as lexical (word) differences.

• 'airtime' - phone credit, which you can buy in various denominations from numerous small stands around the streets, or from machines in supermarkets, or even from people wandering around selling it through taxi-bus windows in the taxi park!
• 'balance' - meaning 'change', e.g. when buying something at a restaurant or market stall and you don't have the exact money, the staff member will say something like 'I'll get you balance'.
• 'benching' [see earlier post]
• 'bouncing' - opposite of 'benching', in which you go to visit someone and they are not home so you have to leave immediately.
• 'born-agains' [see earlier post]
• 'bury' - to attend the funeral of someone, e.g. 'I'm going back to the village to bury my father'. It doesn't mean they will literally carry out the burial, but will attend the burial/funeral ceremony.
• 'by the way' - doesn't seem to be used in the same way as in AusE, but possibly closer to 'in fact' or 'actually'. I don't have a clear example I can remember, but something like the following. Person A: I learnt yesterday that in Luganda you say 'osiibyo tyeno nyabo/sebo' to mean 'hello'. Person B: By the way, we say 'osiibyo tyeno nyabo/sebo' but if it's in the morning, like before 12 noon, you say 'wasuzo tyeno nyabo/sebo' and then after noon you can say 'osiibyo tyeno nyabo/sebo'. In AusE you usually use 'by the way' to talk about something not related to what was previously said.
• 'dear' [see earlier post]
• 'done' [see earlier post]
• 'eh' - high-pitched vocal noise expressing surprise or indignance, especially when recounting some situation that brought this response about. It can also be used with a lower pitch as a checking move when explaining something to someone, e.g. when applying for a bank account, 'You fill in this one, eh?, and then he fills in, eh?' (a bit like some uses of 'ok', 'right', 'yeah' in Australian English)
• etc [see earlier post]
• 'for me' - common at the beginning of an utterance in which someone will either express their opinion or share something about what they have done or decided
• 'ka' is a diminutive prefix in Luganda (& other Bantu lx?) and has been imported into Ugandan English with the same function, e.g. ka-bag (small bag), ka-man (small/insignificant man). Instance in conversation: (a local commenting on a picture of a kangaroo and the fact that it has a pouch) 'Isn't God wonderful, how he made the kangaroo with small legs at the top and bigger legs at the bottom and a little ka-bag here for the baby'. I recently heard it in very high frequency when we went out for a walk and dinner with some friends. For example, our friend was on the phone giving directions to another friend for how to find us: 'We're in the ka-place as you come in the drive way, near the Checkers Supermarket'.
• 'pick' [see earlier post]
• 'picking up' is used, but seems to be only used to mean 'increasing' e.g. 'community radio is picking up in East Africa'
• 'pray from…' [see earlier post]. One local I spoke to about this suggested that it's because in the local languages they don't have an equivalent for 'we go to [such and such a place habitually]'
• rolex - cooked egg rolled up in a chapati (also an item and name that originated at Makerere, apparently)
• 'sorry' [see earlier post] - also has different intonation from Australian English - a long fall from high tone, a bit like when someone says 'sorry' and they don't want to say it but they know they have to (reluctant apology).
• 'thank you too' [see earlier post]. Lately I have realised that it probably comes as a translation of the Luganda 'kale' which is used in response to the word for thank you, 'webalenyo', as well as many other greetings and fixed expressions, and seems to mean something like 'you too' or 'likewise'.
• 'what' [see earlier post]. I have also noticed it more recently in everyday conversation; it's very pervasive, and seems to be used also to mean 'whatever', 'blah blah blah', 'this and that', and 'and so on'. For example, you might hear something like this: "I had to go to the market and then the pharmacy and what and what'.
• 'where do you stay/sleep?' [see earlier post]
• 'You are welcome' [see earlier post]
• 'you people' meaning 'you plural', e.g. when arranging to open a bank account, the bank staff member said something like 'you people wanted to be able to convert into US dollars…'. And when some kids were trying to sell us stuff when we were in a parked car waiting for our friend to come and drive, she came back and said 'do you people want to buy something?' Definitely more acceptable than the hotly contested 'youse' in some varieties of Australian English!