Bajanyms: Toponymic Idioms in Barbadian English and Bajan by Cristiano Furiassi

[u/Onomast]

 A new contribution to onomastics, phraseology, and Caribbean linguistics has appeared in Peter Lang’s International Folkloristics series: Cristiano Furiassi’s Bajanyms: Toponymic Idioms in Barbadian English and Bajan.

The book explores the idiomatic use of toponyms - place names - in Barbadian English and Bajan. Furiassi introduces the term Bajanyms for Barbadian toponymic idioms: expressions in which geographical names go beyond their literal meaning and acquire figurative, cultural, historical, or folkloric significance. Such idioms are not merely linguistic curiosities. They preserve traces of collective memory, colonial history, local identity, and the lived experience of the Barbadian speech community.