Trinidad Patois Ring Game- Afouyèkè- Caribbean yard Campus Patois Class, Talparo
Katvixenchick, Oct 23, 2016
– Students of the Caribbean Yard and Campus Patois class in Talparo, Trinidad play
the Trinidadian patois ring game Afouyèkè”
-snip-
This video includes captions in Patois with English translation
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series about the Caribbean Creole song "Afouyèkè".
This post showcases a 2016 YouTube Trinidadian video of a two women and a small group of boys and one girl performing the ring (circle) game "Afouyèkè".
inside the ring (circle) while there is only one center person in the children's singing game.
The Patois lyrics of this song and their English translations (both from that video) are included in this post along with my descriptions of that performance.
The discussion thread for this video only includes a few comments. Those comments are reprinted in this pancocojams post.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2026/07/afouyeke-dance-song-published-by-alan.html for Part I of this pancocojams series on "Afouyèkè": That post presents an example of the song "Afouyèkè" that is described as an "adult dance song". That song, its lyrics, performance description, and history is from the 1997 book Brown Girl In The Ring: An Anthology of Song Games from the
Eastern Caribbean edited by Alan Lomax, J.D. Elder, and Bess Lomax Hawes.*
Part I of this pancocojams series also presents an AI Overview about "Afouyèkè" that is the result of my July 24, 2026 informational query.
-snip-
*
It's important to note that this description of "Afouyèkè" as a children's ring (circle) game differs from its description as an "adult dance song" in the 1997 version of this song (that is given in Part I of this pancocojams series. That description documented a couple dancing inside the ring while the 2016 descriptions are for one person being the center person in the ring. The 2016 versions of the performance style for "Afouyèkè" reminds me of the African American "show me your motion"/"we can do your motion" children's singing games from the 1950s on (such as "Here's Stands A Blue Bird".
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The content of this post is presented for historical, folkloric, socio-cultural, and recreational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the unknown composer/s of the Caribbean song "Afouyèkè". Thanks to all those who are featured in this showcase video and the other video that is mentioned in this post. Thanks also to the publishers of those videos and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTES
These French patois lyrics and their English translations are from the captions in this 2016 YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A6Lq829Lg8 The English translation are given in brackets under the Patois words.
The video captions didn't include the word "Afouyèkè" that the group repeats after the soloist's lines. I've added those words to this tranxcription.
This song title and these French Patois lyrics are given without their correct accent markings.
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LYRICS FOR THE VERSION OF "AFOUYEKE:THAT IS GIVEN AT THE TOP OF THIS POST
WITH PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTIONS IN ITALICS
Additions and corrections welcome for my attempt to describe the group's movement in that video.
The group stands and forms a small ring (a circle) outdoors without holding hands.
The group begins to sing without any movement. There's no other musical accompaniment for this game but the group and the soloist singing.
Group-"Afouyèkè"
"Afouyèkè"
The soloist begins to sing without any movement. The group remains standing in place without any movement.
soloist-Dou, mama dou
[Oh, sweet mama]
Afouyèkè
Afouyèkè
Group-Dou pase’ sik
[sweeter than sugar]
Afouyèkè
Afouyèkè
Soloist - Wo’ch lawivye’ gombo
[Slippery river stones]
There doesn't appear to be any gestures or movement that accompany these lyrics.
The group continues to sing "Afouyèkè, Afouyèkè" after every verse of this song.
Group- Wo’ch-la hache’ bwa
[Stones to cut down trees]
There doesn't appear to be any gestures or movement that accompany these lyrics.
Soloist- Ouve’lawonn-la
(Open the ring)
[Open it in time]
Soloist-Feme’ li an tan
[Close it in time]
Without holding hands, the remainder of the group continue singing "Afouyèkè, Afouyèkè" as they move close to the person standing in
the center of the ring.
[Dance in the ring]
The center person dances in the center of the ring or does some other improvised motions while the rest of the group sings"Afouyèkè, Afouyèkè" and the other group and soloists lyrics.
The group and the soloist cap their hands in time with the moderate beat of the song and/or do the same dance/movements that the center person is doing.
Group - Yeke’ pou nou we
[Yekay for us to see]
Soloist - Dou, mama dou
[Oh, sweet mama]
The group and soloists continue to imitate the center person's dance/movements.
Remember that the group continues to sing "Afouyèkè, Afouyèkè" after every verse of this song.
Group - Dou pase’ siwo
[Sweeter than syrup]
Soloist -Wo’ch lawivye’ gombo
[Slippery river stones]
Group-Wo’ch-la hache’ bwa
[Stones to cut down trees]
Soloist - Ouve’lawonn-la
(Open the ring)
Group- Ouve’ li an tan
[Open it in time]
Soloist-Feme’ lawonn-la
[Close the ring]
The center person rejoins the people forming the ring and a new person immediately takes
his or her place as the new center person. In this video, the group and the soloist remained where they were standing . (They didn't go back to where they were standing when this game began.)
[Close it in time]
Danse’ lawonn-la
[Dance in the ring]
[The game continues repeating itself with each iteration with a ne center person . There doesn't appear to be any strategy to choose the order of the middle person or the soloist.]
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM THIS VIDEO'S DISCUSSION THREAD
Note: This discussion thread only has five comments as of July 24, 2026 a6 9:10 Am EST. I've reprinted all of these comments and added numbers for referencing purposes only.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A6Lq829Lg8
Except for one reply, these comments are from 2016.
1. @francoislafrance5261
"I enjoyed this very much. Sound a lot like Haitian creole
spoken here in Montreal.
Bwa in bois in French, which is wood or forest. Sik is sucre in French (sugar) Siwo is syrop in
French. Lawivyè is la riviere in French. Lawonn is la ronde in French. Ouvè is
ouvrir in French. Femé is fermer (to close) etc... Thank you for posting this."
-snip-
"Lawonn" = "la ronde" in French, meaning dancing in a circle (round, ring) or a specific traditional dance that was performed by people holding hands, forming a circle, and moving around that circle
**
2. @julianaclark7909
"Go Andre go Eliot go dexter go Justin go everybody"
-snip-
In the United States "Go [person or group name!]" is a very common colloquial exclamation of encouragement and support to a person/persons/grooup for how well they are performing. "Go __" is probably an abbreviation for "Go on!" (meaning "Continue doing what you are doing".
**
3. @julianaclark7909
"I live in talparo they are in the community center in the savanna and I am in the patwa class and I know all of
there names"
-snip-
"Patwa" is another spelling for "Patois".
**
Reply
4. @bestgamer8bestgamer878, 2021
"Who is u"
**
5. @antoniagomez1502
"Go andre"
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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series.
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
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