Nuhwan

pronoun NUH-wan ˈnʌwan

Also spelled no one, nuh one

No one; not a single person — a run-together of 'nuh one' (no one). 'Nuhwan nuh come' means no one came, and 'nuhwan nuh know' is nobody knows. As with all Patois negatives, the double negative ('nuhwan nuh...') is not an error but the grammatical, normal way to build the sentence, piling the negatives to strengthen rather than cancel the meaning. It is the everyday word for the absence of any person at all, blunt and complete in its denial.

  • Nuhwan nuh deh a di house.

    No one is at the house.

  • Nuhwan cyaa tell mi nutten.

    No one can tell me anything.

  • Mi trust nuhwan wid dat.

    I trust no one with that.

A contraction of 'nuh one' (no one). The double negative ('nuhwan nuh...') is standard Patois.

No one; double negatives are correct in Patois. Compare 'nuhbadi', 'nutten'.