Calypso has come to be known as the national music of Trinidad and Tobago. The exact origin of the word is not known, but throughout the years, several theories have been established. Amongst these theories, the following are considered the most acceptable:

2. It is a derivative of the word “carousseaux” which is a French patois recreation of a word meaning a drinking party or festivity.

3. The West African term “kaiso” which itself is a corruption of a word which carries a similar meaning to the word “bravo” (Warner :1982.7).

The “Calypso” is a topical song (usually sung extempore), which can either be satirical or flattering. The exact date of its emergence in Trinbagonian society is not known, but Selwyn Ayoung in his thesis entitled “Soca Fever”, maps out a diachronic profile of the calypso artform.

Because Gospelypso has emerged out of Calypso, it can be considered as a sub-set of Calypso and as such the profile shows all the constituents of Calypso which have likewise influenced this artform.

The history of Calypso as it is presented in Mr. Ayoung’s profile on the following page, is important, as it clearly shows where Gospelypso fits into the diachronic history of Calypso.

	DIACHRONIC PROFILE
* * synchronic
PRECURSORS	EARLY CALYPSO	TRADITIONAL	MODERN TRADITIONAL	CONTEMP'RY
1498-1849	1850-1890	1891-1950	1951-1969	1970-1980
African Praise Songs	Kalinda Lavways	Ode or Oratorical	Ballad Calypso combinations with Ode and Kalinda	Soca
Songs of Derision	Cariso Songs	Ballad Calypso
Work Songs	Belaire Songs	Road March		**GOSPELYPSO
Dance Songs		Calypso Drama
Kalinda Songs Duels		Calypso Duet
Insurrectionary Songs
Community Songs
Worship Songs

ILLUSTRATION  OF THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE CALYPSO GENRE (Ayoung, 1981.48)

End of Chapter 2

Chapter Three: The Spectrum of Dynamism