Caribbean English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Greater Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in the Caribbean, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana. Caribbean English is influenced by the English-based Creole spoken there, but they are not one and the same. In the Caribbean, there is a great deal of variation in the way English is spoken. Scholars generally agree that although the dialects themselves vary significantly in each of these countries, they all have roots in 17th-century English and African languages.
Examples of the English in daily use in the Caribbean include a reduced set of pronouns, typically, me, meh, or mi, you, yuh, we, wi or alawe, he, she, and dem or day. Deh for "them" with Central Americans. Dropping the "h" in th- words is common. Some might be "sing-songish" (Trinidad, Bahamas), rhotic (Bajan, Guyanese), influenced by Irish English dialects (Jamaican), or have an accent influenced by any of these, as well as Spanish and indigenous languages in the case of the Central American English dialects. However, the English used in media, education and business and in formal or semi-formal discourse is the International Standard variety with a Caribbean cadence.
Standard English - Where is that boy?
(Note: "is" is dropped or not existent)
- Barbados - Where dat boy at?
- Jamaica, Tobago, St. Vincent and Antigua and Barbuda- (Ah) weh dah bwoy deh?
- Trinidad and Bahamas - Weh dat boy is?
- Guyana - (Ah) Weh dah bai deh?.
- Belize, Panama, Miskito Coast and other Central Americans - Weh dah bwai deh?
- Virgin Islands - Wha pah dah boy deh?
The written form of the language in the former and current British West Indies conforms to spelling and grammar styles of Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth rather than those of the United States.
Caribbean countries where English is an official language or where English-based creole languages are widespread include:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belize
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- Colombia (San Andres and Providencia islands)
- Costa Rica
- Dominica
- Grenada
- Guyana
- Honduras (Bay Islands)
- Jamaica
- Montserrat
- Netherlands Antilles (St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius)
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- U.S. Virgin Islands
English is an official language in Puerto Rico, although Spanish is the main language of the local government and population.
- Bajan
- Belizean Creole
- Bermudian English
- Jamaican English
- Jamaican Creole
- Saint Kitts Creole
- Virgin Islands Creole
- Trinidadian English
- Guyanese Creole