Caribbean English

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:English language Caribbean English (CE,Template:Notetag CarE) is a set of dialects of the English language which are spoken in the Caribbean and most countries on the Caribbean coasts of Central America and South America. Caribbean English is influenced by, but is distinct to the English-based creole languages spoken in the region. Though dialects of Caribbean English vary structurally and phonetically across the region, all are primarily derived from British English, Indigenous languages and West African languages. In some countries with a plurality Indian population, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, Caribbean English has further been influenced by Hindustani and other South Asian languages.

Overview

• The daily-used English in the Caribbean has a different set of pronouns, typically me, meh or mi, you, yuh, he, she, it, we, wi or alawe, wunna or unu, and dem or day. Central Americans use I, mi, my, he, she, ih, it, we, wi or alawe, allayu or unu, and dem, den, deh.
• Consonant changes like h-dropping or th-stopping are common.
• Some might be "sing-songish" in Trinidad and the Bahamas.
• Rhotic: Bajan (Barbadian), Guyanese
• Influenced by Irish English: Jamaican, Bajan
• Influenced by any of the above, as well as Spanish and indigenous languages: Central American English dialects like the Belizean Creole (Kriol), or the Mískito Coastal Creole and Rama Cay Creole spoken in Nicaragua

However, the English that is used in the media, education, and business and in formal or semi-formal discourse approaches the internationally understood variety of Standard English (British English in all former and present British territories and American English in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) but with an Afro-Caribbean cadence (Spanish cadence in Puerto Rico and the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina).

Dialects

The first-order dialects deemed constituent of Caribbean English vary within scholarly literature. For instance, the Oxford English Dictionary includes only 'the forms of English as spoken in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Belize, the Bahamas and Barbados, as well as in some of the smaller Eastern Caribbean nations' in deriving its phonetic transcriptions. The Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage further includes the dialects of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, and the Turks and Caicos.

Caribbean English-based creole languages are commonly (in popular literature) or sometimes (in scholarly literature) considered dialects of Caribbean English.Template:Notetag

History

The development of Caribbean English is dated to the West Indian exploits of Elizabethan Sea Dogs, which are credited with introducing to England names for new-found flora and fauna via, for instance, Hakluyt's Principall Navigations of 1589 and Raleigh's Discoverie of the Empyre of Guiana of 1596. As English settlements followed shortly thereafter, Caribbean English has been deemed 'the oldest exportation of that language from its British homeland.'

Two sorts of anglophone immigrants to the seventeenth-century West Indies have been described in literature – the first, consisting of indentured servants and settlers mainly from southwestern England, predominantly speaking non-standard vernaculars of English; the second, consisting of colonial administrators, missionaries, and educators, predominantly speaking more standard forms of the language. The former, along with African slaves, are credited with the development and spread of [non-standard-] English-derived creole languages, while the latter are noted as frequent sources of derision of such speech.

Features

Caribbean English accents and pronunciation are variable within and across sub-dialects. For instance, Barbadian English is fully rhotic, while Jamaican English is not. Further, within Jamaican English, h-dropping is common in some social classes, but uncommon in others. Additionally, in territories with English-derived creole languages, the phonetic distinction between English and creole is thought to be continuous rather than discrete, with the creole acrolect differing 'only trivially' from English.Template:Notetag

Nevertheless, there is thought to be 'a general sense in which a "West Indian accent" is distinguishable as such anywhere in the world.' Likely reasons for this have been described as 'the general quality of CE [Caribbean English] vowels, the sharp reduction in the number of diphthongal glides and, the most distinguishing feature of all, the phrasal intonation [and] separation of syllabic pitch and stress in CE.' Broadly, the middle-register of Caribbean English is thought to contain eight fewer phonemes than Received Pronunciation.Template:Notetag

The lexicon of Caribbean English varies, to an extent, across and within sub-dialects. '[T]he bulk of the vocabulary,' however, has been described as 'identical' across the region. Additionally, in territories with English-derived creole languages, the lexical distinction between English and creole is thought to be continuous rather than discrete, such that 'structurally it is impossible to draw exact lines between them.'

Tables

Sample of phonetic features distinctive of lower-to-upper-register Caribbean English as used in at least some territories.

Feature	Gloss	Notes
th-stopping	/θ/ pronounced as /t/ (e.g. /tiŋk/ (think) or /tri/ (three)); /ð/ pronounced as /d/ (e.g. in /dɪs/ (this) or /dæt/ (that))	varies by class; cf
h-dropping	Initial /h/ deleted (e.g. /æpi/ (happy) or /aʊs/ (house))	varies by class; may vary within CarE; cf
consonant cluster reduction	Consonant clusters are simplified, namely in the coda (e.g. /bɛst/ > /bɛs/ (best), /ɹɪ.spɛkt/ > /ɹɪ.spɛk/ (respect), or /lænd/ > /læn/ (land))	varies by class; cf
rhoticity	<Vr> is pronounced using /ɹ/ (e.g. /ɑɹd/ (hard) or /kɔɹn/ (corn))	varies within CarE; cf
unreduced vowel in weak syllables	vowels in unstressed syllables not reduced e.g. /a/ in about or bacon, or e.g. /of/ in lot of work or /a/ in in a few days	may vary by class; cf
FACE vowel	idiosyncratic phoneme e.g. in game, tray, plain, great	varies by class; cf
GOAT vowel	idiosyncratic phoneme e.g. in home, show, boat, toe	varies by class; cf
L consonant	idiosyncratic /l/ phoneme e.g. in milk	cf
W consonant	idiosyncratic /w/ phoneme e.g. in week or wet	cf
glide cluster reduction	/h/ in /wh/ not pronounced e.g. in whine	may vary by class; cf
stress shift	idiosyncratic prosody of words e.g. in rea-LISE, ce-le-BRATE, a-gri-CUL-ture	cf
fronting	idiosyncratic prosody of phrases e.g. in is BORROW she borrow it	cf

Sample of grammatical features distinctive of lower-to-upper-register Caribbean English as used in at least some territories.

Feature	Gloss	Notes
zero indefinite article	indefinite articles [occasionally] omitted e.g. in in _ couple of days	cf
zero past tense marker	verbs left unmarked for tense e.g. in I work_ a few months	cf
zero plural marker	nouns left unmarked for plurality e.g. in my relative_ were	cf
functional shift	part-of-speech and sense of words shifted e.g. noun to verb shift of rice in to rice somebody	cf
zero subject–verb inversion	subject-verb order not inverted in questions e.g. in You going back?	cf
reduplication	emphatic repetition of words or phrases e.g. in fool-fool, big big big	cf

Lexical sets of upper-register Caribbean English as used in select territories.Template:Notetag

Set	CarE	BrE	AmE	Notes
kit	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–	–
dress	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–	–
trap	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–	–
bath	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
lot	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–
cloth	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	–
strut	Template:Angbr IPA	–	Template:Angbr IPA	–
foot	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–	–
fleece	Template:Angbr IPA	–	Template:Angbr IPA	–
goose	Template:Angbr IPA	–	Template:Angbr IPA	–
palm	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
start	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
nurse	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
north	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
force	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
thought	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	–
near	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	–
square	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	–
cure	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA / Template:Angbr IPA	–
face	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
pride	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
voice	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
mouth	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
goat	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
happy	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–	–
letter	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
rabbit	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–
added	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
beautiful	Template:Angbr IPA	–	Template:Angbr IPA	–
piano	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–	–
ago	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	–
because	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA	Template:Angbr IPA + Template:Angbr IPA	–

Consonant phonemes of upper-register Caribbean English as used in select territories.Template:Notetag

Unit	CarE	BrE	AmE	Notes
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	–	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	–	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	×	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	–	×	×	–
Template:Angbr IPA	–	×	–	–

Standardisation

The standardisation of Caribbean English is thought to have begun upon the advent of government-funded public education in the West Indies in 1833. Notably, the earliest public teachers, credited with first developing Standard Caribbean English, had been 'imported direct from Britain, or recruited from among the "coloured" class on the islands who had benefited from their mixed parentage by receiving the rudiments of education.' Linguistically, however, the growth of public education in said standard register resulted in 'a practical bilingualism' that has been described as a typical example of diglossia. By the late twentieth century, as most territories transitioned to sovereignty and adopted English as their official language, 'efforts were made to define norms for Caribbean English usage in public, formal domains, and more specifically examination settings.' These are thought to have culminated in the 1996 publication of the Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, commonly deemed the authority on Standard Caribbean English, with the former defining the latter as 'the total body of regional lexicon and usage bound to a common core of syntax and morphology shared with [non-Caribbean forms of standardised English], but aurally distinguished as a discrete type by certain phonological features.'Template:Notetag

Study

The earliest scholarly dictionary of Caribbean English is thought to have been the 1967 Dictionary of Jamaican English. During Easter of that same year, the Caribbean Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses resolved –

Be it resolved that this Association request the appropriate department of the University of the West Indies to compile a list of lexical items in each territory and to circulate these to schools for the guidance of teachers.

— Template:Comma separated entries

Said resolution was promptly forwarded to Richard Allsopp, who by mid-1967 'already had some ten shoe-boxes each of about 1,000 6 × 4 cards and many loose unfiled cuttings, notes and other material [from Guyana, the Lesser Antilles, Belize, Jamaica, and Trinidad].' In 1971, Allsopp introduced the Caribbean Lexicography Project as 'a survey of [English] usage in the intermediate and upper ranges of the West Indian speech continuum.' This set the stage for the seminal Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, first published 1996.Template:Notetag

Samples

Standard English: 'Where is that boy?' Template:IPAc-en

• Barbados: 'Wherr dah boi?' (spoken very quickly, rhotic with glottal stops).
• San Andrés and Providencia: 'Weh dah boi deh?'
• Jamaica: 'Weh dah bwoy deh?' (sporadic rhoticity from Irish and Scottish influence); or 'Wey iz dat boi?' (non-rhotic and similar to the accents of southwestern England and Wales).
• Belize: 'Weh iz dat bwoy deh?' (British and North American influence but deeper in tone).
• Trinidad: 'Wey dat boy deh?'
• Bahamas: 'Wey dat boy iz?' (some would more likely say "bey" [beɪ] instead of "boy").
• Guyana and Tobago: 'Weyr iz daht boy/bai?' often in urban regions, or 'Wey dat boy dey?' in rural regions (many variations depending on region or descent of speaker, and competency in standard English; sporadic rhoticity).
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 'Wey dah boy deh deh?' (non-rhotic).
• Belize, Bluefields, Pearl Lagoon, Corn Islands, Bay Islands Department, Limón, Bocas del Toro Province, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands: 'Wehr iz daht booy?' (distinct, sporadic rhoticity, pronunciation becomes quite different from Creole pronunciation).
• Dominica: 'Weh dat boy (be) nuh?' (spoken harshly and with a deep tone).

The written form of the English language in the former and current British-controlled Caribbean countries conforms to the spelling and the grammar styles of Britain and in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands conforms to the spelling and the grammar styles of United States.

See also

• Anguillan Creole
• Antiguan and Barbudan Creole
• Antiguan and Barbudan English
• Bajan Creole
• Bajan English
• Bahamian Creole
• Bahamian English
• Bay Islands English
• Belizean Creole
• Belizean English
• Bermudian English
• Bocas del Toro Creole
• Cayman Islands English
• English-based creole languages
• Grenadian Creole English
• Guyanese Creole
• Jamaican English
• Jamaican Patois
• Limonese Creole
• Miskito Coast Creole
• Montserrat Creole
• Puerto Rican English
• Rama Cay Creole
• Regional accents of English speakers
• Saban English
• Saint Kitts Creole
• Samaná English
• San Andrés–Providencia Creole
• Tobagonian Creole
• Turks and Caicos Creole
• Trinidadian Creole
• Trinidadian and Tobagonian English
• Vincentian Creole
• Virgin Islands Creole
• American and British English spelling differences
• Commonwealth English

External links

• Linguistic map of Caribbean English dialects from Muturzikin.com
• Cross-Referencing West Indian Dictionary