Caribbean English - Overview

Overview

Examples of the English in daily use in the Caribbean include a different set of pronouns, typically, me, meh, or mi, you, yuh, he, she, it, we, wi or alawe, allyuh or unu, and dem or day. I, mi, my, he, she, ih, it, we, wi or alawe, allayu' or unu, and dem, den, deh for "them" with Central Americans. The so-called "dropping the 'h'" or th-stopping 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 such as the Belizean Creole (Kriol), or the Mískito Coastal Creole and Rama Cay Creole spoken in Nicaragua. However, the English used in media, education and business and in formal or semi-formal discourse is the International Standard variety with an Afro-Caribbean cadence.

Standard English - Where is that boy? ( /hwɛər ɪz ðæt bɔɪ/)

• Barbados - 'Wherr iz dat boi?' (Spoken very quickly, is choppy, rhotic, and contains glottal stops)
• Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina - 'Wer iz dat boi at?'
• Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda- 'Whierr iz daht bwoy dey?' (Very similar to the accents of south western England and Wales; Have no rhoticity)dɑt bʷɔɪ]) (Distinctive, sporadic rhoticity; Irish and Scottish influence)
• Belize 'Weh iz dat bwoy deh?' ( ) (British and North American influence, deeper in tone)
• Trinidad and Bahamas - 'Wey iz dat boy?'
• Guyana and Tobago - 'Weyr iz daht boy/bai?(urban), Wey dat boy dey?(rural)' (Many variations dependent on urban/rural location, Afro or Indo descent or area, and competency in standard English; Sporadic rhoticity )
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines -- 'Wey iz dat boy dey?' (Non-rhotic)
• Belize, Nicaragua, The Bay Islands, Limón, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands - 'Wehr iz daht booy?' (Distinct, sporadic rhoticity, pronunciation becomes quite different from "Creole" pronunciation.)

The written form of the English language in the former and current British West Indies conforms to the spelling and grammar styles of Britain.