About 90% of Caymanians speak English, as the official language of the islands,[7][8] but Cayman Islands English encompasses a broad range of dialects.[1][5]Bay Island English is a related English variant which developed from Cayman Islands English.[9]
Cayman Island English has its roots in the language used by the earliest settlers on the islands, including turtle fishers, pirates, enslaved Africans, and deserters from Cromwell's Jamaican army.[1][10][11] It was influenced by English, Spanish, and West African languages, such asTwi.[1] An early creole orpidgincontact language,Guinea Coast Creole English, was likely a direct influence, as with the Caribbean Creole languages.[1][2][6] Because of the Cayman Islands' remoteness, Caymanian English also retains elements ofElizabethan English speech, including elements from Elizabethan Cockney, Cornish, Scottish and Yorkshire dialects.[3]African-American Vernacular English andJamaican Patois have also influenced the way youngerCaymanians speak,[4] whileBay Island English in turn derives from Cayman Island English.[1][12][9]
While not much has been written on Cayman Islands English, according to linguistJohn A. Holm, it "seems to have borrowedEnglish-based creole features similar toJamaican Patois,Bay Islands English andSan Andrés and Providencia Creole without having undergone creolization".[4] Others, such as Hubert Devonish, dispute this and point to features in Caymanian English that are common to Caribbean Creole languages.[13][14] Devonish says that phrases such asim now to swim ("he knows [how] to swim") indicate more creolisation in the language than was realised by scholars such as Kohlman and Holm.[13] Ross Graham says that Caymanian English's creole elements could be inherited from an earlier creole language spoken by the Black Caymanians, similar to Jamaican Creole, which gradually became decreolised due to contact with British Caymanians.[15]
Intonation in Cayman Islands English often falls on the last syllable of polysyllabic words.[10] The use of [v] for [w], such asven instead ofwhen, is a feature of Cayman Islands English, noted by Aarona Booker Kohlman and John A. Holm.[10][13] Ross Graham says this is likely influenced by theTwi language.[1] Hubert Devonish says this is common to many Western Caribbean creole languages, although Kohlman and Holm suggest this might have a connection to Elizabethan Cockney English.[10][4][13] The use of broad English [æ] as inbangle is retained while [r] in words liketurn andsermon is often unvoiced.[10] Possessive pronouns such ashis andhers are often replaced with their subjective form, such ashe andshe. Noun determiners and prepositions are also often excluded, as inWhen I get Spotts, little rain come down (or "When I got to Spotts, a little rain came down").[10][16] Devonish suggests this more pronounced than in Caribbean Creoles. It's also common for some Caymanians to insert -en before -ing; Patricia Hamilton notes such as examples asfishening orgroanening.[10]
^abcHolm, John A. (2000). "Semi-creolization: Problems in the development of theory". In Neumann-Holzschuh, Ingrid; Schneider, Edgar Werner (eds.).Degrees of restructuring in Creole languages. Creole language library. Amsterdam: Benjamins. pp. 22–3.ISBN978-90-272-5244-9.
^abHolm, John A. (1994), Burchfield, Robert (ed.),"ENGLISH IN THE CARIBBEAN",The Cambridge History of the English Language: Volume 5: English in Britain and Overseas: Origins and Development, The Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. 5, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 328–381,doi:10.1017/chol9780521264785.008,ISBN978-0-521-26478-5, retrieved2024-10-04
^abNeumann-Holzschuh, Ingrid; Schneider, Edgar Werner, eds. (2000). "Introduction".Degrees of restructuring in Creole languages. Creole language library. Amsterdam: Benjamins. p. 2.ISBN978-90-272-5244-9.
^abGraham, Ross (2010), Schreier, Daniel; Schneider, Edgar W.; Williams, Jeffrey P.; Trudgill, Peter (eds.),"Honduras/Bay Islands English",The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction, Studies in English Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 92–135,doi:10.1017/cbo9780511676529.007,ISBN978-0-521-88396-2, retrieved2024-10-04
^abcdefghijklmnHamilton, Patricia. "National Identification and Selected Aspects of the Cayman Islands Culture." (1976). p. 17–21.
^Williams, Christopher A.Defining the Caymanian identity: The effects of globalization, economics, and xenophobia on Caymanian culture. Lexington Books, 2015. pp. 11, 16
^Graham, Ross. "Honduras/Bay Islands English."The lesser-known varieties of English: An introduction (2010): 92-135 (92).
