| Bahamian English | |
|---|---|
| Region | The Bahamas |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | baha1263 |
| IETF | en-BS |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Bahamian English is the set ofvarieties of theEnglish language native tothe Bahamas.
These languages varieties differ based on factors like education, national origin, regional origin, socioeconomic status, and to some extent race.[1] Due to the country's British colonial past, the standard written English for official use and education remains largelyBritish-based with regard to grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.[2]
Because of the Bahamas' proximity to the United States as well as US cable media, the 21st-century Bahamian media industry and younger speakers may be more influenced in their pronunciations byGeneral American English orBlack American English.[3]
Bahamian dialect, as it is called in the Bahamas, is first oral language of most Bahamians.[4][5]
Bahamian dialect is, however, a bit of a misnomer. It derived its name from the fact that it was originally thought to be a simple dialect of English.[6] However, beginning with the research of Allison Shilling in the latter part of the 20th century, it began to be suggested that Bahamian dialect was in fact a creole. This view has been revised over the years, and linguists and academics, now believe that what is commonly referred to as Bahamian dialect is a more complexpost-creole continuum[7][8] ranging from an English dialect on one end to an English-based creole on the other end, with regional and socioculturalmarkers and differentiations along the spectrum.[1][9]
Although Bahamian Dialect appears to be a dialect of English, it is actually more a creole - though it has decreolized over the years. Its overall grammar is systematically different from that of standard English and yet the two share many of the same features. This serves to enhance the illusion that the two are different dialects of the same language.[8]
Bahamian dialect differ from English spoken around the world in itsgrammar,[10]pronunciation,lexicon, andidiom. However, it shares phonology with other varieties of English. Bahamian dialect is not a written language[11] and therefore, when expressed, in writing, eg. in text messages or quotes, is written by users in a makeshift phonetic manner.
A minority of Bahamians speak a high-register or standard English that differs little in its grammar, idiom, and lexicon from other standard English varieties worldwide.
Phonology and pronunciation can differ widely and is influenced by a number of factors, including class, formal education (private vs government), national background (eg. expats), time abroad, and use of affected or learned accents (eg. certain professions). Code switching is also common.[12][13]
Standard Bahamian English can be spoken with a Bahamian accent and, particularly among native Bahamians, may incorporate words, phrases, or expressions from Bahamian dialect.
British English is the target written language of the Bahamas. It is the language taught and learned in schools, although usually by teachers and pupils speaking otherwise speaking a more Bahamian creole variety. It is also the primary written language in business, Parliament, media and courts.
There is no central authority that prescribes official usage of English, for example, with respect tospelling, grammar, punctuation or style. However, local written English tends to favour British English spellings, eg. colour, defence, realise, programme, licence, catalogue, centre.
The dd/mm/yyydate format is generally, although not religiously, used in the Bahamas, as is the 12-hour clock.
Generally, theimperial system of measurements is used in the country, eg, to measure distances, weight, and heights. However, the metric system is also used in schools, eg, in science.
Not all Bahamians have the same accent, as the level of cultivation of every speaker's accent differs and is influenced by region and socioeconomic factors.
The phonology of Bahamian English is believed to be derived from those ofBermudian English,Canadian English,Cockney English,RP,Scottish English,Black American English,[14] andGullah.[15] The English accent of both black and white Bahamians is traditionallynon-rhotic,[16] due to being British-influenced, but often now rhotic among some younger speakers.[3]
Bahamian vowel phonetics are basically shared with bothGeneral American English and BritishReceived Pronunciation, except the following may be distinct:[16][17]
| Vowels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia diaphoneme | Bahamian English | Example words |
| /æ/ | [ä] | bath, man, trap |
| /ɑː/ | [ɑ] | blah, father |
| /ɒ/ | bother, lot, wasp | |
| [ɑː] (lower class), [ɔː] (higher class) | dog, loss, cloth | |
| /ɔː/ | bought, taught, saw | |
| /aɪ/ | [äː] (Black), [äi] or[ʌɪ] (White) | ride, shine, try |
| [äi],[ʌɪ] (also White) | bright, dice, pike | |
| /aʊ/ | [aː,ɑɔ] (Black), [aɛ,aø] (White) | now,ouch, scout |
| /eɪ/ | [eɪ>eː] | lake, paid, rein |
| /ɔɪ/ | [əi,ɔi] | boy, choice, moist |
| /oʊ/ | [ou>oː] (Black), [ɵu] (White) | goat,oh, show |
| Vowels followed by/r/ | ||
| /ɑːr/ | [ɑ̈ː] | barn, car, park |
| /ɪər/ | [eᴈ] | fear, peer, tier |
| /ɛər/ | bare, bear, there | |
| /ɜːr/ | [ɜː],[əi] (also Black) | burn, first, herd |
| /ɔːr/ | [oᴈ] | hoarse, horse, poor |
In 1982, Holm and Shilling released a 228 pageDictionary of Bahamian English containing over 5,000 words, including words both familiar to other English speakers as well as purely Bahamian terms.[18] In addition to British and American English influences, due to the country's colonial past, some vocabulary is derived from West African languages and Spanish influences.[19] Amongst British sources, Holm found a wide variety of influences, with 43% of British dialect words in Bahamian English coming from Scotland and the North Country, 14% from Ireland and 11% from the West Country.[20]
Some distinctive Bahamianisms include:
Bahamian English has also come under the influence of American English due to a boost in tourism after the country gained independence, along with the resulting diffusion of American media.[29] With its historical position as a former British colony but its proximity to the United States, Bahamian English tends to favour some British English terms, some American English terms, and also use a combination of both. For example:
| Words shared with American English | Words shared with British English |
|---|---|
| gasoline | socket |
| cell phone | maths |
| sweet pepper | |
| sidewalk | |
| candy | |
| chips | |
| ground beef | |
| hood, trunk, windscreen | bumper |
| parking lot | car park |
| trash | |
| sweater | |
| stroller, baby carriage | pram |
| cookie | biscuit |
| pants | |
| nursery | kindergarten |
| liquid paper | |
| aluminum | |
| vacation |
Although most Bahamians share some characteristic features, a number of structures are sensitive to ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic factors.
Despite that fact most Bahamians refer to their mother tongue as Bahamian Dialect, linguists prefer to use the term Bahamian Creole English
British-based standard Bahamian English is the official language [...] Although standard Bahamian is non-rhotic, many Bahamians view r-full American pronunciations as "correct" and try to imitate them, even to the extent of introducing ahypercorrect /r/ in [...]Baharmas.
the style-shifting abilities of residents make it difficult to estimate the numbers of speakers who speak any Bahamian dialect; however, drawing solely from demographic data, about five in six Bahamian residents... where much of the creole Bahamian basilect can be heard (Hackert 2004). The remaining approximately 50,000 residents are spread throughout the rest of the islands and vary considerably in their speech patterns.
spoken by c. 250,000 in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas
In comparison to many of the English-based creoles of the Caribbean region, limited research has been conducted on what Bahamians commonly refer to as "Bahamian Dialect." This lack of research on "Bahamian Dialect" is perhaps due to the fact that for many years, Bahamians have assumed that this language is simply a variety of English.
The assumption that Afro-Bahamian English is monolithic is, in fact, false, but continues to this day despite the fact that Albury (1981), in a Master's thesis, found variation of simple past marking within Afro-Bahamian, differentiating four distinct groups of speakers: basilectal, mid-mesolectal, upper-mesolectal, and acrolectal. The assumption that Afro-Bahamian is monolithic is further complicated by the fact that there are few clear ethnic boundaries in the Bahamas
Within The Bahamas there exists a language continuum ranging from the basilectal through mesolectal to acrolectal, each variety impacting on the others. A good many Bahamians speak a more mesolectal variety (which is still referred to as Bahamian dialect) but there remain a large number of basilectal speakers. The basilect is quite distinct from the acrolect and contains most of the same features that are attributed to many of the other English-based creoles of the Caribbean and its environs.
The assumption that Afro-Bahamian English is monolithic is, in fact, false, but continues to this day despite the fact that Albury (1981), in a Master's thesis, found variation of simple past marking within Afro-Bahamian, differentiating four distinct groups of speakers: basilectal, mid-mesolectal, upper-mesolectal, and acrolectal. The assumption that Afro-Bahamian is monolithic is further complicated by the fact that there are few clear ethnic boundaries in the Bahamas
In addition, there is a basilectal-acrolectal continuum with respect to creole features that applies primarily to the Afro-Bahamian population; however, this dimension tends to be more relevant to the grammatical description of Bahamian English than to phonology.
There is no official orthography for Bahamian and, thus, when it is in a written form, varying techniques of eye dialect are employed depending on the writer. These devices are far from uniform - even within the same piece of writing. It would therefore be useful to try to standardize the representation so as to reflect the differences in pronunciation without having to rely on a specialized knowledge of phonetics. However, this is a matter which will have to be addressed at a later date.
We should keep in mind that every speaker shows some variation in speech. In societies such as The Bahamas, people may easily code switch from one variety to another, without realizing that they are actually using two different language systems.
One further complication for such a description is that many Bahamians are skilled register-shifters and may have access to both creole and non-creole varieties. Thus, even defining speech norms for a single speaker is a complicated task
Songs and stories in the Bahamian dialect illustrate the "genetic relation existing between the tales and music of the Parallels from accessible collections of American, and of native African, folklore are indicated.
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