| Saban English | |
|---|---|
| Region | Saba |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | saba1263 |
| IETF | en-u-sd-bqsa |
| 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. | |
| Part of a series on the |
| English language |
|---|
| Features |
| Societal aspects |
| Dialects(full list) |
Saban English is the local dialect ofEnglish spoken onSaba, an island in theDutch Caribbean. It belongs to the group ofCaribbean English varieties. It has been classified by some linguists as adecreolized form ofVirgin Islands Creole English.[1] Other linguists posit that Saban English may have never undergonecreolization,[2] and that it iscontact variety of English withsubstrate effects fromWest African languages andDutch.[2][3] There is one published dictionary of Saban English,A Lee Chip, authored by Theodore R. Johnson.[4][5][6]
With a long history of geographical and economic isolation from other islands, Saba developed a distinct dialect of English.[2][3][4]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, several languages andlanguage varieties may have significantly impacted the development Saban dialect of English: Dutch,British English,Irish English, andScots English spoken by European settlers, and West African languages and/or Caribbeancreoles spoken by enslaved Africans.[2][3][4]
While colonial Saba did have at least two plantations,[7][8] the island never developed a planation economy like many of the surrounding islands.[3][9] As such, creolization may or may not have occurred between the early European settlers and enslaved Africans on the island;[2] instead Saban English may be a variety of English with substrate effects from Dutch, West African languages, and other Caribbean creoles such asBajan Creole.[2][3]
Saba has a land area of 13 square kilometres (5.0 sq mi).[10] But despite the island's small size, linguists and locals can distinguish differences in the accents of each of the island's four villages:The Bottom,St. Johns,Windwardside, andHell's Gate.[4][2][3] These differences are likely due to the four villages' distinct settlement histories, as well as intra-island isolation into the early 20th century.[4][2][3] In addition topronunciation differences between the villages, the Saban English dictionary notes many lexical differences as well.[4]
The realization of vowels in Saban English is as follows.[11][2] The vowels below are named by thelexical set they belong to:
The Saban dialect is not purelyrhotic nornon-rhotic.[2] Post-vocalic /r/ is absent in unstressed syllables or following front vowels, but pronounced in stressed syllables and following back vowels, with the exception of the words more and farm. Phrase initially, /r/ is pronounced as [ɹ].
H-dropping is common in Saban dialects. [θ] becomes [ʔ] intervocalically and phrase finally,math is pronounced like /maʔ/. T-glottalization is also common intervocally, phrase finally and in clusters:water,hospital,bet andate are pronounced like [wɒʔa], [haspɪʔl], [bɛ:ʔ] and [ɛ:ʔ].[2]
There is poor distinction between the[v] and[w] sounds in Saban English. The contrast is oftenneutralized or merged into[v],[w] or[β], sovillage sounds like[wɪlɪdʒ],[vɪlɪdʒ] or[βɪlɪdʒ]. This also happens in theVincentian,Bermudian,Bahamian English and otherCaribbean Englishes. This results in the wordseventh being pronounced as [sɛβənʔ].
Metathesis is a common feature of Saban English and results in words like "ask" sounding like [æks]. Nasal backing is common in Saban English: "Town" sounds like [taʊŋ] and "ground" sounds like [graʊŋ]. Consonant cluster are often reduced.[2]
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Ain't ([ɛ̃ː], [ɛn] or [ɛnt]) is frequently used in negations and can be used in the place of words like didn’t or haven’t. Saban English also makes extensive use of the expression “for to” as in the sentence:This is ready for to come ripe.
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