| Trinidadian and Tobagonian English | |
|---|---|
| Region | Trinidad and Tobago |
Indo-European
| |
Early forms | |
| Dialects | |
| Latin (English alphabet) Unified English Braille[1] | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Trinidad and Tobago(state language) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| IETF | en-TT |
| Part of a series on the |
| English language |
|---|
| Features |
| Societal aspects |
| Dialects(full list) |
Trinidadian and Tobagonian English (TE) orTrinidadian and Tobagonian Standard English is adialect ofEnglish used inTrinidad and Tobago. Trinidadian and Tobagonian English co-exists with bothnon-standard varieties of English as well as other dialects, namelyTrinidadian Creole inTrinidad andTobagonian Creole inTobago.[2][3][4]
Trinidadian English was initially based on a standard ofBritish English, including having anon-rhotic accent.[5] In theAmericas, TE now uses manyAmericanisms, includingapartment andtrunk (of a car).[6] It is understandable by speakers of internationalstandard English, although it uses a number of terms that are unique to it (perhaps coming fromTrinidadian Creole), such as "to lime," meaning "to hang out."[7]
Speech in Trinidad (and, to some degree, in Tobago) may vary by location and circumstance and is often remarked for its "sing-song" (i.e., a rising and fallinginflection)intonation. While this may be true, it is not fully clear whatprosodic aspects results in this lay reaction from listeners, but it is suggested that both phonological and phonetic characteristics of Trinidadian English and Trinidadian Creole may play a role. Phonologically, Trinidadian English is said to have a high frequency of intonation such as phrase final rises in declarative utterances. Phonetically, the degree of pitch variation may also contribute to this "sing song" perception of the language variety.[8]
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