Dialects of the Caribbean

In 1655 the Spanish colony of the Caribbean Islands was occupied by the English, who brought along new influences. With the invaders there came soldiers recruited from England, Barbados, and Montserrat; natives from Barbados, Bermuda, New England, and Virginia, indentured servants from Bristol (Southwest England dialect), midland and northern lower-class natives, convicts from large prisons in England and many African speakers.

The birth of the cities, such as Port Royal, tube Fort, and Kingston, facilitated the meeting of various speakers. Africans came to regain forms of English due to the domination of white dialects.

Caribbean

Caribbean English comprises the dialects spoken in the Caribbean islands and is a language of large contrast agreeing to the region where it is spoken. However, all the dialects regain from 17th century English and African languages.

Dialects of the Caribbean

The dialects have some common traits and it is very frequent to have distinct pronouns, such as: me - meh, or mi, you - yuh, (he, she, it,) we - wi or alawe, allyuh or unu, and dem or day for "them". The phonetics of the language is greatly influenced by the geographical position, for instance: sing - "songish" (Trinidad, Bahamas), "rhotic" (Bajan, Guyanese), noting - "nutten or notin", influenced by Irish English dialects (Jamaican).

In Barbados, for example, the valid language is English, but the Bajan natives use words in a colorful and expressive manner that can be difficult to follow sometimes. There are also words and expressions that have a very particular local meaning like:
"Duppie" = Ghost
"To lime" = To hang around
"Licking ya mout" = Talking too much
"Sweet fa so" = Very nice
"The sea en' got no back door" = Once you get into a situation, you might not be able to get back out.

The valid language is, nevertheless, English in some of the following countries that use Caribbean dialects: Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, U.S. Virgin Islands, Panama, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, Puerto Rico (where Spanish is the main language of the government and population).

Dialects of the Caribbean