Caribbean English


Caribbean English dialects of the English language are spoken in the Caribbean and Liberia, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana and Suriname on the coast of South America. Caribbean English is influenced by the English-based Creole varieties spoken in the region, but they are not the same. In the Caribbean, there is a great deal of variation in the way English is spoken. Scholars generally agree that although the dialects themselves vary significantly in each of these countries, they primarily have roots in British English and West African languages. Caribbean English in countries with a plurality Indian population, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, has been influenced by Hindustani and other South Asian languages in addition to British English and West African languages.

Overview

The English in daily use in the Caribbean include a different set of pronouns, typically me, meh or mi, you, yuh, he, she, it, we, wi or alawe, wunna or unu, and dem or day. I, mi, my, he, she, ih, it, we, wi or alawe, allayu or unu, and dem, den, deh for "them" with Central Americans.
Other features:
However, the English used in media, education and business and in formal or semi-formal discourse approaches the internationally understood variety of Standard English, but with an Afro-Caribbean cadence.

Samples

Standard English: Where is that boy?
The written form of the English language in the former and current British-controlled Caribbean countries conforms to the spelling and the grammar styles of Britain, while that on in Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands obeys the spelling the grammar of United States.