Caribbean English

{{Short description|English dialects native to the Caribbean}} {{Use British English|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox language | name = Caribbean English | familycolor = indo-european | altname = | nativename = | pronunciation = | region = Commonwealth Caribbean | speakers = 1,824,960 | date = 2001{{nbhyph}}21 | ref = {{sfn|Eberhard|Simons|Fennig|2022|loc=digest on English}}{{notetag|Including only seventeen countries and territories listed in {{harvnb|Allsopp|2003|pp=xii-xvi}}, ie Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, British and US Virgin Islands.}} | speakers2 = L2: 540,200 (2003{{nbhyph}}20){{sfn|Eberhard|Simons|Fennig|2022|loc=digest on English}}{{notetag|Including only seventeen countries and territories listed in {{harvnb|Allsopp|2003|pp=xii-xvi}}, ie Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, British and US Virgin Islands. L2 data missing for some countries or territories in {{harvnb|Eberhard|Simons|Fennig|2022|loc=digest on English}}.}} | fam2 = Germanic | fam3 = West Germanic | fam4 = North Sea Germanic | fam5 = Anglo-Frisian | fam6 = Anglic | fam7 = English | ancestor = Proto-Indo-European | ancestor2 = Proto-Germanic | ancestor3 = Old English | ancestor4 = Middle English | ancestor5 = 17th century Modern English | dia1 = Antiguan and Barbudan English | dia2 = Bahamian English | dia3 = Barbadian English | dia4 = Bay Islands English | dia5 = Bermudian English | dia6 = Belizean English | dia7 = Bocas del Toro Creole | dia8 = Cayman Islands English | dia9 = Grenadian Creole English | dia10 = Guyanese Creole | dia11 = Jamaican English | dia12 = Limonese Creole | dia13 = Miskito Coast Creole | dia14 = Montserrat Creole | dia15 = Puerto Rican English | dia16 = Rama Cay Creole | dia17 = San Andrés–Providencia Creole | dia18 = San Nicolaas English | dia19 = Trinidadian and Tobagonian English | dia20 = Turks and Caicos Creole | dia21 = Vincentian Creole Virgin Islands Creole | stand1 = Caribbean Standard English{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=liv-lvi}} | script = Latin (English alphabet) | nation = Commonwealth Caribbean{{sfn|Eberhard|Simons|Fennig|2022|loc=digest on English}} | minority = Samana English Dominican Republic | isoexception = dialect | lc1 = | ld1 = | lc2 = | ld2 = | linglist = | lingua = | guthrie = | ietf = en-029 | image = | imagecaption = | map = | mapcaption = | coordinates = | notice = IPA | dia22 = Gustavia English }} {{English language}} '''Caribbean English''' ('''CE''',{{notetag|The ''CE'' abbreviation is used in {{harvnb|Allsopp|2003|p=lxx}}. Others may use it for Canadian English.}} '''CarE''') is a set of dialects of the English language which are spoken in the Caribbean and most countries on the Caribbean coasts of Central America and South America. Caribbean English is influenced by, but is distinct to the English-based creole languages spoken in the region. Though dialects of Caribbean English vary structurally and phonetically across the region, all are primarily derived from British English, Indigenous languages and West African languages. In some countries with a plurality Indian population, such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, Caribbean English has further been influenced by Hindustani and other South Asian languages.{{sfn|Mahabir|1999|p=???}}{{sfn|Holbrook|Holbrook|2001|p=???}}{{sfn|SC|nd|loc=???}}

== Overview == {{unreferenced section|date=August 2009}} * The daily-used English in the Caribbean has 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''. Central Americans use ''I, mi, my, he, she, ih, it, we, wi'' or ''alawe'', ''allayu'' or ''unu'', and ''dem, den, deh''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caribbean English |url=https://www.oed.com/discover/caribbean-english/ |access-date=2026-01-22 }}</ref>

* Consonant changes like ''h''-dropping or ''th''-stopping are common. * Some might be "sing-songish"{{Clarify|date=January 2020}} in Trinidad and the Bahamas. * Rhotic: Bajan (Barbadian), Guyanese * Influenced by Irish English: Jamaican, Bajan * Influenced by any of the above, as well as Spanish and indigenous languages: Central American English dialects like the Belizean Creole (Kriol), or the Mískito Coastal Creole and Rama Cay Creole spoken in Nicaragua <ref>{{cite web |title=Caribbean English Identity |url=https://www.trustedinterpreters.com/caribbean-english-identity/ |access-date=2026-01-22 }}</ref>

However, the English that is used in the media, education, and business and in formal or semi-formal discourse approaches the internationally understood variety of Standard English (British English in all former and present British territories and American English in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) but with an Afro-Caribbean cadence (Spanish cadence in Puerto Rico and the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina).<ref>{{cite web |title=Chapter 7: English in the Caribbean |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-the-english-language/english-in-the-caribbean/F046109BAC779D072155794DB24C6A77 |access-date=2026-01-26 }}</ref>

== Dialects ==  The first-order dialects deemed constituent of Caribbean English vary within scholarly literature.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} For instance, the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' includes only 'the forms of English as spoken in Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Belize, the Bahamas and Barbados, as well as in some of the smaller Eastern Caribbean nations' in deriving its phonetic transcriptions.{{sfn|OED|2022|loc=key for CarE}} The ''Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage'' further includes the dialects of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, the Virgin Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, Suriname, and the Turks and Caicos.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xii-xvi}}

Caribbean English-based creole languages are commonly (in popular literature) or sometimes (in scholarly literature) considered dialects of Caribbean English.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}{{notetag|For instance, the first sentence in {{harvnb|Robinson|2007}} describes the ensuing content as including information 'about the history of English in the Caribbean,' but then goes on to only cover the history of English-based creole languages. Further, {{harvnb|Allsopp|2003|pp=xxvi-xxvii}} include creole entries in their dictionary, noting the frequent inclusion of creole words, phrases, and dialogue in English literature of the region, and further stating that 'creole dialects are a pan-Caribbean reality which no professional lexicography, whatever be its mandate, can simply ignore.' Additionally, {{harvnb|OED|2022|loc=model for CarE}} included aspects of various creoles in its production of a pronunciation key and model for Caribbean English.}}

== History == The development of Caribbean English is dated to the West Indian exploits of Elizabethan Sea Dogs, which are credited with introducing to England names for new-found flora and fauna via, for instance, Hakluyt's ''Principall Navigations'' of 1589 and Raleigh's ''Discoverie of the Empyre of Guiana'' of 1596.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xl}} As English settlements followed shortly thereafter, Caribbean English has been deemed 'the oldest exportation of that language from its British homeland.'{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xl-xli}}

Two sorts of anglophone immigrants to the seventeenth-century West Indies have been described in literature – the first, consisting of indentured servants and settlers mainly from southwestern England, predominantly speaking non-standard vernaculars of English; the second, consisting of colonial administrators, missionaries, and educators, predominantly speaking more standard forms of the language.{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|pp=86-88}} The former, along with African slaves, are credited with the development and spread of [non-standard-] English-derived creole languages, while the latter are noted as frequent sources of derision of such speech.{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|pp=86-88}}

== Features ==  Caribbean English accents and pronunciation are variable within and across sub-dialects. For instance, Barbadian English is fully rhotic, while Jamaican English is not.{{sfn|Wells|1982|p=570}} Further, within Jamaican English, ''h''-dropping is common in some social classes, but uncommon in others.{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=568-569}} Additionally, in territories with English-derived creole languages, the phonetic distinction between English and creole is thought to be continuous rather than discrete, with the creole acrolect differing 'only trivially' from English.{{sfn|Wells|1982|p=564}}{{notetag|The {{harvnb|OED|2022|loc=model for CarE}} recently noted – {{blockquote|Of all [sixteen] World English varieties currently addressed by the ''OED'', delineating a ‘Caribbean English’ provides the greatest challenge [as t]here is vast phonetic and phonological diversity across this region[.]}}}}

Nevertheless, there is thought to be 'a general sense in which a "West Indian accent" is distinguishable as such anywhere in the world.'{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xliv}} Likely reasons for this have been described as 'the general quality of CE [Caribbean English] vowels, the sharp reduction in the number of diphthongal glides and, the most distinguishing feature of all, the phrasal intonation [and] separation of syllabic pitch and stress in CE.'{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xliv}} Broadly, the middle-register of Caribbean English is thought to contain eight fewer phonemes than Received Pronunciation.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xlv-xlvi}}{{notetag|That is, ten, four, and twenty-one vowels, glides, and consonants, respectively, compared to eleven, eight, and twenty-four in Received Pronunciation as represented in {{harvnb|Gimson|1980}} {{harv|Allsopp|2003|p=xlvi}}.}}

The lexicon of Caribbean English varies, to an extent, across and within sub-dialects.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=li-lii}} '[T]he bulk of the vocabulary,' however, has been described as 'identical' across the region.{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|p=92}} Additionally, in territories with English-derived creole languages, the lexical distinction between English and creole is thought to be continuous rather than discrete, such that 'structurally it is impossible to draw exact lines between them.'{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|p=92}}

=== Tables === {| class="sortable" |+ Sample of phonetic features distinctive of lower-to-upper-register Caribbean English as used in at least some territories. |- ! Feature !! Gloss !! Notes |- | ''th''-stopping || /θ/ pronounced as /t/ (e.g. ''/tiŋk/'' ('''th'''ink) or /tri/ ('''th'''ree)); /ð/ pronounced as /d/ (e.g. in /dɪs/ ('''th'''is) or /dæt/ ('''th'''at)) || varies by class; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=565-566}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xlv-xlvi}}{{sfn|OED|2022|loc=key to CarE}} |- | ''h''-dropping || Initial /h/ deleted (e.g. /æpi/ (happy) or /aʊs/ (house)) || varies by class; may vary within CarE; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=568-569}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlvii}} |- | consonant cluster reduction || Consonant clusters are simplified, namely in the coda (e.g. /bɛst/ > /bɛs/ (best), /ɹɪ.spɛkt/ > /ɹɪ.spɛk/ (respect), or /lænd/ > /læn/ (land)) || varies by class; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=566-567}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xlvi-xlvii}} |- | rhoticity || <Vr> is pronounced using /ɹ/ (e.g. /ɑɹd/ (hard) or /kɔɹn/ (corn)) || varies within CarE; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=570-572}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlvi}}{{sfn|OED|2022|loc=key for CarE}} |- | unreduced vowel in weak syllables || vowels in unstressed syllables not reduced e.g. /a/ in '''''a'''bout'' or ''bac'''on''''', or e.g. /of/ in ''lot '''of''' work'' or /a/ in ''in '''a''' few days'' || may vary by class; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=570-571}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlv}} |- | FACE vowel || idiosyncratic phoneme e.g. in ''g'''a'''m'''e''''', ''tr'''ay''''', ''pl'''ai'''n'', ''gr'''ea'''t'' || varies by class; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|p=571}} |- | GOAT vowel || idiosyncratic phoneme e.g. in ''h'''o'''m'''e''''', ''sh'''ow''''', ''b'''oa'''t'', ''t'''oe''''' || varies by class; cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English phonology'}}{{sfn|Wells|1982|p=571}} |- | L consonant || idiosyncratic /l/ phoneme e.g. in ''mi'''l'''k'' || cf{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=569-570}} |- | W consonant || idiosyncratic /w/ phoneme e.g. in '''''w'''eek'' or '''''w'''et'' || cf{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=569-570}} |- | glide cluster reduction || /h/ in /wh/ not pronounced e.g. in '''''wh'''ine'' || may vary by class; cf{{sfn|Wells|1982|p=570}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlvi}} |- | stress shift || idiosyncratic prosody of words e.g. in ''rea-LISE'', ''ce-le-BRATE'', ''a-gri-CUL-ture'' || cf{{sfn|Wells|1982|pp=572-573}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xliv-xlv}} |- | fronting || idiosyncratic prosody of phrases e.g. in ''is '''BORROW''' she '''borrow''' it'' || cf{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlix}} |} {| class="sortable" |+ Sample of grammatical features distinctive of lower-to-upper-register Caribbean English as used in at least some territories. |- ! Feature !! Gloss !! Notes |- | zero indefinite article || indefinite articles [occasionally] omitted e.g. in ''in '''_''' couple of days'' || cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English grammar'}} |- | zero past tense marker || verbs left unmarked for tense e.g. in ''I '''work_''' a few months'' || cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English grammar'}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xlvii-xlix}} |- | zero plural marker || nouns left unmarked for plurality e.g. in ''my '''relative_''' were'' || cf{{sfn|Robinson|2007|loc=sec. 'Caribbean English grammar'}} |- | functional shift || part-of-speech and sense of words shifted e.g. noun to verb shift of ''rice'' in ''to rice somebody'' || cf{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xlvii-xlviii}} |- | zero subject–verb inversion || subject-verb order not inverted in questions e.g. in ''You going back?'' || cf{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlix}} |- | reduplication || emphatic repetition of words or phrases e.g. in ''fool-fool'', ''big big big'' || cf{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xlix}} |} <div style=display:inline-table> {| class="sortable" |+ Lexical sets of upper-register Caribbean English as used in select territories.{{sfn|OED|2022|loc=models for CarE, BrE, AmE}}{{notetag|Note ''BrE'', ''AmE'' stand for ''British English'', ''American English''. Phonemes with CarE–BrE or CarE–AmE differences are recorded in {{color|red|red}}. In columns BrE, AmE, en dashes (–) stand for ''phoneme is the same as that in CarE''. In the Notes column, en dashes represent missing or null values. CarE dialects sampled for these data were those of the Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica {{harv|OED|2022|loc=model for CarE}}. Additionally, English creoles of Barbados, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago were sampled {{harv|OED|2022|loc=model for CarE}}. CarE dialects or English creoles of Barbados, Belize, and the Lesser Antilles may have been, to a lesser extent, sampled {{harv|OED|2022|loc=model for CarE}}.}} |- ! Set !! CarE !! BrE !! AmE !! Notes |- | {{smallcaps|kit}} || {{angbr IPA|ɪ}} || – || – || – |- | {{smallcaps|dress}} || {{angbr IPA|ɛ}} || – || – || – |- | {{smallcaps|trap}} || {{angbr IPA|a}} || – || – || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|bath}}}} || {{angbr IPA|aː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɑː}} + {{angbr IPA|a}} || {{angbr IPA|æ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|lot}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɑ}} || {{angbr IPA|ɒ}} || – || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|cloth}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɒ}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔ}} + {{angbr IPA|ɑ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|strut}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ʌ}} || – || {{angbr IPA|ə}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|foot}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ʊ}} || – || – || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|fleece}}}} || {{angbr IPA|iː}} || – || {{angbr IPA|i}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|goose}}}} || {{angbr IPA|uː}} || – || {{angbr IPA|u}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|palm}}}} || {{angbr IPA|aː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɑː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɑ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|start}}}} || {{angbr IPA|aː}} / {{angbr IPA|aːr}} || {{angbr IPA|ɑː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɑr}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|nurse}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɜː}} / {{angbr IPA|ɜːr}} || {{angbr IPA|əː}} || {{angbr IPA|ər}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|north}}}} || {{angbr IPA|oː}} / {{angbr IPA|oːr}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔr}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|force}}}} || {{angbr IPA|oː}} / {{angbr IPA|oːr}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔr}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|thought}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔː}} + {{angbr IPA|aː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔ}} + {{angbr IPA|ɑ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|near}}}} || {{angbr IPA|eː}} / {{angbr IPA|eː r}} || {{angbr IPA|ɪə}} || {{angbr IPA|ɪr}} / {{angbr IPA|ɪər}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|square}}}} || {{angbr IPA|eː}} / {{angbr IPA|eː r}} || {{angbr IPA|ɛː}} || {{angbr IPA|ɛr}} / {{angbr IPA|ɛər}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|cure}}}} || {{angbr IPA|oː}} / {{angbr IPA|oːr}} || {{angbr IPA|ʊə}} + {{angbr IPA|ɔː}} || {{angbr IPA|ʊr}} / {{angbr IPA|ʊər}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|face}}}} || {{angbr IPA|eː}} || {{angbr IPA|eɪ}} || {{angbr IPA|eɪ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|pride}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ai}} || {{angbr IPA|ʌɪ}} || {{angbr IPA|aɪ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|voice}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔi}} + {{angbr IPA|ai}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔɪ}} || {{angbr IPA|ɔɪ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|mouth}}}} || {{angbr IPA|aʊ}} + {{angbr IPA|ɔʊ}} || {{angbr IPA|aʊ}} || {{angbr IPA|aʊ}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|goat}}}} || {{angbr IPA|oː}} || {{angbr IPA|əʊ}} || {{angbr IPA|oʊ}} || – |- | {{smallcaps|happ'''y'''}} || {{angbr IPA|i}} || – || – || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|lett'''er'''}}}} || {{angbr IPA|a}} || {{angbr IPA|ə}} || {{angbr IPA|ər}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|rabb'''i'''t}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɪ}} || {{angbr IPA|ᵻ}} || – || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|add'''e'''d}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ɪ}} || {{angbr IPA|ᵻ}} || {{angbr IPA|ə}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|beautif'''u'''l}}}} || {{angbr IPA|ʊ}} || – || {{angbr IPA|ə}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|p'''i'''ano}}}} || {{angbr IPA|i}} || {{angbr IPA|ɪ}} || – || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|'''a'''go}}}} || {{angbr IPA|a}} || {{angbr IPA|ə}} || {{angbr IPA|ə}} || – |- | {{color|red|{{smallcaps|b'''e'''cause}}}} || {{angbr IPA|i}} || {{angbr IPA|ᵻ}} || {{angbr IPA|ə}} + {{angbr IPA|i}} || – |} </div> <div style=display:inline-table> {| class="sortable" |+ Consonant phonemes of upper-register Caribbean English as used in select territories.{{sfn|OED|2022|loc=keys for CarE, BrE, AmE}}{{notetag|Note ''BrE'', ''AmE'' stand for ''British English'', ''American English''. Phonemes with CarE–BrE or CarE–AmE differences are recorded in {{color|red|red}}. In columns CarE, BrE, AmE, multiplication signs (×) stand for ''phoneme is present'' while en dashes (–) stand for ''phoneme is absent''. In the Notes column, en dashes represent missing or null values. CarE dialects sampled for these data were those of the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and some of the Lesser Antilles {{harv|OED|2022|loc=key for CarE}}.}} |- ! Unit !! CarE !! BrE !! AmE !! Notes |- | {{angbr IPA|b}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|d}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|dʒ}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{color|red|{{angbr IPA|ð}}}} || – || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|f}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|g}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|h}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|j}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|k}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|l}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|m}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|n}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|ŋ}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|p}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|r}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|s}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|ʃ}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|t}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|tʃ}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{color|red|{{angbr IPA|θ}}}} || – || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|v}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|w}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|z}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{angbr IPA|ʒ}} || × || × || × || – |- | {{color|red|{{angbr IPA|x}}}} || – || × || × || – |- | {{color|red|{{angbr IPA|ɬ}}}} || – || × || – || – |} </div>

== Standardisation == The standardisation of Caribbean English is thought to have begun upon the advent of government-funded public education in the West Indies in 1833.{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|p=88}} Notably, the earliest public teachers, credited with first developing Standard Caribbean English, had been 'imported direct from Britain, or recruited from among the "coloured" class on the islands who had benefited from their mixed parentage by receiving the rudiments of education.'{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|p=88}} Linguistically, however, the growth of public education in said standard register resulted in 'a practical bilingualism' that has been described as a typical example of diglossia.{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|p=89}} By the late twentieth century, as most territories transitioned to sovereignty and adopted English as their official language, 'efforts were made to define norms for Caribbean English usage in public, formal domains, and more specifically examination settings.'{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|p=90}} These are thought to have culminated in the 1996 publication of the ''Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage'', commonly deemed the authority on Standard Caribbean English, with the former defining the latter as 'the total body of regional lexicon and usage bound to a common core of syntax and morphology shared with [non-Caribbean forms of standardised English], but aurally distinguished as a discrete type by certain phonological features.'{{sfn|Seoane|Suárez-Gómez|2016|pp=90-91}}{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=lvi}}{{notetag|Though {{harvnb|Allsopp|2003|p=lv}} first glosses Caribbean Standard English as the 'conglomerate of [the] several Standard Englishes [of] the nations and states of the former British West Indian colonies.'}}

== Study == The earliest scholarly dictionary of Caribbean English is thought to have been the 1967 ''Dictionary of Jamaican English''.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xx}} During Easter of that same year, the Caribbean Association of Headmasters and Headmistresses resolved – {{blockquote|Be it resolved that this Association request the appropriate department of the University of the West Indies to compile a list of lexical items in each territory and to circulate these to schools for the guidance of teachers.|''Resolution 6'' of the CAHH Conference of Easter 1967.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=xx-xxi}}}} Said resolution was promptly forwarded to Richard Allsopp, who by mid-1967 'already had some ten shoe-boxes each of about 1,000 6 × 4 cards and many loose unfiled cuttings, notes and other material [from Guyana, the Lesser Antilles, Belize, Jamaica, and Trinidad].'{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xxi}} In 1971, Allsopp introduced the Caribbean Lexicography Project as 'a survey of [English] usage in the intermediate and upper ranges of the West Indian speech continuum.'{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|p=xxi}}{{sfn|Ammon|Dittmar|Mattheier|Trudgill|2006|p=2088}} This set the stage for the seminal ''Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage,'' first published 1996.{{sfn|Allsopp|2003|pp=catalogue page, xxii}}{{notetag|{{harvnb|Allsopp|2003|p=xxxi}} likens the publication to that of ''Webster's'' in 1828, the ''Dictionary of Canadian English'' in 1967, and the ''Australian National Dictionary'' in 1988.}}

== Samples == {{unreferenced section|date=August 2009}} Standard English: ''''Where is that boy?'''' {{IPAc-en|hw|ɛər|_|ɪ|z|_|ð|æ|t|_|b|ɔɪ}}

*Barbados: ''''Wherr dah boi?'''' {{IPA|[hwer ɪz dæt bɔɪ]}} (spoken very quickly, rhotic with glottal stops). *San Andrés and Providencia: ''''Weh dah boi deh?'''' {{IPA|[hwe dæt bɔɪ deh]}} *Jamaica: ''''Weh dah bwoy deh?'''' {{IPA|[weh da bwoj de]}} (sporadic rhoticity from Irish and Scottish influence); or ''''Wey iz dat boi?'''' {{IPA|[weɪ ɪz dæt bɔɪ]}} (non-rhotic and similar to the accents of southwestern England and Wales). *Belize: ''''Weh iz dat bwoy deh?'''' {{IPA|[weh ɪz dɑt bɔɪ deɪ]}} (British and North American influence but deeper in tone). *Trinidad: ''''Wey dat boy deh?'''' {{IPA|[weɪ dæt bɔɪ de]}} *Bahamas: ''''Wey dat boy iz?'''' {{IPA|[weɪ dæt bɔɪ ɪz]}} (some would more likely say "bey" [beɪ] instead of "boy"). *Guyana and Tobago: ''''Weyr iz daht boy/bai?'''' {{IPA|[weɪɹ ɪz dɑt boɪ/baɪ]}} often in urban regions, or ''''Wey dat boy dey?'''' {{IPA|[weɪɹ dæt bɔɪ deɪ]}} in rural regions (many variations depending on region or descent of speaker, and competency in standard English; sporadic rhoticity). * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: ''''Wey dah boy deh deh?'''' {{IPA|[weɪ dɑ bɔɪ deɪ deɪ]}} (non-rhotic). *Belize, Bluefields, Pearl Lagoon, Corn Islands, Bay Islands Department, Limón, Bocas del Toro Province, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands and the Virgin Islands: ''''Wehr iz daht booy?'''' {{IPA|[weɹ ɪz dɑt buɪ]}} (distinct, sporadic rhoticity, pronunciation becomes quite different from Creole pronunciation). * Dominica: ''''Weh dat boy (be) nuh?'''' {{IPA|[we dæt bɔɪ (bi) nʌ]}} (spoken harshly and with a deep tone).

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 and in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands conforms to the spelling and the grammar styles of United States.

==Notes and references== === Explanatory footnotes === {{notefoot}}

=== Short citations === {{reflist}}

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==External links== *[http://www.muturzikin.com/cartesamerique/ameriqueantille.htm Linguistic map of Caribbean English dialects] from Muturzikin.com *[http://www.wiwords.com/ Cross-Referencing West Indian Dictionary] *{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709141457/http://www.tc.columbia.edu/students/sie/LCEjr05/pdfs/Callender.pdf |date=July 9, 2011 |title=Bajan (Barbadian) dialect in NYC }} {{Navboxes |title = Articles related to Caribbean English |list = {{English dialects by continent}} {{English official language clickable map}} }} {{coord|15.187|-75.175|type:country_region:XA|display=title}} {{authority control}}

Category:Caribbean English