![]() There were - perhaps still are - people who pushed their children not to speak Bajan and to speak "the Queen's English" instead. Prior to that they were taught British history in schools.įurthermore, even up to the 90s, there was this prevalent idea that Bajan is inferior to English. Which would have been true to a certain extent since back then Barbados was still a British colony.ĭon't forget that it wasn't until after independence in 1966 that Barbadian children were taught Barbadian - and Caribbean - history. ![]() They may have found it insulting because that generation was definitely, I guess encouraged, to view themselves as British and not Barbadian. But a lot of local linguists are trying to correct and undo that inaccurate and painful view, so I highly recommend that you double check the backgrounds and age of your sources. It’s very deeply rooted, so people do tend to repeat the suggestion that it’s not a creole language. And then there are words like “wunna,” which is a plural form of “you” that doesn’t exist at all in English, but which is similar to other plural yous seen in other regional creoles (eg, Jamaica has unu) due to shared descent from African languages that use a plural you.Įdited to add: Bajan also has regional distinctions, depending on where you are in the country.įor a long time, we’ve had this very colonial idea pushed on us that Bajan is “broken English.” And if you read old records, it’s not uncommon to have the speech of people who were enslaved recorded as if it were a caricature or meaningless. And no one but someone Scottish or Bajan would know that’s not exactly a polite way to describe someone lol. Like I can write “I going up the gap to shout my big bubbie friend.” And that’s clearly Bajan, even though I haven’t changed any of the spelling, because of certain African-based conjugations, and because some words like “gap” have a different meaning in Bajan than they do in English. But it does have its own internal rules for things like grammar, and it’s own vocabulary. And many of us don’t realise it, because we grow up speaking Bajan. There are touches of French here and there too, in words like “crapaud,” for frog. Bajan is a pretty unique combination of certain African languages, English, and Scots (and we have loads more Scots than other similar creoles). However the vowels of LOT, CLOTH, and THOUGHT are generally merged.I’d say it absolutely is a creole. The TRAP and LOT vowels are not merged in Barbadian English.The CHOICE diphthong / ɔɪ/ is either or.The PRICE diphthong / aɪ/ is generally.The FORCE sequence / ɔːr/ and the CURE sequence / ʊər/ are both usually.The NORTH sequence / ɔːr/ is usually or.The NEAR / ɪər/ and SQUARE / ɛər/ sequences are both, resulting in the near-square merger.The GOAT diphthong / oʊ/ is generally or.The BATH diaphoneme is mostly to be identified with this vowel (see trap-bath split) The FACE diphthong / eɪ/ varies by region and education/class: it manifests in educated speech generally as or sometimes, and in rural and uneducated speech as the vowel.HAPP Y is best identified as an allophone of this phoneme, thus /ˈhapiː/. ![]() The STRUT vowel / ʌ/ is the same as in the US English.The realization of the KIT vowel / ɪ/ in Barbadian English is pretty much the same as in American English, the default.It is also notable, in comparison with standard American or British English, for the first vowel in price or prize. One example of Barbadian English would be the pronunciation of departments, which is IPA. Barbadian English is fully rhotic and full of glottal stops. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |