GEOGRAPHY

Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. There are at least 7,000 islands, islets, reefs and cays in the region.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Population: 38 million people. Six official languages spoken in the Caribbean: Spanish 62% French 22% English 15% Dutch 1% Haitian Creole (Haiti) Papiamento (Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire)

WHY SO MANY LANGUAGES?

European colonialism Fight and erase

Variety of influences
Example: Dominica

CARIBBEAN ENGLISH
First or second language in most Caribbean islands
Expansion in the 17th century

Unofficial language of tourism

Five variations of English in use in the Caribbean today: Creole English Rasta English Foreign English Erudite English Standard English

 Creole English
People who have lower education

Rasta English
Rastafarians Very strong pronunciation

Means: Slow down, children playing

The speech reflects the belief system of these people

MARCUS GARVEY
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr. Jamaican political leader Proponent of the Black nationalism Founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) Rastafarians consider Garvey a religious prophet, and sometimes even the reincarnation of Saint John the Baptist

 Foreign English
British, American and Canadian English

Erudite English
The most well-read people speak and write Erudite English

Standard English
English without Creole. Different pitch, stress and general tone from the spoken English in Canada, Great Britain and the United States

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COUNTRIES

Anguilla Scamp and Wicked Gale: Hurricane Guyana: job jab, dog dag, got gat Antigua: To indicate past tense, they use the word min. You min eat means You ate

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COUNTRIES

Jamaica: pikni or pikney (child/ren) maasta (master)
Trinidad: Jort is a snack Picong means ironic jocking