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LANGUAGE VARIATION AND CREOLE

CARIBBEAN LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT NCT

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LANGUAGE VARIATION AND CREOLE

Colonization of Caribbean by Spaniards. Various Language varieties, Creoles (Dialect,

Spanish introduce to Amerindian tribes Patois) formed in Caribbean

1400s 1600s to present

Mass colonization by British Empire. Slaves

from Africa brought to Caribbean. English and
African Languages Introduced

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The Slave Trade and its influence on Language in the Caribbean

B
lack Vernacular English: How the Slave Trade Influenced Language
– Jake Spritzer (wordpress.com)

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LANGUAGE VARIETY

◼ Refers to
1. the same Language spoken by individuals in different geographical locations
2. different languages being spoken in the same or different geographical locations
◼ There are subtly differences in which these persons in the various speech community
use language
e.g. People from England, Australia, America, Jamaica,Grenada all speak English. We
can tell these individuals are from different countries based on the way they speak or use
English

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STANDARD VARIETY

◼ As the language evolve one dialect will become the dominant . This is usually the
dialect spoken by the socially elite or those with economic power.
◼ The standard variety becomes the one used for writing and other formal purposes and
is usually given prestige over the other varieties
◼ The language that is dominant also becomes the language that the majority of speakers
in the country want to attain
◼ The variety in languages basically lie in the areas of vocabulary, pronunciation, and
spelling

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DIALECT

◼ is the name given to the variety of a language spoken by a

group of people

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 British Standard English American Standard English
Flat apartment
Tyre tire
Centre center
autumn fall
football soccer
labour labor
favourite favorite
number plate license
aeroplane airplane
film movie

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ACCENT

◼Sometimes although speaking same the language(dialect), their

accent may make it difficult for them to understand each other.
◼An accent is a variation in pronunciation
◼Every person has an accent. It becomes noticeably when you
move from your own speech community and enter into another
◼Your accent is the way you sound
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CODE SWITCHING

◼No matter what variety of a language you speak you are able to
manipulate it based on the context of communication
◼Depending on whom you are speaking or writing to you will vary in how
you express yourself
◼This variation in language is referred to as Code Switching (changing
the way you use language )
e.g From creole to Standard English

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CREOLE
Listen carefully to the use of language by Ms. Lou. Do you hear the difference between the Jamaican
Creole and British English? https://youtu.be/TMRnWmSN6MI

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Interesting Facts

Reading and Writing the Jamaican Language - Intro - YouTube

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CHARACTERISTICS OF CREOLE

◼Sound Units
◼Vocabulary
◼Grammar-
◼Semantics

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SOUND UNITS
◼There are consonant clusters that are not pronounced by
Creole speakers e.g the ‘th’ sound. This is either replaced by a
‘d’, ‘t’ or ‘f’ [this –dis, thing – ting].
◼They also drop final consonants in words ending ‘ing’ [talking-
talkin]
◼Or reverse the consonant sound combination [film-flim]

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VOCABULARY

◼Creole vocabulary reflects changes that arise culturally and socially.

Words filter into the Creole and become a part of the language.
e.g. roti, irie, sketel

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GRAMMAR
◼ much of Caribbean Creole syntax and grammar is from West African languages,
even though the lexical is from European language. These grammatical rules
follow:
i. Nouns, verbs and pronouns are not altered in form to indicate plurals, tense,
person, case. Nor does it utilize auxiliary verb
e.g. him to be all inclusive singular pronoun, dem plural pronoun
ii. The use of predicate adjective. These words function as both adjective and verb

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GRAMMAR
i. The use of double negatives
ii. Does not reverse word order to indicate the interrogative form.
The interrogative is indicated by intonation
iii.Creole does not have a passive voice
iv.Front focusing [dead you dead], back –focusing or repetition
[holey, holey]

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SEMANTICS

◼the same words have different meanings – miserable, ignorant,

malicious
ii. Use of calques – compound words borrowed from another
language with literal translation
◼Nose-hole, eye-water, cut-eye

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HOW CREOLE CAME ABOUT https://youtu.be/hNM-BE4xAyo

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