Caribbean English

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Caribbean English is a dialect of the English language spoken in the Caribbean. 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 from island to island, like African American Vernacular English, they are largely influenced by a single source - the African continent.

Examples of the English in daily use in the Caribbean include a reduced set of pronouns, typically, me, we, he, she, and they (pronounced "day" or "deh").

A simple statement, "I don't know" could be stated, "I ain' know" in the case of Barbados, "Mi nuh know" in the case of Jamaica, "Me eh' know" or "I eh know" in Trinidad and "Me nah know" in Tobago. "Me'en know" in the case of the Virgin Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis, or "I nuh business"/"Me nuh know" in the case of Belize.

Caribbean countries where English is an official language or where English-based creole languages are widespread include:

Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Aruba
The Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Colombia (San Andres and Providencia islands)
Costa Rica
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
Honduras (Bay Islands)
Jamaica¹
Montserrat
Netherlands Antilles (St. Maarten, Saba, St. Eustatius)
Nicaragua
Panama
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
Turks and Caicos Islands
U.S. Virgin Islands

American English is an official language in Puerto Rico.

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Caribbean English

See also