Bahamian English

Bahamian English is a dialect of English spoken in the Bahamas and by Bahamian diasporas. It should not be confused with Bahamian Creole, which is an English-based creole language.

Pronunciation

• The Kit Vowel: The realization of the kit vowel in the Bahamian English is pretty much the same as in American English, the default [ɪ].

• The Dress Vowel: The vowel of dress is [É›].

• The Trap Vowel: This vowel is mostly [a] or [æ].

• The Lot Vowel: As mostly of the US, this vowel is usually [É'].

• The Strut Vowel: It is the same as in the US English, [ÊŒ].

• The Foot Vowel: It is [ÊŠ].

• The Fleece Vowel: It's [i] or a diphthong [ɪi].

• The Face Diphthong: It's generally [eɪ] or [ɛɪ].

• The Palm Vowel: It is mostly [É'].

• The Thought Vowel: The vowel of thought is [É"].

• The Goat Diphthong: It's generally [ɵʊ] or [oÊŠ].

• The Near Diphthong: It's [eÉ™] or [iÉ™].

• The Square Diphthong: It's [eÉ™].

• The Start Vowel: It's [É'ː].

• The North Diphthong: The diphthong in north is usually [É"É™].

• The Force Diphthong: The diphthong in force is usually [oÉ™].

• The Cure Diphthong: The diphthong in cure is usually [uÉ™].

• The Bath Vowel: This vowel is mostly [a] or [æ].

• The Cloth Vowel: It is mostly [É"].

• The Nurse Vowel: It varies among [É™], [Éœ] and [Éœi].

• The Goose vowel: It's mostly [ʉː].

• The Price/Prize Dithphong: It's generally [É'ɪ].

• The Choice Diphthong: It's [oɪ] or [É'ɪ].

• The Mouth Diphthong: It varies among [ao], [aɵ] [aÉ›] and [É'É™].

• The happY vowel: It is pretty much the kit vowel: [ɪ].

• The lettEr-horsEs-commA vowel is [É™].

• The Bahamian accent is non-rhotic.

• There's poor distinction between the [v] and [w] sounds in Bahamian English. The contrast is often neutralized or merged into [v], [b] or [β], so village sounds like [wɪlɪdÊ'], [vɪlɪdÊ'] or [βɪlɪdÊ']. This also happens in the Vincentian, Bermudian and other Caribbean Englishes.

• Dental fricatives are usually changed to alveolar plosives:

Voiced: -"That" turning into "Dat". -"Those" turning into "Dose". -"There" turning into "Dere". -"They" turning into "Dey".

Unvoiced: -"Thanks" becoming "Tanks". -"Throw" becoming "Trow". -"Three" becoming "Tree"

Grammar

Vocabulary

References

• http://www.bahamasgateway.com/asshole_lingo.htm
• Kortmann, Bernd (2004). A Handbook of Varieties of English: Phonology. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-017532-5.