About 90% of Caymanians speak English, as the official language of the islands,[7][8] but Cayman Islands English encompasses a broad range of dialects.[1][5]Bay Island English is a related English variant which developed from Cayman Islands English.[9]
Origins
Cayman Island English has its roots in the language used by the earliest settlers on the islands, including turtle fishers, pirates, enslaved Africans, and deserters from Cromwell's Jamaican army.[1][10][11] It was influenced by English, Spanish, and West African languages, such as Igbo and Twi.[1] An early creole or pidgincontact language, Guinea Coast Creole English, was likely a direct influence, as with the Caribbean Creole languages.[1][2][6] Because of the Cayman Islands' remoteness, Caymanian English also retains elements of Elizabethan English speech, including elements from Elizabethan Cockney, Cornish, Scottish and Yorkshire dialects.[3]African-American Vernacular English and Jamaican Patois have also influenced the way younger Caymanians speak,[4] while Bay Island English in turn derives from Cayman Island English.[1][12][9]
While not much has been written on Cayman Islands English, according to linguist John A. Holm, it "seems to have borrowed English-based creole features similar to Jamaican Patois, Bay Islands English and San Andrés and Providencia Creole without having undergone creolization".[4] Others, such as Hubert Devonish, dispute this and point to features in Caymanian English that are common to Caribbean Creole languages.[13][14] Devonish says that phrases such as im now to swim ("he knows [how] to swim") indicate more creolisation in the language than was realised by scholars such as Kohlman and Holm.[13] Ross Graham says that Caymanian English's creole elements could be inherited from an earlier creole language spoken by the Black Caymanians, similar to Jamaican Creole, which gradually became decreolised due to contact with British Caymanians.[15]
Phonology
Intonation in Cayman Islands English often falls on the last syllable of polysyllabic words.[10] The use of [v] for [w], such as ven instead of when, is a feature of Cayman Islands English, noted by Aarona Booker Kohlman and John A. Holm.[10][13] Ross Graham says this is likely influenced by the Twi language.[1] Hubert Devonish says this is common to many Western Caribbean creole languages, although Kohlman and Holm suggest this might have a connection to Elizabethan Cockney English.[10][4][13] The use of broad English [æ] as in bangle is retained while [r] in words like turn and sermon is often unvoiced.[10] Possessive pronouns such as his and hers are often replaced with their subjective form, such as he and she. Noun determiners and prepositions are also often excluded, as in When I get Spotts, little rain come down (or "When I got to Spotts, a little rain came down").[10][16] Devonish suggests this more pronounced than in Caribbean Creoles. It's also common for some Caymanians to insert -en before -ing; Patricia Hamilton notes such as examples as fishening or groanening.[10]
Glossary
Bobo (a pet name for a close friend, beloved or partner)[17][16]
Boy look yah, who you fuh? ("Boy, look at you! Who are your parents/who raised you?")[18][19]
^ abcHolm, John A. (2000). "Semi-creolization: Problems in the development of theory". In Neumann-Holzschuh, Ingrid; Schneider, Edgar Werner (eds.). Degrees of restructuring in Creole languages. Creole language library. Amsterdam: Benjamins. pp. 22–3. ISBN978-90-272-5244-9.
^ abHolm, John A. (1994), Burchfield, Robert (ed.), "ENGLISH IN THE CARIBBEAN", The Cambridge History of the English Language: Volume 5: English in Britain and Overseas: Origins and Development, The Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. 5, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 328–381, doi:10.1017/chol9780521264785.008, ISBN978-0-521-26478-5, retrieved 2024-10-04
^ abNeumann-Holzschuh, Ingrid; Schneider, Edgar Werner, eds. (2000). "Introduction". Degrees of restructuring in Creole languages. Creole language library. Amsterdam: Benjamins. p. 2. ISBN978-90-272-5244-9.
^ abGraham, Ross (2010), Schreier, Daniel; Schneider, Edgar W.; Williams, Jeffrey P.; Trudgill, Peter (eds.), "Honduras/Bay Islands English", The Lesser-Known Varieties of English: An Introduction, Studies in English Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 92–135, doi:10.1017/cbo9780511676529.007, ISBN978-0-521-88396-2, retrieved 2024-10-04
^ abcdefghijklmnHamilton, Patricia. "National Identification and Selected Aspects of the Cayman Islands Culture." (1976). p. 17–21.
^Williams, Christopher A. Defining the Caymanian identity: The effects of globalization, economics, and xenophobia on Caymanian culture. Lexington Books, 2015. pp. 11, 16
^Graham, Ross. "Honduras/Bay Islands English." The lesser-known varieties of English: An introduction (2010): 92-135 (92).
