Bahamian Creole
| Bahamas Creole English | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Bahamas |
|
Native speakers
|
(225,000 cited 1987) |
|
English Creole
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | baha1260 |
| Linguasphere | 52-ABB-an–ao |
Bahamian Creole (known as Bahamian dialect or Bahamianese) is an English-based creole language spoken by approximately 400,000 people in the Bahamas.
Bahamianese is spoken by both white and black Bahamians, although in slightly different forms. Bahamianese also tends to be more prevalent in certain areas of the Bahamas. Islands that were settled earlier or that have a historically large Afro-Bahamian population have a greater concentration of individuals exhibiting creolized speech; the creole is most prevalent in urban areas. Individual speakers have command of lesser and greater creolized forms.
Bahamianese also shares similar features with other Caribbean English-based creoles, such as those of Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and the Virgin Islands. There is also a very significant link between Bahamian and the Gullah language of South Carolina, as many Bahamians are descendants of slaves brought to the islands from the Gullah region after the American revolution.
In comparison to many of the English-based creoles of the Caribbean region, limited research has been conducted on what is known as Bahamian Creole. This lack of research on Bahamian Creole is perhaps because for many years, Bahamians have assumed that this language is simply a variety of English. However, academic research shows that this is not the case. In fact, there is much socio-historical and linguistic evidence to support the proposal that it is a creole language.
Though there is variation between black and white speakers, there is a tendency for speakers to drop /h/ or, in a hypercorrection, to add it to words without it so harm and arm are pronounced the same. The merger occurs most often in the speech of Abaco and north Eleuthera.
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