Trinidadian English
Trinidadian English or
Trinidad and Tobago Standard English is a
dialect of
English used in
Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidadian English co-exists with other dialects of English, primarily
Trinidadian Creole English in
Trinidad and
Tobagonian Creole English in
Tobago. Although based on a standard of
English English, Trinidadian English has many
Americanisms including
apartment,
truck and
trunk (of a car), although
bonnet is more commonly used than
hood (of a car). In addition, many words from the popular dialect have found their way into standard English, including such words as
to lime (to
hang out or
to party),
lagniappe (
French origin), or
dougla (
Hindi origin).
Trinidadian English co-exists with Trinidadian Creole English (or English Creole). Most speakers will use Trinidadian or Tobagonian Creole in informal discourse but will switch to the standard dialect (with varying degrees of success) in formal settings. Speakers of the standard dialect will also
switch to the creole dialect either for humour or to connect with "the common man".
The sound of Trinidadian English is often compared with that of
South Wales.
*
James, Winford, 2001,
Trinidad and Tobago Standard English?.
*
James, Winford, 2003,
Doing our own thing with English I.
*
James, Winford, 2003,
Doing our own thing with English II.
*
James, Winford, 2003,
What kind of question is this?.
*
James, Winford, 2003,
What kind of question is this? Pt2.
*
Miguel Browne's Trini Talk*
Society for Caribbean Linguistics
