Bequia English
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Bequia English | |
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Region | Bequia |
Early forms | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Part of a series on the |
English language |
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Bequia English is the local dialect of English spoken on Bequia, an island in the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It belongs to the group of Caribbean English varieties.
Phonology
Consonants
Word-initially /t/ and /d/ are dental. Word-final /t/ can be sometimes fully released and sometimes fully deleted, such as in but [bʌ] and about [əbaʷ]. Word-medially /t/ can occur as either a stop or glottal stop, hence after is either [aftə] or [afʔə]. Word-initially H is variably present. The fricatives are pronounced as dentals: 'think' [tɪŋk], 'there' [dɛ]. Nasal backing is common after back vowels: "Hamilton" sounds like [hamɪltɔŋ]. /l/ is normally light in all positions, the /r/ is a retroflex [ɹ] and rhoticity is variable. /str/ is pronounced as /ʃtr/: industry is [ɪndʌʃtri]. Final clusters may be devoiced (kids: [kɪts]) and final stops in clusters can be deleted (respect: [rispɛk]). There is restricted metathesis: words like ask, crisp and crispy are pronounced as [æks], [krɪps], and [krɪpsi]; but mask is pronounced as [ma:s]. /k/ and /g/ tend to be palatalized: Coast Guard [kʲo:s gʲa:d].[1] [2]
Vowels
The vowels in Kit and Dress are usually [ɪ] and [ɛ], and the vowel in Kit is sometimes lowered to [ɛ] (miracle: [mɛrəkl]). The vowel in Trap is either [a] or [æ]. The Foot vowel is usually [ʊ], but sometimes [ɔ], and the Lot vowel is usually [ɑ], but sometimes [a]. The vowel in Strut is normally [ʌ], but at times [ɔ] (cup: [kɔp]). The vowels in Fleece and in Goose tend to occur as [i:] and [u:], and the Face and Goat vowels tend to occur as [e:] and [o:], but they can occasionally be [eə] and [oə]. The Bath vowel tends to occur as [a:], though [æ] can also be heard. The Cloth, Thought and Palm vowels tend to occur as [a]. The diphthong in Price is either [aɪ], [ɔɪ] or [əɪ], the diphthong in Mouth is either [aʊ], [ɔʊ] or [əʊ]. The Choice diphthong is usually [ɔɪ], but can be realized as [aɪ]. Hence, choice can be heard as [tʃaɪs] and price can be heard as [pɹɔɪs]. The Nurse vowel is [ə], [ɜ]or [ɔ]; the Near vowels is usually [i:], but can be merged with the Square vowel [e:]. The Start vowel is either [a:] or [[ɑ:], the Cure vowel is [ɔ:], and the North and Force vowels are usually merged, though lord tends to sound like [la:d]. [1] [2] [3]
Rythm
According to Meer, Bequia English has limited vowel reduction and a high tendency toward syllable-timed stress pattern. [2]
References
- ^ a b Williams, Jeffrey P., and Caroline Myrick. “Saban English.” In Further Studies in the Lesser-Known Varieties of English, edited by J. P. Williams & P. Trudgill. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 128-42.
- ^ a b c Philipp Meer. “Select phonetic and phonological features of Caribbean varieties of English: An overview.” In [1] .
- ^ James A. Walker and Miriam Meyerhoff. “Pivots of the Caribbean? Low-back vowels in eastern Caribbean English.” In [2] .