Torres Strait English
Encyclopedia
Torres Strait English is a dialect
of the English language
spoken by the people of various backgrounds (indigneous Torres Strait, Malay, Filipino, European, Japanese, etc.) born and raised on Thursday Island and neighbouring islands in Torres Strait, North Queensland
, Australia
. It is distinct from Torres Strait Creole
, though most locals speak both the creole and English. Quite a few locals are also speakers of General Australian English.
Its main phonological characteristic is the retention of English [iː] and [uː] where Australian English has [əi] and [əu] (for example, wheel [ˈwiːl] rather than [ˈwəil], fool [ˈfuːl] rather than [ˈfəul]), while where grammar and the like are concerned, Torres Strait English shows a certain amount of post-Creole characteristics, such as the phrase You for [adjective] (e.g. You for style!) for the English You look/are really [adjective] (You are a real show-off!, alt. You are real cool!), and the almost mandatory use of second personal pronouns in the imperative. Other characteristics of T.I. English follow general non-standard dialects of English such as the use of done for did, run for ran, come for came (i.e. a four-way verb system of present-past-infinitive--ing-form for all verbs), and oncet for once. This is a non-rhotic accent
, like Australian and New Zealand dialects.
T.I. English is not a post-creole form, but rather an independent development from the English of the early European settlers, most of whom were from various parts of the world. Relatively few were native-born White Australians. The input dialects were British of various types, Irish, US, Jamaican, and others. Substratum languages include Malay, Japanese, Chinese (Cantonese?), Jamaican Creole, Samoan, Brokan, and so on.
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
spoken by the people of various backgrounds (indigneous Torres Strait, Malay, Filipino, European, Japanese, etc.) born and raised on Thursday Island and neighbouring islands in Torres Strait, North Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. It is distinct from Torres Strait Creole
Torres Strait Creole
Torres Strait Creole is an English-based creole language spoken on several Torres Strait Islands , Northern Cape York and South-Western Coastal Papua...
, though most locals speak both the creole and English. Quite a few locals are also speakers of General Australian English.
Its main phonological characteristic is the retention of English [iː] and [uː] where Australian English has [əi] and [əu] (for example, wheel [ˈwiːl] rather than [ˈwəil], fool [ˈfuːl] rather than [ˈfəul]), while where grammar and the like are concerned, Torres Strait English shows a certain amount of post-Creole characteristics, such as the phrase You for [adjective] (e.g. You for style!) for the English You look/are really [adjective] (You are a real show-off!, alt. You are real cool!), and the almost mandatory use of second personal pronouns in the imperative. Other characteristics of T.I. English follow general non-standard dialects of English such as the use of done for did, run for ran, come for came (i.e. a four-way verb system of present-past-infinitive--ing-form for all verbs), and oncet for once. This is a non-rhotic accent
Rhotic and non-rhotic accents
English pronunciation can be divided into two main accent groups: a rhotic speaker pronounces a rhotic consonant in words like hard; a non-rhotic speaker does not...
, like Australian and New Zealand dialects.
T.I. English is not a post-creole form, but rather an independent development from the English of the early European settlers, most of whom were from various parts of the world. Relatively few were native-born White Australians. The input dialects were British of various types, Irish, US, Jamaican, and others. Substratum languages include Malay, Japanese, Chinese (Cantonese?), Jamaican Creole, Samoan, Brokan, and so on.