Virgin Islands Creole
Encyclopedia
Virgin Islands Creole, or Virgin Islands Creole English, is an English-based creole
spoken in the Virgin Islands
and the nearby SSS islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin
, where it has been known as Netherlands Antilles Creole English.
The term "Virgin Islands Creole" is formal terminology used by scholars and academics, and is rarely used in everyday speech. Informally, the creole is known by the term dialect, as the creole is often seen by locals as a dialect variety of English instead of an English creole language. However, academic sociohistorical and linguistic research suggests that it is in fact an English creole language.
Because there are various varieties of Virgin Islands Creole, it is also known by the specific island on which it is spoken: Crucian dialect, Thomian dialect, Tortolian dialect, Saint Martin dialect, Saba dialect, Statia dialect.
was formed when enslaved
Africa
ns, unable to communicate with each other and their masters due to being taken from different regions of West Africa
with different language
s, created an English
-based pidgin
with West African-derived words and grammatical structure. This was creolized as it was passed on to subsequent generations as their native tongue.
St. Thomas and St. John, although Danish colonies, had a European population of mainly Dutch
origin, which led to enslaved Africans first creating a Dutch-based creole, known as Negerhollands (now supposedly a dead language although you may find a few that still use the lingo and may have passed it down to the next generation). Negerhollands was in mainstream usage on St. Thomas and St. John up until the 19th century, when the British
occupied the Danish West Indies from 1801 to 1802 and 1807 to 1815. In addition, as English became preferred as a trade and business language in the busy port of Charlotte Amalie
, Virgin Islands Creole became established in preference to Negerhollands. Some of the population continued to use Negerhollands well into the 20th century.
Unlike the European population of the other Danish West Indian islands, that of St. Croix was mostly of English, Irish and Scottish origin, which led to African slaves' developing an English-based creole throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. By the 19th century, Virgin Islands Creole was spoken on St. Thomas
and St. John
, as Negerhollands was fading away. By the end of the 19th century, the English creole completely replaced Negerhollands as the native dialect of the present-day U.S. Virgin Islands.
The creole had also been developing in the present-day British Virgin Islands
. The British took over the islands from the Dutch
in 1672. Enslaved Africans were brought to work on plantations on the islands of Tortola
, Virgin Gorda
, Anegada
and Jost Van Dyke
where they, like those enslaved on St. Croix over 40 miles away, also developed an English-based creole. Although the U.S. and British Virgin Islands are politically separate, they share a common Virgin Islands culture
, similar history based on colonialism and slavery, and some common bloodlines.
Like those in the Virgin Islands, African slaves were also brought to the "SSS islands" of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin. The prevalence of Europeans from the British Isles
on these islands, as well as the islands' close proximity and trade with nearby English-speaking islands, resulted in an English creole being spoken in the "SSS islands." The "ancestral" inhabitants (descendants of the original African slaves and European colonists) of the "SSS islands" also share common bloodlines with those of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
(both French and Dutch sides) and Sint Eustatius. Though not called by the same name, the Virgin Islands and SSS varieties are considered by linguists to be the same creole.
There are slight variations from island to island. The speech of St. Croix (known as Crucian) is the most distinct, sharing many similarities with the English creoles of Belize and Panama
. The speech of the British Virgin Islands and the SSS islands are closer to each other than they are to the speech of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
. The language of government, education and the media is American English
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Queen's English in the British Virgin Islands, both Dutch
and English in the "SSS islands", and French
on the French side of Saint Martin.
Like most Anglophone Caribbean
islands, a post-creole speech continuum
exists, in which there are two extremes — standard English (known as the acrolect) and the creole in its most distinct, or raw, form (known as the basilect). Due to the constant contact between standard English and Virgin Islands Creole in local society, there are many in-between speech varieties as well (known as mesolects). Most native Virgin Islanders can easily maneuver this continuum depending on their mood, subject matter, or their addressee.
Virgin Islands Creole has different forms that vary by the age of the speaker, as many words and expressions are known only by older islanders, while there are also relatively newer words and expressions known only to younger islanders. The creole continues to undergo changes in a post-creole environment. Its most modern form is mainly derived from traditional Virgin Islands Creole terms, idioms, proverbs and sentence structure, with influences from African-American
and Jamaican
idioms, due to the prevalence of African-American and Jamaican mainstream pop culture in the Virgin Islands. The variant of Virgin Islands Creole spoken on St. Croix, known as Crucian, contains many Spanish
-derived words due to St. Croix's large ethnic Puerto Rican
population.
As in other Caribbean creoles, proverbs are prevalent in Virgin Islands Creole. However, in 2004, a linguistic
study group in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico
’s Rio Piedras campus found that many old proverbs in the Crucian dialect, common among older generations, have faded away and are not generally known among many young Crucians. Many Virgin Islanders who migrate to the United States often return with American-influenced speech patterns (colloquially known as yankin) that influence local speech of their peer groups. These changes, as well as the perception held by many older Virgin Islanders that the dialect is currently undergoing decreolization
, have inspired debates on whether the dialect spoken by young Virgin Islanders today is in fact the true Virgin Islands Creole.
Like most Caribbean creoles, the use of Virgin Islands Creole can vary depending on socioeconomic class. The middle and upper classes tend to speak it informally among friends and at home, but code switch to Standard English in the professional sphere. The lower socioeconomic classes tend to use the dialect in almost every aspect of daily life.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, there has been an underlying negative pressure on Virgin Islanders to eliminate their dialect due to Americanization since the United States acquired the islands from Denmark in 1917." Standard American English is associated with social mobility
, as it is widely used in business and professional circles. Virgin Islands Creole, although appreciated for its cultural value and widely used informally, is often seen as an impediment to economic and educational progress.
The majority of Virgin Islanders speak Virgin Islands Creole. However, due to immigration from the rest of the Caribbean and the United States, some Virgin Islands residents do not speak the dialect. Most non-native longtime residents can understand spoken Virgin Islands Creole, even if not fluent in speaking themselves. In the Virgin Islands, the dialect is rarely referred to as a creole, as locally, "creole" (as well as "patois") usually refers to the French-based creoles spoken by St. Lucian, Dominica
n (Dominica) and Haiti
an immigrants. Instead, Virgin Islanders tend to refer to the dialect by their native island (i.e. "Crucian dialect", "Thomian dialect", "Tortolian dialect", etc.)
As with other Caribbean creoles, Virgin Islands Creole is generally unwritten. However, local authors often write in the creole, and young Virgin Islanders tend to write in it when communicating over the Internet. Because no standard spelling system exists in Virgin Islands Creole, those who attempt to write it use English orthography.
The prevailing sentiment is that Virgin Islands Creole cannot be learned like a standard language, but acquired only through having spent one's formative years in the Virgin Islands. Attempts by Virgin Islands non-native residents to speak the dialect, even out of respect, are often met with disapproval.
occur less often. For example, the English phrase "I gave it to her" would translate to "I gi' 'e to she" in Virgin Islands Creole. Another common pattern found in Virgin Islands Creole is the absence of the letter "s" in the plural, possessive and third person present tense. For example, "my eyes" would translate to "ma eye dem."
in various ways. Virgin Islands accents are somewhat similar to those of other Caribbean countries, especially those in the Leeward Islands
and Belize
, but are also unique in many ways.
As in most Anglophone Caribbean
dialects, in Virgin Islands Creole, dental fricative
s (the "-th" sound) are often omitted from speech, and replaced by dental stops (the "-t" sound). The vowel pronunciation of Virgin Islands Creole can widely differ from Standard English. For example, in Virgin Islands Creole (as well as most other Anglophone Caribbean creoles), the suffix "er" in English, /ər/ in Standard English, is pronounced /æ/ (for example: computer is pronounced [kompuːtæ] ("computah"), and never is pronounced [nevæ] ("nevah")). Not all words ending in "er" are pronounced in this way.
Like many other Caribbean islands, the "oi" sound in standard English is pronounced "ay". For example, the English word "join" would be pronounced jine. Such anomalies have their roots in 17th and 18th century England, where such vowel sounds were pronounced similarly.
influence on St. Croix during the Danish colonial period.
Vowel sounds can also widely differ between islands. For example, the word "special" is usually pronounced speshahl on St. Croix and speshuhl on St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands. "Island" is usually pronounced islahn' on St. Croix and isluhn on St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands.
Another notable difference is the usage of the term deh, the Virgin Islands Creole form of the standard English adverb "there". On St. Croix, an additional deh is often added, forming the phrase deh-deh. Such usage is found in many Caribbean islands outside the Virgin Islands, as well. There are many instances where words and phrases (especially slang) that exist on one island may not exist on another. In addition, the Virgin Islands Creole spoken on St. Croix is often described as being more raw, or distant from standard English, than those of the other Virgin Islands.
English-based creole languages
An English-based creole language is a creole language that was significantly influenced by the English language...
spoken in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
and the nearby SSS islands of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin
Saint Martin
Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km2 island is divided roughly 60/40 between France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands ; however, the Dutch side has the larger population. It is one of the smallest sea islands divided between...
, where it has been known as Netherlands Antilles Creole English.
The term "Virgin Islands Creole" is formal terminology used by scholars and academics, and is rarely used in everyday speech. Informally, the creole is known by the term dialect, as the creole is often seen by locals as a dialect variety of English instead of an English creole language. However, academic sociohistorical and linguistic research suggests that it is in fact an English creole language.
Because there are various varieties of Virgin Islands Creole, it is also known by the specific island on which it is spoken: Crucian dialect, Thomian dialect, Tortolian dialect, Saint Martin dialect, Saba dialect, Statia dialect.
History
The creoleCreole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
was formed when enslaved
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
ns, unable to communicate with each other and their masters due to being taken from different regions of West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
with different language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
s, created an English
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...
-based pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
with West African-derived words and grammatical structure. This was creolized as it was passed on to subsequent generations as their native tongue.
St. Thomas and St. John, although Danish colonies, had a European population of mainly Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
origin, which led to enslaved Africans first creating a Dutch-based creole, known as Negerhollands (now supposedly a dead language although you may find a few that still use the lingo and may have passed it down to the next generation). Negerhollands was in mainstream usage on St. Thomas and St. John up until the 19th century, when the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
occupied the Danish West Indies from 1801 to 1802 and 1807 to 1815. In addition, as English became preferred as a trade and business language in the busy port of Charlotte Amalie
Charlotte Amalie, United States Virgin Islands
-Education:St. Thomas-St. John School District serves the community. and Charlotte Amalie High School serve the area.-Gallery:-See also:* Anna's Retreat* Cruz Bay* Saint Thomas* Water Island-External links:* *...
, Virgin Islands Creole became established in preference to Negerhollands. Some of the population continued to use Negerhollands well into the 20th century.
Unlike the European population of the other Danish West Indian islands, that of St. Croix was mostly of English, Irish and Scottish origin, which led to African slaves' developing an English-based creole throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. By the 19th century, Virgin Islands Creole was spoken on St. Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
and St. John
Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint John is an island in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. St...
, as Negerhollands was fading away. By the end of the 19th century, the English creole completely replaced Negerhollands as the native dialect of the present-day U.S. Virgin Islands.
The creole had also been developing in the present-day British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
. The British took over the islands from the Dutch
Dutch Empire
The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing...
in 1672. Enslaved Africans were brought to work on plantations on the islands of Tortola
Tortola
Tortola is the largest and most populated of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands that form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. Local tradition recounts that Christopher Columbus named it Tortola, meaning "land of the Turtle Dove". Columbus named the island Santa Ana...
, Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda
Virgin Gorda is the third-largest and second most populous of the British Virgin Islands . Located at approximately 18 degrees, 48 minutes North, and 64 degrees, 30 minutes West, it covers an area of about...
, Anegada
Anegada
Anegada is the northernmost of the British Virgin Islands, a group of islands which form part of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands. It lies approximately north of Virgin Gorda. Anegada is the only inhabited British Virgin Island formed from coral and limestone, rather than being of volcanic...
and Jost Van Dyke
Jost Van Dyke
At roughly 8 square kilometers, and about 3 square miles Jost Van Dyke is the smallest of the four main islands of the British Virgin Islands, the northern portion of the archipelago of the Virgin Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Jost Van Dyke lies about 8 km to the...
where they, like those enslaved on St. Croix over 40 miles away, also developed an English-based creole. Although the U.S. and British Virgin Islands are politically separate, they share a common Virgin Islands culture
Culture of the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islander culture represents the various peoples that have inhabited the present-day U.S. Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands throughout history...
, similar history based on colonialism and slavery, and some common bloodlines.
Like those in the Virgin Islands, African slaves were also brought to the "SSS islands" of Saba, Sint Eustatius and Saint Martin. The prevalence of Europeans from the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
on these islands, as well as the islands' close proximity and trade with nearby English-speaking islands, resulted in an English creole being spoken in the "SSS islands." The "ancestral" inhabitants (descendants of the original African slaves and European colonists) of the "SSS islands" also share common bloodlines with those of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.
Varieties
Today the creole is native to the U.S. and British Virgin Islands and the nearby "SSS islands" of Saba, Saint MartinSaint Martin
Saint Martin is an island in the northeast Caribbean, approximately east of Puerto Rico. The 87 km2 island is divided roughly 60/40 between France and the Kingdom of the Netherlands ; however, the Dutch side has the larger population. It is one of the smallest sea islands divided between...
(both French and Dutch sides) and Sint Eustatius. Though not called by the same name, the Virgin Islands and SSS varieties are considered by linguists to be the same creole.
There are slight variations from island to island. The speech of St. Croix (known as Crucian) is the most distinct, sharing many similarities with the English creoles of Belize and Panama
Colón Creole
Colón Creole is a language spoken in Panama. Colón Creole is similar to varieties such as Limón Coastal Creole, Mískito Coastal Creole, and Belizean Creole . The number of speakers of Colón Creole is below 300,000 . Colón Creole does not have the status of an official language.-See also:*Bajan...
. The speech of the British Virgin Islands and the SSS islands are closer to each other than they are to the speech of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Language use and perceptions
Virgin Islands Creole does not have the status of an official languageOfficial language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
. The language of government, education and the media is American English
American English
American English is a set of dialects of the English language used mostly in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the world's native speakers of English live in the United States....
in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Queen's English in the British Virgin Islands, both Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
and English in the "SSS islands", and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
on the French side of Saint Martin.
Like most Anglophone Caribbean
Anglophone Caribbean
The term Commonwealth Caribbean is used to refer to the independent English-speaking countries of the Caribbean region. Upon a country's full independence from the United Kingdom, Anglophone Caribbean or Commonwealth Caribbean traditionally becomes the preferred sub-regional term as a replacement...
islands, a post-creole speech continuum
Post-creole speech continuum
The Post-creole continuum or simply creole continuum refers to a situation wherein a creole language consists of a spectrum of varieties between those most and least similar to the superstrate language...
exists, in which there are two extremes — standard English (known as the acrolect) and the creole in its most distinct, or raw, form (known as the basilect). Due to the constant contact between standard English and Virgin Islands Creole in local society, there are many in-between speech varieties as well (known as mesolects). Most native Virgin Islanders can easily maneuver this continuum depending on their mood, subject matter, or their addressee.
Virgin Islands Creole has different forms that vary by the age of the speaker, as many words and expressions are known only by older islanders, while there are also relatively newer words and expressions known only to younger islanders. The creole continues to undergo changes in a post-creole environment. Its most modern form is mainly derived from traditional Virgin Islands Creole terms, idioms, proverbs and sentence structure, with influences from African-American
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
and Jamaican
Jamaican Creole
Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patois or Jamaican, and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-lexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. It is not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of...
idioms, due to the prevalence of African-American and Jamaican mainstream pop culture in the Virgin Islands. The variant of Virgin Islands Creole spoken on St. Croix, known as Crucian, contains many Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
-derived words due to St. Croix's large ethnic Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
population.
As in other Caribbean creoles, proverbs are prevalent in Virgin Islands Creole. However, in 2004, a linguistic
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
study group in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico
The University of Puerto Rico is the state university system of Puerto Rico. The system consists of 11 campuses and has approximately 64,511 students and 5,300 faculty members...
’s Rio Piedras campus found that many old proverbs in the Crucian dialect, common among older generations, have faded away and are not generally known among many young Crucians. Many Virgin Islanders who migrate to the United States often return with American-influenced speech patterns (colloquially known as yankin) that influence local speech of their peer groups. These changes, as well as the perception held by many older Virgin Islanders that the dialect is currently undergoing decreolization
Decreolization
Decreolization is a hypothetical phenomenon whereby over time a creole language reconverges with one of the standard languages from which it originally derived...
, have inspired debates on whether the dialect spoken by young Virgin Islanders today is in fact the true Virgin Islands Creole.
Like most Caribbean creoles, the use of Virgin Islands Creole can vary depending on socioeconomic class. The middle and upper classes tend to speak it informally among friends and at home, but code switch to Standard English in the professional sphere. The lower socioeconomic classes tend to use the dialect in almost every aspect of daily life.
In the U.S. Virgin Islands, there has been an underlying negative pressure on Virgin Islanders to eliminate their dialect due to Americanization since the United States acquired the islands from Denmark in 1917." Standard American English is associated with social mobility
Social mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
, as it is widely used in business and professional circles. Virgin Islands Creole, although appreciated for its cultural value and widely used informally, is often seen as an impediment to economic and educational progress.
The majority of Virgin Islanders speak Virgin Islands Creole. However, due to immigration from the rest of the Caribbean and the United States, some Virgin Islands residents do not speak the dialect. Most non-native longtime residents can understand spoken Virgin Islands Creole, even if not fluent in speaking themselves. In the Virgin Islands, the dialect is rarely referred to as a creole, as locally, "creole" (as well as "patois") usually refers to the French-based creoles spoken by St. Lucian, Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
n (Dominica) and Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an immigrants. Instead, Virgin Islanders tend to refer to the dialect by their native island (i.e. "Crucian dialect", "Thomian dialect", "Tortolian dialect", etc.)
As with other Caribbean creoles, Virgin Islands Creole is generally unwritten. However, local authors often write in the creole, and young Virgin Islanders tend to write in it when communicating over the Internet. Because no standard spelling system exists in Virgin Islands Creole, those who attempt to write it use English orthography.
The prevailing sentiment is that Virgin Islands Creole cannot be learned like a standard language, but acquired only through having spent one's formative years in the Virgin Islands. Attempts by Virgin Islands non-native residents to speak the dialect, even out of respect, are often met with disapproval.
Grammatical structure and pronunciation
As with other Caribbean creoles, Virgin Islands Creole has a smaller set of pronouns than English, and conjugationsGrammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
occur less often. For example, the English phrase "I gave it to her" would translate to "I gi' 'e to she" in Virgin Islands Creole. Another common pattern found in Virgin Islands Creole is the absence of the letter "s" in the plural, possessive and third person present tense. For example, "my eyes" would translate to "ma eye dem."
Differences from English
The pronunciation differs from Standard EnglishStandard English
Standard English refers to whatever form of the English language is accepted as a national norm in an Anglophone country...
in various ways. Virgin Islands accents are somewhat similar to those of other Caribbean countries, especially those in the Leeward Islands
Leeward Islands
The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...
and Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, but are also unique in many ways.
As in most Anglophone Caribbean
Anglophone Caribbean
The term Commonwealth Caribbean is used to refer to the independent English-speaking countries of the Caribbean region. Upon a country's full independence from the United Kingdom, Anglophone Caribbean or Commonwealth Caribbean traditionally becomes the preferred sub-regional term as a replacement...
dialects, in Virgin Islands Creole, dental fricative
Dental fricative
The dental fricative or interdental fricative is a fricative consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue against the teeth. There are two types, both written as th in English:*Voiced dental fricative *Voiceless dental fricative...
s (the "-th" sound) are often omitted from speech, and replaced by dental stops (the "-t" sound). The vowel pronunciation of Virgin Islands Creole can widely differ from Standard English. For example, in Virgin Islands Creole (as well as most other Anglophone Caribbean creoles), the suffix "er" in English, /ər/ in Standard English, is pronounced /æ/ (for example: computer is pronounced [kompuːtæ] ("computah"), and never is pronounced [nevæ] ("nevah")). Not all words ending in "er" are pronounced in this way.
Like many other Caribbean islands, the "oi" sound in standard English is pronounced "ay". For example, the English word "join" would be pronounced jine. Such anomalies have their roots in 17th and 18th century England, where such vowel sounds were pronounced similarly.
Variations in grammar and speech among islands
Local speech varies among each of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands. It is commonplace for such differences to be pointed out in jest when Virgin Islanders of different islands congregate. For example, the pronunciation of the standard English phrase "come here" would be come ya on St. Croix, and come heh on St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands. In addition, the Virgin Islands Creole form of the word "car" is cyar on St. Croix and cah on St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands. These two anomalies are due to IrishIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
influence on St. Croix during the Danish colonial period.
Vowel sounds can also widely differ between islands. For example, the word "special" is usually pronounced speshahl on St. Croix and speshuhl on St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands. "Island" is usually pronounced islahn' on St. Croix and isluhn on St. Thomas, St. John and the British Virgin Islands.
Another notable difference is the usage of the term deh, the Virgin Islands Creole form of the standard English adverb "there". On St. Croix, an additional deh is often added, forming the phrase deh-deh. Such usage is found in many Caribbean islands outside the Virgin Islands, as well. There are many instances where words and phrases (especially slang) that exist on one island may not exist on another. In addition, the Virgin Islands Creole spoken on St. Croix is often described as being more raw, or distant from standard English, than those of the other Virgin Islands.
Examples of Virgin Islands Creole Proverbs
- "Who don't hear does feel."
- "What yoh do in de dark does come to light."
- "Time longer dan twine."
- "Every skin teeth ain' a grin."
- "Monkey know wha' tree to clime."
- "Do for do ain' no obeah"
External links
- American Virgin Islands Creole Assorted information on Virgin Islands Creole, as well as Negerhollands. Includes section on surviving Africanisms in traditional Virgin Islands Creole.
- British Virgin Islands Dictionary Wiwords.com – a cross-referencing West Indian dictionary
- Crucian Dictionary Cruciandictionary.com – an online dictionary on the Crucian dialect – the form of Virgin Islands Creole spoken on St. Croix.
- Domino 60 Traditional Children's Songs, Games, Proverbs, and Culture From the United States Virgin Islands by Karen Ellis©1990 plus 45 minute Live Sound Field Recording ©1979 Registration Number TXu 822-111
- Linguistics, American Virgin Islands Creole Kraal Cultural Manual and Virgin Islands English
- St. Maarten Talk Series A documentary on YouTube on the English creole spoken on the French-Dutch island of St. Maarten.
- The Indigenous Folksong Reading Curriculum Includes, on page 6, an excerpt in which a teacher accounts her experiences teaching standard English to Crucian dialect speakers on St. Croix.
- US Virgin Islands Dictionary Wiwords.com – a cross-referencing West Indian dictionary.
- VI Creole 101 A documentary on YouTube on the English creole spoken in the Virgin Islands.
- Zoop Zoop Zoop: Traditional Music and Folklore of St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John Includes many songs in Virgin Islands Creole.