Trinidadian English

Trinidadian English (TE) or Trinidad and Tobago Standard English is a dialect of English used in Trinidad and Tobago. TE co-exists with both non-standard varieties of English as well as other dialects, namely Trinidadian Creole in Trinidad and Tobagonian Creole in Tobago. Both islands as one consider the dialect as Trinbagonian Creole.

Trinidadian English was originally based on a standard of British English. Located in the Americas, TE now uses many Americanisms, including apartment and trunk (of a car). It is understandable by speakers of international standard English, although it uses a number of terms that are unique to it (perhaps coming from Trinidadian Creole), such as "to lime", meaning "to hang out". Speech in Trinidad (and, to some degree, in Tobago) may vary by location and circumstance and is often remarked for its "sing-song" (i.e. a rising and falling inflection) intonation.

See also

• Regional accents of English speakers

References

• Mendes, John (1986). Cote ce Cote la: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary. Arima, Trinidad.
• 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, 2004, What kind of question is this?.
• James, Winford, 2004, What kind of question is this? Pt2.

External links

• A Trinidadian accent
• Discussion of a paper by Lise Winer
• An Ethnolinguistic Study of the Trinidadian Creole community in Flatbush, Brooklyn by Keisha T. Lindsay and Justine Bolusi
• Frequently Asked Questions on Caribbean Language by the Society for Caribbean Linguistics
• Wiwords A cross-referencing dictionary of West Indian words with a large number of Trinidadian terms
• The Sociolinguistic Situation of Trinidad and Tobago. 1997.
• Phonological Hypercorrection in the Process of Decreolization--the Case of Trinidadian English.