English in Barbados

Barbadian English or Bajan  English is a dialect of the English language as used by Barbadians (Bajans) and by Barbadian diasporas. It should not be confused with Bajan Creole, which is an English-based creole language.

Pronunciation
Barbadian English is fully rhotic and full of glottal stops. One example of Barbadian English would be the pronunciation of departments, which is. It is also notable, in comparison with standard American or British English, for the first vowel in price or prize.


 * The realization of the vowel  in Barbadian English is pretty much the same as in American English, the default.
 * The vowel  is.
 * The vowel  is usually.
 * The vowel  is usually  or.
 * The vowel  is the same as in the US English,.
 * The vowel  is.
 * The vowel  is .  is best identified as an allophone of this phoneme, thus.
 * The diphthong  varies by region and education/class: it manifests in educated speech generally as  or sometimes, and in rural and uneducated speech as the vowel.
 * The vowel  is mostly . The  diaphoneme is mostly to be identified with this vowel (see trap-bath split)
 * The vowel  is  or.
 * The diphthong  is generally  or.
 * The  and   sequences are both, resulting in the near-square merger.
 * The sequence  is.
 * The sequence  is usually  or.
 * The sequence  and the  sequence  are both usually.
 * The vowel  is.
 * The vowel  is mostly.
 * The diphthong  is generally.
 * The diphthong  is either  or.
 * The diphthong  is.
 * The final vowel  is.
 * The final vowel  is.
 * The final vowel  is.
 * The and  vowels are not merged in Barbadian English. However the vowels of, , and  are generally merged.