Bajan Creole

language

Bajan is an English-based creole language.[1] People on the Caribbean island of Barbados speak it. Bajan, like many other English-based Caribbean creole languages, has a West African substrate and an English superstrate. Bajan is similar but different from the creoles of neighbouring Caribbean islands.

Bajan
Native toBarbados
Native speakers
259,000
English Creole
  • Atlantic
    • Eastern
      • Southern
        • Bajan
Language codes
ISO 639-3bjs
Linguasphere52-ABB-ar
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Bajan is the Caribbean creole with the closest grammar to Standard English.[2]

In general, the people of Barbados speak standard British English on TV and radio, in courthouses, in government, and in day-to-day business. Bajan is for less formal situations, in music, or in social commentary.

References

change
  1. Burrowes, Audrey. (1983). "Barbadian Creole: A note on its social history and structure". Studies in Caribbean Language. St. Augustine, Trinidad: Society for Caribbean Linguistics, pp. 38-45.
  2. Hancock (1980:22), citing Le Page (1957:58–59)