Bajan: phonology

Barbados is a contemporary nation-state that won its independence from Britain in 1966. This island, the most easterly of the Caribbean countries, is 21 miles long by 14 miles wide and has an approximate population of a quarter million people. It is a densely populated country, with more than 1 500 persons per square mile in urban areas; and much less in the rural areas where the land is appropriated for tillage. Geopolitically, the island is divided into eleven parishes, with the capital, Bridgetown, located in the southwest parish of St. Michael. The remaining parishes are divided into subsidiary centers in terms of region (e.g., southern, etc.). The eastern side of the island has been relegated to national historical landmark status, thereby prohibiting industrial development and limiting tourism.

 

While the official language of this country is English, the population also speaks an English-related Creole, Bajan, arising out of a particular language contact situation, slavery and bond servitude, under British colonization. As opposed to “Barbadian English” or “Barbadian Creole (English)”, the name Bajan (also Barbadian or Badian) for the vernacular language of Barbados is derived from the island name and does not carry the potential charge that suggests a position on the origins of the language, as discussed below. Although Barbados was an entrepôt for slaves (serving as the springboard for settlements elsewhere in the Caribbean), Bajan is unique amongst languages in the Anglophone Caribbean territories, i.e., from Jamaica to Guyana, because its creole affiliations have been questioned (as is the case for African American English). This is largely due to the nature of the island’s historical links to Britain and its demographics during the early colonial period. Almost twice as long a term as its sister territories in the Atlantic, Barbados experienced an uninterrupted colonization period of more than three hundred years by English-speaking rulers, lending to the cognomen “Little England”. Moreover, in the first quarter century of colonization, whites outnumbered blacks, further lending to its image.

الاكثر قراءة في Phonology

Minimal pairs and sets

Aspiration

Phones and allophones

Assimilations

Finding the underlying form

The Sonority Sequencing Generalization

Major class features

Feature geometry

Standard lexical sets

Bukusu: nasal+consonant combinations

Place of articulation

Allophony in other languages

Floating tones

Natural classes

Dissimilation

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يطلق باقة من النشاطات الرقمية الخاصة بشهر المحرم

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تختتم السلسلة الأولى لمشروع المحاضرات القرآنية العاشورائية في بابل

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تسلّم راية العزاء إلى تجمّع مواكب محافظة الديوانية

قسم الشؤون الفكرية يواصل إقامة المجالس الحسينية ضمن سلسلة (بيوت النعيم)

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

لكبح الجوع وخسارة الوزن.. "سر بسيط" في نظام جوكوفيتش ؟

هل يساعد الرجيم في علاج الأمراض العقلية؟

لحماية أسنان طفلك.. هذا الفيتامين يقلل خطر التسوس

أكل الطعام بسرعة.. طريق سريع إلى أمراض خطيرة

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ما هي أفضل درجة حرارة لتكييف الهواء في السيارة؟

ذوبان الأنهار الجليدية يوقظ "عمالقة نائمة"!

9 يوليو يشهد أقصر يوم في التاريخ المسجل ؟!!

راتبه عشرات ملايين الدولارات.. زوكربرغ يخطف "عقل أبل"

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Spelling and Pronunciation SUMMARY

American English vs. British English

Morphological Basis of English Spelling

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Vowels

Phoneme–Grapheme Correspondences in English Consonants

Spelling and Pronunciation Irregularity of English Spelling

Structural Factors in Second Language Phonology SUMMARY

Perception

Optimality Theory (OT)

Ontogeny Phylogeny Model (OPM)

Markedness

Hypercontrast