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9 - English in the Caribbean and the Central American Rim

from Part II - World Englishes Old and New

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2019

By
Michael Aceto
Edited by
Daniel Schreier ,
Marianne Hundt  and
Edgar W. Schneider
Daniel Schreier
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Marianne Hundt
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Edgar W. Schneider
Affiliation:
Universität Regensburg, Germany
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Summary

This chapter discusses “newer” (i.e. in the last 400 years or less) varieties of English spoken in the Caribbean, in particular the relationship between the Caribbean and Central American varieties on the western edge of the Caribbean. It also presents a short discussion of the influences that have shaped these varieties and various popular heuristics for imagining their emergence as well as a description of the geographical locations in the Caribbean where these varieties are spoken. The social contexts of their emergence are also discussed as well as a grammatical sketch pointing out similarities and differences and a discussion of several theoretical issues of relevance to the field.

Keywords

Englishesvarietiesdialectscreolespidginsemergencebasilectmesolect acrolecttypologydiagnostic featuresCentral AmericaCaribbeangrammatical featuresdecreolizationcreole continuumvariation
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of World Englishes , pp. 185 - 209
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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