Bahamian English is a dialect

Dialect

The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...

 of English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 spoken in the Bahamas and by Bahamian diasporas. It should not be confused with Bahamian Creole

Bahamian Creole

Bahamian is an English-based creole language spoken by approximately 400,000 people in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.Bahamian is spoken by both white and black Bahamians, although in slightly different forms. Bahamian also tends to be more prevalent in certain areas of the Bahamas...

, which is an English-based creole language.

Pronunciation

• The Kit Vowel: The realization of the kit vowel in the Bahamian English is pretty much the same as in American English, the default [ɪ].

• The Dress Vowel: The vowel of dress is [ɛ].

• The Trap Vowel: This vowel is mostly [a] or [æ].

• The Lot Vowel: As mostly of the US, this vowel is usually [ɑ].

• The Strut Vowel: It is the same as in the US English, [ʌ].

• The Foot Vowel: It is [ʊ].

• The Fleece Vowel: It's [i] or a diphthong [ɪi].

• The Face Diphthong: It's generally [eɪ] or [ɛɪ].

• The Palm Vowel: It is mostly [ɑ].

• The Thought Vowel: The vowel of thought is [ɔ].

• The Goat Diphthong: It's generally [ɵʊ] or [oʊ].

• The Near Diphthong: It's [eə] or [iə].

• The Square Diphthong: It's [eə].

• The Start Vowel: It's [ɑː].

• The North Diphthong: The diphthong in north is usually [ɔə].

• The Force Diphthong: The diphthong in force is usually [oə].

• The Cure Diphthong: The diphthong in cure is usually [uə].

• The Bath Vowel: This vowel is mostly [a] or [æ].

• The Cloth Vowel: It is mostly [ɔ].

• The Nurse Vowel: It varies among [ə], [ɜ] and [ɜi].

• The Goose vowel: It's mostly [ʉː].

• The Price/Prize Dithphong: It's generally [ɑɪ].

• The Choice Diphthong: It's [oɪ].

• The Mouth Diphthong: It varies among [ao], [aɵ] [aɛ] and [ɑə].

• The happY vowel: It is pretty much the kit vowel: [ɪ].

• The lettEr-horsEs-commA vowel is [ə].

• The Bahamian accent is non-rhotic.

• There's poor distinction between the [v] and [w] sounds in Bahamian English. The contrast is often neutralized or merged into [v], [b] or [β], so village sounds like [wɪlɪdʒ], [vɪlɪdʒ] or [βɪlɪdʒ]. This also happens in the Vincentian, Bermudian and other Caribbean Englishes.

• Dental fricatives are usually changed to alveolar plosives:

Voiced:
-"That" turning into "Dat".
-"Those" turning into "Dose".
-"There" turning into "Dere".
-"They" turning into "Dey".

Unvoiced:
-"Thanks" becoming "Tanks".
-"Throw" becoming "Trow".

List of Bahamian English Words

This is a list of some of the most common Bahamian English words and their meanings:

• Cutter - An individual that is willing to have meaningless sex with anyone - "I'm going to the club to get me a cutter."
• Bey- a synonym for "boy", or a synonym for "hey" when being used to get someone's attention. Can also be used to put emphasis on something, or just put at the end of a sentence. "Dat was a good movie bey"
• Yinna- a plural for "you".
• Y'all- "You all" shortened. Also a synonym for "you".
• Chall- Bahamian pronunciation of the English word child.
• Biggety- bold, loud, outspoken: "She biggety aye."
• Mussey- must be: "She mussey catching feelings."
• Piss- angry: "He is piss me off bey"
• Catching feelings- getting emotional: Bey what you catchin' feeling for dawg
• Dawg- dude, bey- Bey why you accusin' me dawg
• Nomanners- to be disrespectfull: "Das a nomanners gal."
• Cackalin'- a sharp laugh or out burst
• Gern- A synomom for "going": "Gern down Burma Road."
• Gimme- "Give me":"Gimme some a dat."
• Kapoonkalup- Refers to being drunk and uncomfortable: "All Kapponkalup again!"
• Boongie- The buttocks of a person.
• Frousy- Refers to a stench. "Chall u frousy!"
• Nanny- Refers to stool.
• Wybe- Refers to a conflict or situation.
• Aww Flip- Used as an expression of excitement, can be positive, negative or neutral: "Aww flip, it start!"
• Ya Ma- Refers to someone's mother. "Das ya ma bey"
• Doggy- A male's genitalia
• Cunny- A female's genitalia
• Look Here- Come here.
• Run out- Over exaggerate/hyperbole
• Ine- I'm not
• How it go?- What's up?
• Muddoe- A term used when baffled