Contact Englishes of the Eastern Caribbean is the first collection to focus, via primary linguistic fieldwork, on the underrepresented and neglected area of the Anglophone Eastern Caribbean. The following islands are included: The Virgin Islands (USA & British), Anguilla, Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, Carriacou, Barbados, Trinidad, and Guyana. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible, the contiguous areas of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos islands (often considered part of North American Englishes) are also included. Papers in this volume explore all aspects of language study, including syntax, phonology, historical linguistics, dialectology, sociolinguistics, ethnography, and performance. It should be of interest not only to creolists but also to linguists, anthropologists, sociologists and educators either in the Caribbean itself or those who work with schoolchildren of West Indian descent.

Table of contents

Map ix Preface xi Introduction Michael Aceto and Jeffrey P. Williams xiii Defining ethnic varieties in the Bahamas: Phonological accommodation in black and white enclave communities Becky Childs, Jeffrey Reaser and Walt Wolfram 1–28 The grammatical features of TMA auxiliaries in Bahamian Creole Helean McPhee 29–49 English in the Turks and Caicos Islands: A look at Grand Turk Cecilia Cutler 51–80 Language variety in the Virgin Islands: Plural marking Robin Sabino, Mary Diamond and Leah Cockcroft 81–94 The establishment and perpetuation of Anglophone white enclave communities in the Eastern Caribbean: The case of Island Harbour, Anguilla Jeffrey P. Williams 95–119 What are Creole languages? An alternative approach to the Anglophone Atlantic world with special emphasis on Barbudan Creole English Michael Aceto 121–140 Language variation and language use among teachers in Dominica Beverley Bryan and Rosalind Burnette 141–153 An “English Creole” that isn‘t: On the sociohistorical origins and linguistic classiffication of the vernacular English of St. Lucia Paul B. Garrett 155–210 The Carriacou Shakespeare Mas’: Linguistic creativity in a Creole community Joan M. Fayer 211–226 Creole English on Carriacou: A sketch and some implications Ronald Kephart 227–239 Barbadian lects: Beyond meso Gerard van Herk 241–264 Eastern Caribbean suprasegmental systems: A comparative view with particular reference to Barbadian, Trinidadian, and Guyanese David Sutcliffe 265–296 References 297–315 Index 317–320