Gateway to World Englishes

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Antigua & Barbuda

English came to Antigua & Barbuda in the 17th century, when British colonists settled there and brought African slaves to the Caribbean. It is the Islands’ official language. However, the variety mostly spoken on Antigua & Barbuda is a Creole English which is similar to that of Dominica and slightly intelligible with Jamaican English. Between Creole and British Standard English, there is no clear borderline, but rather a continuum.

Among the general features of Caribbean Creoles, there are the following: Caribbean Creoles have a syllable-timed rhythm, i.e. there is no schwa in unstressed syllables. This leads to the prominent “rapping rhythm” of these languages. Often, vowel distinctions are lost, so that cat, cot and caught sound the same. The dental fricative (“th”) becomes an alveolar stop (/t/ or /d/). Furthermore, consonant clusters are simplified, and metathesis can take place (ask becomes aks).

Grenada

Barbudan English displays some distinct features, e.g. it has four present progressive constructions and a phenomenon of vowel harmony, which can lead to contractions and alternations of grammatical markers.

Official government site of Antigua & Barbuda

ABS TV (TV)

Antigua Observer (Newspaper)

List of radio stations

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