Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you find Rihanna's interview with Oprah her Bajan was quite obvious, and even Oprah commented on it. She said that when she is back home it comes out as she doesnt have to be concerned about not ebing understood. Indeed at points she sounded real raw Bajan. She doesnt come from an elite part of that society.
I assume "softer" you mean tone, as blacks tend to have a deeper tone. Many white Caribbean people often speak in a more dialect influenced way as some feel that they need to do it to prove that they arent tourists. For a good example of that Butch Stewart, who owns the famous Sandals hotel chain.
Yea and the blacks speak their accent with more emotion also. It's funny cause I consider collie budz a hardcore reggae artist but he couldn't compare to the voice and emotions like bounty killa, vybez kartel or mavado. Then again collie budz is from Bermuda I think.
Yea and the blacks speak their accent with more emotion also. It's funny cause I consider collie budz a hardcore reggae artist but he couldn't compare to the voice and emotions like bounty killa, vybez kartel or mavado. Then again collie budz is from Bermuda I think.
And of course Bermuda is an anomaly. Is it Caribbean, or is it just another Mid Atlantic society?
I really don't know how any one can think that Jamaicans, Bajans and Trinis sound alike. That's like some one claiming that Texans and English people have the same accent.
I can agree that it might be harder to distinguish people from Guyana, or the smaller islands, but to confuse a Jamaican for a Bajan, is just passed belief! Even if the speaker is using 100% standard English.
I worked for Jamaicans for 4 years, so I can definitely tell a Jamaican accent apart from all other West Indian accents. All the others sound similar to me; I can't tell a Trinidadian from a Guyanese, even though I have visited the island of Trinidad.
Every West Indian person I know swears that a Bajan accent is just as distinct as a Jamaican. Yet to save my life I can't see how; Bajans sound like every other island to me.
I worked for Jamaicans for 4 years, so I can definitely tell a Jamaican accent apart from all other West Indian accents. All the others sound similar to me; I can't tell a Trinidadian from a Guyanese, even though I have visited the island of Trinidad.
Every West Indian person I know swears that a Bajan accent is just as distinct as a Jamaican. Yet to save my life I can't see how; Bajans sound like every other island to me.
Jamaican and Barbadian are very distinct accents. I honestly don't understand how anyone can confuse those two accents with a Grenadian, St vincentian, Belizean, Dominican etc..
I worked for Jamaicans for 4 years, so I can definitely tell a Jamaican accent apart from all other West Indian accents. All the others sound similar to me; I can't tell a Trinidadian from a Guyanese, even though I have visited the island of Trinidad.
Every West Indian person I know swears that a Bajan accent is just as distinct as a Jamaican. Yet to save my life I can't see how; Bajans sound like every other island to me.
The most distinct accent is the Bajan. They have a nasal tone. They have a clipped tone. They chop up their words, and they have a very strong "R" sound. Their tonal sound is also flatter. The "singing" tone that most Americans associate with Caribbean accents is less present among Bajans, definitely when compared with Trinis, who go to the other extreme.
To my ears their voices are thinner and higher pitched than most other Caribbean people, which is why some link them to rural English dialects, or even cockney, or the "pirate" sound that some one described earlier.
The Bajan accent is seen by most Caribbean people as being quite unusual.
Maybe the Bajans who you know left long ago so lost their accent, but a Bajan accent is definitely different from a Trini.
The Jamaican accent is the best known as the Jamaican immigrant populations are the largest, its culture the most promoted, and Jamaica is the most popular tourist destination in the Anglophone Caribbean for North American travelers. How ever its possible that some one might hear a person from the Leeward Islands, St Vincent, or certain English speaking Central Americans and mistake them for Jamaicans. Whereas that Bajan accent is unique, especially in its informal variety.
The Guyanese accent isn't well known as it doesn't have highly distinctive features, so I can see a mix up with a Trini, given that that accent isn't necessarily well known among non Caribbean people either. Guyanese have a very strong "R" sound (inherited from Bajans as most AfroGuyanese have Bajan ancestors), whereas Trinis have a weak "r" sound, coming from the French creole base of their speech.
Guyanese creolese has the same broad "A" that Jamaicans do as in "waak" for walk. Trinis do not have that sound at all. To an American they will sound as if they are saying "woke". I guess those are the biggest differences between the Guyanese and Trini accents, though they do share a lot of slang words for some reason. Maybe because Trinidad has traditionally played a role as a transport hub for Guyana, which exposed many Guyanese to Trinidadian slangs.
Jamaican and Barbadian are very distinct accents. I honestly don't understand how anyone can confuse those two accents with a Grenadian, St vincentian, Belizean, Dominican etc..
Don't know but some Vincentians, Antiguans, Montserratians, and Kittitians come close enough to a Jamaican for a non Caribbean person to not pick it up, or indeed even a Caribbean person who isn't familiar with the specific features of those accents. Indeed when I correctly guess those accents in NY often the person is shocked that I didn't mistake them for a Jamaican. And they hear my very distinct south east Caribbean accent.
Some anglophone Caribbean slang words or phrases...
"Wuk" grinding
"Wine" same as above
"Bacchanal" Street carnival
"Pickney" child
"Limin'" Chilling out
"Fete" Party
"Bad" good
"Vex" upset
"Maco" not to sure I think it means to be nosey this word has French connection
"Sewo" Party
"Palance" not to sure means party I think
"Yam" eat
"Pappy show"
"Jumbie" folk culture I spirit of sorts
These are words I've picked up through my exposure to the culture.
It depends on how close the Trini and Guyanese are to the dialect. If close no way. If not, once the Guyanese "r" sound and other Guyanese features, "PORRSON" for person, weaken maybe. I have met some folks who have been here for 30 years + who surprised me. Not Trinis. Guyanese.
Yes an Antiguan sounds like a Kittitian who grew up in Jamaica. That is how I can pick them out. I guess the dialect heightens the Leeward Island tone and rhythm, which is gentler than the Jamaican equivalent.
A Montserratian once almost tossed me out of his car when I mentioned some similarlties to Jamaicans. I guess they dont like them.
Are you from SKB by the way? My mother is from there and I Go there almost every year. I guess I can't call it Sugar City any more now that there isnt that much cane left, except on the northern part of the island beyond Cayon.
Yup, Saddlers actually but I grew up in the VI before I moved to montreal and later NY. I still go back twice a year, & you right, ain no sugar left in sugar city & all dem field by Cayon & Tabernacle full up of ganja now lol
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
