# Antiguan and Barbudan Creole

Antiguan and Barbudan Creole is an English-based creole language that emerged from contact between speakers of the Kwa languages and speakers of Antiguan and Barbudan English in the Leeward Islands. Today, it is natively spoken in Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Montserrat, and some villages in Dominica. Antiguan and Barbudan Creole is the most spoken language in two independent countries, and is one of the most spoken languages in the eastern Caribbean. The language has approximately 150,000 native speakers.
Antiguan and Barbudan Creole is composed of several distinct varieties, some of which are only semi-intelligible to each other. Due to increased contact between settlements in the Leeward Islands, the creole has many extinct village-specific varieties that have since merged into each other. The most spoken variety of the creole, North Antiguan, has been particularly affected by decreolisation and influences from other English creoles. There are no institutions dedicated to the study of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole, and few formal attempts have been made to standardise it.
The majority of the Antiguan and Barbudan Creole vocabulary is English in origin, and the language has a unique vowel system as well as distinct grammar. Antiguan and Barbudan Creole remains a language of informal communication, and thus, it is not taught in schools or used in formal academic communication.

## Etymology

In Antigua and Barbuda, the endonym of Antiguan and Barbudan Creole is raw back. The term is usually used as a verb ("to talk raw back"), although the term can also be used as a noun. The most common exonym of the language is "Antiguan and Barbudan Creole", which may also be called "Antigua and Barbuda Creole English" by some linguists. These exonyms are used in the ISO 639-3 standard, and the term "Leeward Caribbean Creole" or "Leeward Caribbean Creole English" is usually considered an alternate name. Speakers usually identify with their dialect rather than with the entire language.

## History

The first confirmed English settlement in Antigua and Barbuda was in 1632, and a unique English dialect known as Antiguan and Barbudan English (ABE) eventually emerged. In 1674, the Antigua's first sugar plantation was established, which resulted in a significant increase in the slave population and the island eventually becoming majority African by the 1680s. Antiguan and Barbudan Creole emerged when speakers of ABE made contact with African slaves. In 1685 slavery in Barbuda commenced, with Barbudans being nearly completely isolated from the white population and other islands, resulting in the emergence of Barbudan Creole. As most slaves that were brought to both Antigua and Barbuda spoke languages from the Kwa cluster, these languages became Antiguan and Barbudan Creole's substrate.
After emancipation, the language continued to be spoken by former slaves, and as new villages emerged the language began to split into various dialects. These village-specific creoles existed until the 1960s, when people began to commute into cities and island-wide dialects emerged. South Antiguan Creole was the least impacted by outside influence, and thus can only be partially understood by speakers of other dialects.
Since the 1970s and 1980s, the language has been viewed more positively, and Antiguan and Barbudan Creole texts can now be seen in some newspapers and on television.

## Geographical distribution

Antiguan and Barbudan Creole is the primary language in four countries and territories. The language is also spoken by a minority of the population of Dominica, which primarily speaks Dominican Creole French. In Dominica, Kokoy Creole is spoken by a majority of the population in certain northeastern villages, a dialect that emerged in the late nineteenth century from Antiguan and Barbudan and Montserratian immigrants.
In Antigua and Barbuda, there are three dialects–North Antiguan, South Antiguan, and Barbudan. South Antiguan Creole is primarily spoken in Saint Mary and the village of Swetes. This part of Antigua is dominated by the Shekerley Mountains, significantly isolating it from the island's centre of population where North Antiguan Creole is primarily spoken. Barbudan Creole is only spoken in Barbuda and by the Barbudans.
In Saint Kitts and Nevis, their single dialect is spoken throughout the country, and is heavily spoken in the region of Capesterre. The Anguillan dialect is significantly influenced by other English creoles due to its geographic isolation, and Montserrat Creole is among the closest dialects to North Antiguan.

## Phonology

Antiguan and Barbudan Creole has twenty-two consonants, ten vowels, two semi-vowels, and four diphthongs. Unique to the language are the diphthongs (gliding vowels) /ia/ (alternates with /ie/), /ua/ (alternates with /ua/), /ai/, and /ou/. Semi-vowels are phonetically vowels, but phonologically consonants. /w/ and /y/ are the two semi-vowels. Below is a table of the consonants in Antiguan and Barbudan Creole:
| | | Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | | | ŋ | |
| Plosive/ affricate | voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | c | k | |
| Plosive/ affricate | voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɟ | ɡ | |
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ʃ | | | h |
| Fricative | voiced | v | z | ʒ | | | h |
| Approximant | Approximant | | l | ɹ | j | w |
A distinct feature of the creole is the alternation of certain sounds, such as /v/ alternating with /b/ in the word bex. /h/ dropping is also common in the language, making the /h/ in words like "hair" or "head" silent. /h/ insertion, the opposite process, is exclusive to South Antiguan Creole. An example of this is in the word /haks/, the South Antiguan word for "ask". The palatalization of /k/ and /g/ and the insertion of /j/ glides is also common.

## Orthography

Vowels :
| IPA transcription | Letter |
| /i:/ | ee |
| /ɪ/ | i |
| /ɛ/ | e |
| /ə/ | a |
| /u:/ | uu |
| /ʊ/ | u |
| /ɔ/ | aw |
| /ɔ:/ | aw |
| /a/ | a |
| /a:/ | aa |
Diphthongs :
| IPA transcription | Letter |
| /ia/ | ie |
| /ua/ | ow |
| /ai/ | ai |
| /ou/ | ou |
Semi-vowels :
| IPA transcription | Letter |
| /w/ | w |
| /y/ | y |
Consonants :
| IPA transcription | Letter |
| /p/ | p |
| /b/ | b |
| /t/ | t |
| /k/ | k |
| /g/ | g |
| /t∫/ | ch |
| /dʒ/ | j |
| /f/ | f |
| /v/ | v |
| /s/ | s |
| /z/ | z |
| /∫/ | sh |
| /ʒ/ | zh |
| /m/ | m |
| /n/ | n |
| /ŋ/ | ng |
| /l/ | l |
| /r/ | r |
| /ks/ | x |

## Vocabulary

Vocabulary is widely based on British vocabulary, due to centuries of association with Great Britain. Examples:
* Bonnet refers to the hood of a car.
* Chips refers to what in American English is called French Fries. However, fries is commonly used as well.
* Form is used instead of the American high school grade. (7th Grade-1st Form; 11th Grade-5th Form)
* Patty for flaky folded pastry, unlike the American patty, meaning hamburger patty
* Mongrel is used instead of the US mutt.
* Biscuit is used instead of the US cookie.
However, in other cases the American form prevails over the British one, due to the islands' close proximity to the United States:
* Apartment is used instead of the British flat.
* Elevator instead of the British lift.
* parking lot instead of car park.
Because of the influx of other Caribbean nationals to Antigua, due to natural migration and to the CSME, Antigua's everyday vocabulary is being influenced by Jamaican Creole, Bajan Creole, Guyanese Creole and Trinidadian Creole. This is even more common among the youth. Examples:
* Yute and star meaning young man.
* Breda (derived from Brethren and Partner) meaning close friend.
* Sell off meaning excellent or very good.

## Phrases

| Creole | English |
| afta/atta | after |
| ah deh ee deh | there it is |
| ah wah do? | how are you? |
| ah nah | it's not |
| ah true | it's true |
| bakkle | bottle |
| bay | beach |
| bayside | seaside or beach |
| currant | electricity |
| e'bang good | it tastes good |
| eberyting | everything |
| nuttin | nothing |
| nyam | to eat |
| pickney | child |
| raw back | Antiguan and Barbudan Creole |
| sweet ile | cooking oil |
| valise | a small suitcase |
| vex | to be upset |
| yard | ones house or home |

## Language use

Antiguan Creole is used in almost every aspect of life in Antigua. In all schools, during class hours, it is required of students to speak Standard English. This policy is especially exercised in private owned schools. Most media and mainstream communication is written and spoken in Standard English, although Antiguan Creole is sometimes used humorously or as a way of identifying with the local public.
Use of Antiguan Creole varies depending on socio-economic class. In general, the higher and middle classes use it amongst friends and family but switch to Standard English in the public sphere. The lower class tend to use Antiguan Creole in almost every sector of life. Part of this discrepancy dates back to the Creole's inception. Ever since Antiguan Creole first came into existence it was used as a means to identify with a given group. For example, as more slaves entered the island, indentured servants and slaves had less contact with white plantation owners as the economy moved to a larger-scale. While these two groups interacted and a Creole emerged as the two groups had to communicate and interact, indentured servants tried to speak the 'Standard English' with increased frequency in order to associate with people at the top of the hierarchy for whom 'Standard English' was the norm. Conversely, for slaves, speaking the Creole was a symbol of identity.

## Pronominal system

The pronominal system of Standard English has a four-way distinction of person, singular/plural, gender and nominative/objective. Some varieties of Antiguan Creole do not have the gender or nominative/objective distinction, though most do; but usefully, it does distinguish between the second person singular and plural (you).
* I, me = me;
* you, you (thou, thee) = yu;
* he, him = he;
* she, her = she;
* we, us = ah-we;
* they, them = dem;
To form the possessive form of the pronoun add "fu-" to the above. However, the pronoun "our" is an exception where we add "ar-".
* my, mine = fu-mi;
* your, yours (thy, thine) = fu-yu;
* his, his = fu-he;
* her, hers = fu-she;
* our, ours = ah-we;
* you all = ah-yu;
* their, theirs = fu-dem
Example:
* a fu-yu daag dat?, is that your dog?
* a fu-yu daag dat day nuh, that is your dog.