Bajan Creole

Bajan (/ˈbeɪdʒən/) is an English-based creole language spoken on the Caribbean island of Barbados. In general, the people of Barbados speak standard English on TV and radio, in courthouses, in government, and in day-to-day business, while Bajan creole is reserved for less formal situations, in music, or in social commentary.

Like many other English-based Caribbean creole languages, Bajan consists of a West African substrate and an English superstrate. Bajan is similar but distinguishable from the creoles of neighbouring Caribbean islands, as many of the other Caribbean creoles are theorized to have Hiberno-English or Scottish English as their superstrate variety, for example Jamaican Patois.

Language

Bajan is the Caribbean creole with grammar that most resembles Standard English. There is academic debate on whether its creole features are due to an earlier pidgin state or to some other reason, such as contact with neighboring English-based creole languages. In one historical model, Bajan arose when captive West Africans were forcibly transported to the island, enslaved and forced to speak English, though learned imperfectly. Bajan later became a means of communicating without always being understood by the slave holders.