Falkland Islands English

Falkland Islands English
Native to	United Kingdom
Region	Falkland Islands
Ethnicity	Falkland islanders
Native speakers	1,700
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic North Sea Germanic Anglo-Frisian Anglic English Falkland Islands English
Early forms	Old English Middle English 19th century British English
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None
IETF	en-FK
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A "Camp" settlement.

Map of the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands English is the dialect of the English language spoken in the Falkland Islands. Though it is mainly British in character, as a result of the remoteness of the islands, the small population has developed and retains its own accent and dialect, which persists despite many immigrants from the United Kingdom in recent years. In rural areas (i.e. anywhere outside Stanley), known as 'Camp' (from Spanish campo or 'countryside'), ^[1] the Falkland accent tends to be stronger. The dialect has resemblances to Australian, New Zealand, West Country and Norfolk dialects of English, as well as Lowland Scots.

In recent years, a substantial Saint Helenian population has arrived, mainly to do low-paid work, and they too have a distinct form of English.

Settlement history

The Falkland Islands, a cluster of 780 islands, that are 300 miles from the eastern coast of Argentina, had no indigenous population when the British arrived to explore the islands in 1690. ^[2] Continuous anglophone settlement of the islands dates only to 1833, when British forces removed 26 Argentinian soldiers from the islands and claimed them for Britain. ^{[2] [3]} In 1845, the capital town of Stanley, located on East Falkland, was established. ^[4] Argentina also has a claim to the islands, and in 1982, Argentine forces invaded the Falkland Islands. The British moved to defend the British control of the islands, with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher calling the islanders "of British tradition and stock". ^[5] In under three months, nearly a thousand people were killed, and over 2,000 were injured. ^[6] British-Argentinian tension regarding claim to the islands still exists, but the identity of the island overall is tremendously British, as shown when over 99.8% of islanders voted to remain under British sovereignty in a referendum. ^[7] This history has implications for the linguistic features of Falkland Islands English, which is similar to British English but distinct in some vocabulary and phonology.

Formation of Falkland Islands English

According to linguist Anne Sudbury, Falkland Islands English is, alongside New Zealand English, probably the youngest native speaker variety of English. ^[8] The origins of the dialect present an unusual example of what Sudbury terms "pure dialect contact", where, despite the presence of some Scandinavian and Spanish sailors and a possible small influence from Scots Gaelic in the 19th century, the dialect was formed almost exclusively from contact between native speakers of English. ^{[8] [9]} There was also a transient presence of South American gauchos from Uruguay and Chile in the 19th century, however, very few of these became permanent residents of the island and their influence was limited to the lexicon of Falklands English, having no noticeable effect on its grammar and phonology. ^{[8] [9]}

The geographical origins of the British settlers to the islands, and therefore the dialects of English they spoke, are hard to trace, due to a lack of detailed historical records. ^[8] This problem is further complicated by the transient nature of many settlers' stays in the islands; settlers often found the conditions on the islands harsh and returned home, whereas others migrated onwards to Patagonia. ^[8] Still more residents were employed as temporary workers on two- to five-year contracts, many of whom chose to return to the UK upon the contract's completion. ^[8]

However, the partial records that do exist, tend to suggest that the two areas providing most settlers were the West Country and the Scottish Highlands and Islands. ^[8] For this reason, the principal varieties of English involved in the formation of Falkland Islands English are likely to be West Country English and other dialects of Southern English. ^[9] As well as these two varieties, it is probable that West Highland English was spoken by settlers, although, despite the fact Gaelic was only spoken on the islands for a generation, the highland settlers may have been Gaelic monolinguals upon arrival. ^[9]

In addition to these non-standard varieties, until land reforms in the 1970s, the wealthier strata of Falklands society, landowners and later farm managers, were typically speakers of RP or near-RP, as were the government officials present on the islands. ^[8] Due to the small population, these individuals were less socially separated from the majority of the population than in other English-speaking regions, and so influenced the emerging variety. ^[8]

This dialect contact resulted in a process of koineisation, by which speakers of various dialects accommodated to each other by mixing and levelling their speech to produce a new variety of English. ^{[8] [9]} Until 1982, there is evidence that separate accents existed on West and East Falkland, which were themselves different from the accent of Stanley. However, by 2000, Sudbury reports there was no noticeable difference in accent between regions of the islands. ^[8]

Relationship to other varieties of English

Falkland Islands English can be differentiated from other varieties of English. ^[8] However, it shows considerable variation between speakers and even the same speaker will often realise the same word with several different pronunciations. ^[8] Sudbury suggests that this demonstrates that FIE was not yet, as of 2001, a fully focused variety and was still in the second stage of the koineisation process, where a large degree of variability in the dialect can be found. ^[8]

Despite this lack of consistency, Falkland Islands English is clearly a variety based on Southern British English, like the other southern hemisphere varieties of English: Australian English, New Zealand English and South African English. ^[8] People from the British Isles frequently identify the Falklands accent as sounding similar to Australasian accents, ^{[8] [2]} although in some respects, particularly in the production of the vowel found in the word "mouth", it is closer to the accents of southwestern England. ^[10] This difference in the pronunciation of the MOUTH vowel in part reflects the fact that the majority of settlers in Australia and New Zealand came from the southeast rather than the southwest of England. ^[10]

One salient feature that FIE shares with Australian English is the prevalence of High rising terminal in statements as well as questions, which is much less common in British English. ^[8] In addition to this, h-dropping is rare, the vowel in "nurse" is fronted and rounded, words rhyming with "own" are pronounced with two syllables and the glide in "mouth" and "price" is weakened to nearly a monophthong. ^[8] These features, alongside the comparative lack of non-standard grammar, are shared between FIE and the Australasian varieties. ^[8]

However, other features differ from the southern hemisphere varieties. ^[8] These include a lack of raising of front vowels a non-open open vowel in "face" and the absence of a diphthong in words that rhyme with "fleece" and "goose". ^[8]

Based on these factors, Andrea Sudbury concludes that FIE is typologically a southern hemisphere variety of English, albeit a somewhat peripheral one. ^[8]

Phonetics and phonology

English in the Falklands is non-rhotic. ^[11] This is consistent with other varieties of English in the southern hemisphere. ^[11] One major difference between the English of the Falklands and other Englishes of the southern hemisphere is the onset centralisation of /aɪ/, in which nice is pronounced [nəɪs]. ^[11]

Grammar

Alongside other Southern Hemisphere varieties of English, Falkland Island English is comparatively close to standard English in its grammar. ^{[8] [12]} However, some non-standard forms are found occasionally among speakers. ^{[3] [12]}

Pronouns

Falklanders will sometimes use the second person plural pronoun youse, instead of "you" when referring to more than one interlocutor. ^{[3] [12]} This is also found in New Zealand and Australia, alongside other regions influenced by Hiberno-English. ^{[3] [12]}

The pronouns she/her are sometimes used with inanimate objects rather than standard it/it. ^[12]

In coordinate subjects, the words me or myself will often replace standard I. ^[12] So standard granny and I becomes FIE me and granny or myself and granny. ^[12]

The reflexive pronouns can be regularised both in possessive form and number. So himself > hisself and ourselves > ourself. ^[12]

As in many varieties of English, the first person possessive my can be replaced with the object pronoun me (e.g. I broke me leg). ^[12]

Non-standard uses of us are also recorded. It can be used as a singular object pronoun where standard English would use me (e.g. I was the only one there, so he hit us!). In addition to this, us can be used as an identifier with a noun phrase (e.g. Us chays remember very well what happened in 1982.) ^[12]

Noun Phrase

Plurals

Group plurals are sometimes used, where the plural marker -s is added not only to the head of the phrase but to the last word. For example, standard a few cans of beer might become FIE a few cans of beers. ^[12]

Plural markers are not used after quantifiers with units of measurement (e.g. That cost me seventy pound and it's only 3 gallon). ^[12]

Determiners

Falkland Islanders frequently drop the definite article in abbreviations, where it would always be present in British English. This is particularly evident with the phrase "the UK", which in Falkland Island English is almost always produced as simply "UK" (e.g. I had to study in [Ø] UK.) ^[12] This feature is also found in ex-pat varieties of English spoken in Hong Kong and on the Costa del Sol. ^[12]

It is also common to replace the demonstrative "those" with "them" ( e.g. Them Argies got thrown off Goose Green double quick). ^[12]

Occasionally, speakers use a rather than an when the following noun or adjective begins with a vowel. This means standard English an eye becomes a eye whereas an old car may be produced as a old car. ^[12]

Adjectives

Several non-standard features are found in comparative and superlative structures. Double comparative and superlative forms are sometimes found; for example it was more colder and he was the most strangest man I ever met. ^[12] In addition to this, Falkland Islanders sometimes overuse both synthetic marking of comparatives (it was expensiver than I thought) and analytic marking of comparatives (her parents are more old). ^[12]

Verbs

Habitual aspect

In Falkland Island English, speakers may use -s on the verb to indicate a habitual aspect, for example "they goes wherever they wants".

There is/there are

As in many dialects of English, there is can be followed by the plural. ^[12]

A structure with there is/was + [noun] + [past participle] is used to illustrate resultative contexts. ^[12] Examples of this might be "there was a fella shot here during the war" or "there's houses knocked down every other year".

Past simple and perfect tenses

As in Australian English, FIE sometimes generalises was to all persons and numbers. This means phrases such as "you was angry" and "there was three johnny rooks" are possible. Although the opposite phenomenon, generalisation of were to all persons and numbers (e.g. I were hungry), has been noted, it is exceptionally rare. ^{[3] [12]}

Falkland Islanders often produce non-standard past simple and past participle forms. This can consist of regularisation of irregular verbs, generalisation of the past participle form to past simple, generalisation of the past simple to the past participle, and use of an unmarked verb as a past form with some verbs. ^[12]

Non-standard past verb forms in Falklands English (from Britain and Sudbury, 2022) ^[12]

Non-standard variant	Example
Regularisation of irregular verb	She bended it right round the wall and into the top corner.
Extension of past participle form to past simple	I seen this army land rover coming up the road... turned out it was full of Argentinians.
Extension of past simple form to past participle	I wasn't hungry, like. I'd ate.
Use of unmarked verb in context where past simple or past participle form would be expected.	I felt sorry for him, so I give him back his 50 quid.

Obligation

Falkland Islanders frequently use non-standard got to instead of standard have got to, have to or must to express obligation. ^[12] This feature is common in Southwestern England and is likely a reflection of the West Country origins of many early settlers. ^[12]

Vocabulary

The Falkland Islands had no native population prior to European settlement, and so did not develop the strata of loanwords relating to flora and fauna borrowed from indigenous languages which are found in Australian and New Zealand English. ^[8]

However, the Falklands English vernacular has some borrowed Spanish words due to contact with mainland South America and the influence of Spanish-speaking gauchos who worked on the islands. ^[8] In addition to this, Falklanders use some vocabulary derived from jargon used by the British Armed forces, as well as sharing some words with southern hemisphere varieties. ^[8]

Spanish loanwords

In the corpus of Falklands English, a significant number of Spanish loanwords are detectable. Spanish loanwords are generally "Falklandised", and employ pronunciations that no longer resemble their Rioplatense Spanish origins. ^[8] For example, rebenque ("whip") is pronounced in the Falklands as [rəvInki] rather than Spanish [reβenke], and arroyo ("stream") is pronounced as [rəʊʒə] instead of [aroʒo]. ^[8] The Spanish word "campo", meaning "field" or "countryside", became Falklands English "camp", which is used on the islands to describe areas outside of the capital Port Stanley. ^[8] Another Spanish phrase connected to rural life and borrowed into Falklands English is passar libre, meaning "cattle grid". ^[3]

Other loanwords include interjections such as 'che', also encountered in Rioplatense Spanish, and 'poocha', equivalent to 'wow' or 'damn', ^[13] (from pucha, a euphemism for puta or 'whore').

Spanish borrowings are dominant in the local horse-related terminology. For instance, the Islanders use 'alizan', 'colorao', 'negro', 'blanco', 'gotiao', 'picasso', 'sarco', 'rabincana' etc. for certain horse colours and looks, or 'bosal', 'cabresta', 'bastos', 'cinch', 'conjinilla', 'meletas', 'tientas', 'manares' etc. for various items of horse gear. ^[14]

Che

"Che" (which may be spelled chay, chey or ché) is used more frequently by older people, and serves as an identity marker to show belonging to the Falkland Islands. It can roughly be translated as "mate" or "love" in British English, but can also be an interjection equivalent to hey! or I say!. Its use forms part of a gaucho sprachbund that covers southern Brazil, Uruguay, parts of Paraguay, Argentina, Chilean Patagonia and the Falklands. However, its use in Falklands English differs from that of Spanish and Portuguese in that it can be used as a noun or sometimes a name for an animal. ^[15]

Differences in use of che between Falklands English and Rioplatense Spanish

	Falklands English	Rioplatense Spanish
Vocative	Alright ché, how you been?	¡Che! ¿Que onda? (English:How's it going mate?)
Interjection	Ché, what a bloody mess!	¡Che, que pelotudez! (English:My word, how ridiculous!)
Noun	It's good to have a beer with the old chays! (Standard English:It's good to have a drink with my old Falklands friends!)	Not possible
Proper Noun	With reference to a dog: Our Chay don't half like chasing rabbits!	Not possible

Toponmy

Unlike the older English, French and Spanish place names given by mariners, which refer mainly to islands, rocks, bays, coves, and capes (points), the post-1833 Spanish names usually identify inland geographical locations and features, reflecting the new practical necessity for orientation, land delimitation and management in the cattle and sheep farming. Among the typical such names or descriptive and generic parts of names are 'Rincon Grande', 'Ceritos', 'Campito', 'Cantera', 'Terra Motas', 'Malo River', 'Brasse Mar', 'Dos Lomas', 'Torcida Point', 'Pioja Point', 'Estancia', 'Oroqueta', 'Piedra Sola', 'Laguna Seco', 'Manada', etc. ^[14] Again, these toponyms are often highly anglicised, for example the place name Tranquilidad, which in Spanish is pronounced [trankilidað̞], is pronounced on the Falklands as [trɪŋkəliːdaː]. ^[12]

Island English terms

Two notable Falkland Island terms are 'kelper' meaning a Falkland Islander, from the kelp surrounding the islands (sometimes used pejoratively in Argentina), ^[16] and 'smoko', for a smoking break ^[15] (as in Australia and New Zealand). ^[17]

Through the influence of the British forces personnel, who have been stationed continuously in the islands since the Argentine invasion, military expressions are commonly used in Falkland Islands English. ^[8] An example of this is the term R&R, which is an abbreviation of Rest and Recreation, but among island civilians means "a short break". ^[8]

Falkland Islanders use the term Johnny rook to refer to the Striated Caracara, ^[18] this probably derives from "johnny penguin" an alternate name from the gentoo penguin. ^[19]

See also

• Commonwealth English

References

1. Stay with us » Camping: Falkland Islands Tourist Board
2. Pereltsvaig, Asya (6 December 2010). "Falkland Islands English". Languages of the World. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
3. Britain, David; Sudbury, Andrea (2010). "Falkland Islands English". In Schreier, Daniel; Trudgill, Peter; Schneider, Edgar; Williams, Jeffrey (eds.). The Lesser-Known Varieties of English. pp. 209–223.
4. "Our History". Falkland Islands Government. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
5. "BBC NEWS | in Depth". BBC News. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
6. Taylor, Alan. "30 Years Since the Falklands War - the Atlantic". The Atlantic. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
7. Tweedie, Neil (12 March 2013). "Falkland islands referendum: who were the three 'No' votes?" . Retrieved 24 March 2018.
8. Sudbury, Andrea (2001). "Falkland Islands English: A southern hemisphere variety?" . English World-Wide. 22 (1): 55–80. doi:10.1075/eww.22.1.04sud . Retrieved 25 September 2025.
9. Schreier, Daniel (2020). "Englishes in Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, Bermuda and the Falkland Islands: PCE, non-PCE or both? Blurred Boundaries in the Atlantic". In Buschfeld, Sarah; Kautzsch, Alexander (eds.). Modelling World Englishes A Joint Approach to Postcolonial and Non-Postcolonial Varieties. EUP. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
10. Britain, David; Sudbury, Andrea. "What can the Falkland Islands tell us about Diphthong Shift?" (PDF). Essex Research Reports in Linguistics. 57 (1): 1–32. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
11. Hickey, Raymond (2014). A Dictionary of Varieties of English (1 ed.). p. 119. doi:10.1002/9781118602607. ISBN   9781118602607.
12. Britain, David; Sudbury, Andrea (2022). "Falkland Island English". In Kortmahn, Bernd; Lunkenheimer, Kerstin (eds.). The Mouton World Atlas of Variation in English. Gruyter Brill. pp. 669–676. doi:10.1515/9783110280128.669. ISBN   978-3-11-027988-7 . Retrieved 27 September 2025.
13. Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary: Spanish-English/English-Spanish
14. Spruce, Joan. Corrals and Gauchos: Some of the people and places involved in the cattle industry. Falklands Conservation Publication. Bangor: Peregrine Publishing, 1992. 48 pp.
15. Rodriguez, Yliana Virginia; Barrientos, Miguel (2025). "Vocative Che in Falkland Islands English: Identity, Contact, and Enregisterment". Languages. 10 (182): 182. doi: 10.3390/languages10080182 .
16. 'Second Class Citizens: The Argentine View of the Falkland Islanders' Archived 2015-04-10 at the Wayback Machine , P.J. Pepper, Falkland Islands Newsletter, November 1992
17. Oxford English Dictionary. 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
18. "Falklands' Johnny Rook cognitive abilities break all records". Mercopress. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
19. Gorman, James (1990). The Total Penguin . Prentice Hall. p.  87. ISBN   978-0-13-925041-5. Sealers called it the "Johnny penguin" or "John penguin." In that incarnation, it seems to have given its name to the striated caracara, a bird of prey that feeds on young gentoo penguins in the Falklands and is called the "Johnny rook."

External links

• South Atlantic Ocean: Falkland Island English