Saban English is the local dialect of English spoken on Saba, an island in the Dutch Caribbean. It belongs to the group of Caribbean English varieties. It has been described either as a decreolized variety related to Virgin Islands Creole English or as an English contact variety which shows substrate influence from West African languages and Dutch, without having undergone full creolization.[1][2] One published dictionary, A Lee Chip (2016), documents Saban vocabulary and usage.[3][4]
Geographic isolation and small population fostered a distinct local variety on Saba, whose four villages—The Bottom, St. Johns, Windwardside and Hell's Gate—developed recognisable accent differences.[5][6][7]
In the 17th–18th centuries, inputs likely included British English, Irish and Scottish English from European settlers, Dutch from colonial administration, and West African languages/Caribbean creoles spoken by enslaved Africans.[8][9] Although Saba had at least two plantations, it never developed a plantation economy comparable to nearby islands, a factor relevant to the degree of potential creolization.[10]
Sociolinguistic status
English is the predominant community language on Saba and is used across domains alongside Dutch in official contexts. Accents vary slightly by village, reflecting differing settlement histories and former intra-island isolation.[11][12]
Phonology
Descriptions of Saban English report the following vowel and consonant patterns (lexical-set labels per Wells):[13][14][15]
KIT[ɪ]~[ɛ]; DRESS[ɛ]~[ɛː] (sometimes [ɛ~æ]).
TRAP[a]~[æ]; in some speakers merged with LOT as [ɑ].
STRUT may merge with THOUGHT as [ɔ].
FLEECE[iː]; FACE often monophthongal [eː]/[ɛː], with homophony of mean/main before nasals (FLEECE≃FACE).
GOAT[oə] or monophthongal [oː].
START[ɑː] or [ɑɹ]; NORTH often merged with START (but NORTH/FORCE split may persist in some speakers).
NEAR and SQUARE commonly merged ([eə] or [iə]).
Consonants: post-vocalic /r/ is variably realised (rhotic in some environments, reduced in others); H-dropping, T-glottalization and occasional neutralisation/merger of [v] and [w] have been reported; metathesis (ask → [æks]), nasal backing (town → [taʊŋ]) and cluster reduction are attested.[16][17]
Grammar
Saban English uses ain't (often pronounced [ɛ̃ː], [ɛn], or [ɛnt]) broadly in negation, and features the expression for to in purposive clauses (e.g., This is ready for to come ripe).[18]
↑ Williams, Jeffrey P.; Schneider, Edgar W.; Trudgill, Peter; Schreier, Daniel, eds. (2015). "Saban English". Further Studies in the Lesser-Known Varieties of English. Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139108652.
↑ "About Saba". Saba Tourism Bureau. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
↑ Myrick, Caroline (2014). "Putting Saban English on the map". English World-Wide. 35 (2): 161–192. doi:10.1075/eww.35.2.02myr.
↑ Johnson, Theodore R.; Myrick, Caroline (2016). A Lee Chip: A Dictionary & Study of Saban English.
↑ Williams, Jeffrey P.; Schneider, Edgar W.; Trudgill, Peter; Schreier, Daniel, eds. (2015). "Saban English". Further Studies in the Lesser-Known Varieties of English. Cambridge University Press.
↑ Myrick, Caroline (2014). "Putting Saban English on the map". English World-Wide. 35 (2): 161–192.
↑ Williams, Jeffrey P.; Schneider, Edgar W.; Trudgill, Peter; Schreier, Daniel, eds. (2015). "Saban English". Further Studies in the Lesser-Known Varieties of English. Cambridge University Press.
↑ Johnson, Theodore R.; Myrick, Caroline (2016). A Lee Chip.
↑ Williams, Jeffrey P.; Schneider, Edgar W.; Trudgill, Peter; Schreier, Daniel, eds. (2015). "Saban English". Further Studies in the Lesser-Known Varieties of English.
↑ Johnson, Theodore R.; Myrick, Caroline (2016). A Lee Chip.
↑ Johnson, Theodore R.; Myrick, Caroline (2016). A Lee Chip.
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