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Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

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thebigK
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Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby thebigK » March 18th, 2023, 2:09 am

I saw this on Facebook and was thinking about "nuanced regional accents" in Trinidad and Tobago. The west (featured in this video), east, central and Tobago, do have some slight differences in speech. But they our regional differences not as distinct as the ones between say New York and Texas.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Dohplaydat » March 18th, 2023, 6:59 am

Yes, it's well studied at UWI, though while geographic there's also social economic factors.

Convent, SAGHS, Hillview and CIC accents are real.

Accents are fascinating, especially how you often unconsciously change it depending on who you're talking to.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby shake d livin wake d dead » March 18th, 2023, 7:51 am

Barrackpore and environs real special

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby pugboy » March 18th, 2023, 7:57 am

i noticed accent deep in felicity also

likewise tobagonians have their own

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Dohplaydat » March 18th, 2023, 8:05 am

This guy has tonnes of videos on wired about accents, really good watch.



It's also quite weird how Toco and Tobago have similar accents.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby jhonnieblue » March 18th, 2023, 8:28 am

Since when CIC have an accent

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby mero » March 18th, 2023, 11:14 am

Dohplaydat wrote:
Convent, SAGHS, Hillview and CIC accents are real.


D f*q is a Hillview and CIC accent?

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Dizzy28 » March 18th, 2023, 11:29 am

There is a west white boy accent.

We have one in work and his accent is the same as Trini surfer's.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby aaron17 » March 18th, 2023, 12:11 pm

Don't forget Debe ppl.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby nervewrecker » March 18th, 2023, 12:31 pm

Depending on how you speak or pronounce your words when you speak proper English it does in fact sound like you have an accent. It varies from person to person, I don't think it has a much to do with location.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby xtech » March 18th, 2023, 12:33 pm

aaron17 wrote:Don't forget Debe ppl.


Venezuelan accent?

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby maj. tom » March 18th, 2023, 12:39 pm

Yes everyone has a local accent everywhere in the world. It's a large part of our neuro evolution of the speech parts of the human brain to detect foreigners who attempt to infiltrate traditional or tribal territory. We can't have outside people stealing our resources without earning their place in our societies. It's one of the easiest ways to filter out real life spies during wartime, unless the person is a traitor mole.

It's also the same with most higher mammals like apes, dolphins whales, as well as most birds. And perhaps many more animals, maybe even as far back as some epigenetic variantion in basic cellular life like bacteria.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Cantmis » March 18th, 2023, 1:17 pm


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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby eliteauto » March 18th, 2023, 1:33 pm

Never heard a CIC accent

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby death365 » March 18th, 2023, 1:51 pm

Only tobagonese...


Ah who tha !

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Duane 3NE 2NR » March 18th, 2023, 2:13 pm

I think people are confusing grammar and word usage with accents.
"he de dey dong dey" and "had was to go" are not accents - just bad grammar.

With regards to actual accents Tobagonians definitely have an accent that is different from Trinidadians.

Trinidadians have an accent along with a sing-song way of speaking and cadence.
Some people as mentioned above have what is referred to as a "Westmoorings" accent where they stress on the R among other things. I think that is the only variance of the Trinidadian accent as everyone in every other part of Trinidad has the same accent.
I can't tell that there is a different accent of someone from San Fernando vs someone from Sangre Grande.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby st7 » March 18th, 2023, 2:19 pm

allyuh out of high school by now right?

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Rovin » March 18th, 2023, 2:32 pm

duane made a good point - grammar & accent are 2 different things

dialect is also different from grammar & accent ... google it

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby maj. tom » March 18th, 2023, 2:43 pm

When you watch some Trini cooking videos on YouTube definitely know what part of Trinidad they're from. "er" becomes "ah"
"Watah".

Trinidad accent is generally characterized by a sing-song/lilting prosody due to high pitch and tone (range and dynamism) variations in how we sound out words. The variations are higher in females. The variations also occur across many variables including gender, rural or urban geography, age, ethnic groups, working classes, etc. There are many local variations of any region, which is then broken up further into sub-regions based on the variables stated above.

So even though two persons may be from separate sides of the island, it perhaps depends on how they are linked through those variable which lend to any subtle accent being mimicked. Like do they work in similar education requirement jobs? Or maybe social group? Humans love to mimic behaviours to fit into a group rather than being ostracized, from yawning, to fake accent in foreign countries, to spending money in a group, to even aspects of sexuality.


Back up to an accent and dialect being used to identify tribes. If you ever visited a big city far from home and heard our accent, or even a Caribbean accent, you're immediately friends. I have met people on the streets of some cities and one or two invited me to their home and stuff juss so. Easy easy easy way to find chicks at colleges they just love our accent.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Kickstart » March 18th, 2023, 3:22 pm

The Jamaican accent is alive up in laventille, movant and Beetham.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby triniterribletim » March 18th, 2023, 3:24 pm

If you traveled around Trinidad enough, even with the limited land area, you would be immediately able to pick out the various accents and tell with a high degree of accuracy where the person is from. Heck, in Chaguanas if you have enough practice you can tell whether someone is from Lange Park, Felicity or Enterprise by the way they speak.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby paid_influencer » March 18th, 2023, 3:41 pm

I meet randoms from North, South, Central, East and Deep South almost every day. I definitely notice the accent groups but it isn't geographically divided as far as I've noticed. People move around the island enough that those traits got shuffled up long ago.

I would like to say that Caribbean English is as valid as American English or British English. Caribbean English is its own thing. It is not broken or bad or any other term of derision, just different. Learning the Queen's English is important, as is accepting our own identity as islanders.

Last point I will post is from this video, "Speaking Trini for 24 hours." Watch around the 4:00 mark, where the young lady asks for a water. With the accent, she says "watah" and the clerk is completely unable to process it.


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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby maj. tom » March 18th, 2023, 4:05 pm

Learning to write King's English, or any language correctly and formally is more important, and why CXC English, French and Spanish are implemented across the region and the most basic education requirement for anything. It's so we can communicate effectively, moreso after email was invented and became the main way to write official correspondence.

Speaking Caribbean English is not supposed to be an problem. That's as different as any other region that speaks English, from Ireland to NZ. Even Microsoft lists many English dialects in the Office programs, as well as most voice recognition cloud software.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby j.o.e » March 18th, 2023, 5:13 pm

Moruga people sound different. Kinda like some other island

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby 88sins » March 18th, 2023, 6:03 pm

Short answer, yeah.
Southies does sound and pronounce different than Northside ppl. But all ah we does still understand and accept each other speech differences without issues.

Fun fact
For all the proper English you may get from a westmoorings resident when they in public and studying ppl watching them, ketch them in certain places under certain circumstances and u go b amazed at their gtasp and usage of the vernacular.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby MaxPower » March 18th, 2023, 6:56 pm

Trinis,

Just learn to speak English correctly and pronounce everything properly and allyuh go be arite.

Allyuh cannot be carrying like some illiterate wajang all over the place so.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby 88sins » March 18th, 2023, 7:20 pm

MaxPower wrote:Trinis,

Just learn to speak English correctly and pronounce everything properly and allyuh go be arite.

Allyuh cannot be carrying like some illiterate wajang all over the place so.



Carry that insight for yuh wetfoot payol ppl, that understand English but prefer to continue to speak mouth diarrhea hoping locals don't/can't understand what they saying

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MaxPower
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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby MaxPower » March 18th, 2023, 7:51 pm

88sins wrote:
MaxPower wrote:Trinis,

Just learn to speak English correctly and pronounce everything properly and allyuh go be arite.

Allyuh cannot be carrying like some illiterate wajang all over the place so.



Carry that insight for yuh wetfoot payol ppl, that understand English but prefer to continue to speak mouth diarrhea hoping locals don't/can't understand what they saying


Focus on the topic, your xenophobia continues to make you stray. You really think these “wetfoots” care whether you understand them or not? Wake up na.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby Dohplaydat » March 18th, 2023, 9:37 pm

Accents are distinctive ways of speaking a language, resulting from a combination of linguistic, historical, and social factors. In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, the different accents found in various parts of the country can be attributed to several reasons:

Historical influences: Trinidad and Tobago has a rich history marked by colonization and immigration. The country has been influenced by various European colonizers, such as the Spanish, French, and British, as well as by African slaves and indentured laborers from India and China. Each of these groups contributed to the linguistic landscape of the islands, blending their native languages with the local creole and influencing regional accents.

Geography: The islands of Trinidad and Tobago are separated by a short distance, but their distinct geographies have contributed to the development of different accents. Trinidad, being the larger island, has more regional variation in terms of population density and urbanization. Tobago, on the other hand, is smaller and more rural. The geographic separation and diversity within the islands contribute to the formation and maintenance of different accents.

Social factors: Accents can also be influenced by social factors such as socioeconomic status, education, and peer groups. People from different social backgrounds may develop distinct accents as a way of signaling their identity and affiliations. Additionally, accents can be a marker of regional pride or a reflection of local culture.

Language contact: The linguistic landscape of Trinidad and Tobago is characterized by a mix of languages, including English, Trinidadian Creole, Tobagonian Creole, and several others. The contact between these languages, and the subsequent influence they have on each other, can lead to the development of different accents.

Individual differences: Finally, individual differences play a role in accent development. Each person has a unique way of speaking, influenced by their family, friends, and personal experiences. Over time, these individual variations can lead to regional accents as people within a specific area adopt similar speech patterns.

In conclusion, the different accents in Trinidad and Tobago can be attributed to a combination of historical, geographical, social, and linguistic factors. This complex interplay of factors leads to the rich linguistic diversity that characterizes the islands.

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Re: Do we have geographic accents in Trinidad

Postby aaron17 » March 19th, 2023, 1:15 pm

Like father like son yes. I was shocked when i unknowingly mimic my dads mannerisms and words.

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