Bahamas - Languages

English is the official language of The Islands Of The Bahamas. If you are comfortable with English, you won’t have any trouble getting around, reading street signs, ordering at restaurants, etc. However, until you become accustomed to the region’s dialect, you may have to ask some people to repeat what they say.

Bahamian English is fascinating mixture of Queen's diction, African influences, and island patois. Unfamiliar sounding words you'll hear on our streets and beaches may be survivors from early English settlement (true Shakesperian English!), echoes of Africa, or local coinages. The "h" is often dropped in daily speech ('ouse for house or t'anks for thanks). You'll find conversation easy here - the distinctive sounds of daily speech are all part of a true-true Bahamian experience.

Dialects differ slightly from one island to the other, and Bahamians use idioms you probably are not familiar with. If someone says "day clean" they mean "daybreak" and "first fowl crow" refers to the first cry a rooster makes in the morning. These idioms are typical of the Black Bahamian English, which is closely related to the Gullah dialect of South Carolina. As Loyalists from the American South settled in The Islands Of The Bahamas, they brought this language with them.

African slaves, English Puritans and other immigrants settling in The Islands Of The Bahamas have also influenced the dialect and idioms of these islands. Somehow the different cultures have blended their speech together to produce the melodic English you hear only in The Islands Of The Bahamas.