Bonin English, or the Bonin Islands language, is an

English-based creole An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the '' lexifier'', meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the cre ...

of the

Ogasawara Islands The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic read ...

(informally called Bonin Islands) south of Japan with strong Japanese influence, to the extent that it has been called a mixture of English and Japanese.

History

The

Colony of Peel Island , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

was the first permanent settlement in the archipelago. Peel Island (aka Chichijima) was settled in the early nineteenth century by speakers of eighteen European and Austronesian languages, including

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...

and Hawaiian. This resulted in a

pidgin English Pidgin English is a non-specific name used to refer to any of the many pidgin languages derived from English. Pidgins that are spoken as first languages become creoles. English-based pidgins that became stable contact languages, and which have ...

that became a symbol of island identity. It creolized among second- and third-generation speakers as thousands of Japanese speakers settled the islands. The islanders became

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all ...

, and during the early twentieth century Bonin English incorporated elements of

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Throughout the 20th century, most islanders used Bonin English at home. During the US occupation of 1946–68, the so-called "Navy Generation" learned American English at school, for example developing an – distinction and a rhotic that their parents did not have. While Bonin English vocabulary skewed toward English during this period, a trend towards Japanese resumed after the occupation ended. Today, younger residents tend to be monolingual in a variety of Japanese closely resembling the Tokyo standard, with some learning standard English due to globalization. A bilingual spoken dictionary was published in 2005.

References

English-based pidgins and creoles Languages of Japan Mixed languages Japanese-based pidgins and creoles Bonin Islands {{language-stub