118-409: Conch ( US : / k ɒ ŋ k / konk , UK : / k ɒ n tʃ / kontch ) is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails . Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point on both ends). Conches that are sometimes referred to as "true conches" are marine gastropod s in
236-707: A cot–caught merger , which is rapidly spreading throughout the whole country. However, the South, Inland North, and a Northeastern coastal corridor passing through Rhode Island, New York City, Philadelphia, and Baltimore typically preserve an older cot–caught distinction. For that Northeastern corridor, the realization of the THOUGHT vowel is particularly marked , as depicted in humorous spellings, like in tawk and cawfee ( talk and coffee ), which intend to represent it being tense and diphthongal : [oə] . A split of TRAP into two separate phonemes , using different
354-520: A pronunciations for example in gap [æ] versus gas [eə] , further defines New York City as well as Philadelphia–Baltimore accents. Most Americans preserve all historical /r/ sounds, using what is known as a rhotic accent . The only traditional r -dropping (or non-rhoticity) in regional U.S. accents variably appears today in eastern New England , New York City , and some of the former plantation South primarily among older speakers (and, relatedly, some African-American Vernacular English across
472-574: A British colony with the Treaty of Paris (1783) . After the American War of Independence (1775–1783), many Loyalists fled to British Caribbean colonies, also bringing with them African slaves. They developed cotton as an important cash crop, but it was superseded by the development of the salt industry, with the labour done by African slaves forcibly imported from Africa or the other Caribbean islands and their descendants, who soon came to outnumber
590-532: A ceremonial trumpet, as part of religious practices, for example puja . The chank trumpet is sounded during worship at specific points, accompanied by ceremonial bells and singing. As it is an auspicious instrument, it is of purity and brilliance ( Om , Devas , Brahman the Almighty Supreme creator, referred to in mantras , the Gayatri mantra explains a meditation on the brilliance of the sun), it
708-454: A chief minister (now premier ), the first of whom was J. A. G. S. McCartney . Moves towards independence in the early 1980s were stalled by the election of an anti-independence party in 1980 and since then the islands have remained British territory. Local government was suspended from 1986 to 1988, following allegation of government involvement with drug trafficking which resulted in the arrest of Chief Minister Norman Saunders . In 2002
826-631: A complex phenomenon of "both convergence and divergence": some accents are homogenizing and leveling , while others are diversifying and deviating further away from one another. Having been settled longer than the American West Coast, the East Coast has had more time to develop unique accents, and it currently comprises three or four linguistically significant regions, each of which possesses English varieties both different from each other as well as quite internally diverse: New England ,
944-447: A consonant, such as in pearl , car and fort . Non-rhotic American accents, those that do not pronounce ⟨r⟩ except before a vowel, such as some accents of Eastern New England , New York City , and African-Americans , and a specific few (often older ones) spoken by Southerners , are often quickly noticed by General American listeners and perceived as sounding especially ethnic, regional, or antiquated. Rhoticity
1062-415: A hole in the spire of the shell near the apex and then blowing into the shell as if it were a trumpet, as a blowing horn . Sometimes a mouthpiece is used, but some shell trumpets are blown without one. Pitch is adjusted by moving one's hand in and out of the aperture; the deeper the hand, the lower the note. Various species of large marine gastropod shells can be turned into blowing shells, but some of
1180-591: A merger with the THOUGHT ( caught ) set. Having taken place prior to the unrounding of the cot vowel, it results in lengthening and perhaps raising, merging the more recently separated vowel into the THOUGHT vowel in the following environments: before many instances of /f/ , /θ/ , and particularly /s/ (as in Austria, cloth, cost, loss, off, often, etc.), a few instances before /ŋ/ (as in strong, long, wrong ), and variably by region or speaker in gone , on , and certain other words. Unlike American accents,
1298-751: A mouthpiece that was held together by an organic matter like clay or wax . Researchers from the Sorbonne , together with a professional horn player, were able to use it again as a musical instrument and play it. Examples of this practice in the Americas can be seen in the form of historical artifacts at the Museo Larco in Lima , Peru , and Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City , Mexico . Many kinds of molluscs can produce pearls . Pearls from
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#17327768999241416-636: A nice day , for sure); many are now distinctly old-fashioned (swell, groovy). Some English words now in general use, such as hijacking, disc jockey , boost, bulldoze and jazz , originated as American slang. American English has always shown a marked tendency to use words in different parts of speech and nouns are often used as verbs . Examples of nouns that are now also verbs are interview, advocate, vacuum, lobby, pressure, rear-end, transition, feature, profile, hashtag, head, divorce, loan, estimate, X-ray, spearhead, skyrocket, showcase, bad-mouth, vacation , major, and many others. Compounds coined in
1534-628: A part of the Atlantic Patrol (NORTH) tasking. These ships' main mission in the region is to maintain British sovereignty for the overseas territories, provide humanitarian aid and disaster relief during disasters such as hurricanes, which are common in the area, and to conduct counter-narcotic operations. In the autumn of 2022, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Tideforce , with a Wildcat helicopter embarked,
1652-522: A pearly luster). The Gemological Institute of America and World Jewellery Confederation now use the simple term "pearl"—or, where appropriate, the more-descriptive term "non-nacreous pearl"—for such items, and, under Federal Trade Commission rules, various mollusk pearls may be referred to as "pearls" without qualification. Although not nacreous, the surfaces of fine conch pearls have a unique appearance. The microstructure of conch pearls comprises partly aligned bundles of microcrystalline fibers that create
1770-476: A population of only 168 at the 2012 Census. The most populated island is Providenciales , with 23,769 inhabitants in 2012, and an area of 122 square kilometres (47 sq mi). North Caicos (116 square kilometres (45 sq mi) in area) had 1,312 inhabitants. South Caicos (21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi) in area) had 1,139 inhabitants, and Parrot Cay (6 square kilometres (2.3 sq mi) in area) had 131 inhabitants. East Caicos (which
1888-480: A process of extensive dialect mixture and leveling in which English varieties across the colonies became more homogeneous compared with the varieties in Britain. English thus predominated in the colonies even by the end of the 17th century's first immigration of non-English speakers from Western Europe and Africa. Additionally, firsthand descriptions of a fairly uniform American English (particularly in contrast to
2006-680: A series of other vowel shifts in the same region, known by linguists as the " Inland North ". The Inland North shares with the Eastern New England dialect (including Boston accents ) a backer tongue positioning of the GOOSE /u/ vowel (to [u] ) and the MOUTH /aʊ/ vowel (to [ɑʊ~äʊ] ) in comparison to the rest of the country. Ranging from northern New England across the Great Lakes to Minnesota, another Northern regional marker
2124-468: A shimmering, slightly iridescent effect known as flame structure. The effect is a form of chatoyancy , caused by the interaction of light rays with the microcrystals in the pearl's surface, and it somewhat resembles moiré silk. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped the sea and often depicted conch shells in their art. Quetzalcoatl , the Aztec god of wind and learning, wears around his neck
2242-525: A survey, completed in 2003, polling English speakers across the United States about their specific everyday word choices, hoping to identify regionalisms. The study found that most Americans prefer the term sub for a long sandwich, soda (but pop in the Great Lakes region and generic coke in the South) for a sweet and bubbly soft drink , you or you guys for the plural of you (but y'all in
2360-423: A total land area of 616.3 square kilometres (238.0 square miles), consisting primarily of low, flat limestone with extensive marshes and mangrove swamps and 332 square kilometres (128 sq mi) of beach front. The tallest peaks in the islands are Blue Hills on Providenciales and Flamingo Hill on East Caicos , both at a modest 48 m. The weather is usually sunny (it is generally regarded that
2478-498: A tremendous power and respiratory capacity. Hence, blowing it daily helps keep the lungs healthy. A newlywed Bengali bride wears bangles called shakha paula , made from coral and conch-shell powder. They have been a part of Bengali custom and tradition. In an ancient era, the Bengali farming community is thought to have resided near the river. They collected conch shells and powdered them to create bangles. They also used red coral for
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#17327768999242596-453: A variation of American English in these islands. In 2021, about 245 million Americans, aged 5 or above, spoke English at home: a majority of the United States total population of roughly 330 million people. The United States has never had an official language at the federal level, but English is commonly used at the federal level and in states without an official language. 32 of the 50 states, in some cases as part of what has been called
2714-766: Is geographically contiguous to the Bahamas, both comprising the Lucayan Archipelago , but is politically a separate entity. The Caicos Islands are separated by the Caicos Passage from the closest Bahamian islands, Mayaguana and Great Inagua . The nearest foreign landmass from the Turks and Caicos Islands is the Bahamian island of Little Inagua , about 30 miles (48 km) from West Caicos . The eight main islands and more than 22 smaller islands have
2832-559: Is administered as part of South Caicos District) is uninhabited, while the only permanent inhabitants of West Caicos (administered as part of Providenciales District) are resort staff. The Caicos Islands comprise the following main islands: The Turks and Caicos Islands feature a tropical savannah climate ( AW ), with relatively consistent temperatures throughout the course of the year. Summertime temperatures rarely exceed 33 °C (91 °F) and winter nighttime temperatures rarely fall below 18 °C (64 °F). Water temperature in
2950-654: Is also associated with the United States, perhaps mostly in the Midwest and the South. American accents that have not undergone the cot–caught merger (the lexical sets LOT and THOUGHT ) have instead retained a LOT – CLOTH split : a 17th-century distinction in which certain words (labeled as the CLOTH lexical set ) separated away from the LOT set. The split, which has now reversed in most British English, simultaneously shifts this relatively recent CLOTH set into
3068-664: Is also home to a creole language known commonly as Hawaiian Pidgin , and some Hawaii residents speak English with a Pidgin-influenced accent. American English also gave rise to some dialects outside the country, for example, Philippine English , beginning during the American occupation of the Philippines and subsequently the Insular Government of the Philippine Islands ; Thomasites first established
3186-470: Is also used to fill empanadas . In Panama , conch is known as cambombia and is often served as ceviche de cambombia , consisting of raw conch marinated in lime juice, chopped onions, finely chopped habaneros , and often vinegar. Conch is very popular in Italy and among Italian Americans . Called sconcigli , it is eaten in a variety of ways, but most often in salads or cooked in a sauce for pasta. It
3304-538: Is common in most American accents despite being now rare in England because, during the 17th-century British colonization, nearly all dialects of English were rhotic, and most North American English simply remained that way. The preservation of rhoticity in North America was also supported by continuing waves of rhotic-accented Scotch-Irish immigrants, most intensely during the 18th century (and moderately during
3422-420: Is often identified by Americans as a "country" accent, and is defined by the /aɪ/ vowel losing its gliding quality : [aː] , the initiation event for a complicated Southern vowel shift, including a " Southern drawl " that makes short front vowels into distinct-sounding gliding vowels . The fronting of the vowels of GOOSE , GOAT , MOUTH , and STRUT tends to also define Southern accents as well as
3540-599: Is often included as one of the dishes prepared for the Feast of the Seven Fishes . In East Asian cuisines, conch is often cut into thin slices and then steamed or stir-fried . Eighty per cent of the queen conch meat in international trade is imported into the United States. The Florida Keys were a major source of queen conches until the 1970s, but the conches are now scarce and all harvesting of them in Florida waters
3658-638: Is often played in a Lakshmi puja in temple or at home. In the story of Dhruva , the divine conch plays a special part. The warriors of ancient India blew conch shells to announce battle, as is described in the beginning of the war of Kurukshetra, in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata . The god of preservation, Vishnu , is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya, that represents life, as it has come out of life-giving waters. According to Hindu mythology, Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons) once decided to churn
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3776-651: Is particularly popular in the Bahamas , Turks and Caicos , and Jamaica . In Bahamas, conch is often cooked into fritters. In Jamaica conch is eaten in stews and curries. In the Dominican Republic , Grenada , and Haiti , conch is commonly eaten in curries or in a spicy soup. It is locally referred to as lambi . In Puerto Rico , conch is served as a ceviche , often called ensalada de carrucho (conch salad), consisting of raw conch marinated in lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, green peppers, and onions. It
3894-744: Is prohibited and individuals who have harvested them have been punished by law enforcement. In the Turks and Caicos Islands , the Conch Festival is held in November each year at the Three Queens Bar/Restaurant in Blue Hills. Local restaurateurs compete for the best and most original conch dishes, which are then judged by international chefs. Other competitions, events, and music performances occur. Conch shells can be used as wind instruments . They are prepared by cutting
4012-410: Is the common language at home, in public, and in government. The Turks and Caicos Islands The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI ; / ˈ t ɜːr k s / and / ˈ k eɪ k ə s , - k oʊ s , - k ɒ s / ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands , two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of
4130-469: Is the variable fronting of /ɑ/ before /r/ , for example, appearing four times in the stereotypical Boston shibboleth Park the car in Harvard Yard . Several other phenomena serve to distinguish regional U.S. accents. Boston , Pittsburgh , Upper Midwestern , and Western U.S. accents have fully completed a merger of the LOT vowel with the THOUGHT vowel ( /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ , respectively):
4248-482: The English-only movement , have adopted legislation granting official or co-official status to English. Typically only "English" is specified, not a particular variety like American English. (From 1923 to 1969, the state of Illinois recognized its official language as "American", meaning American English.) Puerto Rico is the largest example of a United States territory in which another language – Spanish –
4366-620: The Lucayan caya hico , meaning 'string of islands'. The Turks Islands are named after the Turk's cap cactus, Melocactus intortus , whose red cephalium resembles the fez hat worn by Turks in the late Ottoman Empire . The first inhabitants of the islands were the Arawakan-speaking Taíno people , who most likely crossed over from Hispaniola some time from AD 500 to 800. Together with Taíno who migrated from Cuba to
4484-622: The Mid-Atlantic states (including a New York accent as well as a unique Philadelphia–Baltimore accent ), and the South . As of the 20th century, the middle and eastern Great Lakes area , Chicago being the largest city with these speakers, also ushered in certain unique features, including the fronting of the LOT /ɑ/ vowel in the mouth toward [a] and tensing of the TRAP /æ/ vowel wholesale to [eə] . These sound changes have triggered
4602-551: The Native American languages . Examples of such names are opossum , raccoon , squash , moose (from Algonquian ), wigwam , and moccasin . American English speakers have integrated traditionally non-English terms and expressions into the mainstream cultural lexicon; for instance, en masse , from French ; cookie , from Dutch ; kindergarten from German , and rodeo from Spanish . Landscape features are often loanwords from French or Spanish, and
4720-784: The Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Cayman Islands Regiment . The Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment, like regiments in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, will focus on increasing the nation's security, and, for times of natural disasters, the Regiment would be trained in engineering and communications. In mid December 2019, a team from the UK's Ministry of Defence was on Turks and Caicos to start on building
4838-756: The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force . Customs and border enforcement is the responsibility of the Border Force. At times these may be supported by the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment . The defence of the Turks and Caicos Islands is the responsibility of the United Kingdom. The Royal Navy has a ship on permanent station in the Caribbean, HMS Medway , and from time-to-time may send another Royal Navy or Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship as
Conch - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-568: The Trouvadore . In November 2008, a cooperative marine archaeology expedition, funded by the United States National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration , confirmed that the wreck has artifacts whose style and date of manufacture link them to the Trouvadore . In 1848, Britain designated the Turks and Caicos as a separate colony under a council president . In 1873–4, the islands were made part of
5074-509: The family Strombidae , specifically in the genus Strombus and other closely related genera. For example, Lobatus gigas , the queen conch, is a true conch. True conch are identified by their long spire. Many other species are also often called "conch", but are not at all closely related to the family Strombidae, including Melongena species (family Melongenidae ) and the horse conch Triplofusus papillosus (family Fasciolariidae ). Species commonly referred to as conches also include
5192-722: The francophile tastes of the 19th century Victorian era Britain (for example they preferred programme for program , manoeuvre for maneuver , cheque for check , etc.). AmE almost always uses -ize in words like realize . BrE prefers -ise , but also uses -ize on occasion (see: Oxford spelling ). There are a few differences in punctuation rules. British English is more tolerant of run-on sentences , called " comma splices " in American English, and American English prefers that periods and commas be placed inside closing quotation marks even in cases in which British rules would place them outside. American English also favors
5310-506: The "wind breastplate" ehecailacocozcatl , "the spirally voluted wind jewel" made of a conch shell. Blowing a conch was considered a religious act. A shankha shell (the shell of a T. pyrum , a species in the gastropod family Turbinellidae ) is often referred to in the West as a conch shell or a chank shell. This shell is used as an important ritual object in Hinduism . The shell is used as
5428-519: The 17th century. From the mid-1600s Bermudian salt collectors began seasonally visiting the islands, later settling more permanently with their African slaves. For several decades around the turn of the 18th century, the islands became popular pirate hideouts. During the Anglo-French War (1778–1783) the French captured the archipelago in 1783; however, it was later confirmed as
5546-764: The 18th century; apartment , shanty in the 19th century; project, condominium , townhouse , mobile home in the 20th century; and parts thereof ( driveway , breezeway, backyard ) . Industry and material innovations from the 19th century onwards provide distinctive new words, phrases, and idioms through railroading (see further at rail terminology ) and transportation terminology, ranging from types of roads ( dirt roads , freeways ) to infrastructure ( parking lot , overpass , rest area ), to automotive terminology often now standard in English internationally. Already existing English words—such as store , shop , lumber —underwent shifts in meaning; others remained in
5664-490: The 20th century. The use of English in the United States is a result of British colonization of the Americas . The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the early 17th century, followed by further migrations in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of England and the British Isles existed in every American colony, allowing
5782-491: The Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies . They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre . The resident population in 2023 was estimated by The World Factbook at 59,367, making it the third-largest of the British overseas territories by population. However, according to a Department of Statistics estimate in 2022, the population was 47,720. The islands are southeast of Mayaguana in
5900-423: The Bahamas island chain and north of the island of Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ). Cockburn Town , the capital since 1766, is situated on Grand Turk about 1,042 kilometres (647 mi) east-southeast of Miami . They have a total land area of 430 square kilometres (170 sq mi). The islands were inhabited for centuries by Taíno people . The first recorded European sighting of them
6018-572: The British form is a back-formation , such as AmE burglarize and BrE burgle (from burglar ). However, while individuals usually use one or the other, both forms will be widely understood and mostly used alongside each other within the two systems. While written American English is largely standardized across the country and spoken American English dialects are highly mutually intelligible, there are still several recognizable regional and ethnic accents and lexical distinctions. The regional sounds of present-day American English are reportedly engaged in
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#17327768999246136-466: The Caribbean, and some ships were wrecked off the coast of these islands. In 1837, the Esperança, a Portuguese slaver, was wrecked off East Caicos, one of the larger islands. While the crew and 220 captive Africans survived the shipwreck, 18 Africans died before the survivors were taken to Nassau. Africans from this ship may have been among the 189 liberated Africans whom the British colonists settled in
6254-411: The Caribbean. The variety of species includes a number of endemic species of lizards, snakes, insects and plants, and marine organisms ; in addition to being an important breeding area for seabirds. The UK and Turks and Caicos Islands Governments have joint responsibility for the conservation and preservation to meet obligations under international environmental conventions. Due to this significance,
6372-413: The East Coast (perhaps in imitation of 19th-century London speech), even the East Coast has gradually begun to restore rhoticity, due to it becoming nationally prestigious in the 20th century. The pronunciation of ⟨r⟩ is a postalveolar approximant [ ɹ̠ ] or retroflex approximant [ ɻ ] , but a unique "bunched tongue" variant of the approximant r sound
6490-619: The European settlers. In 1799, both the Turks and the Caicos island groups were annexed by Britain as part of the Bahamas. The processing of sea salt was developed as a highly important export product from the West Indies and continued to be a major export product into the nineteenth century. In 1807, Britain prohibited the slave trade and, in 1833, abolished slavery in its colonies. British ships sometimes intercepted slave traders in
6608-571: The Inland North. Rather than one particular accent, General American is best defined as an umbrella covering an American accent that does not incorporate features associated with some particular region, ethnicity, or socioeconomic group. Typical General American features include rhoticity , the father–bother merger , Mary–marry–merry merger , pre-nasal "short a " tensing , and other particular vowel sounds . General American features are embraced most by Americans who are highly educated or in
6726-594: The Jamaica colony; in 1894, the chief colonial official was restyled commissioner . In 1917, Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden suggested that the Turks and Caicos join Canada , but this suggestion was rejected by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the islands remained a dependency of Jamaica. On 4 July 1959 the islands were again designated as a separate colony, the last commissioner being restyled administrator . The governor of Jamaica also continued as
6844-594: The Privy Council . There are three justices of the Supreme Court, a Chief Justice and two others. The Court of Appeal consists of a president and at least two justices of appeal. Magistrates' Courts are the lower courts and appeals from Magistrates' Courts are sent to the Supreme Court. As of April 2020, the Chief Justice is Justice Mabel Agyemang . Policing is primarily the responsibility of
6962-598: The Regiment. It is projected that the Turk and Caicos Regiment will go operational sometime within the third quarter of 2020, putting it nearly half a year after the Cayman Regiment. In spring 2020, a Security and Assistance Team from the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence arrived in Turks and Caicos to assist with the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season , and to help build
7080-573: The South), sneakers for athletic shoes (but often tennis shoes outside the Northeast), and shopping cart for a cart used for carrying supermarket goods. American English and British English (BrE) often differ at the levels of phonology, phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a much lesser extent, grammar and orthography. The first large American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language , known as Webster's Dictionary ,
7198-537: The Turks Island Passage. The Turks Islands are separated from the Caicos Islands by Turks Island Passage, which is more than 2,200 m (7,200 ft) deep. The islands form a chain that stretches north–south. The 2012 census population was 4,939 on the two main islands, the only inhabited islands of the group: Together with nearby islands, all on Turks Bank, those two main islands form
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#17327768999247316-646: The Turks Islands and four in the Caicos Islands), headed by district commissioners. For the House of Assembly , the Turks and Caicos Islands are divided into 15 electoral districts (four in the Turks Islands and eleven in the Caicos Islands). The judicial branch of government is headed by a Supreme Court; appeals are heard by the Court of Appeal and final appeals by the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of
7434-435: The Turks and Caicos Islands and Cockburn Town has been the seat of government since 1766. The Turks and Caicos Islands participate in the Caribbean Development Bank , is an associate in CARICOM , a member of the Universal Postal Union and maintains an Interpol sub-bureau. The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization includes the territory on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories . Under
7552-529: The Turks and Caicos from 1833 to 1840. In 1841, the Trouvadore , an illegal Spanish slave ship, was wrecked off the coast of East Caicos. All of the 20 man crew and 192 captive Africans survived the sinking. Officials freed the Africans and arranged for 168 persons to be apprenticed to island proprietors on Grand Turk for one year. They increased the small population of the colony by seven per cent. The remaining 24 were resettled in Nassau, Bahamas . The Spanish crew were also taken there, to be turned over to
7670-528: The U.S. Several verbs ending in -ize are of U.S. origin; for example, fetishize, prioritize, burglarize, accessorize, weatherize , etc.; and so are some back-formations (locate, fine-tune, curate, donate, emote, upholster and enthuse). Among syntactic constructions that arose are outside of, headed for, meet up with, back of, etc. Americanisms formed by alteration of some existing words include notably pesky, phony, rambunctious, buddy, sundae , skeeter, sashay and kitty-corner. Adjectives that arose in
7788-505: The U.S. are for instance foothill , landslide (in all senses), backdrop , teenager , brainstorm , bandwagon , hitchhike , smalltime, and a huge number of others. Other compound words have been founded based on industrialization and the wave of the automobile: five-passenger car, four-door sedan, two-door sedan, and station-wagon (called an estate car in British English). Some are euphemistic ( human resources , affirmative action , correctional facility ). Many compound nouns have
7906-551: The U.S. are, for example, lengthy, bossy, cute and cutesy, punk (in all senses), sticky (of the weather), through (as in "finished"), and many colloquial forms such as peppy or wacky . A number of words and meanings that originated in Middle English or Early Modern English and that have been in everyday use in the United States have since disappeared in most varieties of British English; some of these have cognates in Lowland Scots . Terms such as fall ("autumn"), faucet ("tap"), diaper ("nappy"; itself unused in
8024-530: The U.S. while changing in Britain. Science, urbanization, and democracy have been important factors in bringing about changes in the written and spoken language of the United States. From the world of business and finance came new terms ( merger , downsize , bottom line ), from sports and gambling terminology came, specific jargon aside, common everyday American idioms, including many idioms related to baseball . The names of some American inventions remained largely confined to North America ( elevator [except in
8142-427: The U.S.), candy ("sweets"), skillet , eyeglasses , and obligate are often regarded as Americanisms. Fall for example came to denote the season in 16th century England, a contraction of Middle English expressions like "fall of the leaf" and "fall of the year." Gotten ( past participle of get ) is often considered to be largely an Americanism. Other words and meanings were brought back to Britain from
8260-541: The U.S., especially in the second half of the 20th century; these include hire ("to employ"), I guess (famously criticized by H. W. Fowler ), baggage , hit (a place), and the adverbs overly and presently ("currently"). Some of these, for example, monkey wrench and wastebasket , originated in 19th century Britain. The adjectives mad meaning "angry", smart meaning "intelligent", and sick meaning "ill" are also more frequent in American (and Irish) English than British English. Linguist Bert Vaux created
8378-457: The United States ; the de facto common language used in government, education, and commerce; and an official language in 32 of the 50 U.S. states . Since the late 20th century, American English has become the most influential form of English worldwide. Varieties of American English include many patterns of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and particularly spelling that are unified nationwide but distinct from other English dialects around
8496-474: The United States and the United Kingdom suggest that, while spoken American English deviated away from period British English in many ways, it is conservative in a few other ways, preserving certain features 21st-century British English has since lost. Full rhoticity (or "R-fulness") is typical of American accents, pronouncing the phoneme /r/ (corresponding to the letter ⟨r⟩ ) in all environments, including in syllable-final position or before
8614-554: The West and Midwest, and New York Latino English , spoken in the New York metropolitan area . Additionally, ethnic varieties such as Yeshiva English and " Yinglish " are spoken by some American Orthodox Jews , Cajun Vernacular English by some Cajuns in southern Louisiana , and Pennsylvania Dutch English by some Pennsylvania Dutch people. American Indian Englishes have been documented among diverse Indian tribes. The island state of Hawaii , though primarily English-speaking,
8732-555: The accents spoken in the " Midland ": a vast band of the country that constitutes an intermediate dialect region between the traditional North and South. Western U.S. accents mostly fall under the General American spectrum. Below, ten major American English accents are defined by their particular combinations of certain vowel sounds: In 2010, William Labov noted that Great Lakes, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and West Coast accents have undergone "vigorous new sound changes" since
8850-505: The aeronautical sense ], gasoline ) as did certain automotive terms ( truck , trunk ). New foreign loanwords came with 19th and early 20th century European immigration to the U.S.; notably, from Yiddish ( chutzpah , schmooze, bupkis, glitch ) and German ( hamburger , wiener ). A large number of English colloquialisms from various periods are American in origin; some have lost their American flavor (from OK and cool to nerd and 24/7 ), while others have not ( have
8968-486: The bangles. They gave these beautiful bangles to their wives, as they could not afford ivory bangles. They were also known as poor-man's ivory, as they were cheap substitute for ivory bangles. 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
9086-681: The best-known species used are the sacred chank or shankha Turbinella pyrum , the Triton's trumpet Charonia tritonis , and the queen conch Strombus gigas . One of the most famous musical instruments was found in the Marsoulas cave in the Pyrenees Mountains , in France , in 1932. CT scans showed how ancient humans adapted the Concho to make it a musical instrument, such as creating
9204-406: The country), though the vowel-consonant cluster found in "bird", "work", "hurt", "learn", etc. usually retains its r pronunciation, even in these non-rhotic American accents. Non-rhoticity among such speakers is presumed to have arisen from their upper classes' close historical contact with England, imitating London's r -dropping, a feature that has continued to gain prestige throughout England from
9322-462: The custody of the Cuban consul and taken to Cuba for prosecution. An 1878 letter documents the "Trouvadore Africans" and their descendants as constituting an essential part of the "labouring population" on the islands. In 2004, marine archaeologists affiliated with the Turks and Caicos National Museum discovered a wreck, called the "Black Rock Ship", that subsequent research has suggested may be that of
9440-614: The diverse regional dialects of British English) became common after the mid-18th century, while at the same time speakers' identification with this new variety increased. Since the 18th century, American English has developed into some new varieties, including regional dialects that retain minor influences from waves of immigrant speakers of diverse languages, primarily European languages. Some racial and regional variation in American English reflects these groups' geographic settlement, their de jure or de facto segregation, and patterns in their resettlement. This can be seen, for example, in
9558-742: The double quotation mark ("like this") over the single ('as here'). Vocabulary differences vary by region. For example, autumn is used more commonly in the United Kingdom, whereas fall is more common in American English. Some other differences include: aerial (United Kingdom) vs. antenna, biscuit (United Kingdom) vs. cookie/cracker, car park (United Kingdom) vs. parking lot, caravan (United Kingdom) vs. trailer, city centre (United Kingdom) vs. downtown, flat (United Kingdom) vs. apartment, fringe (United Kingdom) vs. bangs, and holiday (United Kingdom) vs. vacation. AmE sometimes favors words that are morphologically more complex, whereas BrE uses clipped forms, such as AmE transportation and BrE transport or where
9676-517: The following two centuries) when this ethnic group eventually made up one-seventh of the colonial population. Scotch-Irish settlers spread from Delaware and Pennsylvania throughout the larger Mid-Atlantic region, the inland regions of both the South and North, and throughout the West: American dialect areas that were all uninfluenced by upper-class non-rhoticity and that consequently have remained consistently rhotic. While non-rhoticity spread on
9794-459: The governor of the islands. When Jamaica was granted independence from Britain in August 1962, the Turks and Caicos Islands became a Crown colony . Beginning in 1965, the governor of the Bahamas was also governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands and oversaw affairs for the islands. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the Turks and Caicos received their own governor (the last administrator
9912-944: The hospital , BrE to hospital ; contrast, however, AmE actress Elizabeth Taylor , BrE the actress Elizabeth Taylor ). Often, these differences are a matter of relative preferences rather than absolute rules; and most are not stable since the two varieties are constantly influencing each other, and American English is not a standardized set of dialects. Differences in orthography are also minor. The main differences are that American English usually uses spellings such as flavor for British flavour , fiber for fibre , defense for defence , analyze for analyse , license for licence , catalog for catalogue and traveling for travelling . Noah Webster popularized such spellings in America, but he did not invent most of them. Rather, "he chose already existing options on such grounds as simplicity, analogy or etymology." Other differences are due to
10030-674: The influence of 18th-century Protestant Ulster Scots immigrants (known in the U.S. as the Scotch-Irish ) in Appalachia developing Appalachian English and the 20th-century Great Migration bringing African-American Vernacular English to the Great Lakes urban centers. Any phonologically unmarked North American accent falls under an umbrella known as General American. This section mostly refers to such General American features. Studies on historical usage of English in both
10148-491: The islands are on the United Kingdom's tentative list for future UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory . As a British territory, its sovereign is King Charles III of the United Kingdom, represented by a governor appointed by the monarch, on the advice of the Foreign Office . With the election of the territory's first Chief Minister, J. A. G. S. McCartney ,
10266-418: The islands first adopted a constitution on 30 August 1976. The national holiday, Constitution Day, is celebrated annually on 30 August. The territory's legal system is based on English common law , with a small number of laws adopted from Jamaica and the Bahamas. Suffrage is universal for those over 18 years of age. English is the official language. Grand Turk is the administrative and political capital of
10384-477: The islands receive 350 days of sun each year ) and relatively dry, but suffers frequent hurricanes. The islands have limited natural fresh water resources; private cisterns collect rainwater for drinking. The primary natural resources are spiny lobster , conch , and other shellfish. Turks and Caicos contains three terrestrial ecoregions: Bahamian dry forests , Bahamian pineyards , and Bahamian-Antillean mangroves . The two distinct island groups are separated by
10502-484: The islands were re-designated a British Overseas Territory, with islanders gaining full British citizenship. A new constitution was promulgated in 2006; however in 2009 Premier Michael Misick of the Progressive National Party (PNP) resigned in the face of corruption charges, and the United Kingdom took over direct control of the government. During this period of direct British rule, in 2010
10620-438: The late 18th century onwards, but which has conversely lost prestige in the U.S. since at least the early 20th century. Non-rhoticity makes a word like car sound like cah or source like sauce . New York City and Southern accents are the most prominent regional accents of the country, as well as the most stigmatized and socially disfavored. Southern speech, strongest in southern Appalachia and certain areas of Texas,
10738-728: The leaders of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands discussed the possibility of forming a federation . A new constitution was promulgated in October 2012 and the government was returned to full local administration after the November 2012 elections . Rufus Ewing of the PNP was elected as the new, restored, premier. In the 2016 elections , the PNP lost for the first time since they replaced Derek Hugh Taylor's government in 2003. The People's Democratic Movement (PDM) came to power with Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson as Premier. She
10856-427: The mid-nineteenth century onwards, so they "are now more different from each other than they were 50 or 100 years ago", while other accents, like of New York City and Boston, have remained stable in that same time-frame. However, a General American sound system also has some debated degree of influence nationwide, for example, gradually beginning to oust the regional accent in urban areas of the South and at least some in
10974-617: The most formal contexts, and regional accents with the most General American native features include North Midland, Western New England, and Western accents. Although no longer region-specific, African-American Vernacular English , which remains the native variety of most working- and middle-class African Americans , has a close relationship to Southern dialects and has greatly influenced everyday speech of many Americans, including hip hop culture . Hispanic and Latino Americans have also developed native-speaker varieties of English. The best-studied Latino Englishes are Chicano English , spoken in
11092-501: The new Constitution that came into effect in October 2012, legislative power is held by a unicameral House of Assembly , consisting of 19 seats, 15 elected and four appointed by the governor; of elected members, five are elected at large and 10 from single-member districts for four-year terms. In the 2021 elections the Progressive National Party won in a landslide and Washington Misick became Premier. The Turks and Caicos Islands are divided into six administrative districts (two in
11210-399: The new Turks and Caicos Regiment. In early June 2020, Lieutenant Colonel Ennis Grant was appointed as the commanding officer of the new Turks and Caicos Regiment. Eight of the thirty islands in the territory are inhabited, with a total population estimated from preliminary results of the census of 25 January 2012 (released on 12 August 2012) of 31,458 inhabitants, an increase of 58.2% from
11328-407: The ocean to get a special divine nectar. This divine nectar, also known as amrit , was known to give immortality to whoever drank it. All the gods were on one side of it and the demons were on the other end. The churning ( samudra manthan ) produced a number of things from the ocean. One of the first things to come out of it was lethal poison called halahala . Everyone was terrified, as the poison
11446-402: The past forms of a few verbs (for example, AmE/BrE: learned / learnt , burned / burnt , snuck/sneaked , dove/dived ) although the purportedly "British" forms can occasionally be seen in American English writing as well; different prepositions and adverbs in certain contexts (for example, AmE in school, BrE at school ); and whether or not a definite article is used, in very few cases (AmE to
11564-405: The phylum Mollusca. Their shells consist of about 95% calcium carbonate and 5% organic matter. Conch are harvested for their edible meat and decorative shell. The shells are often used for decoration and as a musical instrument. The meat of conches are often eaten raw in salads or cooked in burgers, chowders , fritters , and gumbos . Conch is indigenous to the Caribbean and West Indies . Conch
11682-438: The population of 19,886 reported in the 2001 census. July 2021 estimates put the population at 57,196. One-third of the population is under 15 years old, and only 4% are 65 or older. In 2000 the population was growing at a rate of 3.55% per year. The infant mortality rate was 18.66 deaths per 1,000 live births and the life expectancy at birth was 73.28 years (71.15 years for males, 75.51 years for females). The total fertility rate
11800-540: The queen conch, S. gigas , are rare and have been collectors' items since Victorian times. Conch pearls occur in a range of hues, including white, brown, and orange, with many intermediate shades, but pink is the colour most associated with the conch pearl, such that these pearls are sometimes referred to simply as "pink pearls". In some gemological texts, non-nacreous gastropod pearls used to be referred to as "calcareous concretions" because they were porcellaneous (shiny and ceramic-like in appearance), rather than nacreous (with
11918-603: The sacred chank or shankha shell ( Turbinella pyrum ) and other Turbinella species in the family Turbinellidae . The Triton's trumpet (family Charoniidae ) may also be fashioned into a horn and referred to as a conch. The English word "conch" is attested in Middle English , coming from Latin concha (shellfish, mussel ), which in turn comes from Greek konchē (same meaning) ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root * konkho- , cognate with Sanskrit word śaṅkha . Conch are species of sea snail in
12036-459: The southern Bahamas around the same time, these people developed as the Lucayan . Around 1200, the Turks and Caicos Islands were resettled by Classical Taínos from Hispaniola. It is unknown precisely who the first European to sight the islands was. Some sources state that Christopher Columbus saw the islands on his voyage to the Americas in 1492. However, other sources state that it is more likely that Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León
12154-407: The summer is 82 to 84 degrees (28–29 degrees celsius) and in winter about 74 to 78 degrees (23–26 degrees celsius). A constant trade wind keeps the climate at a very comfortable level. The Turks and Caicos Islands are a biodiversity hotspot . The islands have many endemic species and others of international importance, due to the conditions created by the oldest established salt-pan development in
12272-443: The territory due to immigration, both legal and illegal, from Haitian Creole-speaking Haiti and from Spanish-speaking Cuba and Dominican Republic. 86% of the population of Turks and Caicos are Christian ( Baptists 35.8%, Church of God 11.7%, Roman Catholics 11.4%, Anglicans 10%, Methodists 9.3%, Seventh-day Adventists 6%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.8%), with other faiths making up the remaining 14%. Catholics are served by
12390-570: The traditional standard accent of (southern) England, Received Pronunciation (RP), has evolved a trap–bath split . Moreover, American accents preserve /h/ at the start of syllables, while perhaps a majority of the regional dialects of England participate in /h/ dropping , particularly in informal contexts. However, General American is also innovative in a number of its own ways: The process of coining new lexical items started as soon as English-speaking British-American colonists began borrowing names for unfamiliar flora, fauna, and topography from
12508-517: The two administrative districts of the territory (out of six in total) that fall within the Turks Islands. Turks Bank, which is smaller than Caicos Bank, has a total area of about 324 km (125 sq mi). The main uninhabited islands are: 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of the Turks Islands and separated from them by Mouchoir Passage is the Mouchoir Bank . Although it has no emergent cays or islets, some parts are very shallow and
12626-417: The verb-and-preposition combination: stopover, lineup, tryout, spin-off, shootout , holdup, hideout, comeback, makeover , and many more. Some prepositional and phrasal verbs are in fact of American origin ( win out, hold up, back up/off/down/out, face up to and many others). Noun endings such as -ee (retiree), -ery (bakery), -ster (gangster) and -cian (beautician) are also particularly productive in
12744-569: The water breaks on them. Mouchoir Bank is part of the Turks and Caicos Islands and falls within its Exclusive Economic Zone . It measures 958 square kilometres (370 sq mi) in area. Two banks further east, Silver Bank and Navidad Bank , are geographically a continuation, but belong politically to the Dominican Republic. The largest island in the Caicos archipelago is the sparsely-inhabited Middle Caicos, which measures 144 square kilometres (56 sq mi) in area, but has
12862-775: The word corn , used in England to refer to wheat (or any cereal), came to denote the maize plant, the most important crop in the U.S. Most Mexican Spanish contributions came after the War of 1812 , with the opening of the West, like ranch (now a common house style ). Due to Mexican culinary influence, many Spanish words are incorporated in general use when talking about certain popular dishes: cilantro (instead of coriander), queso, tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, fajitas, burritos, and guacamole. These words usually lack an English equivalent and are found in popular restaurants. New forms of dwelling created new terms ( lot , waterfront) and types of homes like log cabin , adobe in
12980-609: The world. Any American or Canadian accent perceived as lacking noticeably local, ethnic, or cultural markers is known in linguistics as General American ; it covers a fairly uniform accent continuum native to certain regions of the U.S. but especially associated with broadcast mass media and highly educated speech. However, historical and present linguistic evidence does not support the notion of there being one single mainstream American accent . The sound of American English continues to evolve, with some local accents disappearing, but several larger regional accents having emerged in
13098-534: Was 3.25 children born per woman. The annual population growth rate is 2.82%. The CIA World Factbook breaks down the islanders' ethnicity as African 87%, European 7.9%, Mixed 2.5.%, East Indian 1.3% and Other 0.7%. There is a small Dominican and Haitian community on the islands. The official language of the islands is English, but the population also speaks Turks and Caicos Islands Creole . Due to its proximity to Cuba and Hispaniola, large Haitian Creole and Spanish-speaking communities have developed in
13216-471: Was deployed to the islands to provide surveillance support to the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police which was confronted with rising gang violence in the territory. Governor Nigel Dakin announced in early December 2019 that the Turks and Caicos will build its own defence regiment, the Turks and Caicos Islands Regiment, with the assistance of the UK's Ministry of Defence and it is to be similar to
13334-462: Was in 1512. In subsequent centuries, they were claimed by several European powers, with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years they were governed indirectly through Bermuda , the Bahamas, and Jamaica . When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973, the islands received their own governor , and have remained an autonomous territory since. The name Caico[s] is from
13452-419: Was potent enough to destroy entire creation, so they went to Lord Shiva for protection and he consumed the poison to safeguard the universe. Lord Shiva took the poison in his mouth, but did not swallow it. Shankha also was one of divine objects that was obtained from samudra manthan . Also, the sound of the conch is believed to drive away the evil spirits. The blowing of the conch or "the shankha " needs
13570-486: Was replaced by Washington Misick after the PNP returned to power after winning the 2021 general elections . The two island groups are in the North Atlantic Ocean about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Hispaniola and about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) from Miami in the United States, at 21°43′N 71°33′W / 21.717°N 71.550°W / 21.717; -71.550 . The territory
13688-467: Was restyled). In 1974, Canadian New Democratic Party MP Max Saltsman proposed in his private member's bill C-249, "An Act Respecting a Proposed Association Between Canada and the Caribbean Turks and Caicos Islands" that Canada form an association with the Turks and Caicos Islands; however, it was never submitted to a vote. Since August 1976, the islands have had their own government headed by
13806-574: Was the first European in Turks and Caicos, in 1512. In either case, by 1512 the Spanish had begun capturing the Taíno and Lucayans as labourers in the encomienda system to replace the largely depleted native population of Hispaniola. As a result of this, and the introduction of diseases to which the native people had no immunity, the southern Bahama Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands were completely depopulated by about 1513, and remained so until
13924-469: Was written by Noah Webster in 1828, codifying several of these spellings. Differences in grammar are relatively minor, and do not normally affect mutual intelligibility; these include: typically a lack of differentiation between adjectives and adverbs, employing the equivalent adjectives as adverbs he ran quick / he ran quickly ; different use of some auxiliary verbs ; formal (rather than notional) agreement with collective nouns ; different preferences for
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