African English expressions in The Gambia

ABSTRACT: Localized varieties of English have been in Africa since the 16th century. The first English to be used on that continent was a contact variety, streamlined for trading with local populations. British government and religious representatives arrived with their metropolitan versions of the language, and the continent was exposed to a second variety. British colonial educational policies in the area attempted to produce a metropolitan English spoken by Africans: however, after independence, most British teachers left the continent, leaving the ex‐colonies without native‐speaker models. English developed less to European standards, and more closely to modified African perceptions. This third type of English, the localized variety, has flourished to the present. This paper focuses on the localized African English spoken in The Gambia. A brief history of the area is included, along with a sample of the vocabulary and expressions found in Gambian English.