The Social Life of Jamaican English as a Postcolonial English

Abstract Jamaican English, the official language of Jamaica, has existed beside the Jamaican language (an English‐related Creole) for well over three centuries. For most of its life, Jamaican English has enjoyed more prestige in more domains of use than its Creole relative. However, since the 20th century, Jamaican has been gaining in prestige and is now sharing more spaces with English. English continues to serve in most formal/official functions at home in Jamaica, but it plays second fiddle to the Jamaican language on the global stage.