The standard for official use and education is largely British-based with regard to spelling, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
[2] The English accent of both Black and White Bahamians is traditionally non-rhotic,[3] due to being British-influenced, but often now rhotic among some younger speakers.
[5] The contrast is often neutralized or merged into [v], [b] or [β], so village sounds like [wɪlɪdʒ], [vɪlɪdʒ] or [βɪlɪdʒ].
Dental fricatives are usually changed to alveolar plosives (th-stopping): The sound /h/ is often inserted into words that are not spelled with the letter H, leaving "up" to be pronounced as [hʌp].
[6] Questions retain the same syntax as statements; the subject and verb do not switch their positions.
[6] Much of Bahamian terminology is derived from British English, West African languages, and Spanish, due to the country's colonial past.