Syntactic Deviation as Style: Types of Syntactic Deviation in Caribbean Singers’ Songs

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the syntactic deviation in Caribbean singers’ songs. Their unique style has captured a lot of listeners. Their writings include syntactic deviation, which is the digression from the standard structure of syntax. The deviation refers to the linguistic choice used by the writers. Songwriters sometimes omit certain subjects and verbs and deviate from the standard rules of the English language in order to make their songs distinctive. Similarly, this deviation can be seen in the Caribbean songwriters. The study was carried out with the help of a qualitative research method in which the lyrics of selected songs of some Caribbean songwriters were investigated descriptively. Sentences, phrases, and clauses were analyzed carefully. The findings of the study suggested that Caribbean singers deviate syntactically from the standard norms of the English language. Their songs included omission, deviation, use of slang words, and overgeneralization of words. Future studies should explore other linguistic deviations.