England took part in the African slave
trade from about 1650 to 1807, when it was made illegal under British law. On New World
plantations slaves continued to speak African languages for the first few
generations after their arrival. As time went by, visitors to plantations noted that
the speech of white slaveowners had become similar in accent
and pronunciation to that of their African slaves. Scholars are still tracing African
vocabulary and documenting the many
Africanisms in American And Caribbean English.
Other African words entered English as the result of British colonial settlements and military engagements in Africa.
Words of African origin now in everyday use in English include--