Jamaican Slang EditorialTHE Blog for Jamaican Slang, Patois, Reggae, Rastafari, Real T’ing dem and Jamaica

Wha gwaan Duppy Conquerors? It’s really an exciting time for Reggae, Jamaican Patois and Jamaican Slang. So much is behind the movement to see Jamaican Patois recognized as an official language and the work laid down by Bob Marley more than 20 years ago is still hitting people. In the song, Duppy Conqueror, Bob Marley introduced to the world, one of Jamaican Patois’ unique words  - Duppy.

Duppy (dup-pee): a ghost/spirit.

Duppies are usually seen as malevolent spirits or ghosts. The word has its origins in West Africa and has been the subject of songs by Bob Marley and Lee Scratch Perry. And itis with this information that we complete the trinity…the reggae part.

Here is a great blog post about Dub music, the ghost sound of reggae, and Rastafarians. This is a fascinating article and has a wealth of information for students of Jamaican Patois, Jamaican Slang and Reggae.

  “Dub arose from doubling—the common Jamaican practice of reconfiguring or “versioning” a prerecorded track into any number of new songs. Dub calls the apparent “authenticity” of roots reggae into question because dub destroys the holistic integrity of singer and song. It proclaims a primary postmodern law: there is no original, no first ground, no homeland. By mutating its repetitions of previously used material, dub adds something new and distinctly uncanny, vaporizing into a kind of doppelgänger music. Despite the crisp attack of its drums and the heaviness of its bass, it swoops through empty space, spectral and disembodied. Like ganja, dub opens the “inner door.” John Corbett even links the etymology of the word “dub” with duppie (Jamaican patois for ghost). Burning Spear entitled the dub version of his great Marcus Garvey album Garvey’s Ghost, and Joe Gibbs responded to Lee Perry’s production of Bob Marley’s “Duppie Conqueror” with the cut “Ghost Capturer.” Perry described dub as “the ghost in me coming out.” Dub music not only drums up the ghost in the machine, but gives the ghost room to dance.” (sourced here).

It should be noted though that Rastafarianism - unlike many Afro-Caribbean religions such as Vodou - is not a possession cult. As far as I am aware, there are no rituals in Rastafarianism in which, during trance, the subject is thought to have acquired a different personality: that of a god, a deity, genius or ancestor who takes possession of the subject, substitutes itself for him, and acts in that subject’s place. Furthermore, alcohol, which has an important role in many Afro-Caribbean possession rituals, is tabooed under Rastafarian food laws (I-Tal).

“[Rasta] has little in common with Haitian voodoo, Cuban santeria or the other Africanised remixes of Catholicism. Instead of a panoply of spirits, Rasta has just the one God, the stern patriarch of the Old Testament - not someone with whom you can cut deals, as you can with voodoo’s loa. If anything, Rasta is Afro-Protestant, sharing with mainland America’s fundamentalists an emphasis on close reading of the scriptures and a millenarian belief in an End of Time whereupon the righteous get transported to the promised land.” (”Tangets #2. Back To The Roots”, by Simon Reynolds, Wire, September 2000).

Nevertheless, in Rastafarianism communion or ‘communial trances’ do play a role. “Rasta mystical experience emphasizes the possibility of the immediate presence of Jah within the “dread,” or “God-fearer.” God’s presence brought on an understanding of the fundamental unity of all humanity, expressed in the pronoun “I&I” (which can mean I, we, or even you, with Jah present). Discerning the will of God is an almost Talmudic process, achieved through night-long “reasoning” sessions, part theological debate, part prayer meeting and meditation, which lead to an “overstanding” (rather than understanding) of the truth through union with Jah.” (sourced here).

“In fact, one of the most common Rastafarian rituals involves reading a chapter of the bible everyday. The version most commonly read is that of King James. The Rastafarians claim, however, that King James distorted the true content of the bible party because of his inability to translate the Amharic Ethiopian text accurately, and also as a deliberate ploy to perpetuate the suppression and oppression of the black race. So, although the bible is read and venerated, the Rastafarians only choose to read those passages which they ‘intuitively’ feel are correct.” (sourced here).

Many tenets of Rastafarianism, such as the I-Tal diet and the wearing of dreadlocks, are the result of an at once inspired and paranoid reading of the Scriptures, the result of a Ganja-entranced communion with Jah.

“Reggae fans, black and white, (…) looked to the music for “a solid foundation” (as the Congos sang it), for certainty and truth, militancy and motivation. ‘Roots rock rebel’ neatly condenses how Jamaican music was seen both by rock and by reggae itself. Reggae was anti-imperialist: Rasta’s Pan-Africanism connected with the period’s post-colonial struggles (…). Reggae was anti-capitalist (…). And reggae was anti-fascist, (…) bringing radical chic to countless student digs with its poster iconography: Peter Tosh, a Che Guevara with natty dreads and black beret; Medusa-headed spiritual warriors Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, and Culture; Steel Pulse preaching about “Handsworth Revolution”.” (from: “Tangents #2: Back to the roots”, Simon Reynolds, Wire, September 2000 issue)

To read the full post click here. To read more about Reggae, Dub, Bob Marley and Jamaican Patois, check out the Rastaman Vibration at SPEAKJAMAICAN.COM

Many people question if they speak Jamaican Patois, are they really speaking a language. The answer is yes - Yea Mon! Wikipedia defines a spoken language as: A spoken language is a human natural language in which the words are uttered through the mouth. I would say that Jamaican Patois definitely meets the requirement of being a language.  So, why do so many people  say that  Jamaican Patois is not a language?

I think it has to do with colonization, legacy and class. From a colonization standpoint, Jamaicans continue to have a very close connection to Great Britain, the island’s major colonizer. Many Jamaicans live in Great Britain and have had a major influence on British culture, but Great Britain and the Queen of England have a lasting legacy as far as Jamaica is concerned. The English language, driving cars with the steering wheel on the right hand side, having a Prime Minister, the importance of a yard and many other things are a legacy of the British. In the past, the person that spoke proper English or the Queen’s English was most likely well educated and from a higher class. As a result, those that spoke Patois were looked down upon because they were not speaking the colonizer’s language. Despite the historically legacy of colonization, I think times have changed and Patois is vital to Jamaica’s culture, history and place in the world.

You see, Jamaican Patois is based on English and Spanish, but it is also based on African languages as well and before I forget there is also the American Arawak influence. Although, it would be unfair to discount the role of the English language, Jamaican Patois is heavily influenced by Spanish and even more by African languages. Let me see if I can shed some light on this.

Think back to your Spanish Classes when you had to learn the Alphabet and how to count in Spanish. Well, that was a good lesson to begin to speak Jamaican because some of the pronunciation is identical. For example, in Spanish when you say the word twenty or Veinte, the pronunciation in many places begins with a B sound as though the word were “Beinte”. The same thing exists in Patois. For example, you might hear the word “vex” pronounced like ” bex”. The other area where you can hear Spanish in Patois is the vowel pronunciation or sounds. Most vowels in Jamaican Patois have a similar or identical pronunciation to Spanish. Just listen to some the way Jamaicans say the word “Apple” and then listen to the way a Spanish speaker says “Apple”. There is a striking similarity between the two languages. From a cultural and geographic standpoint, its clear to see the influence of the Spanish on Jamaica…Spanish Town and Ocho Rios are both major cities on the island and each has its own history and legacy.

Just in case you have not been to Jamaica, its a country largely populated by African descendants. There are tons of mixes on the island, but the large majority of the island’s population can trace some ancestry back to Africa. The African influence can be heard all throughout the language. In many West African languages, the third person plural pronoun is used after the noun and this is the case in Jamaican Patois. For example, if you listen to the famous Beenie Man song “Girls dem Sugar” you hear him always say “Beenie Man a gyal dem suga, di gyal dem need…”. This is a clear case of this Africanism being present in Jamaican Patois, but there are many more. In addition to Patois grammar, Patois vocabulary also contains elements from Africa. For example, Duppy is a ghost in Patois, but the word also exist in the Bantu language of West Africa. Another example of an Africanism would be the phrase “wha mek” which really means why. This is said to originate from modern day Nigeria.

Jamaican Patois is certainly a language and it is vital to the historic and cultural identity of Jamaica. The language explains alot about the culture and history of Jamaica. For the children of Jamaicans living in New York or London, Patois and Reggae music might be one of the few mass forms of communication that can preserve their parent’s heritage.

To learn more about Jamaican Culture and Patois, check out my book: The Rastaman Vibration. Stay turned for more lessons and background on Jamaican Patois and Jamaican Culture. In the mean time, check out www.jamaican-slang.com

Soon Come