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

If you want to speak Jamaican Patois and master the Jamaican language, you are going to have to know the grammar. Just like any language there are some rules, but the cool thing is, the rules in Jamaican Patois are not like many other languages…so let’s get into it.

In the Jamaican language, the singular and plural are the same word, so here is an example:

one cat, two cat = one cat, two cats

one bwoy, two bwoy = one boy, two boys

“Member Dat!” or Remember that even things in the plural are spoken in the singular form, so you do not need to add the plural prefix -S like in our boring Standard English.

Often times there is a clear need to indicate a plural, the third person plural pronoun written as dem, is placed after the noun. Here are some examples:

Di bwoy dem = The boys

Gwaan chat wit di gyal dem = Go chat with the girls

Call di pickney dem = Call the children/kids

Okay yardies, hopefully you get the point that “S” in Jamaican Patois is just not necesary so save it for a conversation with your grandma (unless she is Jamaican!). You might want to know why the language evolved this way. Basically, according to L. Emilie Adams, the practice of using the third person plural pronoun (Dem=Them) after the noun (ie. bwoy, gyal) to indicate the plural is an African linguistc characteristic brought to Jamaica by the Africa Slaves. Most Jamaicans are the descendants of peoples speaking languages of the Niger-Congo family. This language family is the largest in Africa and are mostly known for adding the third person plural pronoun to indicate the plural.

There are so many things from Africa that Jamaica has preserved and also reinvented. It’s just so cool to see things often oppressed survive. There are so many other Africanism in Jamaican Patois, that I have to break it up. So stay tuned and … visit www.jamaican-slang.com to learn about Jamaican Patois.

More Time!

Imagine getting lost in the Blue Mountains of Jamaican and everyone you see only speaks Patois, the Jamaican language. Well, Standard English might not be that helpful even though English is the official language of Jamaica. Knowing how to ask for directions in Jamaican Patois is the way out of being lost. Here is a great entry providing a basic summary of how to ask for directions in Jamaican Patois. Read it and then speak:

In the Jamaican dialect there are ways of asking for directions and there are separate ways of giving directions. This article will explore the various ways of doing this. We will also look at the popular phrase ‘ah whe’ and how to turn it from a question into a statement. Much of this will take some rote memorization. Ok, let’s begin.

Asking Directions

ah whe ee deh? - where is it?

Ee deh deh? - is it there?

Desso ee deh? - it is there?

yasso ee deh? - it is right here?

ee deh ova deh? - is it over there?

In the above examples, you ask a question by changing your intonation and by having a questioning tone. With the exception of “ah whe ee deh” all the above examples can be converted from questions (asking directions) to statements (which give directions). Examples of this are shown below.

Giving Directions

Ee deh deh - it is there

desso ee deh - it is there

yasso ee deh - it is right here

ee deh ova deh - it is over there

Now, let’s look at the example of “ah whe ee deh” which can only be used for asking questions. The first two words in this phrase ‘ah whe’ literally mean ‘a where’ which means that you are asking a question. Therefore, if we want to change ‘a whe ee deh’ from a question into a statement you would have to replace ‘a whe’. Here are some examples with ‘a whe’ being replaced and other words being inserted in its place to change the sentence from a question into a statement. Take a look at
the examples below.

Ee deh deh - it is there

ee deh ponni - it is on it

ee deh sydah di - it is beside the

ee deh nex di - it is next to the

To read the original article, click here. And to learn more about Patois, the Jamaican Language, and Jamaican culture pick up a copy of the Rastaman Vibration at www.jamaican-slang.com

Irie!

I came across this great article about Reggae Lyrics and it is directly related to a recent article about dancehall culture. In addition to a great amount of detail about Reggae’s worldwide presence, the article also goes into detail about Jamaican Patois and Speaking Jamaican. This is great stuff.

There are millions of Reggae music fans across the world. Reggae music is often sung in the local Jamaican dialect called Patois. However, not all fans of Reggae can speak or understand Jamaican Patois. Avid fans of Reggae music, who are not Jamaican patois speakers, can attest to the fact that at times there are words in the music that he or she cannot understand. This article will list some Jamaican Patois words frequently found in Reggae music. The meanings of those Patois words will also be given.

Here are some Reggae related Patois words often found in the music

jum pan - noisy awful music

bruk wile - to dance excitedly

buss di dace - do the dance (usually refers to the newest and latest dance)

dibby - inferior

soun bwoy - an insulting word used to refer to a disc jockey

selectah - disc jockey

wheel (up) - rewind the music

boom soun - the best sound, the best sounding disc jockey

clash - disc jockeys competing with each other to play the latest and best songs

bashment - a party, a concert

Patois is a dialect full of imaginative and varied words. A word that means one thing in one context can have a totally different meaning when used in another context.

There are millions of Reggae music fans across the world. Some Reggae artists prefer to deliver their lyrics in Patois. However, quite a number of Reggae artists sing in Standard English but even they at times use Patois words, in their songs, from time to time. By listening to Reggae music often, many people have built up a familiarity with Jamaican Patois, often without knowing what the word(s) mean initially.

This article really touches on the fact that Jamaican Culture and Jamaican Patois are worldwide. Additionally, it’s exciting that more and more people are interested in the language and culture. To check out more about Jamaican Patois and Culture AND reggae, visit: www.jamaican-slang.com and get a copy of the Rastaman Vibration.

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