JAMAICAN PATOIS
W
elcome to Jamaica. If this is your first visit to the island, you will quickly experience that Jamaicans can be hard to understand at times. Although the Queen’s English is taught in schools and many locals are grammar and spelling wizards, the presence of the local slang ‘patois’ (patwa) plays an important part in daily life.
(Photo: JTB)
Although Jamaica is an English-speaking island, the island’s history as a melting pot for foreign cultures also extends to its unique native language. Called Jamaican Creole by linguists, Jamaican Patois is an Englishlexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica. The origin of the language traces back to the days of slavery, when captives who had been brought to the island from West and Central Africa to work on the sugar plantations learned to speak English from their British, Scottish or Irish slave masters. The mixture of their African native tongues and a simplified English resulted in a blend of languages, commonly known as patois; a French term without a precise linguistic definition. Mostly as a spoken language, there is no standard or official way of writing Jamaican patois. For example, the word there can be written “de”, “deh”, or “dere”, and the word three is most commonly spelled “tree”, but it can be spelled “tri” or “trii” to distinguish it from the noun tree. Even though you might already be familiar with expressions like “yeah man” or “irie man”, we would like to take you a step closer to speaking patois with a few more essential phrases. Not only will they help you understand Jamaicans better, they will help you make quite the impression when conversing with the locals!
“Me nuh no.” “Is weh yu did go?” “Yu waan sup’n fe eat (nyam)?” “Go falla me dung a maaket.” “Is fareign yu cum fram?” “Yu reddy fi anedda drink?” “Wah yu badda badda me bout?” “Big tings a gwaan fi yu.” “How yu luk so chaka chaka?” “Yu biznis cook and curry.” “Me soon fawad.”
I don’t know. Where did you go? Do you want something to eat? Come to the market with me. Are you from a foreign country? Do you want another drink? Why are you bothering me? Things are looking up for you. Your outfit looks untidy. Everything is fine. I will soon be there / I will be leaving here soon.
However, the most essential patois expression of all time is the phrase “soon come”. As you will quickly realize, this very widely used term bears no reference to swiftness despite most people concluding exactly this based on the word “soon”. Like most things in Jamaica, even the word “soon” has its own meaning. Be prepared to wait hours or more likely days for the person who told you he would “soon come”. A more accurate translation would be; I will get there when I get there. Have a wonderful time on the rock.
(Photo: JTB)
JAMAICA TOURIST 3