Jamaican Patois

## Overview

**Jamaican Patois**, known locally as **Patois** (**Patwa** or **Patwah**) and called **Jamaican Creole** by linguists, is an English-based creole language with West African influences (a majority of loan words of Akan origin) spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora; it is spoken by the majority of Jamaicans as a native language. Patois developed in the 17th century, when slaves from West and Central Africa were exposed to, learned and nativized the vernacular and dialectal forms of English spoken by the slaveholders: British English, Scots and Hiberno-English. It exhibits a gradation between more conservative creole forms and forms virtually identical to Standard English.

Jamaicans refer to their language as *patois*. The term *patois* comes from Old French, *patois* "local or regional dialect" (earlier "rough, clumsy, or uncultivated speech"), possibly from the verb *patoier*, "to treat roughly", from *pate* "paw", from Old Low Franconian \**patta*"paw, sole of the foot" + *-ois*, a pejorative suffix. The term may have arisen from the notion of a clumsy or rough manner of speaking.

Jamaican pronunciation and vocabulary are significantly different from English, despite heavy use of English words or derivatives.

Significant Jamaican Patois-speaking communities exist among Jamaican expatriates in Miami, New York City, Toronto, Hartford, Washington, D.C., Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama (in the Caribbean coast), also London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Nottingham. A mutually intelligible variety is found in San Andrés y Providencia Islands, Colombia, brought to the island by descendants of Jamaican Maroons (escaped slaves) in the 18th century. Mesolectal forms are similar to very basilectal Belizean Kriol.

## Jamaican Patois excerpt from Wikipedia article "Jumiekan Kryuol"

### Aborijinal dedlef

Di fos piipl wi nuo bout we wehn de liv pan di hailan a di Taino dem, we did taak Arawak langwij. Dehn get waip out likl afta di Panyad dem kech a di hailan wen dehn did a sorch fi Kyatie (*Cathay*), di lan a guol ina di Iis. So dehn no de bout lang inof fi hinfluens di divelopment a Jumiekan Patwa. Di fyuu wod we dehn dedlef gi wi a laik *orikien*, *kasaava*, *Liganii*, *amok*, *kalalu* ahn *guaava*.

### Panish an Puotigiiz Influwens

Di Panish dem dehnself nehn lef moch muo dan fyuu wod, laik *pasiero* frahn *pasajero*, ahn *eskobiich* frahn *escabechar*. Plies-niem laik *Sivil*, *hUocho Rayas*, *Raya Kuoba*, *Raya Byuuno* ahn *Puoto Siiko* maak dehn paas. Aalduo di Puotigiiz neba ruul Jumieka, dehn wehn go aal bout Afrika ahn di Kyaribiyan chruu di Migl Pachiz a chried sliev. Fi dem wod *pequeno* a di harijin fi di Jumiekan wod *pikanini* an aala di difrant difrant vorzhan a i we yu kyahn fain ina hada Kriol ahn pijin langwij. Wi get *gizaada* frahn *guisado* ahn *palaava*frahn *palavra*. Di Panish ahn Puotigiiz Juu dem alaik flai kom a Jumieka fi hekskiep di hIngkwizishan ahn som kom frahn Surinam ahn hada hels paat a di Kyaribiyan tu. Dehn gi wi niem laka *Lindo*, *Liivi* (*Levy*), *Dacasta* (*Dacosta*), *Gyaasha* (*Garcia*)ahn *Agilar* (*Aguilar*).

### Di British Tamp

Chuu dehn nehn a du so wel fi kanchruol di Nyuu Wol gens di Panish dem, sohn hInglish admiral disaid se dem a go tek we Jumieka fi hAliva Kramwel (Oliver Cromwell) no tuu bex wid dem. Di Panish dem nehn hekspek fi get atak so dehn nehn pripier nontaal, so a dat mek nof a dem ron we go a Kyuuba. Som a dehn sliev tek di hapachyuuniti fi ron go op ina di il dem fi jain di Maruun dem. Frahn dem taim de, hIngglish tek ruut, an di suolja ahn siela dem taat fi tiich i. Aafa dat, di sekla dem wehn tiich i tu, wid dehn uovasia, buk-kipa, hindencha saabant ahn mishineri dem. Som a demaya taak difrant riijanal British daiyalek an a so wi get di Skatish ahn hAirish influwens.

### We Jumieka Taak Kom Fram

Di linggwis dem kliem se "pyuor" Jumiekan, we yu fain muosli a konchri, wid riijanal difrans, a wahn mikscha a sebmtiint senchri *h*Ingglish ahn Wes Afrikan langwij, (muosli Chui), kanschrokshan ahn vokyabileri, wid som Panish ahn Puotigiiz iin de tu fi wahn nais miksop. Di *h*aksent ahn tuon a vais kom frahn Skatish ahn *h*Airish. Bies pan di ischri a Jumieka, dis shudn sopraizn sins di bolk a di papilieshan disen frahn sliev we kom frahn Wes Afrika, we di Panish dem bring kom, den dem lorn Ingglish frahn dehn British uona, bakra, *h*advenchara, ahn mishaneri.

### Di Stietos a Patwa Rait Ya Nou

A guda faiv miliyan piipl (dat inkluud di papilieshan a Jumieka an di daiyaspora), taak Jumiekan ina wan faam ar di *h*ada. Laka eni *h*ada livin langwij, i chienj ahn kantinyu fi chienj uoba taim. Mosi *h*onggl fyuu *h*oul-taima baka bush a konchri, ar dem de we kot aaf frahn waa gwaan a yaad chuu dem de a farin kyaahn chat di braad Patwa, ar wa dem kaal Uol ar Klasikal Jumiekan.[1] Di majariti a piipl we taak Patwa taak sitn we de somwe ina di migl a di spekchrom. Dehn *h*aalwiez a mek-op nyuu wod laka *aatikal* ahn *tapanaaris*, ar a bara wod laik *bling-bling* fram hada langwij chuu muo piipl kyahn go a farin nou an a komyuunikiet wid dem hilekchranik divais. Di langwij wi chienj bot i n'aa go ded far i tek iin eni nyuu wod an Jumiekanaiz i. So lang az Jumiekan kantinyu fi taak di siem wie, dehn n'aa go tap tek i siem Ingglish ahn ton i ina dem uona langwij. Aal nou, no govament aatariti no waahn mek i ofishal. No mata umoch dehn waahn sopres i, a *h*it Jumieka piipl wi *h*aalwiez taak. I don du aredi. A dem langwij muo dahn *h*eniting els set dem apaat az wahn piipl.