View source for Jamaican Patois

{{Short description|English-based creole language spoken in Jamaica}}
{{Distinguish|Jamaican English|Iyaric}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Jamaican Patois
| nativename       = {{lang|jam|Patwa}}, {{lang|jam|Jamiekan / Jamiekan Kriyuol}},<ref>''Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment – The Jamaican New Testament'', published by: The Bible Society of the West Indies, 2012</ref> {{lang|jam|Jumiekan / Jumiekan Kryuol / Jumieka Taak / Jumieka taak / Jumiekan languij}}<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.jumieka.com/aatagrafi.html |title=Jumieka Languij: Aatagrafi / Jamaican Language: Orthography |first=Larry|last=Chang|publisher=LanguiJumieka}}</ref><ref>Larry Chang: ''Biesik Jumiekan. Introduction to Jamaican Language'', published by: Gnosophia Publishers, 2014.</ref>
| states           = [[Jamaica]]
| agency           = not regulated
| speakers         = 3.2 million
| date             = 2000–2001
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = Creole
| fam1             = [[English-based creole language|English creole]]
| fam2             = Atlantic
| fam3             = Western
| iso3             = jam
| glotto           = jama1262
| glottorefname    = Jamaican Creole English
| lingua           = 52-ABB-am
| notice           = IPA
| script           = [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] ([[Cassidy/JLU orthography]])
| ELP              = NE
| dia1             = [[Bermudian English#Bermudian Creole|Bermudian Creole]]
| dia2             = [[Limonese Creole]]
| dia3             = [[Iyaric]]
| dia4             = [[Bocas del Toro Creole]]
}}
[[File:Jamaicanpatois-twosentences2010.ogg|right|thumb|Female patois speaker saying two sentences]]
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Omar Speaking English and Jamaican Patois.webm|thumb|A Jamaican Patois speaker discussing the usage of the language]]

'''Jamaican Patois''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|p|æ|t|w|ɑː}}; locally rendered '''Jamaican''' '''Patwah''' and called '''Jamaican Creole''' by linguists) is an [[English-based creole language]] mixed heavily with predominantly [[Niger–Congo languages|West African]] languages and some influences from [[Arawak]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and other languages, spoken primarily in [[Jamaica]] and among the [[Jamaican diaspora]]. Words or slang from Jamaican Patois can be heard in other Caribbean countries, the United Kingdom, [[New York City]] and [[Miami]] in the United States, and [[Toronto]], Canada.<ref name=":0" /> Most of the non-English words in Patois derive from the West African [[Akan language]].<ref name=":0">Cassidy, F. G.  "Multiple etymologies in Jamaican Creole". ''Am Speech'', 1966, 41:211–215.</ref> It is spoken by most Jamaicans as their [[First language|first language]].

Patois developed in the 17th century when enslaved people from West and Central Africa were exposed to, learned, and nativised the [[vernacular]] and [[dialect]]al languages spoken by the slaveholders and overseers: [[British English]], [[Hiberno-English]] and [[Scots language|Scots]]. Jamaican Creole exists in gradations between more conservative [[Creole language|creole]] forms that are not significantly mutually intelligible with English,{{sfn|Brown-Blake|2008|p=32}} and forms virtually identical to [[Standard English]].<ref name=":1">{{Harvcoltxt|DeCamp|1961|p=82}}</ref>

Jamaicans refer to their language as {{lang|jam|[[Patois]]}}, a term also used as a lower-case noun as a multi-use description of [[pidgin]]s, creoles, [[dialect]]s, and [[vernacular]]s worldwide. Creoles, including Jamaican Patois, are often stigmatised as low-[[Prestige (sociolinguistics)|prestige]] languages even when spoken as the mother tongue by most of the local population.{{sfn|Velupillai|2015|pp=481}} Jamaican pronunciation and vocabulary are significantly different from English despite heavy use of English words or derivatives.{{sfn|Brown-Blake|2008|p=?}}

Significant Jamaican Patois-speaking communities exist among Jamaican expatriates and non Jamaican<ref name=":1" /> in [[South Florida]], [[New York City]], [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Washington, D.C.]], [[Nicaragua]], [[Costa Rica]], the [[Cayman Islands]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/what-does-it-mean-be-jamaican-cayman-0|title = What does it mean to be Jamaican in Cayman? &#124; Loop Jamaica}}</ref> and [[Panama]], as well as [[Toronto]], [[London]],<ref>Sebba, Mark (1993), ''London Jamaican'', London: Longman.</ref> [[Birmingham]], [[Manchester]], and [[Nottingham]]. The Cayman Islands in particular have a very large Jamaican Patois-speaking community, with 16.4% of the population conversing in the language.<ref>[https://www.eso.ky/UserFiles/right_page_docums/files/uploads/chapter_10_-_labour_force_and_employment.xlsx Labor force and employment] eso.ky</ref> A [[Mutual intelligibility|mutually intelligible]] variety is found in [[Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina|San Andrés y Providencia]] Islands, Colombia, brought to the island by descendants of [[Jamaican Maroons]] (escaped slaves) in the 18th century. [[Post-creole continuum#Stratification|Mesolectal forms]] are similar to very basilectal [[Belizean Creole|Belizean Kriol]].

Jamaican Patois exists mainly as a [[spoken language]] and is also heavily used for musical purposes, especially in [[reggae]] and [[dancehall]] as well as other genres. Although standard British English is used for most writing in Jamaica, Jamaican Patois has gained ground as a [[literary language]] for almost a hundred years. [[Claude McKay]] published his book of Jamaican poems ''[[Songs of Jamaica]]'' in 1912. Patois and English are frequently used for stylistic contrast ([[Code-switching|codeswitching]]) in new forms of Internet writing.<ref>Hinrichs, Lars  (2006), ''Codeswitching on the Web: English and Jamaican Creole in E-Mail Communication''. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins.</ref>

==Phonology==
Accounts of [[basilectal]] Jamaican Patois (that is, its most divergent rural varieties) suggest around 21 [[phonemic]] [[consonant]]s<ref name="Devonish 2004 456">{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|p=456}}</ref> with an additional phoneme ({{IPA|/h/}}) in the Western dialect.{{sfn|Velupillai|2015|p=483}} There are between nine and sixteen [[vowel]]s.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006|p=127}}</ref> Some vowels are capable of nasalisation and others can be lengthened.{{sfn|Velupillai|2015|p=483}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|- style="font-size: 90%;"
|+ [[Consonant]]s<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006|pp=126–127}}</ref>
!
!colspan=2| [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
!colspan=2| [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
!colspan=2| [[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
!colspan=2| [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]{{ref|2|2}}
!colspan=2| [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
!colspan=2| [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! <small>[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]</small>
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|m}}
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|n}}
|colspan=2|
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɲ}}
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"| ||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|colspan=2|
|-
! <small>[[Stop consonant|Stop]]</small>
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|p}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|b}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|t}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|d}}
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|tʃ}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|dʒ}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|c}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɟ}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|k}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|colspan=2|
|-
! <small>[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]</small>
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|f}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|v}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|s}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|z}}
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|width=20px style="border-right: 0;"|({{IPAlink|h}}){{ref|1|1}}||width=20px style="border-left: 0;"|
|-
!rowspan=2| <small>[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]<br />/[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]</small>
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|ɹ}}
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|j}}
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|w}}
|colspan=2|
|-
|colspan=2|
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPAlink|l}}
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|colspan=2|
|}

: {{note|1|1}} The status of {{IPA|/h/}} as a phoneme is dialectal: in western varieties, it is a full phoneme and there are minimal pairs ({{IPA|/hiit/}} 'hit' and {{IPA|/iit/}} 'eat'); in central and eastern varieties, vowel-initial words take an initial {{IPA|[h]}} after vowel-final words, preventing the two vowels from falling together, so that the words for 'hand' and 'and' (both underlyingly {{IPA|/an/}}) may be pronounced {{IPA|[han]}} or {{IPA|[an]}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006|p=126}}</ref>
: {{note|2|2}} The palatal stops {{IPA|[c], [ɟ]}}{{NoteTag|Also transcribed as {{IPA|[kʲ]}} and {{IPA|[ɡʲ]}}.}} and {{IPA|[ɲ]}} are considered phonemic by some accounts<ref>such as {{Harvcoltxt|Cassidy|Le Page|1980|p=xxxix}}</ref> and [[phonetic]] by others.<ref>such as {{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006}}</ref>  For the latter interpretation, their appearance is included in the larger phenomenon of phonetic [[Palatalization (phonetics)|palatalisation]].
Examples of palatalisation include:<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|p=458}}</ref>
* {{IPA|/kiuu/}} → {{IPA|[ciuː]}} → {{IPA|[cuː]}} ('a quarter quart (of rum)')
* {{IPA|/ɡiaad/}} → {{IPA|[ɟiaːd]}} → {{IPA|[ɟaːd]}} ('guard')
* {{IPA|/piaa + piaa/}} → {{IPA|[pʲiãːpʲiãː]}} → {{IPA|[pʲãːpʲãː]}} ('weak')

Voiced stops are [[implosive consonant|implosive]] whenever in the onset of prominent syllables (especially word-initially) so that {{IPA|/biit/}} ('beat') is pronounced {{IPA|[ɓiːt]}} and {{IPA|/ɡuud/}} ('good') as {{IPA|[ɠuːd]}}.<ref name="Devonish 2004 456" />

Before a syllabic {{IPA|/l/}}, the contrast between [[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]] and [[Velar consonant|velar]] consonants has been historically neutralised with alveolar consonants becoming velar so that the word for 'bottle' is {{IPA|/bakl̩/}} and the word for 'idle' is {{IPA|/aiɡl̩/}}.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Cassidy|1971|p=40}}</ref>

[[File:Jamaican Creole vowel chart.svg|thumb|250px|[[Vowel]]s of Jamaican Patois. from {{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006|p=128}}]]
Jamaican Patois exhibits two types of [[vowel harmony]]; peripheral vowel harmony, wherein only sequences of peripheral vowels (that is, {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, and {{IPA|/a/}}) can occur within a syllable; and back harmony, wherein {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} cannot occur within a syllable together (that is, {{IPA|/uu/}} and {{IPA|/ii/}} are allowed but {{IPA|* /ui/}} and {{IPA|* /iu/}} are not).<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006|pp=128–129}}</ref>  These two phenomena account for three long vowels and four [[diphthong]]s:<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Harry|2006|p=128}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Vowel
! Example
! Gloss
|-
| {{IPA|/ii/}} || {{IPA|/biini/}} || 'tiny'
|-
| {{IPA|/aa/}} || {{IPA|/baaba/}} || 'barber'
|-
| {{IPA|/uu/}} || {{IPA|/buut/}} || 'booth'
|-
| {{IPA|/ia/}} || {{IPA|/biak/}} || 'bake'
|-
| {{IPA|/ai/}} || {{IPA|/baik/}} || 'bike'
|-
| {{IPA|/ua/}} || {{IPA|/buat/}} || 'boat'
|-
| {{IPA|/au/}} || {{IPA|/taun/}} || 'town'
|}

==Sociolinguistic variation==
Jamaican Patois features a [[post-creole speech continuum|creole continuum]] (or a ''linguistic continuum''):<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Rickford|1987|p=?}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Meade|2001|p=19}}</ref><ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Patrick|1999|p=6}}</ref> the variety of the language closest to the [[lexifier]] language (the [[acrolect]]) cannot be distinguished systematically from intermediate varieties (collectively referred to as the [[mesolect]]) or even from the most divergent rural varieties (collectively referred to as the [[basilect]]).<ref name="irvinesobers">{{Cite book
| vauthors =  Irvine-Sobers GA
| title = The acrolect in Jamaica: The architecture of phonological variation
| series = Studies in Caribbean Languages
| place = Berlin
| publisher = Language Science Press
| year = 2018
| format = PDF
| url = http://langsci-press.org/catalog/book/203
| doi = 10.5281/zenodo.1306618 
| doi-access=free
| isbn = 978-3-96110-114-6 
}}
</ref> This situation came about with contact between speakers of a number of [[Niger–Congo languages]] and various dialects of English, the latter of which were all perceived as prestigious and whose use carried socio-economic benefits.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Irvine|2004|p=42}}</ref>  The span of a speaker's command of the continuum generally corresponds to social context.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|DeCamp|1977|p=29}}</ref>

==Grammar==
The tense/aspect system of Jamaican Patois is fundamentally unlike that of English. There are no [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphologically]] marked past [[participle]]s; instead, two different participle words exist: ''en'' and ''a''. These are not [[verb]]s, but rather invariant [[Grammatical particle|particles]] that cannot stand alone (like the English ''to be''). Their function also differs from those of English.

According to Bailey (1966), the progressive category is marked by {{IPA|/a~da~de/}}.  Alleyne (1980) claims that {{IPA|/a~da/}} marks the progressive and that the habitual aspect is unmarked but by its accompaniment with words such as "always", "usually", etc. (i.e. is absent as a grammatical category). Mufwene (1984) and Gibson and Levy (1984) propose a past-only habitual category marked by {{IPA|/juusta/}} as in {{IPA|/weɹ wi juusta liv iz not az kual az iiɹ/}} ('where we used to live is not as cold as here').<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Gibson|1988|p=199}}</ref>

For the present tense, an uninflected verb combining with an iterative adverb marks habitual meaning as in {{IPA|/tam aawez nua wen kieti tel pan im/}} ('Tom always knows when Katy tells/has told about him').<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Mufwene|1983|p=218}} cited in {{Harvcoltxt|Gibson|1988|p=200}}</ref>

* ''en'' is a tense indicator
* ''a'' is an aspect marker
* ''(a) go'' is used to indicate the future
* '''Mi run''' ({{IPA|/mi ɹon/}})
** I run (habitually); I ran 
* '''Mi a run''' or '''Mi de run''',  ({{IPA|/mi a ɹon/}} ''or'' {{IPA|/mi de ɹon/}})
** I am running
* '''A run mi did a run''', ({{IPA|/a ɹon mi dida ɹon/}} ''or'' {{IPA|/a ɹon mi ben(w)en a ɹon/}})
** I was running
* '''Mi did run''' ({{IPA|/mi did ɹon/}} ''or'' {{IPA|/mi ben(w)en ɹon/}})
** I have run; I had run
* '''Mi a go run''' ({{IPA|/mi a ɡo ɹon/}})
** I am going to run; I will go on a run

As in other Caribbean Creoles (that is, [[Guyanese Creole]] and [[San Andrés-Providencia Creole]]; [[Sranan Tongo]] is excluded) {{IPA|/fi/}} has a number of functions, including:<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Winford|1985|p=589}}</ref>
* Directional, dative, or benefactive preposition
** '''{{lang|jam|Dem a fight fi wi}}''' ({{IPA|/dem a fait fi wi/}}) ('They are fighting for us')<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Bailey|1966|p=32}}</ref>
* [[Genitive]] preposition (that is, marker of possession)
** '''{{lang|jam|Dat a fi mi book}}''' ({{IPA|/dat a fi mi buk/}}) ('that's my book')
* Modal auxiliary expressing obligation or futurity
** '''{{lang|jam|Him fi kom up ya}}''' ({{IPA|/im fi kom op ja/}}) ('he ought to come up here')
* Pre-infinitive complementiser
** '''{{lang|jam|Unu haffi kiip sumting far di guinea people-dem fi biit dem muzik}}''' ({{IPA|/unu hafi kiip samtiŋ faɹ de ɡini piipl-dem fi biit dem miuzik/}}) ('you have to contribute something to the [[Guinea]]n  [[Demographics of Guinea|People]] for playing their music')<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Patrick|1995|p=244}}</ref>

===Pronominal system===

The [[pronominal]] system of Standard English has a four-way distinction of [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], [[Grammatical gender|gender]] and [[Grammatical case|case]]. Some varieties of Jamaican Patois do not have the gender or case distinction, but all varieties distinguish between the second person singular and plural (you).<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Patrick|2007|p=?}}</ref>

* I, me = {{IPA|/mi/}}
* you, you (singular) = {{IPA|/ju/}}
* you (plural) = {{IPA|/unu/}}
* he, him = {{IPA|/im/}} (pronounced {{IPA|[ĩ]}} in the [[basilect]] varieties)
* she, her = {{IPA|/ʃi/}} ''or'' {{IPA|/im/}} (no gender distinction in basilect varieties; {{IPA|/im/}} refers to both)
* we, us, our = {{IPA|/wi/}}
* they, them, their = {{IPA|/dem/}}

===Copula===

* the Jamaican Patois [[equative sentence|equative]] verb is also ''a''
** e.g. {{IPA|/mi a di tiitʃa/}} ('I am the teacher')
* Jamaican Patois has a separate locative verb ''deh''
** e.g. {{IPA|/wi de a london/}} ''or'' {{IPA|/wi de inna london/}} ('we are in London')
* with true adjectives in Jamaican Patois, no copula is needed
** e.g. {{IPA|/mi haadbak nau/}} ('I am old now')

This is akin to Spanish in that both have two distinct forms of the verb "to be" – ''ser'' and ''estar'' – in which ''ser'' is equative and ''estar'' is locative. Other languages, such as Portuguese and Italian, make a similar distinction {{xref|(see also: [[Romance copula|Romance Copula]])}}.

===Negation===

* {{IPA|/no/}} is used as a present tense negator:
** {{IPA|/if kau no did nua au im tɹuatual tan im udn tʃaans pieɹsiid/}} ('If the cow knew that his throat wasn't capable of swallowing a pear seed, he wouldn't have swallowed it')<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Lawton|1984|p=126}} translates this as "If the cow didn't know that his throat was capable of swallowing a pear seed, he wouldn't have swallowed it."</ref>
* {{IPA|/kiaan/}} is used in the same way as English ''can't''
** {{IPA|/it a puaɹ tiŋ dat kiaan maʃ ant/}} ('It is a poor thing that can't mash an ant')<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Lawton|1984|p=125}}</ref>
* {{IPA|/neva/}} is a negative past participle.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Irvine|2004|pp=43–44}}</ref>
** {{IPA|/dʒan neva tiif di moni/}} ('John did not steal the money')

==Orthography==
{{main|Cassidy/JLU orthography}}
Patois has long been written with various respellings compared to English so that, for example, the word "there" might be written {{angle bracket|de}}, {{angle bracket|deh}}, or {{angle bracket|dere}}, and the word "three" as {{angle bracket|tree}}, {{angle bracket|tri}}, or {{angle bracket|trii}}.  Standard English spelling is often used and a nonstandard spelling sometimes becomes widespread even though it is neither phonetic nor standard (e.g. {{angle bracket|pickney}} for {{IPA|/pikni/}}, 'child').

In 2002, the Jamaican Language Unit was set up at the [[University of the West Indies]] at Mona to begin standardising the language, with the aim of supporting non-English-speaking Jamaicans according to their constitutional guarantees of equal rights, as services of the state are normally provided in English, which a significant portion of the population cannot speak fluently. The vast majority of such persons are speakers of Jamaican Patois. It was argued that failure to provide services of the state in a language in such general use or discriminatory treatment by officers of the state based on the inability of a citizen to use English violates the rights of citizens. The proposal was made that freedom from discrimination on the ground of language be inserted into the Charter of Rights.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/about/index.htm|title=The Jamaican Language Unit, The University of West Indies at Mona|access-date=2015-11-26|archive-date=2020-11-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106034816/https://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/about/index.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> They standardised the Jamaican alphabet as follows:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/documents/spelling-jamaican-the-jamaican-way-Handout.pdf|title="Handout: Spelling Jamaican the Jamaican way".|access-date=2012-12-26|archive-date=2020-08-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809090037/https://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/documents/spelling-jamaican-the-jamaican-way-Handout.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Short vowels
! Letter !! Patois !! English
|-
| i || sik || sick
|-
| e || bel || bell
|-
| a || ban || band
|-
| o || kot || cut
|-
| u || kuk || cook
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Long vowels
! Letter !! Patois !! English
|-
| ii || tii || tea
|-
| aa || baal || ball
|-
| uu || shuut || shoot
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Diphthongs
! Letter !! Patois !! English
|-
| {{notatypo|ie}} || kiek || cake
|-
| uo || gruo || grow
|-
| ai || bait || bite
|-
| ou || kou || cow
|}
Nasal vowels are written with ''-hn'', as in ''kyaahn'' (can't) and ''iihn'' (isn't it?)
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Consonants
! Letter !! Patois !! English
|-
| b || biek || bake
|-
| d || daag || dog
|-
| ch || choch || church
|-
| f || fuud || food
|-
| g || guot || goat
|-
| h || hen || hen
|-
| j || joj || judge
|-
| k || kait || kite
|-
| l || liin || lean
|-
| m || man || man
|-
| n || nais || nice
|-
| ng || sing || sing
|-
| p || piil || peel
|-
| r || ron || run
|-
| s || sik || sick
|-
| sh || shout || shout
|-
| t || tuu || two
|-
| v || vuot || vote
|-
| w || wail || wild
|-
| y || yong || young
|-
| z || zuu || zoo
|-
| zh || vorzhan || version
|}
''h'' is written according to local pronunciation, so that ''hen'' (hen) and ''en'' (end) are distinguished in writing for speakers of western Jamaican, but not for those of central Jamaican.

==Vocabulary==
{{See also|List of African words in Jamaican Patois}}

Jamaican Patois contains many [[loanwords]], most of which are African in origin, primarily from [[Twi]] (a dialect of [[Akan language|Akan]]).<ref name="Library of Alexandria">{{cite book|title=Voodoos and Obeahs:Phrases of West Indian Witchcraft|first1=Joseph J. |last1=Williams |publisher=Library of Alexandria|year=1932 |page=90 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eHGXa2YSOrEC |isbn=1-4655-1695-6}}</ref> Many loanwords come from English, but some are also borrowed from [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Hindi]], [[Arawakan languages|Arawak]] and [[African languages]], as well as Scottish and [[Irish language|Irish]] dialects.

Examples from African languages include {{IPA|/se/}} meaning ''that'' (in the sense of "he told me that..." = {{IPA|/im tel mi se/}}), taken from [[Ashanti language|Ashanti]] [[Twi]], and [[duppy]] meaning ''ghost'', taken from the Twi word ''dupon'' ('cotton tree root'), because of the African belief of malicious spirits originating in the roots of trees (in Jamaica and Ghana, particularly the cotton tree known in both places as "Odom").<ref>{{cite book|title=Psychic Phenomena of Jamaica|first1=Joseph J. |last1=Williams |publisher=The Dial Press|year=1934 |page=156 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzzXAAAAMAAJ|isbn=1-4655-1450-3}}</ref> The pronoun {{IPA|/unu/}}, used for the plural form of ''you'', is taken from the [[Igbo language]]. ''Red eboe'' describes a fair-skinned black person because of the reported account of fair skin among the [[Igbo people|Igbo]] in the mid-1700s.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of Jamaican English |first=Frederic Gomes |edition=2nd |last=Cassidy |author2=Robert Brock Le Page |publisher=University of the West Indies Press |year=2002 |page=168 |isbn=976-640-127-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_lmFzFgsTZYC&pg=PA168 |access-date=2008-11-24}}</ref> ''De'' meaning ''to be'' (at a location) comes from [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]].<ref>{{cite book | title=The Missing Spanish Creoles: Recovering the Birth of Plantation Contact Languages | first=John H. | last=McWhorter |page=77 | isbn=0-520-21999-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=czFufZI4Zx4C&pg=PA77 | publisher=University of California Press | year=2000 |access-date=2008-11-29}}</ref> From the Ashanti-Akan, comes the term ''Obeah'' which means witchcraft, from the Ashanti Twi word ''Ɔbayi'' which also means "witchcraft".<ref name="Library of Alexandria" />

Words from Hindi include ''[[Cannabis (drug)|ganja]]'' (marijuana).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Ganja planta |encyclopedia=Jamaican Patwah}}</ref> ''Pickney'' or ''pickiney'' meaning child, taken from an earlier form (''[[Pickaninny|piccaninny]]'') was ultimately borrowed from the Portuguese ''pequenino'' (the diminutive of ''pequeno'', small) or Spanish ''pequeño'' ('small').<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 14, 2022 |title=pickney |url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/pickney |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514224917/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/pickney |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 14, 2022 |access-date=May 14, 2022 |website=Lexico}}</ref> There are many words referring to popular produce, food items, and [[Jamaican cuisine]]—''[[ackee]]'', ''[[callaloo]]'', ''[[Melicoccus bijugatus|guinep]]'', ''bammy'', ''[[roti]]'', ''[[dal]]'', ''kamranga''.

Jamaican Patois has its own rich variety of [[swearwords]]. One of the strongest is ''bloodclaat'' (along with related forms ''raasclaat'', ''bomboclaat'', ''pussyclaat'' and others)—compare with ''[[bloody]]'' in [[Australian English]] and [[British English]], which is also considered a profanity.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Definitions of "Bloodclaat" (Vulgar) |encyclopedia=Jamaican Patwah}}</ref>

===Example phrases===
* Mi almos lik 'im ({{IPA|/mi aalmuos lik im/}}) – I almost hit him<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Patrick|1995|p=248}}</ref>
* 'im kyaant biit mi, 'im jus lucky dat 'im won ({{IPA|/im caan biit mi, im dʒos loki dat im won/}}) – He can't beat me, he just got lucky that he won.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Hancock|1985|p=237}}</ref>
* Seen {{IPA|/siin/}} – Affirmative particle<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Patrick|1995|p=253}}</ref>
* {{IPA|/papiˈʃuo/}} – Foolish exhibition, a person who makes a foolish exhibition of him or herself, or an exclamation of surprise.<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Hancock|1985|p=190}}</ref>
* {{IPA|/uman/}} – Woman<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Cassidy|Le Page|1980|p=lxii}}</ref>
* {{IPA|/bwoi/}} – Boy<ref name="Devonish 2004 467">{{Harvcoltxt|Devonish|Harry|2004|p=467}}</ref>

==Literature and film==

A rich body of literature has developed in Jamaican Patois. Notable among early authors and works are [[Thomas MacDermot]]'s ''All Jamaica Library'' and [[Claude McKay]]'s ''[[Songs of Jamaica]]'' (1909), and, more recently, [[Dub poetry|dub poets]] [[Linton Kwesi Johnson]] and [[Mikey Smith]]. Subsequently, the life-work of [[Louise Bennett]] or Miss Lou (1919–2006) is particularly notable for her use of the rich colourful patois, despite being shunned by traditional literary groups. "The Jamaican Poetry League excluded her from its meetings, and editors failed to include her in anthologies."<ref>
{{Harvcoltxt|Ramazani|Ellmann|O'Clair|2003|p=15}}</ref>  Nonetheless, she argued forcefully for the recognition of Jamaican as a full language, with the same pedigree as the dialect from which [[Standard English]] had sprung:

{{Poem quote|Dah language weh yuh proud a,
Weh yuh honour an respec –
Po Mas Charlie, yuh no know se
Dat it spring from dialec!|''Bans a Killin''}}

After the 1960s, the status of Jamaican Patois rose as a number of respected linguistic studies were published, by [[Frederic G. Cassidy|Frederic Cassidy]] (1961, 1967), Bailey (1966) and others.<ref>[[Alison Donnell]], Sarah Lawson Welsh (eds), ''The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature'', Routledge, 2003, Introduction, p. 9.</ref> Subsequently, it has gradually become mainstream to codemix or write complete pieces in Jamaican Patois; proponents include [[Kamau Brathwaite]], who also analyses the position of Creole poetry in his ''History of the Voice: The Development of Nation Language in Anglophone Caribbean Poetry'' (1984). However, Standard English remains the more prestigious literary medium in [[Jamaican literature]]. Canadian-Caribbean science-fiction novelist [[Nalo Hopkinson]] often writes in Trinidadian and sometimes Jamaican Patois. [[Jean D'Costa]] penned a series of popular children's novels, including ''[[Sprat Morrison]]'' (1972; 1990), ''[[Escape to Last Man Peak]]'' (1976), and ''Voice in the Wind'' (1978), which draw liberally from Jamaican Patois for dialogue, while presenting narrative prose in Standard English.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xpXMsxzSZK0C&pg=PA23 |title="Return" in Post-colonial Writing: A Cultural Labyrinth |editor=Vera Mihailovich-Dickman |chapter=Duppies and other Revenants: with particular reference to the use of the supernatural in Jean D'Costa's work |author=Bridget Jones |pages=23–32 |year=1994 |publisher=Rodopi |isbn=9051836481 }}</ref> [[Marlon James (novelist)|Marlon James]] employs Patois in his novels including ''[[A Brief History of Seven Killings]]'' (2014). In his science fiction novel ''Kaya Abaniah and the Father of the Forest'' (2015), British-Trinidadian author Wayne Gerard Trotman presents dialogue in [[Trinidadian Creole]], Jamaican Patois, and French while employing Standard English for narrative prose.

Jamaican Patois is also presented in some films and other media, such as for example the character [[Tia Dalma]]'s speech from ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest]]'', and a few scenes in ''[[Meet Joe Black]]'' in which [[Brad Pitt]]'s character converses with a Jamaican woman ([[Lois Kelly Miller]]). In addition, early Jamaican films like ''[[The Harder They Come]]'' (1972), ''[[Rockers (1978 film)|Rockers]]'' (1978), and many of the films produced by [[Palm Pictures]] in the mid-1990s (e.g. ''[[Dancehall Queen]]'' and ''[[Third World Cop]]'') have most of their dialogue in Jamaican Patois; some of these films have even been subtitled in English. It was also used in the second season of ''[[Luke Cage (TV series)|Marvel's Luke Cage]]'' but the accents were described as "awful" by Jamaican Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Domise |first=Andray |date=27 June 2018 |title=Luke Cage's Portrayal of Jamaicans was Atrocious |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/to-the-producers-of-marvels-luke-cage-enough-with-the-jafaikans/ |access-date=May 14, 2022 |website=Vice}}</ref>

===Bible===
In December 2011, it was reported that the Bible was being translated into Jamaican Patois. The [[Gospel of Luke]] has already appeared as ''[[Jiizas: di Buk We Luuk Rait bout Im]]''. While the Rev. Courtney Stewart, managing the translation as General Secretary of the West Indies Bible Society, believes this will help elevate the status of Jamaican Patois, others think that such a move would undermine efforts at promoting the use of English.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The Patois New Testament was launched in Britain (where the Jamaican diaspora is significant) in October 2012 as "[[Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment]]", and with print and audio versions in Jamaica in December 2012.<ref>{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Pigott |url = https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16285462 |title = Jamaica's patois Bible: The word of God in creole |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=25 December 2011 |access-date=28 September 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Jamaican patois Bible released "Nyuu Testiment" |url = http://www.gazette.com/articles/jamaica-148274-testiment-jamaican.html |access-date=8 December 2012 |newspaper=Colorado Springs Gazette |date=8 December 2012 |agency = The Associated Press |quote = For patois expert Hubert Devonish, a linguist who is coordinator of the Jamaican Language Unit at the University of the West Indies, the Bible translation is a big step toward getting the state to eventually embrace the creole language created by slaves. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121211015936/https://gazette.com/articles/jamaica-148274-testiment-jamaican.html |archive-date=December 11, 2012 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/products/9780564020645/ Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment (Jamaican Diglot New Testament with KJV)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211135708/https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/products/9780564020645/ |date=2020-12-11 }}, ''British & Foreign Bible Society''. Retrieved 24 March 2013.</ref>

{{col-begin}}
A comparison of the [[Lord's Prayer]]
{{col-2}}
: ...as it occurs in ''Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment'':<ref>{{cite book |url = https://www.bible.com/bible/476/mat.6.jnt |title=Matyu 6 Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2012 |via=bible.com |publisher=Bible Society of the West Indies |access-date=2014-10-22 }}</ref>

: Wi Faada we iina evn,
: mek piipl av nof rispek fi yu an yu niem.
: Mek di taim kom wen yu ruul iina evri wie.
: Mek we yu waahn apm pan ort apm,
: jos laik ou a wa yu waahn fi apm iina evn apm
: Tide gi wi di fuud we wi niid.
: Paadn wi fi aal a di rang we wi du,
: siem laik ou wi paadn dem we du wi rang.
: An no mek wi fies notn we wi kaaz wi fi sin,
: bot protek wi fram di wikid wan.
{{col-break}}
: ...as it occurs in [[English Standard Version]]:

: Our Father in heaven,
: hallowed be Your name.
: Your kingdom come,
: Your will be done,
: on earth, as it is in heaven.
: Give us this day our daily bread,
: and forgive us our debts,
: as we also have forgiven our debtors.
: And lead us not into temptation,
: but deliver us from evil.<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|6:9–13|ESV}}</ref>
{{col-end}}

The system of spelling used in ''Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment'' is the phonetic Cassidy Writing system adopted by the Jamaica Language Unit of the University of the West Indies, and while most Jamaicans use the informal "Miss Lou" writing system,  the Cassidy Writing system is an effort at standardising Patois in its written form.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Forrester |first=Clive |date=Mar 24, 2020 |title=Writing Ms. Lou Right: Language, Identity, and the Official Jamaican Orthography |url=https://www.cliveforrester.com/post/writing-ms-lou-right-language-identity-and-the-official-jamaican-orthography |access-date=May 14, 2022 |website=www.cliveforrester.com}}</ref>

=== Recent developments ===
Jamaican Patois has made some major strides in recent years, becoming one of the languages available on Google Translate and being used by the People's National Party (PNP), which released an audio version of its 2025 general election manifesto in the language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PNP election manifesto available in Patois |url=https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2025/08/12/pnp-election-manifesto-available-patois/ |website=Jamaica Observer |access-date=13 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PNP releases audio version of its general election manifesto in Patois |url=https://iriefm.net/pnp-releases-audio-version-of-its-general-election-manifesto-in-patois/ |website=IRIE FM |access-date=13 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Google Translate adds 110 new languages |url=https://lifehacker.com/tech/google-translate-adds-110-new-languages |website=Lifehacker |access-date=13 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Jamaican Patois Will Never Die: 8 Key Reasons |url=https://jamaicans.com/why-jamaican-patois-will-never-die-8-key-reasons/ |website=Jamaicans.com |access-date=13 September 2025}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Jamaica|Languages}}
* [[Bermudian English]]
* [[Cayman Islands English]]
* [[San Andrés–Providencia Creole]]
* [[Turks and Caicos Creole]]
* [[English-based creole languages]]
* [[Jamaican English]]
* [[Nation language]]

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== General sources ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book
|last = Alleyne
|first = Mervyn C.
|year = 1980
|title = Comparative Afro-American: An Historical Comparative Study of English-based Afro-American Dialects of the New World.
|publisher=Koroma
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Bailey
|first= Beryl L
|year= 1966
|title=Jamaican Creole Syntax
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
}}
*{{cite journal
|last=Brown-Blake
|first=Celia
|year=2008
|title=The right to linguistic non-discrimination and Creole language situations
|journal=Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages
|volume=23
|pages=32–74
|doi=10.1075/jpcl.23.1.03bro
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Cassidy
|first = Frederic
|year = 1971
|title = Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred Years of English Language in Jamaica
|location = London
|publisher = MacMillan Caribbean
}}
* {{cite book
|last1 = Cassidy
|first1 = Frederic
|last2 = Le Page
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|year= 1980
|title=Dictionary of Jamaican English
|location=Cambridge, England
|publisher=Cambridge University Press
}}
* {{Citation
|last = DeCamp
|first = David
|editor = Le Page, R. B.
|year = 1961
|chapter=Social and geographic factors in Jamaican dialects
|title=Creole Language Studies
|location=London
|publisher=Macmillan
|pages=61–84
}}
* {{Citation
|last = DeCamp
|first = David
|editor-last = Valdman
|editor-first = A.
|year = 1977
|chapter = The Development of Pidgin and Creole Studies
|title = Pidgin and Creole Linguistics
|location=Bloomington
|publisher=Indiana University Press
}}
* {{Citation
|last1 = Devonish
|first1 = H.
|last2 = Harry
|first2= Otelamate G.
|year = 2004
|editor1 = Kortman, B.
|editor2 = Shneider E. W.
|chapter = Jamaican phonology
|title = A Handbook of Varieties of English
|volume = 1
|series=phonology
|pages = 441–471
|location=Berlin
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}}
* {{Citation
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* {{Citation
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|title = The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry
|title-link = The Norton Anthology of Modern and Contemporary Poetry
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* {{Citation
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* {{Citation
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* {{cite journal |last1=Mufwene |first1=Salikoko S. |title=Observations on Time Reference in Jamaican and Guyanese Creoles |journal=English World-Wide. A Journal of Varieties of English |date=1 January 1983 |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=199–229 |doi=10.1075/eww.4.2.04muf |issn= 0172-8865}}
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* {{Cite book
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* {{Citation
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* {{cite book
|last = Rickford
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|year=1987
|title=Dimensions of a Creole Continuum: History, Texts, Linguistic Analysis of Guyanese
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*{{Citation
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* {{Citation
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}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book
|last = Adams
|first= L. Emilie
|year= 1991
|title = Understanding Jamaican Patois
|publisher = LMH
|location = Kingston
|isbn = 976-610-155-8
}}
* {{cite book
|last = Chang
|first = Larry
|year = 2014
|title = Biesik Jumiekan: Introduction to Jamaican Language
|publisher = Chuu Wod
|location = Washington, DC
|isbn = 978-0-9773391-8-1
}}

==External links==
{{InterWiki |code = jam }}
{{Wikivoyage|Jamaican patois phrasebook|Jamaican patois|phrasebook}}
* [http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/index.htm The Jamaican Language Unit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227011938/http://www.mona.uwi.edu/dllp/jlu/index.htm |date=2020-02-27 }}
* [https://jamaicanpatwah.com/ Jamaican Patois Dictionary]
* [https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED130535.pdf Jamaican Creole Language Course for Peace Corps Volunteers]
* [http://niceup.com/patois.html Jammin Reggae Archives Patois Dictionary]
* [https://growingupjamaican.com/jamaican-patois-mini-dictionary/ Sample Jamaican Patois Translations]
* [http://www.jumieka.com Jumieka Langwij]

{{Anglophone Caribbean Creoles}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamaican (Language)}}
[[Category:Jamaican Patois| ]]
[[Category:Culture of Jamaica]]
[[Category:Analytic languages]]
[[Category:English-based pidgins and creoles]]
[[Category:Languages of Jamaica]]
[[Category:Languages of the African diaspora]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Creoles of the Caribbean]]