10 Quick Tips About Jamaican Patois

10 Quick Tips About Jamaican Patois
1. Jamaican Patois or Jamaican has long been regarded as a dialect. A simple definition of “dialect” by Merriam-Webster is “a form of a language that is spoken in a particular area and uses some of its own words, grammar, and pronunciations.”
2. Some people see Jamaican as a language. In his article, “Is Jamaica Patois a Language?” Karl Folkes suggests this to be the case as it “is rule-governed (has a grammar of its own); has its own ‘standard,’ has a community of native speakers…and can certainly be expressed orthographically in a uniform way that can – and should – encourage literacy development.” A simple definition of “language” by Merriam-Webster is “the system of words or signs that people use to express thoughts and feelings to each other.”
3. The acceptable spelling of phonetic sounds in Jamaican has not been agreed upon by everyone. Folkes writes the following sentences in Jamaican that he compares to English:
– Dem a fi mi [They’re mine.] can also be written, “Dem ah fi mi.”
– Kuyaman, awara. (Say, what’s up?) can also be written, “Cooyah man. Ah wara?”
– Unu a fi nuo seh a soh wi tan. [You must know that’s the way we are.] can also be written, “Oonoo fi know seh ah so we tan.”
– A wan dege sinting smady a gi mi. [It’s a measly thing someone is giving me.] can also be written, “Ah wan deggeh sinting smaddy ah gi mi.”
To date, there is no authority to say which spellings are correct and which are incorrect.
4. Many people who speak Jamaican Patois have also attained a high level of formal education. The popular belief held by many that speakers of Jamaican Patois are unintelligent and uneducated is inaccurate.
5. Many people who speak Jamaican Patois can also speak English and other languages. The fact that speakers of Jamaican are hired to interpret in various settings between other speakers of Jamaican and non-native speakers is proof of this point.

6. There are many ways to say the same thing in Jamaican Patois. Just as in other languages, the same concept can be expressed in different ways in Jamaican Patois.
7 Jamaican Patois is spoken differently in varying geographic locations, situation and settings. There are various registers, accents, regionalisms and strains of Jamaican Patois. People from different parishes of Jamaica sound different, whether they hail from urban or rural areas.
8. Jamaican Patois can be translated into English or any other language. Jamaican Patois has come a long way in its verbal and written development and usage so that Jamaican concepts can be translated, transcribed, interpreted and transcreated from and into other languages.
9. Interpreters of Jamaican Patois are often hired so that non-native speakers can communicate with Jamaican speakers. Jamaican Patois translation and interpreting services are used for court cases, medical and hospital visits, prisons, insurance claims, and others.
10. Speakers of Jamaican Patois come in all ethnicities. Speakers of Jamaican Patois come from African, East Indian, Chinese, mixed and other origins.