(It long but I think it could give us a brief history of de patois)
Creole languages are found all over the world on every continent. When two or more languages come into contact to form a new language a Creole language is born. Some type of human "upheaval" that forces people to find a way to communicate, without using their own languages, stimulates the creation of a Creole language. In the case of Creole languages in the Caribbean, the "upheaval" is the past history of slavery. Most Creole languages are based on one language. In Jamaica the African slaves were thrown into a situation where the only common means of communication was English, or at least broken English, therefor Jamaican Creole has a majority of its roots in English (Sebba 1, 1996). Essential words which people could not find an English name for, such as people, things (like plants and animals) and activities (especially religious ones) were taken from a variety of West African languages.
As a result of patois not being an official language, a name for the Jamaican dialect has not been settled to this day. Common names such as Jamaican, Jamaican Creole, Jamaican patwa or patois, Black English, broken English and even baby talk or slang are all used to describe Creole languages. In L. Emilie Adams’ book,
Understanding Jamaican Patois, she states that none of these labels are appropriate for the Jamaican dialect. Creole refers to a mixed African/European language as well as Europeans born in the West Indies; therefore it is inappropriate to refer to the language of Africans in Jamaica as Creole. Patois is a term used widely in Jamaica, but patois can refer to any language considered broken or degraded in the world. Pryce (1997) prefers to use the term Jamaican "because it moves toward settling the issue of the status of the language as the legitimate expression of the ethos of the people." Throughout this paper the terms Jamaican Creole or patois, the most popular terms used by linguists and Jamaicans will be used to describe the Jamaican dialect.
Language in Jamaica today reflects the history of the country’s interaction with a variety of cultures and languages from many ethnic, linguistic, and social backgrounds. Aside from the Arawaks, the original inhabitants of Jamaica, all people were exiles or children of exiles. Over 90% of the 2.5 million people living in Jamaica today are descendants of slaves brought from western Africa by the British. The local Jamaican language is a reflection of a history of contact with a variety of speakers, but the official language remains to be Standard English (Pryce, 1997). The most influential speakers were immigrants from Africa and Europe. Kwa, Manding, and Kru are amongst the variety of prominent African languages apparent in Jamaican history. Early Modern English was brought to the Caribbean by sailors, soldiers, indentured servants, convicts, and settlers (lower-class whites) in the form of regional and non-standard dialects. For the most part Early Modern English was highly conservative (Lalla and D’Costa, 1989).
Today in Jamaica, Jamaican patois falls at one extreme of the linguistic spectrum while Standard English lies at the other end of the spectrum. The majority of the population falls in between the two (Adams, 1991). At one end there is the educated model spoken by the elite, which follows the "London Standard". At the other extreme is what linguists call "creolized" English, fragmented English speech and syntax developed during the days of slavery with African influences. This is the speech of the peasant or laborer with little education. In the middle of the language scale there is the inclusion of Jamaican rhythm and intonation of words, which evolved within the country (Cassidy, 1961 and Barrett, 1997). Cassidy (1961) calls this "Jamaicanism", which he classifies into five divisions:
- Retention, which includes English words now rare or poetic that are still in common use in Jamaica.
- New formations, which ate in turn subdivided into alterations, compositions, and creations.
- Borrowings which are French and Portuguese words which came into English as early as the eighteenth century.
- Onomatopoeic echoisms.
- Usage of words which, though not exclusively Jamaican, is the preferred term on the island.
The Forming of a Language
Jamaican history and the making of language are based on the experience of exile. In the early 16th century Spanish settlement began in Jamaica with the Arawaks as their first slave labor force. Within a 100 years very few Arawaks survived due to a deathly epidemic. The only evidence of the Arawak dialect in Jamaica today is a few loan words, place names, food, natural objects, and events (hurricane) (Lalla and D’Costa, 1990). Xaymaca is actually an Arawak word meaning "island of springs", which is where the name Jamaica is derived from (Pryce, 1997). It is possible that the first contact of the Arawaks and the Spaniards may have led to an early pidgin or bilingualism among the first generation of mixed blood. West Africans were brought to Jamaica to work as slaves on plantations for the Spaniards. Throughout Spanish rule, the Arawaks had contact with Spanish colonists, Portuguese Christians, Jews, Amerindians (brought in as slaves from other parts of the Caribbean), and West Africans (Lalla and D’Costa, 1990).
In 1655 the English attacked the Spanish colony bringing with them new influences. Arriving with the invaders were soldiers recruited from England, Barbados, and Montserrat; settlers from Surinam, Barbados, Bermuda, New England, and Virginia; Jews from Brazil; indentured servants from Bristol (Southwest England dialect); midland and northern lower-class speakers; convicts from large prisons in England; Romany speakers; and a variety of African speakers. The birth of population centers, such as Port Royal, Passage Fort, and Kingston, served as mixing pot of many different speakers. Africans came to acquire forms of English because of the domination of white dialects (Lalla and D’Costa, 1990).
During the heyday of sugar, between 1700-1834, increasing numbers of Africans were imported to work on the large plantations. Conflict of identity emerged in the 18th century when many Creole whites firmly identified with Jamaica and did not want to be called Englishmen. This is the period thought to be most responsible for the forming of Jamaican language, which we now call Jamaican Creole. By the end of the century Africans made up a quarter of the slave population and Creole took precedence over the African past. Increases in written records of Jamaican Creole were seen during the abolitionist movement (1770-1838). English continued to influence Jamaican Creole in the form of biblical language and prayer book language (Lalla and D’Costa, 1990). Today linguists agree that East Indians, Spanish, and Arawaks have contributed a little vocabulary to the Jamaican dialect, but the majority of non-English terms, grammar, and phonology is African (Adams, 1991).
Is Jamaican Patois an Official Language?
The perception that English-lexicon Creole languages are a form of "bad English" still persists today. Jamaican patois continues to be considered an unacceptable official language and an informal language not to be used for any formal purpose. Creole speakers are often compared to those speakers of Standard English. The similarity of Creole to English has led Creole speakers to be labeled as socially and linguistically inferior, although Jamaica Creole is increasingly showing up in newspapers, once known for their old-fashioned Standard English, on the radio, and in songs (Sebba 1, 1996 and Freed, 1993).
Creole is similar to English in terms of vocabulary and most speakers are inferior in socioeconomic terms, so it is easy to assume Creole is a poor form of English. In the past 30 or 40 years linguists have finally begun to recognize Creole as a language in itself. After investigating the history and use of Creole, linguists now believe that Creole languages are their own individual language which have come about through their own histories, with mixed roots from Europe and Africa. Although there has been more and more interest in Creole languages and their identities, Creole is never used in education or for official purposes in the English speaking Caribbean. There is no standard way to write in Creole but this has not stopped writers from publishing and creating poems in written in Creole such as, dub poetry, and dialogue in novels, short stories, and plays. In most written Creole modified Standard English is used. Following is an example of the variance of spelling of Standard English to words in British Creole (Sebba 1, 1996).
But Jamaicans know....Patois is de language and sound of Jamaica>
Howdy and tenke no bruk no square (according to MS. Lou). 