Learn about patois & Jamaican culture at your own rate

[retracian]

I get ur reasoning but not all the language of the world are listed i'm sure and they are recognise, language listed on applications are the most popular languages spoken throughout the world that is remnants of colonialism. We Jamaicans are working to have our language established as of its own but it has far to go. What we will end up having is similar to the Americans they speak english but the American dialect is recognised as a separate language ; American english, south American spanish

[emdee92]

LOL. my dad is Jamaican and everytime someone finds out, they say, "OMG speak Jamaican!"......people have also been surprised and don't believe me when they ask me "what i am" and i say Jamaican (I am light skinned, brown hair, green eyes). It makes me mad, lol. People are so...what's the word...ignorant lol

[MeAndHubbyToo]

I'm very shocked that you're calling Patwa "broken English". This is a very racist way of looking at African-derived languages in the diaspora. Patwa is stable, with its own grammar, etc. This means it's not "broken English", nor is it a pidgin, which is not stable. As a linguist, I can tell you that the best way to tell if something is "broken English" is the following: ask yourself, is it possible to say a sentence incorrectly in Patwa? If so, it is a language; if not, it is "broken" English.

[jablo98]

My girl is Jamaican and Haitian, and I met her family and I would love to learn it.....the closest I have heard was on the movie Shottas...I love the different accent and just its different and I would love to learn to speak it.....

[JAMES60085]

I LOVE THIS Video. Awesome!!!!!

[MDhunni08]

I could listen to you talk all day.

[lexdiamonds1990]

Sorry but I disagree.

You can't say something is English when the pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are different. Almost every linguist whose ever studied Patois will tell you that it is a separate language, and I agree with them. Just like Haitian Creole is a language separate from French, and just how Italian is a language separate from Latin, Jamaican Patois is inherently different and separate from English.

[1ladymari]

@lexdiamonds1990 I live in England, and I can tell you if you move around different parts of England especially north and south , you would think they speak a different language! From London i visited Liverpool could barely understand what they were saying! They speak a different DIALECT. Definition of dialect: 'a variety of a language that is distinguished from other varieties of the SAME language by features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary' Patois is a dialect ..a variation of English

[lexdiamonds1990]

@1ladymari Dialects have different grammatical, phonological and vocabulary FEATURES, and that is where Patois diverges from the definition of a Dialect. Patois has a grammar system which is completely different from English almost in its entirety. Patois has different conjugations, different pronouns and different ways of forming sentences and making plurals. Pronunciation is different, and MUCH of the vocabulary (while a great deal is English-derived) is different.

[1ladymari]

@lexdiamonds1990 'Almost every linguist whose ever studied Patois' ? Why would I as an African Caribbean allow those of european/western culture define who I am and how I speak. 'English' absorbs whatever language it comes into contact with and is in popular use. English absorbs words from India, Italy, Jamaica, Cockney, the list goes on.... I've lived and worked around Irish and Scotts ( who are British ) and could hardly understand a word they said .. .but they speak English!

[lexdiamonds1990]

@1ladymari Why are you assuming the people who are studying patois are not Caribbean themselves? The majority of the support behind recognition of Patois and other Caribbean tongues comes from CARIBBEAN people themselves, not necessarily Europeans. For your information, it was EUROPEANS who said that patois was nothing but a dialect, when in fact it is indeed a language. It was JAMAICANS who decided to reclaim their language. YOU need to get your facts straight. 

[lexdiamonds1990]

@1ladymari People who say that patois is a dialect are perpetuating a COLONIAL mindset where we are seen as inferior to the European people. You're so hype to defend who you are that you're loosing sight of that very fact. Patois is a language because it is fundamentally distinct from English, period.

And fyi, many linguists in the UK believe that Scots is a separate language from English as well.

[1ladymari]

@lexdiamonds1990 Sorry but I disagree. I don't see myself as inferior to european people. I be who I be and happy to be me... and have no need to defend who I am. There should be majority discussion & agreement in the community before a few linguists and 'think tanks' from the community make a decision that will have a domino effect on all Jamaicans, families and diaspora around the world. Well meaning 'Blacks' in the 60s assigned this word to al lof us out of revolution but now it's negative.

[lexdiamonds1990]

@1ladymari Furthermore buy virtue of being Black and immigrants we're already marginalised and alienated, thats nothing new. The issue is that today we're alienated from both wider society AND ourselves because we have allowed ourselves to be deluded by the powers that be to think that whatever we do and create is not worthy of recognition and respect. Recognising patois as a legitimate language is just one step towards breaking down this mental wall we all have.

[1ladymari]

@lexdiamonds1990 Correction...the word 'black' was not assigned to African diaspora, but by us. If Patois is made a language ( not saying this a bad thing b'cos I see ur point ), but here in UK it would probably be used as another weapon to alienate the community. Would it really give Jamaicans more respect in the sight of the world? I doubt it. The powers that be will always devise a way to make us look inferior no matter what. thats the reality .Period

[lexdiamonds1990]

@1ladymari but how much more inferior do you look when what you speak isnt even seen and recognised as a language? Yes, patois can be used to alienate jamaican and other caribbean people, but it can also be used as a source of unity for the community as well. Right now there are people in JA and throughout the caribbean who are ashamed of their language because they've heard their whole lives that its just "dialect" and "broken english".

[1ladymari]

@lexdiamonds1990 These same people who STUDY an CATALOGUE my race and culture are probably the same ones that assigned the word 'Black' to the African race knowing full well that 'Black' doesn't mean anything good in the ENGLISH dictionary. Look it up. I don't define my self as 'black' anymore because I for 1 refuse to allow anyone ... don't care how LEARNED they are to define who I am. They can study my culture but I live it!!!

[allushi]

well not all of jamaican patois is english, some of the words are africa, like dupi, fene, fenke fenke, and such

[nursetrish]

you are so cute

[mymarkis666]

She has to go like this *sretches eyes* to prove that she has eyes.

[marmackk]

I know your frustration,I am a Jamaican termporarily residing in England and when I used the term 'soon come' around some Grenadians they have a problem with it.One girl said it is not English but Jamaican,one Grenadian  girl got vexed when I used the term and she got vexed and told me not to use my Jamaican around her.I couldn't understand how people could be so petty.Aren't the word soon and come English,are they not found in the English dictionary

[CW11lover]

Yes man, tell dem...nuff chat a gwan bout we have our own different language & a talk pare nonsense...thanks much fe setting matters str8...jah know star...thanks

[themukisa11]

you could be talking about cat dog and I would still watch you!! I love your videos!!

My father's family is mostly black but some look like they don't have 1 drop of black in them. I have an aunt who is half Chinese and she looks 100% Chinese but she blew ppl away everytime she opened her mouth!! She has one of the thickest West Indian accents I have ever heard!! Patois is easy to understand if you just listen. I feel the same way about Pigeon English but Patois is much easier to figure out.

[auntiejellybean]

IT IS TURE WHAT U SAY ...... JAMAICA/ AFRICA/ CHINA/ THE WORLD HASNT JUST GOT 1 COLOUR, WE ARE ALL UNITED AS WE BLEED THE SAME COLOUR BLOOD. DONT ASSUME IM NOT JAMAICAN BECAUSE IM NOT BLACK. THAT IS A GOOD POINT.!!

[gluzie]

LOLLL "an di gyal poop inna mi lap" dwlllll. too funny.

[Klasode]

I'm glad it is not a language or considered to be one because it keeps it more sacred, more exclusive. I'm a American with Jamaican mom and wish i can speak it but i can't and your are right there are things i want to express in a Jamaican dialect that would not sound right in the American speech.

[kjsdhfism]

Patwa is not an officially recognized language, but it is a language. Most theories contend that it is a decreolized creole. Because only standard English has been recognized by the govt in JA, many people often consider their native dialect inferior to "a real language" or somehow "broken." This is not only untrue (Patwa is as structured and systematic as any other language), but it results in a negative way of thinking about one's culture, language being a primary manifestation thereof.

[kjsdhfism]

I tried posting a link to this YouTube video -- Writing Jamaican the Jamaican Way (Raitin Jamiekan Di Jamiekan Wie) -- but YouTube doesn't like links!

[saneii]

Cheesewyck, your videos are so funny and true. I am chinese and black and I get it a lot that people don't know I am Jamaican until I opened my mouth. They think Jamaicans are black. I ask who is a Jamaican and I get a blank stare then I ask who is an American and they can't answer. People are so ignorant. I just like how you say it and get to the point like it or not. Keep posting those videos as I so enjoy them.

[biggburd19]

"When mi reach inna dat deh taxi it tink like a wah! No, it na tink...it RENK!!!"

That just made my morning! *dwl*

[chadwah]

omg some one ask me to teach them my language can i tell u the fart that i told them cause i mean it is english.

i told someone bloodclart it means god and the fool go say she a pray and start by saying bloodclart hear me o lord lol everyone in the room look at her lol

[supaxkawaii]

I was talking to this guy and he was bad mouthing Jamaicans..he only thought I was Spanish but little did he know I'm West Indian too ! Mi cuss out him rawtid fi bad mouth Jamaicans ! I hate when people do that..Jamaicans are not black ! We come in many different shades/looks cause we mix up !

[unrecordable]

HAHA!!! that taxi story is hilarious and i love expressions in this video! you know you look different. your face looks fuller. i dont know. lovely video.

[swarthyprincess]

Big ups...enjoy your videos older head...as a 1st generation Jamerican all I can say is.....keep spitting that knowledge....u explain it...but we live it...lol...keep your head up...One!

[Cheesewyck]

Thanks. See, only the true Jamaicans have to deal with it all the time. Not such a bad thing, but overdone it becomes annoying to us.

[Gorayfle]

Why can't Patois be a separate language? I think it is. Patois is a reflection of all the influences on Jamaica. There are a mixture of African languages, Spanish, English and I'm sure some Amerindians words could still be there. Patois is very similar to English since England has has the longest influence on the country. "Nyam" is a Swahili word meaning eat. "A" in Spanish means "to", likewise "mi" is "my" is Spanish. Surely these aren't the by products of broken English?

[Gorayfle]

In the sentence "mi a go nyam mi mango", each equivalent word means the same as the language it originated from. The only "exception" being "mi" which serves a dual purpose in that it means "I am" and "my" in the same sentence.

In my opinion the broken English arises when people try to speak English but mix it with Patois. Just as if a Spanish/Chinese person speaks broken English. It's just different in our case because the languages are so close.

[Gorayfle]

Also I don't understand your last example. Yes Patois is not a language option, but what does that say? Catalan isn't an option, neither is Khmer or Finnish. Are these not different languages are well?

I can understand where you are coming from but I think it is wrong to call people ignorant. If they say Jamaican English is a different language than English then that's wrong. However, if they say Patois is a different language I don't see much wrong with that.

[Gorayfle]

Sorry for the long reply but I just wanted to express my feelings on this topic.

[MeAndHubbyToo]

@Gorayfle Look at Dutch and German. A German speaker can often understand Dutch and vice versa as Dutch comes from Saxon (German) language. Yet, try telling a Dutch speaker that they're speaking a dialect or "broken German". They'd lose their minds.

It's about power and submission. When you're in the submissive position, then you accept the idea of your language being broken or a dialect. When you're in a position of power, you can declare your own language as something unique & independent.

[MeAndHubbyToo]

@Gorayfle Also, Patwa and a Spaniard/Chinese speaking broken English are not the same thing, as the pidgin they're using is just that, a pidgin: it's not stable and doesn't have its own grammar, structure, etc. like Patwa.

Also, in most African languages I've encountered thus far (West/Central Africa) Mo, Mi, M, and Nye are the nominative. This (along with other data) implies that "Mi" does not come from English, but was held over easily from African language. English is not the source for it.

[MeAndHubbyToo]

@MeAndHubbyToo In African-American creole (we have at least four different ones), we use Mo and Mi/Ah. Mo and Mi were held over from our African roots and sometimes, we can easily understand phrases & sentences from the Bantu languages, in particular, because many are identical to those spoken by us in the US. The same connection can easily be found in the French Caribbean.

[tanyatmr]

Well said!

[MeAndHubbyToo]

@Gorayfle

Nyam is a word found throughout Central and West Africa. It means "to eat", sometimes in a negative way....like an animal (so to speak?). 

Mi/Me as the possessive simply comes from African language. In Yoruba, Ga, Ewe, Ibo, etc the same word is used for the nominative and the possessive (I and me). This means that our ancestors were using African grammar when navigating English.

If more of us look to African and the diaspora as the source, lord knows what we'd find.

[Noobieone]

Cheesewyck I really like the videos you put out, keep them coming,

[TriniIntel]

I simply play with their minds. When people refuse to believe that my mother tongue is English, I sigh and act defeated. Then tell them that I am the Sultan of Tunapuna in exile, but they have to keep it quiet.

It's amazing what people will believe when you have an accent.

[tanyatmr]

What is wrong with some people, Jamaica is a former British colony therefore they speak english!! Jamaicans speak the broken english (patois) and the Queen's english!! However depending on the social setting at the time you nah go talk the raw cha patois because you want to be understood:) I hope I don't offend anyone with what I said:)