The Kromanti Language of the Jamaican Maroons - Part 1

This video documents the disappearing languages of the Eastern Maroons of Moore Town, Jamaica. The languages are (i) Kromanti, a language variety related to the Akan language cluster of West Africa, and (ii) Uol Taim Patwa or 'Maroon Spirit Language', a very archaic form of English-lexicon Creole, similar in many ways to the Creole languages of Suriname. The language is presented through Mr Isaac Bernard, one the last culture bearers of the community, with a good command of these languages. The video is part of the Caribbean Indigenous and Endangered Languages website, which is co-sponsored by the Jamaican Language Unit/Unit for Caribbean Language Research, University of the West Indies, Mona, and UNESCO. http://www.caribbeanlanguages.org.jm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• maroon
• spirit
• language
• 'uol taim patwa'
• Creole
• suriname
• jamaica
• 'Moore Town'
• akan
• endangered
• indigenous
• UNESCO
• 'Jamaican Language Unit'
• JLU
• west africa
• linguistics

[elegance212]

What part of Ghana is this?

[jamaicanlanguageunit]

@elegance212 This is Moore Town in Portland, in north eastern Jamaica.

[jamaicanprincess7]

We are all One Blood wish people would not leave ignorant racist comments its 2010 cut the bullshit. I am a Proud Jamaican i am the descendant of those who chose to survive. Stolen from the Ashanti tribe of Ghana. Our language is the broken and restricted language due to colonial force and we still ahve traces of African dialect. My black is the original and My black is Beautiful.. anyone feel otherwise can suck out whatever hole dem come from cause a Jamaica mi come from we run Tingz

[eugeneuler]

Omg...I am an Akan from Ghana, and I can make out a good percentage of his words..am in tears.

[HairH2O]

@MrPoshNutty1 Yes DNA proved that the female Tainos mixed with the Maroons. So I am going to guess the male Tainos were massacred.

[MrPoshNutty1]

The truth shall set us free!! But free from what? I respect all nations in this century I hold nobody accountable for the atrocities I have no grudges I just seek the truth following the path of recent history :-) I have total respect for this man I'be the right to speak the truth weather my grandfathers wrong or right I'm just saying :-)

[MrPoshNutty1]

Is it true that the spanish over worked the Taino/indigenous founders of Jamaica were over worked in the mines and died from poor condition which they then contracted disease and disabilities due to being slaved by the spaniards? Or did the english bring disease and the people(indigenous) just die out?

[MrPoshNutty1]

When did the Spanish leave? Why did they leave? When did the English arrive? How long we're the Africans free (the spanish left the Africans free when they got the message the English were coming to take over the land of gold and fruits) ? How much barrels of rum did the English bribe the indigenous Arawak/Taino/native Americans to find the freed Africans? Did the indigenous mix with the Africans to make a hybrid breed?

[MrPoshNutty1]

I have had enough of the half story of our history, we are more than you think, not just an African but a decsendent of warriors and freedom fighters! The abolishing of slavery of Jamaica was when? When did the Spanish bring the first slaves to Jamaica?

[MrPoshNutty1]

Ralford albion Harris, direct decsendent, moors and Islam, 56.8 percent were Muslim captured and made slaves by the Spanish who had just taken over the world from 1492 reconquister yielding the cross and Christianity, Al Andalusia was our home and east and west Africa,

[MrPoshNutty1]

My grandfather is rallied Albion Harris direct descendent to nanny maroon, I showed him this video a few months ago before he past away two months ago ( expecting him to be happy ) he was furious saying this man is not from our village of more town he knew him. I am now leading the way back to moortown as I'm a descendent anybody from there please contact me

[LaCriollaRoja]

@eugeneuler Your comment nearly brought me to tears...I found out part of my family are from the Ga in Ghana, so this is so cool to me...

[Killayut]

@Killayut A tiny Kromanti village could not provide the population of about 30 million which Jamaica is adding all of them in diaspora. The Kromanti people in that tiny village do not speak Kromanti but TWI or some thing. Yoruba speakers from Brazil and Cuba did not say they speak Abeokuta, Ibadan or Lagos. So the Kromanti people would say their language is TWI and not Kromanti cos Kromanti is not a language.

[Killayut]

@frenzyfizzykid No one says the Jamaican people do not constitute elements of modern Ghanaians. There are AKANS among them but they are few compared the number of Niger Delta Nigerians among them. You can understand why Ghanaians do not speak Pidgin which became Patois in Jamaica. The main population of Jamaica are Niger Delta Nigerians, Sierra Leonians, South West Cameroonians and then Akan Ghanaians.