Hello everyone!
I know I've been quite delinquent and to make it up to you I'd like to tell as much as I am able about my home and our language.
http://images.nationmaster.com/images/motw/americas/jamaica_pop_1968.jpg
To start, we're too small to be split into such divisions as states. The majority of the land at one time belonged to the church and so we are separated into parishes. There are 14 of them. The most well known for obvious reasons is Kingston. I live in St. Andrew which is close by and both parishes are often linked together as we don't distinguish between the two too much (we sometimes call them sister parishes and they share the same mayor). I'm pretty proud of the fact that section I live in is part of the Blue Mountain range. This is one of the largest mountains in the Caribbean.
Persons are often also familiar with the tourist towns like Ocho Rios in St. Ann, Negril in Hanover, and Montego Bay in St. James. Truthfully all of Jamaica is breath taking BUT that does not stop us from having our personal favorites. Mine is Portland. We call this place a jewel. It is almost completely un-spoilt. No words can describe it. (I'll supply pictures later - if I remember where I put them).
Now to the language!
Most modern, educated Jamaicans think of themselves as bi-lingual with Creole or Patois being the mother-tongue or first language and English as the second (in my case that was the reverse and I had to learn patois on the playground of my prep school - GO HILLTOP!!! WOOOO!!!). This is mainly a combination of the English language and various African languages though other cultures make their marginal contribution as well.
Here are a few words to try out to sound like an authentic YAARDY (That is one of the many ways of saying Jamaican)
Greetings
Waapun? - what's happening?
Blessèd - Hello (mostly Rastafarians use this)
Greetins - hello
What a gwaan? - Hello
Howdy - Hello
Farewells
Layta - see you later
In the morrows - see you in the morning
Walk good - have a safe trip (a small blessing)
Safe travel - (same as above)
Safe journey - (same as above)
Walk good and mek good duppy falla you - A longer blessing
Have fun. If I got anything wrong I'm sure Dad will correct me in his comment. Or at least add what I left out!!
Love and Blessings
Maria
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Comments: 22
You forgot Irie lol
People, Maria had to learn Patois (she even mis-spelled it). It is really a language of its own. Thoughts are expressed differently in patois than in English. Here are a few examples:
The English word "curmudgeon" (hurray for spell check) is a noun in English. To describe the same person, Jamaicans use the adjective "crumoogin".
"Develop" translates as two words in Jamaican "Devel up". eg. "Dem gwine devel it up into a park". (It will be developed into a park)
All you Anglophone just mispronounced "gwine". Try a French pronunciation.
Inflection is sometimes very important "kyan" is the opposite of "kyaan" (french pronunciation again).
We do not conceive of the verb "to be". We have three words that are translated as that verb in English. "A" (what a thing or person is), "Deh" or "Dih" (signifying location) and "Tan" (state or condition).
I just lost all of you except the Spanish speakers, so here are a few sentences:
"A who dat?" (who is that) - notice the word order is different?
Im deh a yaad" (He is at home) - the "m" is given a french "n" sound.
"Nobaddy nuh dih deh"- or "Nobaddy nud deh deh" (there is no one there) - notice that "deh" has two meanings?
"Nuh badda wid im yaah, a so im tan". (Don't bother with him you hear, that [just] how he is)
We have a second person plural pronoun: "oonu" (you, plural).
We have grammatical constructions that do not exist in English: "Licky licky" ("greedy" is the closest word I can think of in English, but it is actually worse than that). The word for "greedy" is actually "gravalicious".
A "girls man" is a womanizer, but a person who is "girly girly" is a very avid womanizer.
"Wanga Gut"
Those who speak Gulla (Georgians, Carolinians, and Alabamans) will recognize a lot of these, also anybody from Sierre Leon will. Krio, Gulla & Jamaican Patois are dialects of each other.
In Star Wars, remember Princess Amidala? In Jamaican "a mi dalla" means "It's my Dollar"
If your name is Dee Dee, use another name while in Jamaica. It means feces.
The American actor Buddy Epsen's first name means penis.
"A ready yuh ready aready?" (Are you [really] ready already?)
"Eeh hih; den nuh come mi come fih come call yuh? (Uh huh; then have I not come to call you?)
Question: "A wha kill im?" (What killed him?)
Answer: "Akee lim kill im" (The limb of an Akee [tree] killed him)
But thanks, I forgot all about them.