The official language of Jamaica is English, but the language used as the national language is Jamaican Patois (Jamaican Patois). Jamaican Patois is a dialect of English influenced by the languages of Western and Central African countries. Therefore, this language is different from standard English. If you want to chat with native Jamaican speakers, you must first learn Patois Jamaican.
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Part 1 of 3: Pronouncing Jamaican Patois
Step 1. Learn the Jamaican alphabet
Although Patois Jamaican uses the English alphabet, there are some minor differences that you should be aware of.
- The Jamaican alphabet has only 24 letters, as opposed to the 26-letter English alphabet. The way to pronounce the Jamaican letters is almost the same as the way to pronounce the English letters. However, there are some differences to be aware of.
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Here are the letters in the Jamaican alphabet:
- A, a[a]
- B, b [bi]
- Ch, ch [chi]
- D, d [in]
- E, e[e]
- F, f [ef]
- G, g [gi]
- H, h [heh]
- I, i
- J, j [jei]
- K, k [kei]
- L, l [el]
- M, m[em]
- N, n[en]
- O, o [o]
- P, p [pi]
- R, r[ar]
- S, s [es]
- T, t [ti]
- U, u [u]
- V, v [vi]
- W, w [dablju]
- Y, y [wai]
- Z, z [zei]
Step 2. Learn how to pronounce certain letters and letter combinations
The pronunciation of some Jamaican letters is similar to the pronunciation of the same letters in English when pronouncing a word. However, some letters may have a different pronunciation. Learning how to pronounce each Jamaican letter will help you speak the language well.
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Here's how to pronounce each Jamaican letter:
- a, a~ə
- b, b
- ch, t
- d, d
- e,
- f, f
- g, g/ʤ
- h, h
- i, i
- j,
- k, k
- l, l/ɬ
- m, m
- n, n
- o, ~o
- p, p
- r, r~ɹ
- s, s
- t, t
- u, u
- v, v
- w, w
- y Y
- z, z
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Some letter combinations have their own pronunciation. Here are some ways to pronounce letter combinations that you should know:
- aa, a:
- ai, a
- er,
- ie, iɛ
- ier, -iəɹ
- ii, i:
- ooo, o:
- sh,
- uo,
- uor, -ȗɔɹ
Part 2 of 3: Learning Commonly Used Words and Phrases
Step 1. Greet someone
The simplest way to say "hello" in Jamaican is to say "wah gwan."
- As with any language, there are several different ways to greet someone in Jamaican, depending on the time of day and the situation.
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Here are some ways to greet someone:
- "Gud mawnin," (good morning) means "good morning".
- " Gud evening," (good evening) means "good evening".
- "Hail up," means "hi".
- "Pssst," means "hi".
- "Wat a guh dung," means "how are you?".
- "Weh yuh ah seh," means "how are you?" Literally, this phrase means "what are you saying?".
- "How yuh stay," means "how are you?" Literally, this phrase means " what's your status ?".
- "Howdeedo," means "how are you?" This phrase is usually used by the older generation.
Step 2. Say goodbye
One of the easiest ways to say "goodbye" in Jamaican is to say "mi gaan," which literally translates to the phrase "I'm gone."
- As with greetings, there are several ways to say goodbye to someone.
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Here are some ways to say goodbye:
- "Likkle more," means "goodbye."
- "Inna di morrows," means "see you tomorrow." Literally, this phrase means " in the tomorrows ".
- "Walk good," means "be careful on the road".
Step 3. Know polite phrases
Even if Jamaican culture doesn't care much about etiquette, it's still a good idea to learn some polite phrases. Using these phrases will make a positive impression on others.
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Here are some commonly used polite phrases:
- "A Beg Yuh," (I beg you) means "please" or "can you?".
- "Jus a word," means "excuse me."
- "Beg yuh pass," means "sorry, I want to pass".
- "Tanks," (thanks) means "thank you".
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You also need to know how to respond appropriately and politely when others ask how you are and how you feel. Here are some phrases that say you're doing well:
- " Everything criss," means "everything is fine"
- " Everything is everything " and " everyting cook an curry " means "all is well".
- "All fruits ripe" means "all is well".
Step 4. Ask important questions
When talking to a native Jamaican speaker, it's a good idea to know how to ask emergency questions.
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Here are some questions you should know:
- "Weh ah de bawtroom," (where is the bathroom ?") means "where is the bathroom?".
- “Weh ah de hospital,” (where is the hospital ?”) means “where is the hospital?”.
- “Weh ah de Babylon,” means “where are the police at?”.
- " Do yuh speak english, " ('do you speak English ?) means "do you speak English?").
Step 5. Learn how to mention other people
When talking about other people, you need to know the proper terms to refer to them.
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Here are some words and phrases used to describe certain people:
- "Brethren" means "brother".
- "Chile" or "pickney" means "child".
- "Fahda" (father) means "father".
- "Madda" (mother) means "mother".
- "Ginnal" or "samfy man," means "a swindler."
- "Criss ting" means "beautiful woman".
- "Youthman" means "young man" or "young woman".
Step 6. Know the Jamaican compound words used to describe certain terms
The Jamaican Patois language has many compound words, especially those that refer to body parts. Here are some commonly used compound words:
- "Hand miggle," means "middle hand" or "palm."
- " Hiez-ole," means "ear hole" or "inner ear."
- "Foot battam," means "sole of the foot." Literally, this phrase means foot bottom or "lower foot".
- "Nose-ole," means "nostril."
- "Yeye-wata," means "tears".
- "Yeye-ball," means "eyeball" or "eye".
Step 7. Learn Jamaican slang
Once you've learned basic words and phrases, you'll also need to know Jamaican slang to master this language.
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Here are some commonly used slang:
- " Blouse an skirt " or " rawtid " means "wow".
- "Out a Road" is slang used to refer to something new.
- "Cut out" is slang used to describe that someone "is going somewhere."
- "Too nuff" is slang used to describe people who like to meddle in other people's business.
- " Hush yuh mouth " means "shut up" or "don't make noise".
- "Link mi" means "meet me."
- "Back a yard" means "hometown" or "country of origin".
- " Bleach " is slang used to describe people who stay up late to do fun activities.
Part 3 of 3: Understanding the Basic Jamaican Grammar Rules
Step 1. Know that Jamaican has no subject-verb agreement rules
Subject-verb agreements are rules in English that regulate the use of singular verbs and plural verbs based on the subject. Although Jamaican is English-based, it has no subject-verb agreement rules.
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See the following example:
- In English, the form of the verb " speak " will change according to the subject: " I speak ", " you speak ", " he speaks ", " we speak ", " you all speak ", " they speak ".
- In Jamaican, the form of the verb " speak " will not change: " Mi speak ", " yu speak ", " im speak ", " wi speak ", " unu speak ", " dem speak ".
Step 2. Change the word form to plural by adding the word "dem" or "nuff"
"Unlike in English, adding an "s" or "es" to a verb doesn't turn it into a Jamaican plural. To change a word to a plural form, you must add the word " dem, " nuff, " or a number.
- Write "dem" after the word: "baby dem" in Jamaican means "babies" in English
- Put the word " nuff " in front of words to express more than one or many: " nuff plate " in Jamaican means " many plates " in English.
- Put a number in front of the word to indicate a specific number: " ten book " in Jamaican means " ten books " in English.
Step 3. Simplify pronouns
In Patois Jamaican, pronouns do not change based on the gender of the subject. In addition, pronouns will not change when placed as a subject or object.
- Jamaican also has no possessive pronouns.
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The following pronouns are owned by the Jamaican language:
- "Mi" means "I" and "I".
- "Yu" means "you" and "you".
- "Im" means "he". This pronoun can be used to refer to both male and female.
- "Wi" means "we" and "we".
- "Unu" means "you" and "you".
- "Dem" means "they".
Step 4. Add the letter "a" between the words
In Jamaican language, the letter "a" is used as a copula (a verb that connects the subject with the complement) as well as a particle.
- As a copula: " Mi a run " means " I am running " in English. In this sentence, the letter "a" replaces "am."
- As a particle: "Yu a teacha" means "You are a teacher". In this sentence, the letter "a" replaces " are a."
Step 5. Use repetition for emphasis
Jamaican Patois uses word repetition to emphasize ideas, increase intensity, or express personality.
- For example, if you want to describe a child who has grown up, you could say: " Im big-big " which means "he is very big."
- In addition, if you want to assert a truth, you can say: " A tru-tru " which means "that's very true" or "that's exactly right".
- Repetition is also used to describe the bad personality of someone or something, such as "nyami-nyami" (greedy), "chakka-chakka" (messy), or "fenkeh-fenkeh" (weak).
Step 6. Use double negatives (sentences that have two negation or negation words, such as no and not)
Double negatives are not allowed in Indonesian and English. However, the usage of this sentence is commonly used in Jamaican language.
For example, the Jamaican phrase " Min nuh have nun " literally means " I have none " in Indonesian. Although this sentence structure doesn't conform to proper Indonesian grammar, you can use it in Jamaican
Step 7. Do not change the tense of the verb
Unlike in English, the form of verbs in Jamaican does not change according to time. To express a time difference in a sentence, you must add a certain word in front of the verb.
- To make a verb into the past tense, you must put " en, " " ben," or " did " in front of the verb.
- For example, the Jamaican word " guh " is the equivalent of the English word " go." Saying " a guh " will change it to " is going " and saying " did guh " will change it to " went."
